Contents

Introduction..............................................ix Chapter 1: Austin Osman Spare and His Theory of Sigils.....1 Chapter 2: uller !xploration of the "ord #ethod..........1$ Chapter %: The #agical Trance & Acti'ating the Sigils.....2( Chapter ): The *ictorial #ethod...........................)% Chapter $: The #antrical Spell #ethod.....................$$ Acti'ating&Internali+ation of #antrical Sigils "ords of *o,er Acti'ating&Internali+ing "ords of *o,er Chapter -: The Alpha.et of /esire.........................-% The Alpha.et of /esire as a Structuring *rin0 ciple The Alpha.et of /esire as a #irror of the *syche Chapter 1: "or2ing ,ith Ata'istic 3ostalgia...............4$ Chapter 4: 5ut Ho, /oes It "or26..........................($ Sher,in7s #odel #odel A #odel 5 Chapter (: Constructing Sigils ,ith *lanetary Cameas.....18$ The #agical Cameas of the *lanets 9:Ta.les;< and the Seals and Sigils of the *lanetary *o,ers= Intelligences and /emons Conclusion...............................................12% >lossary.................................................12$ Comments.................................................12( 5i.liography.............................................1%%

INTRODUCTION

Sigil Magic, Particularly the system developed by the English painter and sorcerer Austin Osman Spare, is one of the most efficient and economical disciplines of magic. For the most part, it can be performed without complicated rituals, needs hardly any paraphernalia, is independent of philosophical and dogmatic premises and,

due to its simplicity, can be learned easily and uic!ly. Most important of all, none of the magical techniques we know of today is more efficient and will give even beginners the immediate chance to convince themselves of its power and their own abilities. "hese reasons alone support a volume li!e the following to show the possibilities of this discipline and to e#plain its techni ues and its rationale. "he reader$the complete tyro and the advanced practitioner ali!e$will receive an introduction which will accompany him%her in his%her magical practice for a long time to come. &ou will find in this edition in the following chapter a reprint of my article 'Austin Osman Spare and (is "heory of Sigils)) from the, alas, now$ defunct *erman maga+ine ,nicorn, issue -%./. "his issue has been out of print for uite some time, but many readers) in uiries have shown that there is still much interest in this article and it is increasing every day. Since

the article also covers some of the historical and philosophical bac!ground of Spare)s sigil magic, it might be useful to present it here within a new conte#t to a greater audience.
ix x / Practical Sigil Magic

"he word method e#plained in the article will be shown in greater depth in chapter /. Further e#amples will be given, as well as comments and tips for practical use which you will rarely find in literature on this sub0ect. 1e#t we will deal with the pictorial method, which has several advantages and disadvantages when compared to the word method. Again, in accordance with the title of this volume, magical practice will be of primary importance. A description of the mantrical spell method will complete the techni ues of sigil construction proper. 2t is my hope that e#amples and commentaries from my personal practice will provide you with many new

suggestions. Although Spare)s mysterious Alphabet of esire belongs, technically spea!ing, to the pictorial method and in some respects touches the word method, it may nevertheless be considered the center of his magical achievement. ,nfortunately, his own comments about it are rather poor. "herefore, most writers, being familiar with the sub0ect on a theoretical level only, have caused much confusion rather than clarity when discussing it. &et, it seems to me that the basic principle of this magical symbol language is ama+ingly simple if viewed in relation to Spare)s system as a whole. "he chapter '"he Alphabet of 3esire,)) therefore, will not only offer a cursory comment on fragments from Spare)s rather chaotic legacy but introduce a mature system of symbol$logic, accessible to everyone. "his certainly would have been Spare)s intent had he ever finished what has become !nown as the legendary !rimoire of "os, i.e., had he
#ntroduction / xi

completed it with e#planatory comments for the magicians of his time. Albeit Spare)s personal philosophy 4which he himself termed the "os $ia %ultus5 is not that important for sigil magic itself, we should not fail to mention his techni ue of Atavistic nostalgia, which is certainly one of the most fascinating applications of sigil magic. Furthermore, it mar!s its connection to Shamanism and so$called 'primitive magic,)) two disciplines from which today)s magicians can only profit. "he main topic of the last chapter will concern planetary sigils from the (ermetic "radition. Although e#perts have been familiar with the method of their construction for decades, little or no relevant literature has as yet been made available to a wider public. 2t, therefore, seemed pertinent to treat this sub0ect matter here. "he reader will note that in this volume we concentrate on creating personal, that is to say, individual sigils. "his is a completely different approach

compared to the tendency of many other boo!s, which usually prefer to list traditional, largely mutilated or inaccurately reproduced sigils ta!en from the 'magical coo!boo!s)) of generally obscure authors with little or no practical e#perience of their own. Although the planetary sigils
&ii / Practical Sigil Magic

discussed at the end of this study are ta!en from the wor! of Agrippa 1ettesheim, who is above all criticism in this respect, a single glance at other standard wor!s about magical symbols will show that most magicians and alchemists in the Middle Ages 4the supposed 'pea!6 of Occidental magic5 largely developed their own sigil language using a rather small number of well$ established symbols. "he myth that there is a small number of 'correct6 sigils and a great variety of 'wrong6 ones for entities 4generally demons5, whose names are often little else but mutilations of misunderstood

older terms,- has confused the minds of even highly e#perienced old hands. Such misinformation should no longer be tolerated. Of course, even 'wrong)) dogmas can develop their own, definitely real, magical egregore in the course of time. 7ut we should no longer be interested in struggling with the astral garbage which others have been creating for centuries. Spare has certainly opened$ probably without an e#pressed intention to do so$our eyes to an atavism different from the one discussed in chapter 8, for he has shown us the origin of all magical symbolism$the human soul itself' (is message is that those magical sigils which truly wor! derive from our own unconscious and will return again to their source to begin their wor! after being impregnated by our will. 1aturally, and this applies to all magic, one might gain the false impression that it

would be much less of a strain to get everything organi+ed and prepared straight from the horse)s mouth of a '*reat 2lluminated "rue Master of 9isdom,)) but this has nothing to do whatsoever with practical magical success. One could compare this to studying at a
#ntroduction / xiii

university: anything you may have missed in the beginning through idleness will have to be made up for in the end with triple effort. 7ut, you usually don)t have enough time to catch up;. Spare states that 'sigils are monograms of thought)) and that they should be created in accordance with the individuality of our thin!ing. So please, view the e#amples given in this study for what they are$ e#amples only. 3on)t use them la+ily and heedlessly. "his could definitely be dangerous< At the beginning you will need perhaps a uarter of an hour or so for your first individual sigil, but by your fifth or si#th sigil it will ta!e you only a couple of minutes. "his effort will certainly prove to be

worthwhile if you consider the probable success. As 2 said before, sigil magic is probably one of those magical disciplines that may be the fastest and easiest to learn. ,sually, you will need nothing more than a sheet of paper and a pen. 9ith some e#perience, you will have finished the whole operation, including activation and subse uent banishing, within less than five to ten minutes. "here is no faster way$even in magic<

Chapter 1

Austin Osman Spare and His Theory of Sigils*

"he end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century was a time characterised by radical changes and great heretics. "he secret lore and the occult in general were triumphant, and there were good reasons for this: the triumph of materialist positivism with its

Manchester industrialism was beginning to show its first malice, resulting in social and psychological uprooting= the destruction of nature had already begun to bear its first poisonous fruits. 2n brief, it was a time when it seemed appropriate to uestion the belief in technology and the omnipotence of the celebrated natural sciences. Particularly intellectuals, artists and the so> called '7ohemians6 became advocates of values critical of civilisation in general as can be seen in the literature of 1aturalism, in E#pressionist Art and in the whole 3ecadent Movement, which was uite notorious at the time. ???????????? @Aeprint from (nicorn, 2ssue -%./, pp. BC>B..
) * / Practical Sigil Magic

Austin Osman Spare 4-..8>-DE85 was a typical child of this era and, after Aleister Frowley, he was definitely one of the most interesting occultists and practicing magicians of the English>spea!ing

world. 1owadays he is basically !nown only in this cultural conte#t=- internationally, he has received only some attention in literary circles at best$ironically, in a footnote< "his footnote is found in Mario Pra+)s pioneering but, unfortunately, rather superficial wor! +a carne, la morte e il diavolo della letteratura romantica 4"he Aomantic Agony, Florence, -DBG5 where he terms him, together with Aleister Frowley, a 'satanic occultist6/$and that is all. 1evertheless, this important wor! has at least led many an occult researcher familiar with literature to Spare. Fompared with Aleister Frowley)s enigmatic and infamous life, Austin Osman Spare)s e#istence certainly seemed to befit only a footnote. 3espite his various publications after the turn of the century, he remained practically unnoticed until the late si#ties. (e was born in -..8, the son of a Hondon police officer, and we !now very little about his childhood. (e

claimed to have e#perienced while a child an initiation of sorts by an elderly witch, one Mrs. Paterson who, as far as we !now, must have been uite a 9iccan>li!e character. Spare found his intellectual and creative vocation as an artist and illustrator, and he attended the Aoyal Follege of Art where he soon was celebrated as a forthcoming young artist. 7ut he rebelled against a bourgeois middle>class career in the arts. 3isgusted by commercialism, he retreated from the artistic scene soon afterwards, though he still continued editing various maga+ines for uite a while.
Austin -sman Spare and .is /heory of Sigils / 0

From -D/I until his death, he virtually lived as a weird hermit in a Hondon slum, where he sometimes held e#hibitions in a local pub. People have compared his life with that of (. P. Hovecraft and certainly he too was an e#plorer of the dar! levels of the soul. Around the beginning of the First 9orld 9ar, he released some privately published

editions, and today one can ac uire$at least in *reat 7ritain$numerous, usually highly e#pensive reprints of his wor!s. (owever, we are primarily interested in two volumes, namely his well>!nown 1ook of Pleasure 2Se)f3 +ove45 /he Psychology of 6cstasy 4Hondon, -D-B5Band Jenneth *rant)s e#cellently researched boo!C in which he, as leader of his own brand of O.".O. 4-rdo /empli -rientis5 and as an e#pert on Frowley, deals with the practical aspects of Spare)s system as well, Spare)s actual philosophy will not be analy+ed in depth here because this is not really necessary for the practice of sigil theory and it would lead away from the sub0ect of this study. 7efore we begin with Spare)s theory of sigils, it is perhaps useful to write a few words about the part sigils play in a magical wor!ing. Occidental magic is !nown to rest on two main pillars, namely on will and on imagination. Fonnected with these are

analogous thin!ing and symbolic images. For e#ample, Agrippa uses a special sigil for each of the planetary intelligences. "hese are not, as has been assumed for uite some time, arbitrarily constructed, nor were they received by 'revelation,6 but rather they are based on cabbalistic considerations.E
7 / Practical Sigil Magic

