Tag symbolism

All real symbols have power: The rising sun, the peace sign, Harry Potter’s Lightening shaped scar, the ‘S’ on Superman’s Chest. But symbols only have power because people believe in them. Symbols have the power we give them. Let’s talk Sigils. We’ve discussed setting intentions and using manifestation as a tool for change already. Today I want to dive a little further. Sigils are a psychological tool that you can add to your belt to help manifest those positive changes.

History of Sigils

Sigils have been used for hundreds of years in a number of cultures and religions as marks of power. Symbols of everything from deities to prayers and promises. The word sigil derives from the Latin word segillum or ‘seal’ and etymologists also speculate connections to the Hebrew word segula meaning ‘action, talisman, word’.

The Ancient Egyptians used sigils for invoking deities and for protection. In medieval they were common in the science of Alchemy. Sigils are one of those topics that usually has people getting defensive or accusatory quickly and I have never understood why. ‘Sigils’ as a concept is a very broad term, and they are ubiquitous.  

Don’t believe me? Star of David: Sigil. The cross of Jesus Christ: Sigil. Yin and Yang: Sigil. Buddhist Om: Sigil. Hamsa: Sigil. Nazar: Sigil. Triquetra: Sigil. Astrological Sign: Sigil. Zodiac: Sigil. Rose Compass: Sigil. Sun Symbol: Sigil. Moon Symbol: Sigil. See where I’m going with this?

These symbols travel, evolve and are absorbed and adapted by cultures as they move. It’s a concept that has always fascinated me and probably part of the reason I was so obsessed with the Dan Brown ‘Davinci Code Books’ and Tom Hanks’ later portrayal of Professor Langdon as a kid.

Formal Modern Uses

In modern witchcraft sigils are used to focus energy and strengthen manifestations. Some Wiccan doctrines use the practice of turning people’s names into sigils for positive sympathetical magics (general protection and positive attraction). These can be highly specific phrases turned into images, or general big concepts you are trying to introduce to your life: Protection, Guidance, Focus, Manifestation, or Determination.

Psychology and Sigils

From a psychological standpoint think of it as a meeting of “The Mind attracts what it dwells upon” and “Seeing with your Mind’s Eye”. ‘Out of sight out of mind’ but in reverse. Rewiring your brain isn’t easy.  A lot of people struggle with positive affirmations; with our inner dialogue either being too loud or not loud enough. It’s very easy to get disconnected from it, or have it be drowned out by the constant flood of outside input.  

Sigils provide a visual reminder, a front-and-center image to keep at the forefront of your day-to-day existence. Which, if you are a visual person, or ADHD like me and struggle to keep specific thoughts in your head at any given second- is a priceless tool. Sigils provide a visual touchstone during the chaos of any given day to remind me about whatever my current manifestation or self-talk project is.

Nothing is inherently ‘powerful’ or ‘mystical’ about the concept of sigils. Symbols have power because we give them power. The idea behind the application of sigils is that it is a grounding point or a tool to help you focus on the manifestation at hand.

Creating and Using Sigils

Technically, you could choose any existing image or symbol as the touchstone for your manifestation. However, if it’s a symbol that already has a strong meaning attached to it- that can kind of defeat the purpose. Plus, you want it to be as specific to you as you can make it. You want the association of that symbol to be so strong in your own mind that it creates instant visual reinforcement every time you see it. It should also be highly specific to your current project. Unfortunately, using standard symbols makes this hard as almost all of them have some kind meaning attached to them already.

So how do we bypass this? We make our own symbol. Now if you’re an uber creator like my sister, Taylor, where ideas and pictures readily flow into your mind- this could be anything and probably sounds like a piece of cake. If you’re more like me, and you need some kind of inspiration, flow of concept, or launching pad this can sound really challenging.

The good news is: There are tools for that. A number of different systems exist for creating sigils and they are all different and range from simple and more runic to complex and highly abstract. An easy pinterest or google search will bring up a myriad of results and how-tos.

I prefer the straightforward method because I feel like life is complex and abstract enough without me mucking about too much.

Simply Put:

1. Write out your sentence, desire, or goal in Capital Letters. An example might be: SETTING HEALTHY BOUNDARIES.
2. Get rid of every repeating letter. The above example will leave you with: GLYBOUDR
3. Simplify the remaining letters into basic shapes.
4. Overlay those basic shapes into a single graphic.
5. Enclose the graphic in a basic geometric shape (circle, triangle, square, hexagon, or trapezoid, etc.) I am partial to circles because they are soft and warm, but sometimes a more masculine shape feels better for a particular concept etc. You do you.

