Destroy your sigils or save them?

When I see people explaining how sigil magick works and how to do it, I often see destruction of the sigil as one of the final steps in the working.  This works well when each sigil is created for a very specific, one-time use.  What about if you want to have a collection of sigils that you can flip through to find the appropriate one, then charge it for use?

The setback I see in this is that it may be hard for you to let go of the sigil once it is charged and fired off.  If you dwell on it consciously then it might not work properly because you're not allowing the subconscious to do its job.  On the other hand, wouldn't using the same sigil over and over eventually make it more powerful?  Wouldn't it be similar to the traditional magickal figures of the pentagram, hexagram, etc.?  These are simple figures, highly symbolic, and some would argue that they are so powerful because they've been used so much.

So, which is better?  Do you destroy the sigil to allow it to do its thing or do you keep it so you can use it again?  I don't have an answer to that.  I suspect it depends on individual skill and what you feel most comfortable with.  Personally, I'm fond of the idea of having a collection of sigils and symbols that can be consulted and utilized for specific purposes.  Whether my subconscious would agree isn't something I can tell you.

Then there's the practice of keeping the sigil until the desire has manifested and then destroying it to release the energy.  As you can see, there are very few hard-and-fast rules for this type of magick and I think that's one of its major advantages.

Trolling as a magickal tool.

The idea hit me earlier that maybe the time-honored tradition of Internet trolling could be used in magickal practice.  It would, of course, probably be better suited to those of a "left-hand" path as it could be morally dubious and it also utilizes strong emotion.  I believe the difficulty might be in channeling all of that Internet rage into your work, but using a computer in your working shouldn't be that complicated for those with enough ingenuity.

This is essentially co-opted group focus, in a sense, similar to an ordinary magickal group working.  Instead of having a group focusing on your magickal goal, they are focusing their strong emotions towards you.  Your job then is to channel all of that attention being given to you into your working.  Since I'm becoming so fond of sigils I'll use that as an example.

You would need to prepare your sigil (or ritual, etc.) beforehand.  Once you have everything set up then you can begin co-opting the energy you need to make your sigil particularly potent.  I figure that there are two ways of charging a sigil in this way.  The first one would be to use your sigil as your avatar or display picture in a forum or chatroom so that the energy is flowing directly to it.  The second way would be to devise some method of channeling the energy into your working such as keeping the sigil on your computer or using your computer in the ritual (if you're taking the ritual path).  This is where your ingenuity comes in.

How do you incite the strong emotions though?  If you're dealing with Wiccans then point out how Gerald Gardner plagiarized Aleister Crowley (see this previous post for more info).  If you're dealing with followers of Crowley you can call him a deviant drug addict.  Obviously this only works on specific groups.  If you're working with a more eclectic crowd then you'll probably need more general triggers.  I would avoid things like "Magick isn't real," as this could work its way into your own subconscious and potentially subvert your goals.  Anyone that's had much experience in these types of crowds should be able to come up with something to stir emotions.

All of this is morally questionable, perhaps reprehensible, but I thought that it might be interesting to folks even if they never actually try the idea out.  I enjoy thinking of new ways to look at old things and solve problems.  With this much negativity on the Internet, someone may as well try to put it to use, right?  If anyone does try this then please let me know how it turns out.  This is frontier stuff right here, I think.  Exploration and experimentation is encouraged.

I also apologize for the flood of magic(k)-related topics lately.  I know that probably not everyone enjoys reading about this stuff but I've been getting back into it lately and I feel that the best writing comes from personal experience.  So there you go.  I'll try to post about more diverse topics in the future.

Magical Alphabets

I've recently taken an interest in magical alphabets, specifically the Theban alphabet.  Magical alphabets have the advantage of giving something a mystical feel as well as concealing information from those that cannot read the text.  Using a magical alphabet also allows for a deeper level of abstraction and symbolism which can aid in some forms of magic (sigil magic comes to mind).

Most of the popular magical alphabets are quite old and related to us through Agrippa.  These alphabets are usually based on Latin or Hebrew and are little more than substitution ciphers.  As with certain languages, the age could be said to aid in the potency of the alphabets.  This potency is also added to by the effort expended by a person in learning and writing the magical alphabet.  In the case of Enochian, we have a means to communicate with the angels themselves.

Enochian is not merely a magical alphabet though.  Enochian is an entire language, channeled by John Dee and Edward Kelly in the 1500s from the angels themselves.  Through the use of Enochian and the associated magical system one is said to be able to gain secret knowledge.  Obviously, learning an entire language (a complex one at that) takes a lot more effort than learning a new alphabet so it is perhaps not for everyone.  Those not particularly interested in ceremonial magic may have no use for Enochian at all.

If you are interested in incorporating magical alphabets into your own practice then see the links below.

Theban Alphabet
Enochian Alphabet
Enochian Language on Wikipedia

Summoning Demons

Recently I've been very interested in sigils and sigil magic.  It just so happens that when browsing some darker areas of the Internet in the wee hours of the morning I stumbled upon an image file containing 99 sigils.  Ninety of these are specific to particular demons, apparently.  The remaining nine have more general purposes.

I don't typically dabble with spirits or demons but I thought this might be relevant to the interests of my readers.  Whether you choose to work with this is up to you.  I thought I recognized some of these names and symbols from somewhere but I've searched my books as well as the Internet and the closest I can turn up is this image, apparently found in a number of places on the Net besides the place I got it from.  Some of these are evocative of the Keys of Solomon, but I can't find any matches.  I haven't studied Solomon's works that closely though.

For those of you that might be brave enough to try this, let me know what happens.