"he (ermetic Order of the *olden 3awn also employed sigils as 'images of the souls)) of magical entities, which enabled the magician to establish contact with them= nonetheless, the techni ue of their construction was not e#plained. "he same may be said for O.".O. under Frowley)s leadership and for the 8raternitas Saturni under *regorius. "he name Agrippa already hints at the fact that magical sigils have a long historical tradition, which we will not discuss here because then we would have to cover the whole comple# of occult iconology as

well. 2n general, people thin! of ))correct)) and 'incorrect6 sigils. "he grimoires of the late Middle Ages were often little else but 'magical recipe boo!s)) 4the fre uently critici+ed Sixth and seventh 1ooks of Moses basically applies the same procedure of ))select ingredients, pour in and stir65, and these practitioners believed in the following principle: to !now the 'true)) name and the ))true)) sigil of a demon means to have power over it. Pragmatic Magic, which developed in the Anglo> Sa#on realms, completely tidied up this concept.8 Often Frowley)s revolt in the *olden 3awn$at first in favor of but soon against Mathers$is seen as the actual beginning of modern magic. 2t would certainly not be wrong to say that Frowley himself was an important supporter of Pragmatic thought in modern magic. 7ut in the end, the Master "herion preferred to remain within the hierarchical 3ogmatic system due to his Aiwassrevelation

in +iber Al vel +egis. (is !ey phrase '3o what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Haw. Hove is the law, love under wil-,)) as well as his whole "helemic concept, prove him a 3ogmatic magician.
Austin -sman Spare and .is /heory of Sigils / 9

1ot so Austin Osman Spare. (e seems to derive from the individual>anarchistic direction so that we may describe his philosophy, without undue e#aggeration, as a mi#ture of Hao>"se, 9icca and Ma# Stirner. English magic of the turn of the century was also influenced by an important young science which would actually achieve its ma0or triumphs only after the Second 9orld 9ar$the psychology of Sigmund Freud. 7efore that. 7latvats!y)s #sis (nveiled and /he Secret octrine, as well as Fra+er)s /he !olden 1ough, had given important impulses to the occult in general. 9illiam Kames)s comparative psychology of religion influenced deeply the intellectuality of this time, but Freud, Adler, and especially Farl *, Kung eventually effected ma0or brea!throughs. From then on, people started to

consider the unconscious in earnest. "his apparent digression, which had to be !ept very short due to lac! of space, is in reality a very important basis for the discussion that follows. 9e will not analy+e in depth by whom Spare was influenced. Hao>"se and Stirner having already been mentioned, we might note numerous others from Swinburne to Frowley himself, in whose order, the A.).A.)., Spare had been a member at least for a short while. Aather, we will discuss his greatest achievement$his psychological approach towards magic. "his leads us to magical practice proper. 2n Spare)s system there are no ))correct)) or 'incorrect6 sigils= neither is there a list of ready>made symbols. 2t is of no
: / Practical Sigil Magic

import whether a sigil is the 'correct6 one or not, but it is crucial that it has been created by the magician and is

therefore meaningful to him%her. 7ecause s%he has constructed it for personal use, the sigil easily becomes a catalyst of his%her magical desire, and sometimes it will even wa!en this desire in the first place. "his Pragmatic approach which dominates present>day Anglo> Sa#on magic 42srael Aegardie, Francis Jing, 3avid Stephen S!inner, 9, 7. *ray, Fonway, Hemuel Kohnstone, to name but a few relevant authors5 goes to show that Austin Osman Spare, rather than Aleister Frowley, should be considered the real Father of modern Pragmatic Magic.I 2n the *erman>spea!ing countries, the situation is uite different. 9riters li!e Luintscher, *regorius, 7ardon, Jlingsor and even Spiesberger allow but little room to maneuver when creating magical coordinates individually. (ere the adept is e#pectedly grow into a

ready>made system instead of fashioning one, "his is a completely different approach, the value or non> value of which we will not discuss here. "he nearest thing to Pragmatic Magic, e#isting already in -D-I i.e. -D/- 4the date of the second revised edition of his ma0or wor! on magic as an e#perimental science5, was Staudenmaier. "he wor!s by Mahamudra, which have of late been receiving some attention, are mainly of a descriptive nature and deal with traditions and new interpretations, thus remaining within the conte#t of *erman magical heritage= however, they do ta!e heed of recent results in scientific psychology and are, therefore, at least partially related to the Pragmatic approach. Pragmatic Magic will become more and more important because today)s magicians have to face a
Austin -sman Spare and .is /heory of Sigils / ;

Psychologi+ed $ and psychologi+ing $ environment whose philosophical relativism has been shaping

all of us, and still does. Aegardless of the significance or amount of truth one concedes to psychology%psychoanalysis, we all are infiltrated by its way of thin!ing and its vocabulary. So even we magicians will have to attain to a critical, sensible loo! at it. 2t will be left to another era to find different models of e#planation, description and practice. (ow does Spare proceed in practiceM Sigils are developed by fusion and styli+ation of letters 4see Figure -5. First of all, a sentence of desire has to be formulated. Het us ta!e the e#ample Spare himself gives in his 1ook of Pleasure, the declaration of intent:
THIS #? "ISH TO O5TAI3 TH! ST@!3>TH O TI>!@ A

"his sentence must be written down in capitals. 1e#t, all the letters which appear more than once are deleted so that only one of each letter remains.
THIS #? "ISH TOO5TAI3 TH! ST@!3>TH O A TI>!@

"hus the following letters remain: ", (, 2, S, M, &, 9, O, 7, A, 1, E, A, *, F. "he sigil is created from these letters= it is permissible to consider one part 4for e#ample,

M5 as a reversed 9 or, seen from the side, as an E. (ence, these three letters do not have to appear in the sigil three separate times. Of course, there are numerous possibilities of representation and styli+ation.
< / Practical Sigil Magic

'"his my wish to obtain the strength of a tiger.6 Sigili+ed this would be: "his is my wish "o obtain "he strength of a tiger Fombined as one sigil or 8igure )
Austin -sman Spare and .is /heory of Sigils / =

(owever, it is important that in the end the sigil is as simple as possible with the various letters recogni+able 4even with slight difficulty5. "he artistic uality of the sigil is irrelevant, but for simple psychological reasons it should be obvious that you should not 0ust scribble or doodle it in haste. &ou should strive to ma!e it to the best of your abilities. "he finished sigil, which in the beginning will probably ta!e a few attempts to construe, will then be

fi#ated. &ou may draw it on parchment, on paper, in the sand, or even on a wall. According to SpareNs short instructions, it should be destroyed after its internali+ation. "hus, you will either burn the parchment= wipe it out in the sand, etc. SpareNs basic idea is that the sigil, together with its meaning, must be planted into the unconscious. Afterwards, the consciousness has to forget it so that the unconscious can obey its encoded direction without hindrance. Formulating the sentence of desire. and drawing the sigil should be done with the utmost concentration. 2t ma!es the following activation 4'charging65 much easier. 9hen the sigil is ready, it is activated by implanting it into the psyche. "his is the most difficult part in this process, and Spare offers only very few hints on practical procedures. (owever, it is crucial that the sigil is internali+ed in a trance of sorts. "his may ta!e place in a state of euphoria 4for e#ample, by means of

drugs5, in ecstasy 4for e#ample, se# magically by masturbation, se#ual intercourse or a ritual5, or in a state of physical fatigue. For the latter e#ample, eyes and arms may be tired by the magician folding his%her arms behind the head while standing in front of a mirror and staring fi#edly at his%her image. "he important thing is that it
)> / Practical Sigil Magic

should clic!, meaning that the sigil must be internali+ed spasmodically, which, of course, re uires some e#ercise and control. "his procedure may be supported by repeating the sentence of desire rhythmically and monotonously li!e a mantra, becoming faster and faster= in doing so, one must stare fi#edly at the sigil. 42n our e#ample of loo!ing into the mirror Oa magical mirror may be used, tooP, it is useful to draw the sigil onto the mirror with water>soluble paint.5 After spasmodical internali+ation, the symbol

must be destroyed and deleted from the conscious mind. As mentioned before, from now on it will be the unconscious which has to do the wor!. 2n my own practical wor! 2 have discovered that it may even be useful to !eep the sigil on you, such as wearing a ring engraved with it, etc. 7ut this will depend upon the magicianNs individual predilection, and everybody should find his%her own way. Occasionally, it may prove necessary to repeat the whole procedure, especially if the goal is a very problematical one, re uiring an outstanding amount of energy. 1evertheless, e#perience shows that it is of prime importance not to bring bac! the meaning and aim of the sigil into consciousness at any time. 9e are, after all, dealing with a techni ue a!in to autosuggestion= thus, the rules are the same as with autosuggestions themselves. "herefore, you may not use negative formulas such as '"(2S M& 92S(

1O" "O...6 because very often the unconscious tends neither to recogni+e nor understand this 'not,6 and you might end up getting the opposite result than that which you originally desired. 2f you see a sigil every day, perhaps on a wall or engraved on the outer side of a ring, this should only ta!e place unconsciously, 0ust as one
Austin -sman Spare and .is /heory of Sigils / =

might not consciously notice an ob0ect which is in use all the time. Of course, you should !eep your operation secret, for discussing it with s!eptics or even good friends may dissolve the sigilNs power. "he advantages of this method, of which only a short summary can be given here, are obviousC 2t is temptingly easy, and with only a little practice it may be performed at any time and at any place 2t does not call for any costly paraphernalia= protective Fircles and Pentagram rituals are not re uired 4though sometimes they may prove useful, especially with operations of

magical protection5, etc. People who tend to psychic instability should, however, be cautious. Although the threshold to schi+ophrenia is not as easily crossed with this method as with common evocations, it does involve cutting deeply into the ecology of the psyche, an act which should be considered carefully in any case. "he psycho> magical conse uences are sometimes uite incalculable. As is well !nown, the real problem with magic is not so much the uestion whether it wor!s, but rather the fact that it does. ,sed with responsibility, this method offers the magician a tool which provides him%her with a limitless variety of possible magical applications. A.iBue /aemon .

.
. A.iBue /eus .

.
.
)* / Practical Sigil Magic

Footnotes -. (orst 7. Miers does not mention him at all in his He#i!on der *eheimwissenschaften 4Freiburg,

-DIG5 OEnyclopedia of the Occult ArtsP, but this wor! is generally faulty in many other respects as well. /. 'Another English satanic occultist is Austin Osman Spare,6 /he ?omantic Agony 4Hondon, /, -DIG5, p. C-B, n.ED. B. "he edition used here is a Fanadian reprint by DB Publishing 4Montreal, -DIE5. C. Jenneth *rant, #mages and -racles of Austin -sman Spare 4&or! 7each, ME: Samuel 9eiser, 2nc., -DIE5. E. First, numbers were assigned to the (ebrew letters, and second, the cameas, or magical number s uares, were related to the different planets. For e#ample, the names of the planetary intelligences were converted into numerical values and then the pertinent numbers in the s uares were connected with one another, the whole resulting in a sigil. "he late 2srael Aegardie gives a detailed introduction into this method in .ow to Make and (se /alismans 49ellingborough, 1orthamptonshire, England:

"he A uarian Press, -DI/ ff5. 8. "his term, which was coined by the author of this study, describes a certain type of magic which is based on sub0ective empiricism, or individual e#periences without prior postulates. "he opposite is 3ogmatic magic, which demands a fair amount of faith from its practitioners,
Austin -sman Spare and .is /heory of Sigils / )0

such as belief in the hierarchy of astral entities, correspondences, gnostic dualism, etc 9e are not saying here that these concepts cannot be found at all in Pragmatic Magic but merely that they are only considered as possible models of e#planation amongst others of e ual value. "he Pragmatic magician is perfectly free to abandon them if s%he achieves the desired success without their help. S%he is, therefore, independent of so> called 'revelations6 of many a charlatan. On the other hand, of course, s%he cannot claim his%her e#periences to be

universal 'truth.6 "his prevents$at least ideally $the megalomania very common to practitioners of magic. A detailed discussion of these concepts remains to be covered by a larger, more speciali+ed volume. I. A facile way of loo!ing at a sub0ect li!e this uite often demands the use of illustration rather than differentiation. "hus, for e#ample, the problem of reception cannot be dealt with here. 2t would certainly be an e#aggeration to say that Spare influenced Pragmatic Magic directly. Aather, Pragmatists found him to be one of their il!. 1either do we want to state that there are no 3ogmatists left in the Anglo>Sa#on countries. 7ut the aforementioned writers, as is commonly !nown, are considered to be the leading thin!ers of the magical scene of *reat 7ritain, Fanada, Australia and the ,SA. .. "he formula '"(2S M& 92HH "O...6 has proved to be very powerful in practice. Of course, it may be changed

according to taste or even completely e#changed by any other formula. Practice has shown, however, that it is useful to begin every sigil wor!ing with the same formula
)7 / Practical Sigil Magic

because in the course of time the unconscious seems to respond to this with refle#ive receptivity.