Application:

Once all that is done, you now have a sigil. Now you take that image and you put it someplace you will see it all the time, or multiple places. Your car, your bathroom mirror, the door of your fridge, the wall of your cubicle, your wallet. You can draw it on a piece of paper, wood burn it onto something if you want to get more fancy, or take a picture of it and make it your phone screen. But every time you see that image you repeat your phrase and you repeat this action until the picture is synonymous with your phrase.

After a day or two of essentially Pavloving yourself with this concept or idea it takes on a bit of a life of its own. Instead of you seeing that graphic and making an effort to intentionally repeat your message to yourself as a reminder, the graphic does it for you and it goes from conscious effort to unconscious byproduct, subliminally reinforcing that thought every time you see it. It magnetizes itself into the forefront of your mind all on its own. Congratulations- you’ve given a symbol power. Maybe not to everyone, but for yourself. That’s impressive and the amazing thing is- it wasn’t even that hard.

Give it a try

Next time you feel like you’re struggling to manifest something or get truly intentional about a change in your life go ahead and give this a try. It really is just spicy psychology. If you’re an out of sight out of minder like me, then put it in sight in a way that isn’t just another ignored sticky note with a scribbled sentence on it crammed in with all the others. Make it unique, noticeable, and something that will catch your eye. I really hope it helps!

All the best,

Mikaela

Welcome back to RavenWerks Astrology 101!

As promised previously, we now have a bit more foundation established on what astrology is and at least identifying the major sections of the natal chart so now we are moving onto… drum roll… the 12 houses. If you haven’t seen our previous Astrology 101 posts as part of this series, you can check them out in our blog under the spirituality section OR click on the links at the bottom of this post.

So now I am going to have you direct your focus to the inner wheel of your natal chart. I will reshow the full visual I made below. If you remember from our last installment, there are 2 “wheels” to your natal chart.

1. The Zodiac wheel is the outer wheel and moves based on the sun’s apparent yearly rotation about our Earth, along the ecliptic. You will see this rotating on the chart.
2. The wheel of Houses is the inner wheel and based on the Earth’s 24-hour rotation about its own axis. This is stationary on the natal chart.

Where the 2 wheels meet or sit (and where planets are) are calculated by the time and location of your birth. If you remember from our last post, you can describe zodiac signs as being in a house AND you can describe celestial bodies as being in a house OR a zodiac. You can say Pisces is in the 12^th house or that Mars is in Pisces or that Mars is in the 12^th house and all three statements could be equally true all at the same time.

So here is where I could get into why mainstream horoscopes based on sun signs are a load of bull that makes a bunch of assumptions BUT that will lead to a very deep, dark rabbit hole so instead let’s focus on the symbolism of the houses.

So, a couple quick things before we break down each house individually. The 12 houses represent different parts of your life or fields of experience. It isn’t an element or an energy like a zodiac or a planet. It is where the energies can/will manifest. Next you will notice that they somewhat follow the path of a human’s development. Lastly, it is worth noting that the 1^st, 4^th, 7^th, and 9^th houses are called the “angular houses” because their cusps are on the 4 special angles mentioned in the last post (ascendant, I.C., descendant, and M.C.) and these houses will affect you more strongly.

What Are the Houses?

1^st House- Self

The first house is a big one! It is all aspects of your personality and how you interact with the world around you. This includes your self-identity, self-image, how we initiate, our personality (duh), self-awareness, and even some of our physical traits. Because the cusp is on the ascendant, the way the whole chart interacts with the outside world is determined strongly by this house. Without going too deep into every single zodiac sign’s relationship with this house, just know that depending on what zodiac sits on the ascendant/in this house, it is said that you can note certain personality and physical traits.

For Example: I am a Leo ascendant. Astrology often associates this with being good natured, ardent, generous, passionate, kind-hearted, high-strung, broad shouldered, large-boned, tall (I am not), thin waist, upright carriage, and having a prominent upper body. Now some of this is more accurate than other bits but you also have to remember that it is all connected and can be altered or influenced by the ruling planets that reside in this house (in my case Jupiter).  

2^nd House-Possessions and Personal Values

The second house has to do with what you value. This can mean money and possessions but also self-worth, self-esteem, and your personal values. The house and home are ruled by the 4^th house so things like your car, clothes and moveable property are not included. Instead, it is more about how you come across wealth/material possessions, your potential for accumulating them, how that is spent, and your attitude towards them. And to clarify, this is your own money.

3^rd House- Communication

This house has to do with all forms of communication and our immediate environment; siblings, neighbors, short journey’s, transportation, thinking patterns, early education (before college when we are developing our communication skills), messages, deliveries, gossip, phone calls, visits, reading, and writing.

