A sigil is a symbol you create to stand for one specific intention. You write down what you want to change in, transform the sentence into a singular design, and use the design as a cue to remember and act on that intention. For a secular practitioner, how sigils work is a question about attention, memory, and habit, and there's more to say about those than you'd expect.
Where Sigils Come From
The word 'sigil' comes from the Latin sigillum, meaning 'little sign,' and symbols of this kind appear across categories of magickal practice, including medieval grimoires with their lists of spirit seals. The modern method most people use was popularized by the artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare in the early twentieth century. His idea was to condense a desire into an abstract glyph so that the conscious mind stops fussing over it and the symbol can 'do its work' in the unconscious mind. It is not required of practictioners that they accept Spare's metaphysics to use his method. What he gave us was a technique for turning a wish into something small, visual, potent, and portable.
Why Sigils Work Without Anything Supernatural
There are three ordinary mechanism at work here, and all there are well-within what psychology already describes — which is promising for all secular occultists.
Firstly, writing intention forces mental clarity, as most of us carry only vague wishes. 'I want to be calmer,' ' I want to be more disciplined.' To make a proper sigil, you have to first state the change in one plain sentence that is very specific. This step is important because a goal you can articulate clearly, is one you can act on with conviction.
Secondly, a symbol is a compact, personal, cue. Your mind attaches meaning to images quickly and often without our conscious awareness, which can be a bane or a boon. A symbol you made yourself, tied to a specific purpose, becomes a shortcut back to that purpose. Seeing it reminds you of what you decided and why. A sigil compresses meaning into a form that reaches you faster than a paragraph would.
Lastly, ritual builds association (and reinforces it). When you draw, charge, or place a sigil with the ceremony each time, you're linking the sigil to a focused state. Over time the image can bring that state back, the way a familiar song can bring a particular mood. It's the same principle as an athlete's or singer's pre-performance routine.
The magick does not require anything supernatural. A sigil doesn't make anything happen in the world. It does, however, help you notice, remember, and follow through on a choice you already made with conviction. This claim is scientifically defensible, which is why the Temple teaches and performs such techniques.
How to Make a Simple Sigil
You'll need paper and a pen and about fifteen minutes.
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First, write your intention in one plain sentence.
State it in the present tense and as something you do, such as 'I speak calmly in meetings at work,' or 'I finish my work before checking messages on social media.' Avoid using negative like, 'I won't panic.' because they keep your attention on the thing you're trying to leave behind. -
Second, reduce the sentence.
Write it in capital letters and cross out every repeated letter. For example, 'I speak calmly in meetings at work,' you'd keep each letter only the first time it appears. -
Combine what is left into one design.
Arrange the remaining letters into a sigil. Overlap them, simply them, stylize them until they stop reading as words. Allow your hand to move freely and your imagination to run wild. There is no correct result — it is personal. What matters is that it holds meaning. -
Take a quiet minute with your sigil.
Hold the sigil in view and recall your intention once, with conviction. This is the charging step, and it's a small ritual of focused attention. -
Put it where you'll meet it.
Tape it inside a notebook, draw it on the first page of a planner, or keep it somewhere you see it at the moment the change is needed.
Note: Some practitioners burn or discard a sigil after charging it following Spare's ideas of 'forgetting' the intention, and others keep it as a visible reminder. For our purposes, the Temple advises that keeping it visible tends to work better, sine the point is to cue action.
Take One Action
A sigil that never touches your behavior is merely a nice decoration. Within a day of creating your sigil, take one concrete action that matches your intention — send the email, take the walk, set the boundary, delete the app. Behavior is the part that changes a life, and the sigil exists to support it.
Record What Happens
Write down the intention, a sketch of your sigil, the date, and what you noticed over the next week or two. Did you see the sigil at moments you hoped? Did it change what you did? If nothing happened, that is still useful. Retire the sigil and try a clearer intention or a different sigil. A sigil that stops serving its purpose should be changed or ended.
Do Sigils Require Belief?
Some people make sigils because they believe in unseen forces, while others make them because they find a visual cue helpful. The Temple judges a practice by what it does in a life, not by whether it can be proven. Each person's metaphysics is their own. What matters most is that you choose the intention, craft the sigil, and decide what to do with it. Used in this way, a sigil strengthens your agency and does not replace it.
Next Steps (Recommended)
- Make one sigil this week for one, small, specific change
- Read our post on how to keep a grimoire to track what happens
- Join a Monday gathering or the Temple of Night community on Reddit or Discord and share your results.
The Temple of Night is a gathering of people who practice magick. Every member's beliefs are their own, and you're welcome here whatever you believe.
In Tenebris, Lux