Chapter 2

Further !ploration of the "ord #ethod

"he article 'Austin Osman Spare and (is "heory of Sigils,6 contained in the last chapter, has already covered the basic principles and bac!grounds of sigil magic, but it could not go into more depth due to the limited space characteristic of maga+ine articles. Also, SpareNs sigil magic has seen some further evolution during recent years, especially by English Fhaos magicians as manifested in the various publications of the 2O" order 42O" today Q /he Magical Pact of the

illuminates of /hanateros5. "hus, ever>growing divergences from SpareNs own methods and intentions have become uite common. "o illustrate the word method 4i.e., the construction of sigils employing the letters and words of a sentence of desire5, Figure - of the preceding chapter gives some e#amples. "he whole procedure occurs as follows: -. "he sentence of desire must be formulated and written down in capital letters.
)9 ): / Practical Sigil Magic

/. ?epeated letters are deleted so that every letter will be used but once. Ba. Several parts of the sentence are sigili@ed into several single sigils. OA: Bb. All letters of the whole sentence are combined into one general sigil. Ca. Single sigils are combined into one general sigil. OA: Cb. "he general sigil constructed in Bb is simplified%

styli+ed. E. "he sigil is internali@ed/activated. 4Specific techni ues are discussed in the following chapter.5 8. "he sigil is banished and forgotten. 4Specific techni ues are discussed in the following chapter.5

urther !xamples for Constructing Sigils Asing the "ord #ethod

a5 ,sing the same sentence as in chapter -, '"(2S M& 92S( "O O7"A21 "(E S"AE1*"( OF A "2*EA,6 the following letters remain after deleting all double or multiple ones: ", (, 2, S, M, &, 9, O, 7, A, 1, E, A,*, F.
8urther 6xploration of the Aord Method / );

"(2S M& 92S( 4", (, 2, S, M, &, 95 "O O7"A21 4O, 7, A, 15 "(E S"AE1*"( OF A "2*EA 4E, A, *, F5 Fombined into one general sigil or: b5 &ou may also form all the letters of the whole sentence 4again without any repeats5 into one general sigil, avoiding the construction of several single sigils. "he letter E 4Q 5, for instance, may be seen as 9 4Q 5 as well as an M 4Q 5. See Figures / and B.
)< / Practical Sigil Magic

Figure / or: Figure B 9ith a little bit of e#perience, you will be able to combine steps B and C into one single operation, especially if you have developed your own personal artistic 'sigil style.6 A. O. Spare, who practiced this techni ue throughout all of his life, had an advantage over the average sigil drawer because he was a highly talented and ac!nowledged artist who could develop very beautiful and attractive sigils. 1ut artistic talent is no criterion for the success of sigil magic$ TH #OST I#%ORTANT %OINT IS THAT &OU CR AT TH SI'I(S FOR &OURS (F ) Our glyphs may even loo! a bit 'ugly,6 'primitive,6 'rough>hewn6 or 'handmade,6 and sometimes this may even be an added bonus. 7ecause of their 'unrefined6 image, they will appear to our unconscious 4which will have to struggle with them5 much more 'magical6 or maybe 0ust 'less ordinary.6 2n other words, a so>called 'ugly6 sigil differs a lot from our

standardi+ed and smoothed>up everyday environment of glossy machines and industrial pseudo> aesthetics. Since we are wor!ing with Magis, or the original magical power which belongs, according to current theories, to a
8urther 6xploration of the Aord Method / )=

praeter>conscious, i,e., 'primitive6 stage of being, everything which reminds us of the times of amateurish handicraft will awa!en primordial impulses in our reptilian brain. "his will virtually automatically liberate the magical power in this section of the brain or awa!en it in the first place. Of course, all this depends largely on the mag our elings 4i.e., your intuition5 rather than in rules which other magicians have set up according to their own sub0ec but more fre uently it will provo!e total failure, My own icianNs personal paradigm. So place your trust in y fe tive biases, disaffections and tempers. 2f you

prefer putting a lot of effort into a sigil, wishing to create a 'real piece of artwor!,6 you are, of course, perfectly free to do so. 2t is recommended, however, for reasons to be discussed at greater length later, that you should not spend too much time consciously creating a sigil. "his is because, among other arguments, it will be much more difficult to forget the sigilNs outline and contents or to push it out of the consciousness, which is so essential for its proper wor!ing. 7efore we start our discussion of the techni ues for activating sigils, 2 would li!e to give you a few more practical tips. "he first recommendation involves the method of constructing a sentence of desire. Sigil magic is primarily success magic. 2t aims at achieving very tangible and verifiable results. Accordingly, sentences of will should

be concrete and specific. Ambiguity will confuse the unconscious and may lead to only partial Success at best,
*> / Practical Sigil Magic

ll is advantageous since the in0unction given 7EFOME 2HH,6 but say '"(2S M& 92S( "O AEMA21 (EAH"(& .6 ans and amulets is commonly defined in that t e#perience has shown, as mentioned in chapter -, that it is advisable to begin each sentence of desire with the same formula= in our e#ample it was '"(2S M& 92S(...6 One might also simply say '2 92S(;6 or '2" 2S M& 92HH;6 or something similar. Specifically mentioning the wi to the unconscious is clearer and easier to understand. Feeble phrasings such as '2 9O,H3 H2JE "O;,6 '2 9O,H3 92S( "O;6 or '2 S(O,H3 9A1" "O;6 lac! conviction and should be avoided. 2n the end, you will always have to learn from your own e#periences and find your own optimal formula. 9e !now from various other systems of manipulation of consciousness that negative

formulas are usually not properly comprehended by the unconscious. 9hile the unconscious is capable of understanding the metaphorical language 4and sigils constructed with the word method are really nothing else5 in e#pressions li!e 'eradicate,6 'remove6 or 'avoid,6 it does seem to ignore words li!e 'not,6 'none,6 'never,6 etc., for most people. "herefore, do not say '"(2S M& 92S( 1O" "O 2nterestingly enough, this does not apply to all areas of practical magic. For e#ample, the difference between talism alismans are for something while amulets are against something. "hus, a talisman may be constructed for health= however, an amulet would be constructed against illness. 7ut even with amulets one will usually restrain from using negative formulations 4e.g., 'PAO"EF" ME FAOM AHH 2HH1ESS,6 or something similar5.
8urther 6xploration of the Aord Method / *)

hy and overly specific formulations. Hater on, when we loo! at the theories which purport to e#plain how sigil magic wor!s, we will

reali+e that this mechanism has less to do with negative wording than with the general problem of how to get around the 'psychic censor.6 "he e#periences of some magicians who have achieved success with negative formulas have confirmed this point of view. 7ut this is an e#ception to the rule, and you should try to avoid any ris!, especially when starting with your practical wor!. "he uestion as to whether one should formulate precisely or a bit 'ha+ily6 is arguable. 2n my e#perience, it is not sensible to dictate overly detailed directives to the unconscious. Sentences li!e '"(2S M& 92S( "O MEE" FAA1R 7AA3O1 O1 "(E -I"( OF OF"O7EA A" B:B/ P.M. 21 S(AAJ&NS 7AA6 not only ma!e great demands on your own Magis 4or, as 2ndian shamans would label it, on your 'control of the nagual65 but also presuppose a rather generous, good willed unconscious. One should never put too great a

strain on the universe. 7ut this is a general problem in practical magic, and the sigil magician is not the only One compelled to tac!le it, as it also applies to the ceremonial magician, the sorcerer and the theurgist. E#perience shows that it is uite feasible to include the time factor in the sentence of desire. For e#ample, '"(2S M& 92S( "O 7EFOME (EAH"(& A*A21 /.#S M-B/.,6 etc. 7ut an overloaded psychic time schedule in manager fashion would definitely be too much for our magical faculty. 2n the chapter '7ut (ow 3oes 2t 9or!M6 we will ta!e a closer loo! at time factors and control of success. "hus, you should try for a proper balance between wishy>was
** / Practical Sigil Magic

A sen up with a writ and tence of desire of the '"(2S M& 92S( "O 7E AA"(EA 9EHH 6 format is somewhat too vague, for even if the sigil did produce the desired success,

you probably would not become aware of it, Spells for winning in a lottery in which you strive to fi# the e#act amount of money to the third decimal place will, due to information overload, force your whole system to collapse. At best, nothing will happen at all= at worst, however, the bailiff might suddenly turn his%her calculator. 7ut, here again, personal e#perience is better than a thousand coo!boo!s. 2ncidentally, it is advisable 4at least sometimes5, when using all the methods of sigil construction discussed here, for you to place a border round the sigil, either in the form of a triangle, circle, s uare or something similar. See Figures C, E, and 8. 8igure 7 8igure 9 8igure :
8urther 6xploration of the Aord Method / *0

does not need a te the arousal f the inner psychic elemental forces 4Magis5. 2f we loo! at the sub0ect in greater depth, Mandalas 4cf. "ibetan "hang!as and &antras5 are basically somewhat

more complicated sigils that transport philosophical, mythical, ilar contents, which, of course, can be spiritual symbols anyway. 7efore beginning our discussion of sigil activation, we shall ta!e a closer loo! at how to simplify them. Overly complicated sigils are as ineffective as baro ue tapeworm sentences of desire. Always !eep in mind that you will have to internali+e 4'charge65 the sigil of magical or 'gnostic6 trance. "his may mean that you will have to imagine it active-y. Such a procedure might "his has two advantages. First, it ma!es it easier to concentrate on the sigil when charging it. Second, it gives the sigil a 'definite6 and 'conclusive6 touch, for if you wor! a lot with sigils, occasionally you may find the sigils becoming 'entangled6 in your unconscious to form undesirable chains and combinations (owever, this happens very rarely, and the ris! is

comparatively small. 2t also happens mainly to sigil fanatics who donNt do anything else all day long but inoculate their unconscious, cramming it full with glyphs. "he sigil of Figure B, however, is an e#ample of a construction which n additional border. Another aspect of putting a border around the sigil is that Mandala structures 4as depth psychology has shown5 will awa!en and activate archetypal material in the unconscious. "hus, a border will facilita o spiritual and sim said of most in a state
*7 / Practical Sigil Magic

not be a problem as long as you actually have the sigil in front of you, such as hanging it on a wall or painting it onto a mirror, but even then it could be difficult to internali+e a glyph with too many details to it. "here are no limits to your fantasy or artistic talent when simplifying or styli+ing sigils. &ou may even 'cheat6 a

bit, as long as you are emotionally satisfied with the result of your drawing. Het us loo! at a new e#ample. "he sentence of desire '"(2S 2S M& 92S( "O EAA1 F2SE (,13AE3 PO,13S "OMOAAO96 leaves us with the following letters: ", (, 2, S, M, &, 9, O, E, A, A, 1, F, S, 3, P "his long list of letters can form the general sigil: 8igure ; ince this is far too complicated, we will want to simpli S fy it: 8igure <
8urther 6xploration of the Aord Method / *9

e certainly wonNt find it difficult to d at the same time for a , as well as r a 3. &ou will note that we have left out uite a lot, but we have also added some embroideries or supplements e.g., the vertical line drawn through the middle of the whole sigil and the hori+ontal line cutting the whole circle in half. 9hat is important$at least in the beginning$is that we are theoretically able to rediscover all our basic letters in the sigil 4even in its

styli@ed version5 1ow w recogni+e the letters ", (, 2, &, 9, O, E, S, ,, 3, and P, especially if we !eep in mind that the same lines may be interpreted in several different fashions. "he arc, for e#ample, may stan fo 8igure = 8igure )>
*: / Practical Sigil Magic