4^th House- Home

On the surface level this house is associated with the home, family, land, personal foundations, and your roots. On a deeper level, its cusp is on the I.C. which is representative of all things below the surface of the earth. Because of this it has also been associated with the deeper center of our existence, the end of life and graves. Because it is the root of ourselves, it rules where you go when you die and also your origin. This house has an interesting connection to the concepts of karma, karmic baggage and reincarnation.

5^th House- Creativity

This house is about being yourself and enjoying it. It is about passion and matters of the heart (not to confused with marriage which is considered a separate thing/ a cooperative partnership because these weren’t always for love). This house can be associated with creativity, children, pleasure, personal interests, love affairs, sports, hobbies, speculation, risk taking, teaching, drama, creative self-expression, love given, gambling, romance, and sexual relationships.

6^th House- Service and Health

This house relates to your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing as well as your life’s purpose. Some places it will list this house as having to do with work as well but I find ‘service’ to be more accurate. Work to me means something close to a career which is ruled by the 10^th house. Instead, this house is associated with your physical ability to work, quality of any job or task you perform, volunteer work etc.

7^th House- Marriage and Partnership

It was mentioned earlier that the 5^th house has more to do with love and passion. The 7^th house is the house of marriage, but it is most likely more accurate to call it the house of partnerships (specifically 1 on-1 partnerships) in more modern society. These relationships or partnerships could be marriage, business, contracts, or any cooperative relationship honestly. It also deals with the reverse of those such as divorce, separation, lawsuits, enemies, noncooperation etc. These tend to be different than relationships in the 5^th house because they are more permanent or binding,

8th House- Death and Regeneration and Sexuality and….

This is a fun house to talk about (and my favorite) just because it seems to be all over the place in regard to symbolism and is also very misunderstood. This house rules death, regeneration, taxes, inheritances, wills and legacies, sex (think mattress mambo rather than male/female), occult, joint resources, another’s money and possessions (rather than your own), bankruptcy, losses, personal sacrifice, alimony, and clairvoyance. THAT IS A LOOOOOOOT. You may notice a common thread with everything I just listed is that they have a lot of negative connotations. But really this house is about transformation, going through something negative and then becoming stronger through that struggle.

9^th House- Mental Exploration

I have seen this house listed as the house of philosophy. I think mental exploration encompasses more of its meaning though. It IS associated with philosophy, but it is also associated with religion, law, higher education, ethics, morals, travel, foreign interests, spiritual pursuits, dreams, visions, higher mind, ideas, understanding, wisdom, books, publishing, ceremonies, rituals, and pretty much any other thing you can thing of that has to do with thought. It is less about learning something (like memorizing it) and more about understanding things. It is us trying to find meaning of things and is much more about the abstract whereas the 3^rd house was more about concrete knowledge.

10^th House- Career and Public Life

This house symbolizes success and the gain of intangible “stuff”. It is associated with honor, status, community power, prestige, reputation, professional careers, recognition, personal achievements, social responsibilities, sense of duty, authority figures, and even politics.

11^th House- Hopes, Wishes, and Friends

The 11^th house has to do with the social structures we live in such as community, large groups, friends, social groups, associations, memberships, and humanitarian interests. It also has to do with hopes, goals, ambitions, wishes, liberty, and self-realization.

12^th House- Self-Undoing and Problems

Here is another house that has a bad reputation. There is a mental and physical aspect to this house but at its root, it is associated with problems, separation, our subconscious, and the hidden. If we look at this from the mental angle first it can be associated with the unconscious mind, subconscious memory, habit patterns from the past, mental illness, karmic debts, self-deception, escapism, spiritual realization, limitations, frustration, and self-undoing. A little more tangible, it is also associated with what separates us from normal life such as institutions (hospital, prison etc), confinement, secrets, hidden enemies, and self-sacrifice. I have also seen it associated with sorrow, tribulation, widowhood, grief, funerals, exile, seclusion, bribery, subversion, murder, suicide, kidnapping, and endings. Not going to lie- when typing this all out I can honestly say that I see why this might now be the most loved house.

So that is the (not so) long and short of it. Those are what the houses are associated with. I am not getting into interpreting the chart yet as we still need some more context before we can get there. Basically, what I just gave you is a list of WHAT the planets on your chart can affect. Next, we will start talking about HOW they can be affected. Rather than moving onto the outer wheel of Zodiacs we will talk about the different celestial bodies.

Until next time!

Taylor

CHECK OUT THE FULL ASTROLOGY 101 SERIES:

• What is Astrology? Where Does One Start?
• Astrology Symbol Reference Page
• Astrology 101: What Is In Your Natal Chart?
• Astrology 101: Natal Chart Organization and Terminology
• Astrology 101: The 12 houses & Their Symbolism
• Astrology 101: The Energy of Planets and Other Celestial Bodies