7ut what has happened to the letters S, A and MM And where is the AM 2f we want to !eep the basic form of this sigil as it is, we will have to 'cheat6 a bit: 8igure ))
8urther 6xploration of the Aord Method / *;

1ow, it may be argued that nearly any letter could be rediscovered in nearly any glyph with this method, if you only had enough chee! and a vivid imagination. "o some e#tent, this is certainly true, but the main point is that you are constructing the sigils so that all other possibilities become irrelevant.
TH! *@OC!SS O SI>IC CO3ST@ACTIO3 ITS!C IS #O@! I#*O@TA3T THA3 ITS >@A*HIC @!SACTD

Of course, we do need the finished sigil, i.e., the graphic end result, for otherwise we could not charge or activate it. 7ut it would be of no use to you at all if you had not constructed it alone, without any outside help. 49e will discuss some e#ceptions to this rule in our chapter on the pictorial method5 "he above> mentioned mnemonic is little more than a rephrasing of an e#hortation which you will hear fre uently from Ren masters$'"he way is the goal;.6 Perhaps we should now deal with how to decorate a sigil. 9e have already seen that it is important that the sigil stri!es us as being 'magical,6 'out of the ordinary6 "his will mean different things to different Peoples My own style of sigil construction, which 2 have developed in the course of more than -/ years of practice, prefers hori+ontal glyphs with s uiggles and triangles for decorations So 2 would the sigil from the last e#ample in this fashion :

Admittedly, M and S might loo! a bit better, but, after all, we merely want to illustrate how to proceed with abstractions. decorate 4Figure -/5
*< / Practical Sigil Magic

8igure )* "hese embroideries do not have a meaning in themselves 40ust as a sigil no longer has any consciously 'recogni+able6 meaning5= they serve the sole purpose of creating the right atmosphere or giving the sigil a 'magic6 touch 4or, for the more romantically minded, a touch of 'mystery65. "his can enhance its effect substantially, and 2 strongly advise you to e#periment.

Chapter %

The #agi*al Tran*e + A*ti,ating the Sigils

(aving finished the sigil with much effort, go to bed with it. Masturbate and, during se#ual clima#, concentrate on the graphic sigil. 2f you have a welltrained imagination, you might as well visuali+e the sigil, but beginners are advised to stare at the glyph

with widely opened eyes. 2t is crucial that you place the sigil in front of your eyes during orgasm.

/O 3OT THI3E O ?OA@ S!3T!3C! O /!SI@! O@ TH! CO3T!3TS O ?OA@ SI>IC AT THIS #O#!3TD
*=

"he following can be applied e ually to the word and the pictorial method. 9ithin limits, the various techni ues are pertinent to the mantrical spell method as well, but this mode shall be e#plained separately in more detail in a later chapter. Re*ommendation for a lightning-*harging 4for people who are always in a hurry5
0> / Practical Sigil Magic

2deally, you should have forgotten the original urpose for which the sigil was created. 4"o achieve this, ou can put the sigil aside for a couple of days or wee!s n and then ta!e it out in a uiet minute to this, of course, could hardly be termed a lightning ritual.65 sh the sigil. "he hter. 2t does not you can thin! of 2mmediately after anishing by laughter, think of something

completely ifferent. "he easiest way of achieving this is by switch e#ual ethics ble fact that sigils re best internali+ed in the easiest, speediest and least proble s6 of all sorts, it was ommon to spea! of 'sacrificing the orgasmic lust on the at all costs avoid the e#plosive orgasm 4i.e., e0aculation5 during sacred ual intercourse because, p y after constructio activate it. 7ut ' Afterwards, you will have to bani best method of banishing is roaring laug matter if this may seem a bit artificial= if a good 0o!e now, even better. b d ing on the "S, dialling the tal!ing cloc!, listening to the latest lottery results, 0umping up and down on one leg for half an hour, etc. One may argue endlessly about s and%or se#ual fears, but it is an undenia

a matical way during se#ual clima#. 9e will get to !now various other methods, too, but e#perience has shown that orgasm provides the most effective of magical trances. 3ebauchees with glittering eyes may, however, be warned that this branch of se#ual magic has little or nothing to do with se#ual 'fun.6 2n the past, when it was still trendy to wor! with 'sacrifice c altar of "ranscendence,6 etc Obviously, this has a lot to do with "antric and "aoist ideas, which state that the male should se#
/he Magical /rance / Activating the Sigils / 0)

accord m after se#ual intercourse 4in hetero the first chapter it was mentioned that sigils should be internali+ed spasmodically. "his can be done in several ways. Our goal is always the same: to form an altered ing to these doctrines, loss of semen means loss of

power 4and, by e#trapolation, longevity5. "his approach which has for various reasons never become particularly popular in the 9est, led even one of the ma0or masters of se#ual magic, Aleister Frowley, to concentrate on drin!ing his sper se#ual intercourse, the mi#ed male and female secretions$FrowleyNs infamous 'eli#ir65. "his digression aside, we may note that lecherous se# maniacs wonNt have too much when dealing with this branch of se#ual magic, as these operations can be rather strenuous and not too pleasurable. 2n state of consciousness in which the censor has become 'soft6 and in which s%he will no longer or cannot prevent direct communication between the conscious and the unconscious. Hi!e the magical or gnostic trance in general, consciousness is not entirely switched off, which means that you arenNt aiming for a hypnotic full trance. Such 'threshold states6/ may be achieved either

by withholding sleep, by overe#ertion, by e#haustion, or by activating intense emotions li!e anger, fear, pleasure, ecstasy, etc.B (ere again we can see why the se#>magical charging of a sigil 4which, of course, can also be performed during intercourse with a partner5 is so much easier than all other methods. First, most people are uite familiar with willed orgasms, which can hardly be said, for e#ample, of willed, controlled trances of e#haustion
0* / Practical Sigil Magic

One techni ue which is fre uently uoted in terature, but hardly ever e#plained in detail, is SpareNs so>cal or horror. Second, the effort to achieve a se#ual clima# is so much less than to achieve a trance through fasting, for another e#ample, which would ta!e several days of starving oneself, or a fear trance, for which you might have to hang half of your body out of the window on the seventeenth floor of a building. 4Of course, a

high ride on a roller coaster might do the tric! as well, but can you really control your acrophobia enough to charge a sigilM5 1evertheless, you should get to !now as many different circumstances for sigil charging as possible to widen your scope of magical techni ues considerably. li led death posture. 9hereas Pete Farroll in +iber Bull 4p. B-5, following on from other writers, basically sees it as a method of 'holding oneNs breath in an uncomfortable position until one nearly dies,6: Jenneth *rantC regards it as belonging to se# magic. (e sees the death posture 4referring to Spare himself5 as a techni ue whereby the conscious mind is switched off 4that is to say, 'intermediately slain65 by se#ual activity, which means that all conscious thoughts will cease. Anyway, the crucial point, as with most magical trances, is that you can achieve a state of non>thin!ing or no>mind

this way, whereby the conscious mind collapses for a short span of time 4sometimes, as with an orgasm, only for seconds5 and leaves free a direct channel to the unconscious. 2n the following te#t, two non>se#ual variants of the death posture, which have proved themselves well in practice, particularly for people who are new to magic and who have little or no training in magical trances, are described.
/he Magical /rance / Activating the Sigils / 00

longer. "hen, hortly before reaching the point of fainting, open wide our eyes and stare$while breathing in and out fresh air$a /!ATH *OSTA@! 9Fersion 1< "his version may be performed both in a standing or a sitting position. For your first attempts, 2 recommend sitting before a table on which you have placed the sigil. After a deep breath, bloc! your eyes, ears, mouth and nose, using the fingers of both hands.

Foncentrate on the internal tension in your body 4do not thin! of the sigil or its aim<5, and hold your breath until you cannot bear it any longer. Fontinue holding your breath until you truly cannot bear it anymore. "hen you should still hold your breath until you cannot bear it at all any s y t the sigil. 2f you do this correctly, you will find yourself in a state of almost panic>stric!en no> mind$a form of magical trance where your unconscious is more responsive to and more receptive for sigils. Afterwards, as already mentioned, you banish by laughter and by concentrating on something completely different, the more secular the better. One version of this techni ue has already been described in chapter -. 2t is performed by standing in front of a mirror on which you have drawn your sigil with water>soluble colors. (ere again, physical over> e#ertion

is employed. Stare into the eyes of your mirror image without fluttering your eyelids, then cross your arms behind your head or your nec!, push your arms bac!wards as far and uncomfortably as you can, and tense all your muscles while holding your breath 4you may also stand on tiptoes5 Jeep this posture until you cannot bear the tension and%or pain anymore. "hen release the tension spasmodically while interna-i+ng the sigil. 7anish by laughter, thin! of something else, etc.
07 / Practical Sigil Magic

lung o lying in the open s uare of your hands A note of *aution. Sersion - of the death posture is 1O" suitable for persons who suffer from heart condition, ailments of the r high blood pressure. Since you can hardly as! your doctor whether s%he would advise you against this techni ue or not 4unless the doctor is also a magician$ you might already have found one by using a

sigil<5, you should, if in doubt, choose one of the other aforementioned techni ues. /!ATH *OSTA@! 9Fersion 2< As far as 2 !now, this techni ue has never before been described in writing. 2t is 'milder6 than the first version but easily as effective, although it demands a little bit of training. 2t is performed in a sitting position. "he sigil lies in front of you on the table. &ou sit in a chair as straight as you can, your palms resting on the table, you may e#tend your thumbs and let them touch each other, the sigil now . Stare at the sigil without blin!ing your eyelids. 2t does not matter if your eyes start watering= your attention is concentrated elsewhere. 1ow try to twitch the muscles of your calves very briefly. 2t is best to start with one leg, then to change to the other, and finally to twitch the muscles of both calves together. "he twitching itself should be tense but at the same time loose. A

split second is uite enough as long as it very intense. "his may sound a bit difficult at first but with a little practice you will !now precisely what is right for you. 1ow you may continue by twitching the muscles of your upper anus, following with your chest, hands and arms up to your scalp 4which may be a purely sub0ective
/he Magical /rance / Activating the Sigils / 09

e#perienced it once you will !now ow to do it properly5. 9ith a little practice, the whole proced your organism is only as human as you are, but with a little bit of effort you will eaning of the word: lightn r first a tion, it is advisable to let feeling, but having h ure should not last longer than about half a second. So, your entire body is rac!ed by a short spasm, and at

the clima# you open your eyes even more widely 4while still staring at the sigil5, 'inhale the sigil6 with your eyes, laugh loudly while closing your eyes, and thatNs it< 4"hen, once again thin! of something completely different, etc.5 3onNt despair if you should encounter some minor problems in the beginning master this techni ue in the true m ing>fast. Also, you will have a method of sigil activation in hand which wor!s even faster than the se#magical one< 2 have seen wor!shop participants who managed to get the effect of the sigil minutes after thei ttempt, and this is uite common. Bote5 After charging a sigil, you should avoid meditation and all other trance>inducing techni ues 4e.g., trance dance, drugs, brain machines, etc.5 for at least three hours. As you have firmly 'shut the lid6 of your unconscious by banishing and distrac it rest for a while to forgo the possibility of the sigils floating into your consciousness again.
0: / Practical Sigil Magic

e importance in this form of magic will be illustrated later

when we ta!e a loo! at possible e#planation models for this magical method. After having activated%internali+ed a sigil, you should not thin! of the glyph itself nor of its content. Since most people have a rather bad memory for complicated symbols and glyphs 4painters, graphic artists and others who are particularly visually gifted or wor!ing in this field e#cepted5, forgetting the sigil itself wonNt presen ple TH! AST!@ ?OA O@>!T TH! SI>IC= TH! #O@! ! !CTIF! TH! O*!@ATIO3. As with talismans, amulets and magical rituals in general, the intent to forget a desire or magical operation is one of the greatest tas!s for a magician if s%he wants to e#perience success uic!ly. E#perience with meditation and thought control will certainly pay off now. &ou may have heard the story of the man who came to his guru and as!ed him what to do to become enlightened.

'1othing,6 the guru answered 'Kust go on living as you did before. Oh, yes, there is one thing, though: avoid thin!ing of the mon!ey.6 Sery pleased, the man than!ed his guru and returned home. 7ut while on his way home, his thoughts began circling remorselessly: '2 must not thin! of the mon!ey, 2 must not thin! of the mon!ey...6 E 9hy forgetting a sigil is of such prim t too much of a problem, unless the glyphNs design is too simple. 4"o forget a s uare or triangle could prove rather difficult.5 Forget the contents of the sigil and the sentence of desire. 2f sigils or sentences of desire une#pectedly pop up into consciousness, recharge and banish them againC Most of the time itNs enough to simply distract your attention from the 'mon!ey6 by laughter, for e#am
/he Magical /rance / Activating the Sigils / 0;

4wh ne of t with t

right until you get so accustomed to the note t ic o he best techni ues of e#orcism anyway5. h, as pointed out several times in +iber Bull, is &ou should definitely !eep a diary for your sigil wor!, if only to chec! on your successes at a later date, but you should also conceal the sigils, sentences of desire and other details 4e.g., by placing a sheet of paper over the relevant sections5 so that they wonNt come bac! into your memory accidentally when you open your diary or leaf through it. As with the formulation of the sentence of desire, you will have to find a compromise between permanent memory and complete loss of any documentation. As to awaiting the success of the operation, donCt do it' "his is also the best way of ma!ing sure that you will forget about it. 2f this is too e#treme for you and if you have problems with forgetting, try to counter this hat state of consciousness which Spare termed

the '1either%1either.6 Aay Sherwin tags it '1onattachment%1on>disinterest,6 or, more precisely, 'positive 1on>desire.68 "his again is more a uestion of practice and self>discipline than of techni ue. "here is yet one other techni ue for forgetting a sigil, namely getting used to it until you no longer perceive it consciously. &ou may be familiar with this principle from personal e#perience. &ou decide to do something special every day and, therefore, you hang a note in a prominent place as a reminder. For a few days this will wor! all hat it does not serve as a reminder, so you finally end up where you began. &ou 0ust donNt see the note and its message anymore. "his may even become an unconscious act of sigil magic achieving the desired success. More li!ely, however, the whole procedure was
0< / Practical Sigil Magic

ing this very pattern to draw your final sigil on before it is

charge s 4or blood or sa nothing but well intentioned amateur wor!. 1ow we may use the same techni ue with sigils by employ of behavior or perception. After charging the sigil, you place it in a prominent position until you are no longer consciously aware of it. As mentioned previously, you may also engrave the glyph on the outer side of a ring or into a metal plate as a talisman, etc. Sigils and Talismans&Amulets 7asically, it is of no importance at all which material you use d. 2f you are a traditionalist>purist and want to use virgin parchment, you may do so, of course, but normal paper is uite good enough.I After activation, sigils are usually burned or otherwise destroyed, but you can also ma!e talismans and amulets out of them. 2n this case, you will want to use more durable materials. One way of doing this is by drawing the sigil on a piece of parchment or sturdy paper. 2f you

charge it se# magically, you may put some se#ual secretion liva5 on it for support after activation. After banishing, you can roll up the paper or parchment and wrap some yarn or sil! thread around it. 3epending upon which school of 'isolation techni ues6 you belong to, you may either seal this roll with pure beeswa# or sew it into a piece of sil!, linen or leather, etc. 2f you want to wear the amulet or talisman, it is advisable to ma!e it into a nec!lace or tie it to a thong. (aving served its purpose, the magical tool has to be burned, buried or thrown in water. 7efore doing so, you can discharge it under running water with a suitable suggestion.
/he Magical /rance / Activating the Sigils / 0=

rmed without uch complicated and time>consuming considerations, as imes. "his will !eep you on the ball, ready for action and versatile. is usually those 'magi to do without his%her talisman, for e#ample, after having been

robbed of As pointed out in the beginning, the advantage of spareNs sigil magic is that it has no need for complicated rituals. 1either do you need to engage in calculating specific astrological constellations, cabalistic arithmetic or lunar phases, etc. &ou will be better off, especially when practicing Pragmatic Magic, if you have at hand at least one of these systems that can be perfo s useful as they may be at other t &ou donNt really need amulets and talismans in sigil magic either. 2f the sigil is charged correctly, you already have created an 'astral talisman6 4or 'astral amulet65 of sorts, a new circuit in the psycho> computer which will remain effective until it has served its purpose. Such a magical weapon has the advantage of being independent of physical ob0ects 4which also means that it can never get into the wrong hands5. 2t cians6 with the least practical e#perience who

shout the loudest that a 'correctly protected6 magical weapon never would get into the wrong hands in the first place. ,nfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. Every beginner in ceremonial magic learns that his%her rituals will attract astral entities 0ust as light will attract moths. 9ith magical weapons, talismans, amulets and other appropriate tools, the case is uite similar: some people are fascinated by them beyond sensible control. 2t is of little use to warn people never to touch the magically charged tools of a sorcerer without his%her permission, for proscriptions will usually ma!e the whole thing seem a lot more attractive. 2t is of far lesser importance that a magician may have
7> / Practical Sigil Magic

it. "he elop a definite, indepe whole situation can be compared with the position of an Army Luartermaster: he is responsible for the

safe!eeping of his arms and ammunition, not so much because any loss of gear would wea!en his arsenal 4which, of course, is another aspect not to be ignored5, but mainly to ensure the safety of others who may not be aware of the danger of such tools$and who might have to pay dearly with their lives or physical or psychic health for their ignorance or innocence. 2t is no secret either that some magical instruments do tend to dev ndent life of their own, and the history of magic is full of e#amples to prove the point. 9hen using non>physical sigils, you donNt have to ma!e tiresome last provisions concerning what should be done about them after your death so that they will be properly deactivated or handed over to the proper magical heir, etc. 9hile sigils might show up again in your consciousness sometimes, this is uite harmless 2 have never observed sigils developing a totally

independent e#istence, going off on their own, etc., li!e amulets, magical daggers, and the li!e are sometimes wont to do. 1ow, what about controlling your own successM 7asically, the same rules are applicable here as in more
/he Magical /rance / Activating the Sigils / 7)

moment you reali+e your s sman Spare could bring forth a cloudburst within inutes with the aid of sigils. (e also succeeded, using is method, in evo!ing demons at a flinch. 1evertheless, would be presumptuous to ascribe this to sigil magic nd its techni ues alone. Fertainly, the magicianNs ersonal talent, the power of his%her own Magis, the inner onsistency of his%her magical universe, the ualities of agical time 4which shamans label 'moments of power65 nd some degree of probability may play an important art in instant magical phenomena, which should not be undere conventional magic. Sigil magic is certainly not

an infallible techni ue, but numerous practitioners have confirmed repeatedly that it is by far the most effective of all the 9estern magical systems. 2f your sigil wor!ing has a time limit 4for e#ample, one month, a uarter of a year, etc.5, control of success is simple enough. &ou may ma!e a special note in your diaryNs agenda and later contemplate the result. "hings are a bit more complicated if there are no time limits or the ob0ective is an e#tremely long>term one. 1evertheless, with some practice you will develop the right feeling for it. Although, you will have long forgotten your sigil wor!ing, the uccess, you will remember, which may create uite a weird feeling at times. &ou might have a similar e#perience as the Fhasidim rabbi when he than!ed *od for never sending him anything before he needed it< 2t is a prerogative that we accustom ourselves to a

different manner of success assessment. "he time it ta!es for a sigil to wor! is somewhat unpredictable. Sometimes success will be instant sometimes it may ta!e months. 9e are told that Austin O m th it a p c m a p stimated.
7* / Practical Sigil Magic

it is the most simple and uncom 7ut this is, as 2 have pointed out before, not a problem of sigil magic alone. As did 3ion Fortune, 2 tend to operate on a time limit of about si# to nine months in general. 2f short>term or medium>term operations have not succeeded within this period, they should be considered as having failed. &ou will find more tips for the practical

use of sigils in chapter .. For didactic reasons 2 chose to start off with the word method of sigili+ation to escort you to practical wor! immediately, without initially giving any consideration to other methods of sigil construction. 2n doing so, we avoided overburdening you with technicalities at too early a stage, parts of which you would only understand through practice anyway. Another reason is that most readers will probably want to start off with the word method because plicated one. "he other methods of sigil construction follow. Points which have already been discussed and which are also applicable for these types of sigils will not be repeated, but, of course, 2 shall clarify distinctions in procedure.

Chapter )

The %i*torial #ethod

arly to voodoo doll magic, you might draw a figure with his initials 4see Figure -B5. "hen you may stic! an 'astral acupuncture needle6 into

his stomach area through which sealing energy is fed into the affected part of the body 4Figure -C5:
70

As opposed to the word method and the mantrical spell method, the pictorial method of sigil construction demands neither language nor specifically formulated sentences of desire. 2ts advantage lies in the fact that you are able to use the image language of the unconscious directly, provided that you are able to transcribe precisely your sentence of desire into such images without utili+ing words . 2magine that you want to heal a friend. Het us assume his name is (an! Miller and that he is suffering from stomach pains. Simil
77 / Practical Sigil Magic

8igure )0 8igure )7

/he Pictorial Method / 79

"his sigil must now be simplified and styli+ed as with the word method. See Figures -E and -8. 8igure )9
7: / Practical Sigil Magic

8igure ):

/he Pictorial Method / 7;

Fharging or activating%internali+ing is e#ecuted as lready described in chapters - and B. "he same rules are applicable for forgetting the operation, etc. Het us loo! at a second e#amples "wo people 4partners5 are to be brought together by a so> called 'binding spell6 9eNll call them 'A6 and '7.6 See Figure -I. 2f you wor! a lot with the pictorial method, you will find that soon you will want to develop your own 'symbolic language6 in order to tac!le more complicated sub0ects. "his leads us into the realm of the Alphabet of 3esire, covered in chapter 8. 2f you are familiar with magical symbols in general, you may use them as 'raw material6 for individual sigils as well. "his, of course, re uires that these glyphs and signs have truly become second nature to you. Het us again loo! at an e#ample to illustrate this procedure. 9e want to create a familiar spirit or 'psychogone6 and will, therefore, need

such basic symbols. "hus, we must choose from the rich treasury of our history of occult symbols. Het us assume that the spirit: a5 should be hard wor!ing= b5 should have structural awareness and the ability to materiali+e itself= and c5 it must furnish you with financial advantages. 9e want to utili+e the symbols of Earth and Saturn. See Figure -.. 9e may also want to create a spirit from the Sphere of Senus for erotic purposes. "o this end, we might use the symbols in Figure -D. a
7< / Practical Sigil Magic /he Pictorial Method / 7=

8igure )< 8igure )=

9> / Practical Sigil Magic

Fombined, these symbols may form one of the sigils in Figure /G. 8igure *> "he following sy be used to form a sigil for achieving mystical insight into infinity: mbols may
/he Pictorial Method / 9) 9* / Practical Sigil Magic

See Figure /- for completed sigils:

ebrew letters, tattwa ymbols, or any geometrical symbols you prefer. 4"here are very few glyphs which have not been attributed with some meaning.5 7ut as pointed out before, you should not 0ust copy some symbols out of boo!s which have no life for you or are not vivid to you. 1aturally, you may live in the paradigm that these 'ancient6 symbols have already developed a life of their own, having been vitali+ed by legions of magicians before us, but even in that case you will first have to create an inner contact to the glyphs yourself, e.g., by employing them fre uently in a pertinent magical conte#t. One could ob0ect that this techni ue contradicts the basis of SpareNs system because it does not wor! with individual sigils. (owever, this is only partly correct. "he individual elements ma!ing up such a sigil may consist of established symbols, but the end result is definitely

individual because of the selection of the basic symbols and the simplification%styli+ation and decoration, which is e#ecuted here again. "he sigils from our last e#amples could be enlarged in the manner of Figure //. Het us not forget that alienation is a significant element of sigil construction. 1ow that we have covered the important aspects of the pictorial method, let us ta!e a loo! at the mantrical spell method. Of course, you may also use ( s
/he Pictorial Method / 90

Chapter $

The #antri*al Spell #ethod

"he mantrical spell method basically employs acoustic sigils. "he principle of constructing mantrical sigils is uite simple: the sentence of desire is transformed into a mantra devoid of any obvious sense or meaning. "his may be done most easily by writing down the sentence of desire in a uasi>phonetic manner, i.e.,

words as spo!en. "his may demand some ingenuity, but any magician needs this, and, here again, practice alone ma!es for refinement. Het us ta!e an e#ample from +iber Bull 4p. /-5: a5 Sentence of desire: 2 9A1" "O MEE" A S,FF,7,S 21 3AEAM "his sentence, in a uasi>phonetic 4acoustic5 spelling, becomes: b5 2 9A( 1AA ME3AA S,J, 7,S21 3AEEM
99 / Practical Sigil Magic

5 1ow, all double or multiple letters are eliminated5 as ith the word method:
9:

c w 2 9A( 1AA ME3AA S,J, 7,S21 3AEEM d5 "his leaves us with:@ 29A( 1NMEA 3NS,J enated ven more, and you are free to add some vowels so that e end product does not become a tongue twister but can e easily vocali+ed: ternali+ation of #antrical Sigils 4'short

which are sometimes sigili+ed, as we shall see e5 "he sentence from d5 is now rearranged, or ali e th b (A92 EM1EA J,SA3 4completed mantra5 For the use of mantrical sigils, you will need some linguistic agility and an ear for rhythm. "he sigil mantras should sound euphonic 4meaning 'nice65 as well as 'somehow magical.6 At the same time, they should be alienated enough so that you wonNt be able to recogni+e the original sentence of desire. Acti'ating&In ,nli!e word or pictorial sigils, sigil mantras are usually not activated%internali+ed spasmodically and intense65= instead, they are repeated rhythmically and monotonously. An e#ception to this rule are the 'words of power6 later on.
@"he letter b is missing in Peter Farro ample$an obvious typesetting mista!e which we have not corrected f e sa!e of correct uotation. "his does not, however, invalidate the e#ample as a whole. llNs e# or th /he Mantrical Spell Method / 9;

ons long e psychic sensor is softened up t free. 1aturally, mantras play a Mantra>&oga, "antra 4of (indu and 7uddhist origin5, 7uddhism g 4for e#ample, 'OM MA12 PEME ,M, O " "hey l sigils, it is not strictly utright itioning, ogma, etc.5 incapable of wor!ing with any but one sigil by repeating it over and over again, for hours on end, if possible. "he monotony of this procedure es occur even after 2n Eastern cultures mantras are also employed to induce magical trances and mystical states of consciousness etc., because they tend to tran uili+e the c cious mind when monotonously repeated over a period of time. "hus, th and direct access to the unconscious is se very important part in 42ncluding Ren<5, and many other Eastern philosophies. "hese mantras may be more or less free of recogni+able

sense 4for e#ample, '(AAM (A2M (A,M65, or they may carry a meanin ( 6 which, as you may !now, appro#imates '(A2H " (EE KE9EH 21 "(E HO",S 7HOSSOM65. may e#press a certain form of worship and heightening of awareness. 2slam 4especially Sufism5 !nows its mantras, as does Fatholicism, which uses them, for e#ample, in its rosary litanies, and shamans all over the world are !nown to wor! with different forms of mantras. 9hile a sound !nowledge of mantra theory can be of help when using mantrica necessary. Sometimes it may even prove to be an o obstacle if you are for some reason 4e.g., cond d special, established system. Our sentence of desire has been tuned into a mantra by manipulating its sound elements, and we cannot recogni+e its meaning anymore 4as is also the case with word and pictorial sigils5 &ou can now activate this acoustic

will guide you into a !ind of 'mantra>stupor6 4this will follow naturally and may sometim
9< / Practical Sigil Magic

only a s: few minutesN chanting5= thus, your directive for the unconscious, which is now concealed in the acoustic sigil, can pass the censor to thrive in the depths of the psyche and go about its wor!. &ou may support this procedure by a trance of e#haustion, achieved, for e#ample, by fasting, pro longed lac! of sleep or e#treme physical e#ertion- &ou might even use autohypnosis by playing the mantra on a tape recorder during your sleep 4best use endless cassettes5, but e#perience has shown that this is not really re uisite e#cept as an au#iliary measure. After charging the mantra, banish by laughter and immediately distract the conscious mind as described in chapter B.

"ords of *o,er 2nstead of fashioning lengthy sigil mantras, a single '9ord of Power6 may be formed using the same construction techni ue as described above. Het us ta!e the e#ample of the aforementioned succubus evocation. "he finished mantra in the end wa (A92 EM1EA J,SA3 9e might ta!e the first syllable from each word and construct a new word: (A EM J, Q (AEMJ,
/he Mantrical Spell Method / 9=

&Internali+ing "ords of *o,er hen charging, you may proceed as you would with longer sigil mantras by chanting it monotonously for a long time. proceed spasmodically with the word r pictorial method, using the techni ues described in chapte se this rives away all disturbing thoughts and even interrupts the entire ability to thin! for the duration of the #clamation. (ere again, donNt forget to banish the operat amous 'death cry6 of the ustralian aborigi-es is based on a very similar

principle. "he only disadvantage of the mantrical spell method is that it is not particularly silent. "herefore, 9e could also ta!e the last syllable of each word: 92 1EA SA3 Q 921EASA3 Other possible combinations in this e#ample are: 921EAJ,, MA1EASA3, J,1EA92, SA3EM(A, etc. &ou will reali+e that the possibilities offered by this techni ue are practically unlimited. Acti'ating 9 Or, you may o r B. 2nstead of an optical internali+ation, you perform an acoustic one: at the pea! of the tension 4regardless of whether you use se#>magical techni ues or the various versions of the death Posture5 you shout aloud the word of power$the louder the better, becau d e ion by laughter and then distract your attention. "he techni ue of the inf A
:> / Practical Sigil Magic

usually you will have to be alone when using it, unless you are luc!y enough to live with people who are

in sympathy wit e completely eaf. Anyone familiar with mantra systems will be aware of the tonation 4the so>called 'Kapa>Mantra65: loud, low, and s onsidered to be the 'highest6 form of mantra wor!ing and is mber of different antra techni ues. 2ncidentally, it seems more than li!ely that some of e medieval spells were constructed in the same, or at most of the anded>down formulas are little else than mutilated church ematria or have been received as a 'revel this is h your magical ' uir!s,6 or ar d fact that there are generally three stages of mantra in ilent 4or mental5 intonation. "he mental intonation is

uite complicated. "hese hints, however, should enable you to e#periment with uite a nu m th least in a very similar, manner. Albeit h Hatin or (ebrew, and even though most of the other spells have almost certainly been constructed via cabbalistic g ation6 of sorts, there are a number of formulas and barbarous names of evocation which cannot be e#plained as such etymologically. (owever, this has to remain pure speculation for the time being. 2t will largely depend on your own temperament and on your predilections whether you use the word, pictorial or mantrical spell method. 9hereas 2 myself favor the word method and, occasionally, the pictorial method, 2 must admit that the mantrical spell method has borne the most ama+ing and speediest results. Perhaps precisely so because 2 personally do not li!e it very

much< "hus, it is certainly advisable to e#periment with

/he Mantrical Spell Method / :)

. All three methods. "he sigils energy uality or the way the sigil 'feels6 is completely different from method to method. After a short time, you will !now e#actly which method is most promising for any given operation. 7eing a true magician, you will not tolerate one> sidedness because you !now that in the course of your magical career you will be challenged too often and will be confronted with the most varied of problems. 2t is always beneficial to !eep oneNs arsenal of possibilities and weapons in good shape as well as to stay in practice with 'remote6 techni ues "he ultimate sigil is surely silence itself, but of this nothing can be said. For 'the "ao that can be described is not the 3ivine "ao.6

Chapter -

The Alpha/et of Desire

9e will now discuss one of the most fascinating chapters of SpareNs sigil magic, the Alphabet of 3esire. 2t is also one of the more complicated and less e#plored areas, not the least reason for this being the desolate situation of literary sources. SpareNs writings per se are very ambiguous and difficult to follow, and his e#position of the Alphabet of 3esire is no e#ception. Even concerning his original comments we can only rely on Jenneth *rant,. who seems intent on concealing more than he wants to divulge. Apparently, Spare conceived the Alphabet of 3esire as a system of // glyphs, all of them e#pressing, to use his own words, 'aspects of se#uality.6 2n none of his writings published to date do we find all of these 'letters6 fully listed, let alone e#plained. 1evertheless, we do have a number of clues as to what Spare meant by them. 2n general, *rant seems to stic! uite strictly to the

original and gives us many enlightening insights. Pete FarrollNs account in +iber Bull 4pp. I8>.I5 does not necessarily have a lot in common with SpareNs original
:0 :7 / Practical Sigil Magic

ystem 4a fact which was pointed o to me$ somewhat dignantly$by Frater. s in ."hanatos of the O.".O.5, but, as see it, Farroll is on the right course. "o date, the Mar!us Kung!urthD has been the only ls with SpareNs alphabet in more detail. ut while he does uote the odd word or two from on, he gives us ately. et of 3esire is art of a special proto>language of manNs 4or possibly ctually SpareNs5 own unconscious does, however, give s an 2 *erman author writer who dea 7 SpareNs Own writings by way of e#planati very few clues for actual practice, unfortun SpareNs statement that the Alphab

p a u important practical clue, particularly if we are familiar with the techni ues involved in constructing artificial ritual languages.-G 2t would be wrong to assume that Spare, who as a magician was an absolute pragmatist, understood it as being a universal and categorical protoalphabet for use by all people. "his would contradict his entire system, and we do not have a single convincing indication why we should ta!e this for granted. "he following e#planations should, therefore, be understood as my own, personal interpretations. "he approach described hereafter has proved to be effective enough in my practical wor!, and we can find similar methods in other systems as well,-- but we must admit that we are more or less brea!ing virgin soil here. "he advantage of this approach is that it leaves enough room for personal e#ploration, which might especially appeal to

the more e#perienced sigil magician. 7asically, 2 shall describe two main forms of approach and ways of dealing with the alphabet in this chapter: -5 the Alphabet of 3esire as a principle of structure embedded in a framewor!= and /5 the Alphabet of 3esire
/he Alphabet of esire / :9

>!nown laconi 3esire Farroll divides his FA,S"AA"2O1. Additionally, there are four categories as a mirror of the psyche created by chains of associations. Although some overlappings may occur occasionally, one should not be misled to forget that these are truly two entirely different approaches. The Alpha.et of /esire as a Structuring principle Pete Farroll has presented us, in his well c and precise manner, with this model in +iber Bull 4pp. I8>.I5. ,nfolding his system, he does not base it$ as did Spare$on purely se#ual functions. Strictly spea!ing, his system is more of an 'Alphabet of Emotions.6 "hese emotions he arranges as 'complementary dualisms6: FA2*("%A""AAF"2O1

KO&%"EAAOA, *AEE3%ASEAS2O1, etc. 1ot all of these complementary dualisms will seem convincing at first glance. For e#ample, it may not be absolutely clear to everybody why A"AOP(&%FA,S"AA"2O1 and AEHEASE%32SSOH,"2O1 should be seen as supplementary opposites, and even his scant e#planations do not help us a lot. 2ncidentally, he does not stic! strictly to SpareNs division of // either, so we are 0ustified in viewing his system as being an original creation of his own, following the Spare tradition. FarrollNs matri# will not be e#plained in detail here, but rather we will use it as an illustration to demonstrate by this one e#ample how anyone can create his%her own Alphabet of emotions in doublets: H,S"%3ES"A,F"2O1= 32SSOH,"2O1%AEHEASE= A""AF(ME1"%HOA"(21*= AAP",AE%A1*EA= *AEE3%ASEAS2O1= A""AAF"2O1%FA2*("= KO&%"EAAOA= A"AOP(&%
:: / Practical Sigil Magic

which in his stem covers the so>called 'somatic emotions,6 namely 7ut this is not the end to his system. "he five

metaleve-s ,HA. "he SOHSE princi 9hich are, so to spea!, 'outside of competition6: HA,*("EA, 3EFO1FEP",AH2RA"2O1, FO1FEP",AH2RA"2O1 and ,12O1. And finally, he adds a 'Supplementary Alphabet in Mal!uth,6 sy PA21%PHEAS,AE and 3EPAESS2O1% EHA"2O1. also play a significant role. "he first three are based on alchemical symbolism, describing 'the three states of matter6 of each emotion: the Mercurial 4 5, the Sulphurous 4 5, and the Earthy 4 5 levels. "he Mercurial form indicates states of over> stimulation and dissolution of consciousness followed by catharsis or ecstasy 4p. I85. "he Sulphurous form indicates 'the normal functional mode of the emotion,6 thus lying in between the Mercurial and Earthy mode, both of which derive from the first principle, comparable to the state of the 'prima materia6 in alchemy. "he Earthy form is one of repression and unrealistic%unreali+able

emotions. "he other two meta>structures are based on the principles of SOHSE E" FOA* ple 4separation, repulsion, avoidance5 includes the terms 3EA"(, (A"E, FEAA, PA21 and 3EPAESS2O1. "he FOA*,HA principle 4attraction, coming together5 comprises the terms SET, HOSE, 3ES2AE, PHEAS,AE and EHA"2O1. "he opposite pairs with which we have already dealt may be assigned to the above> mentioned generic terms. "hus, for e#ample, .HOSE 4FOA*,HA level5 includes emotions li!e A""AF(ME1",
/he Alphabet of esire / :;

For e#amp EA"( 4generic term5 Q d Aobert Anton 9ilsonNs circuits, etc. Since human>!ind has been PASS2O1 and AAP",AE, whereas their opposites 4HOA"(21*, A**AESS2O1 and A1*EA5 belong to the category of (A"E 4SOHSE level5, etc. "his may appear rather complicated and it probably is. Finally, 2 should mention that all these emotions and principles have their own sigils or glyphs

le: 3 3ES"A,F"2O1 noncategory%emotion5 Q SET 4generic term5 Q H,S" noncategory%emotion5 Q For further details, please refer to +iber Bull itself. "he above notes should illustrate the structure of human emotions. Any number of other systems of order may be used and developed. For e#ample, the four elements Earth, 9ater, Fire and Air may be employed as ma0or categories, as well as the ten sephiroth, the // paths of the cabbalistic "ree of Hife 4an approach may be found in +iber Bull, pp. II and .85, the - / energy ualities of the +odiac, "imothy HearyNs an
:< / Practical Sigil Magic

s own, truly origin o the basic structures of the human psyche, i.e., rchetypal patterns which should always implement in agic anyway. 2n other words, it does not really matter depends upon the structures of erception as influenced by the construct e brain

r hormones. 9hat is important is the fact that we can human beings nd thus in every psyches 4E#perts on ecclesiastical istory will be pleased to remember in this conte#t the ood old nom holasticism= but our unresolved !arma will always aunt us$even as a collective entity$to the umpteenth eneration...5 !ing and perception, dependent of their cultural or civili+ational bac!ground, f political, historical, economical or social factors, etc. and philos attempting for thousands of years to understand itself, its environment and life in general in structural terms 4'*od created the world according to measure and number65, it probably wonNt be all that easy to find oneN al scheme of order which is entirely different from all former systems. At the same time, this gives us an insight int

a we m whether or not the pattern p ion of th o find some of these patterns of order in all a h g inalism s uabblings of sc then, it is a truism that h g Het us ta!e dualism, for e#ample. Most people are familiar with polari+ed thin in o Even the ontological monism of many religions ophical systems is a convention of revolt against this polar%dual view, thus defining itself by denying it. 2t is of no conse uence at all that most systems 4including the purely magical ones, not to mention those of mysticism5 loo! for a synthesis and dissolution of the polarities. "his uest for the *rail is essentially a proof for the e#istence of dualism, at least when viewed as an ontological problem.
/he Alphabet of esire / :=

1ow we understand that the Alphabet of 3esire has developed into a significant instrument of the dawning of consciousness merely by having been created. 2f you want to construct your own alphabet following the structuring method described above, you will have to figure out those elements which you want to include and which can personify the energies of your own psyche. Kust listing them is not good enough, however. &ou will have to find a proper framewor! for them. Het us start with a modest e#ample. For reasons of simplicity, we will e#periment with the four elements EAA"(, 9A"EA, F2AE and A2A. "his is a system with which most magicians will be at least somewhat familiar. As a further framewor! we will choose 3,AH2SM for the reasons mentioned. Hoo!ing for emotional and character ualities which form dualities, we assign them

to the elements as follows 4this, of course, is but one of many possible e#amples5:
;> / Practical Sigil Magic

1ow 2 will discuss a sigil language, a canon of symbols, the particular use of which we will come to later. One possibility is to develop the chosen sigil, perhaps by applying the word method 4whereby the chosen word itself serves as raw material5 and combining it with the glyph of the ma0or category. "he four #amples of Figure /B clarify this process. &ou will observe that we are ta!ing the basic symbol and combining it with the letters of the term. Of course, these relationships are open to argument. For e#ample, one could assign pain to the element of F2AE, which would imply a strong, nearly spastic feeling= pain within the element of EAA"( would tend to be dull and lethargic, etc. One may also wor! with sub>elements such as EAA"( OF 9A"EA, A2A OF 9A"EA, F2AE OF 9A"EA, etc. ,se your own intuition. &ou may also utili+e the pictorial method. HOSE, for e#ample, might be or 4symbols of 'union65, e

/he Alphabet of

esire / ;)

8igure *0

;* / Practical Sigil Magic

but these symbols might e ually stand for SET for the same reasons. "his leads us a bit further into the area of philosophical and psychological cognition and evaluation. 2f, for e#ample, you consider HOSE as an allembracing principle 4which need not necessarily be endorsed by everybody<5 , you could perhaps choose this sigil: . (A"E could then$for you$be its negation 4for e#ample: 5 Or its dissolution: . For you, KO& might be the bundling of energies into ecstacy: , or else it could be the blowing up or overcoming of fetters: or . &ou will note that the construction of your own Alphabet of 3esire demands not only a lot of thin!ing and intuition but great effort and hard wor! as well. Het us now discuss the advantages and the possible applications of this sigil language before we tac!le the second construction method of such an alphabet. First of all, dealing with the Alphabet of 3esire

trains symbolic thin!ing and perception. "his is of special importance for ceremonial magic, but it also enhances any wor! with omens and symbolism in general. As is well !nown, the ceremonial magician operates with a great variety of symbols, glyphs and images 4pentagram, he#agram, elemental weapons, figures of archangels, etc.5, even if s%he may generally prefer sigils li!e the ones
/he Alphabet of esire / ;0

7ut the real value of the Alphabet of 3esire lies in are can be e#plained only to a point in veryday language, which is why 2 must beg you to ore than a ntative ap h towards something essentially "o start with, we should !eep in mind that s the nconsci s, vide the effects of positive thin!ing, antra usage. Our antric sigils wor! he same principle. 7y the eloped the sigil for the desire. "his m

here described. Moreover, symbol>logical thin!ing is of importance in any magicianNs wor!, regardless which system s%he uses-/ 7y wor!ing with images instead of intellectual concepts 4even if our glyphs might stand for these concepts5, we activate our unconscious and the source of our personal Magis. two different ualities of energy that e#ist while we using it. 7oth e accept the following remar!s as nothing m te proac ineffable. repetition of certain techni ues rarely fails to impres u autosuggestion, autohypnosis and M m ou on t Alphabet of 3esire, we create an arsenal of reusable sigils which are implanted anew and additionally with each operation. Spare, for e#ample, dev introduction of will 4'2 desire6 Q 5, which he

then combined with other parts of his sentences of ay suffice as an e#ample of reusable sigils. Since we cannot deal with the whole of SpareNs magical philosophy here, 2 donNt want to go further into his numerous abstract sigils, which can only be understood in connection with his rather comple# system 4e.g., sigils for the 'empirical Ego6 or the 'possessive 7eing65. (owever, it must be mentioned that there is far more to a symbolic language than a purely mechanical collation of
;7 / Practical Sigil Magic

of sigi nouns mounted in images. &ou will also need verbs li!e 'doing,6 'healing,6 'destroying,6 etc., and con0unctions li!e 'and,6 'therefore,6 'but,6 etc., will prove themselves very useful in practical wor!. As to these latter glyphs, Spare employed sigils 4or, rather, more accurately, parts ls5 such as 4for plural forms5, etc. Het us assume that you want to perform a sigil following sentence of desire: "(2S M& 92S( FOA 7. "O O7"A21 (EAH"( A13

S"AE1*"(. Het us further assume that for the particles of the sentence '"his my wish,6 '(ealth,6 'Strength6 and 'to obtain6 you have already developed finished sigils such as the following: "(2S M& 92S(Q (EAH"( Q FOA Q S"AE1*"( Q A13 Q
/he Alphabet of esire / ;9

1ow w All that remains now is an individual sigil for your patient 7., which you might develop by employing the word method. Het us assume you have obtained the following glyph: . e have the whole image or glyphical te#t: &ou may put a frame around it:
;: / Practical Sigil Magic

parts plified even more, but be 0ustified. A simple sigil eveloped with the word or pictorial method would wor! uite as easily without all this bother. "he demand for the s here. Hast, but not least, the Alphabet of 3esire may

be applied li!e all the other types of sigils discussed here, a which pleases many a magician 4dependent on mperament5. 2ts possibilities are not e#hausted in the lightest by this. 2n general, it can be said that the lphabet of 3esire should not so much serve concrete e its structure in images. Since the Alphabet of ost li!ely consist of philosophical terms li!e 'truth,6 'cognition,6 '!arma,6 etc., with which th iliar because of their abstract uality, a repeated or multiple usage of the sigils of the alphabet will, as e#perience has shown, assure success more surely than when used with the more uncomplicated sigils discussed before. Spare himself has made a point in his 7oo! of Pleasure 4p. EG, comment B5 ethods of constructing sigils psyche. ,nfort s any further. 2n practice, you will see that this is certainly the case in that different methods of constructing and charging sigils have a dissimilar feel to them,

which means that they have different energy ualities. 2n my "his would be the finished sigil or, more accurately, the sigil sentence. Activation%internali+ing follows the usual method. "heoretically, the several of the sigil may be merged and sim this effort would hardly d preferably most simple end sigil finds its limitation point te s A success magic but enhance e#perience 4and creation5 of oneself, of the internal univers and of 3esire will m e unconscious is less fam that different m will activate different levels of the unately, he failed to enlarge on thi
/he Alphabet of esire / ;;

opinio we will emplo magical means. &our sentence of desire could be formulated li!e this: '"(2S M& 92S( "O PASS

n it is as yet too early to develop hierarchical structure and graded models for the theory of sigils at this stage of e#ploration as long as there is not enough empirical material available covering, as it should, the e#periences of a large variety of sigil magicians. Most li!ely, as with the structuring principles e#plained in this chapter, a far more personal, individual schema will be called for in this area. 7ut only time will tell. Het us now ta!e a loo! at the association techni ue for constructing the Alphabet of 3esire and its function as a minor of the psyche. The Alpha.et of /esire as a #inor of the *syche "he techni ue of association is basically a mi#ture of automatic writing, pictorial method and meditation/intuition From the very beginning we can do without a scheme of order li!e the one we have seen in the last section. 2nstead, we will proceed according to situation, meaning that we will develop our sigil

alphabet as we go along, combining the process with a bare minimum of conscious construction. Of course, y some rationale in places, but generally we will proceed 'chaotically6 4one could even say 'organically65 rather than utili+ing ratiocination, let alone deliberation. Het us loo! at two e#amples. 1st !xample &ou want to succeed on an academic e#amination by
;< / Practical Sigil Magic

nd one for '9EH s be !ept as simple as possible anyway so as to enhance its symbolism and be nearer to its sym onale.5 should use in the future for th (2S M& 92S(.6 Jeep his method of ommunication. (ere again, the completion of the esire re uires a great deal of patience and ffort. Aepeat this procedure until you are satisfied with M& ETAM21A"2O1 9EHH.6 7ecause you are fond of e#perimenting, you decide to use the Alphabet of 3esire

and develop it with the association techni ue. &ou get into a state of active meditation where you 'implant6 your uestions. 9hich uestionsM "here will be several because you will need a series of different sigils: one for the segment '"(2S M& 92S(,6 another one for 'ETAM21A"2O1,6 one for '"O PASS,6 a H 6 42n a symbolic language li!e this, usually you may abandon 'M&6 with impunity. Jeep in mind that the language should alway bol>logic rati 1ow concentrate on the uestion of which sigil you e words '" your pen on the paper and close your eyes. 42f you prefer, you may write the words in capital letters at the top of the paper5 Empty your mind, thus creating a state of non>thin!ing. 42f you want to proceed precisely and carefully, you might as well construct a mantrical sigil for your uestion and ta!e it into your state of heightened awareness, achieving the latter by prolonged

chanting.5 After a while, the pen in your hand will start moving, seemingly by itself. 9hen the movement stops, return from your meditation trance and open your eyes. &ou may find nothing but a scribble since your unconscious has yet to get ac uainted with t c Alphabet of 3 e the result. &ou donNt have to scribble on the paper for
/he Alphabet of esire / ;=

hours= a few minutes will do. &ou may also cut around parts of the 'scribbling6 and form a sigil as in Figure /C: 8igure *7 Admittedly, this sigil might not seem very simple, but you are free to e#periment until you come across a more satisfying form. 7ut do not, 2 repeat, do not try to control the process consciously< Aepeat this procedure with the other segments of the sentence. Het us assume that eventually you

obtain the results of Figure /E.

<> / Practical Sigil Magic

8igure *9

/he Alphabet of

esire / <)

&ou probably have noticed that these e#amples bear a certain resemblance to signatures and glyphs !nown from medieval boo!s of spells. Perhaps, then as today, people were fond of employing the techni ue of automatic writing for their construction. &ou should !eep the sigils obtained by this method in a special 'dictionary6 for later use. 2nd !xample Suppose that some time later you wish to get a proper 0ob 4perhaps for the time after your e#amination, which you have, of course, passed5. (owever, you donNt want to specify the precise type and location 4company, department, etc5 of your 0ob in order to retain a certain element of choice. "hus you may formulate: "(2S M& 92S( "O *E" A PAOPEA KO7 "he words 'A6 and '"O *E"6 are not really needed. &our e#perience with the Alphabet of 3esire is beginning to pay off, for now you will need

only two additional sigils one for 'KO76 and another for 'PAOPEA,6 the others having been construed already in your previous wor!ing. 7y the same method as before, you may obtain the following sigil for 'KO76: . 4Since 'well6 and 'proper6 can mean the same thing, basically, you may again use the sigil from the last e#ample: .5
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"he material available for the construct ion of your sigil is shown in Figure /8. 8igure *:
/he Alphabet of esire / <0

single sigils because your arsenal or sigil dictionary will grow larger and larger. "his is one of the main advantages of this method, which also provides for regular and direct communication between consciousness and the unconscious. ,nli!e the structuring method e#plained earlier, you can do without schemes of order and can obtain sigils on an ad hoc basis, providing yourself with the possibility of using the list of your sigils as a mirror of the psyche even more

effectively than the most carefully !ept Magical 3iary. Once you have mar!ed several do+ens or hundreds of sigils along with their respective meanings in your 'dictionary,6 you have also ac uired a complete overview of your magical wor! to date. "his might sound a bit trivial, but if you ta!e a loo! at your list after three or four years of practice, wor!ing it through systematically, you will be surprised how much inside information it actually contains. "his will beat many a meditation session< &ou should also meditate fre uently upon the following: do most of your sigils really correspond to what you want from life and magicM 4(ave a loo! at the fre uency with which you use them by !eeping a tally5 3o you notice any imbalanceM 9hich terms% aims appear least fre uentlyM 9hat shoul according to your personal philosophy, be emphasi+ed, at least

theoreticallyM 9hat is missingM 9hich emotions have you avoided and whyM "hus, you can !ill two birds ith one stone by combining pragmatic>empirical practice with individual ethics. 2n time, you will spend less and less effort on constructing 4or 'receiving65 d, w
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"he Alphabet of 3esire is at its best when it comes to usefulness and variety of applications and not only, as already mentioned, in the areas of self> recognition, growing !nowledge and self>analysis but also in wor!ing with what Spare tagged 'Atavistic nostalgia.6 "he ne#t chapter will be dedicated to this most fascinating aspect of sigil magic.

Chapter 1

"or0ing 1ith Ata,isti* Nostalgia

"he term Atavistic nostalgia is another name for

a principle which plays an important part in SpareNs system and which is sometimes also defined as Atavistic resurgence. 9e can ta!e but a uic! glance at it here, for otherwise we would be obliged to give a complete introduction into SpareNs entire system, which is not the purpose of this volume. "hus, we shall concentrate on the basic structures of Atavistic nostalgia and its possible applications in practical sigil magic. "he fundamental rationale of this practice is 3arwinNs "heory of Evolution. 2Nm sure you are familiar with 3arwinNs theory that man is but the momentary end product of a long process of evolution that has been going on for millions of years and which has led from unicellular organisms and reptiles to mammals, including ourselves. ,nli!e popular 'Sulgar 3arwinism6 4which was mainly monitored by the Fhurch5, 3arwin did not so much claim that 'man derives from mon!ey6 but rather

that we carry in us the entire heritage of all life forms and that we literally incorporate it. "his 'carrying in us6 has
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roved, for the most part, by modem genetics as well as y anthropology, physiology and other disciplines of uman biology, although 3arwinNs theories underwent sformations and challenges within the For e#ample, the human brain did not develop several added the course of s6 brains in our ive in pail from very early stages of volution, eg-, the socal-ed 'interbrain6 4diencephalon5, r 'reptilian brain6 or brainstem. Once again, it would lead u m aside. Luite the contra p b h tremendous tran last -EG years. steadily and smoothly. 2nstead, it shows variations in the form of 'accretions6 in

evolution so that in fact we unite 'variou s!ull- "hese der e o s away from the matter at hand to discuss the pros and cons of 3arwinNs theory or repeat all the ob0ections which have been raised against 3arwinism 4e.g., by the partisans of the rival theory of Hamarc!5. 2n our conte#t it is merely important to note that in SpareNs paradigm our entire evolutionary history is still organically present in us. 2n other words, it is not as if we were completely finished with our former evolutionary stages, as if we had totally overcome them and laid the ry, in fact. "he information of these earlier stages of our deve-opment is stored in our genes up to the present day and, according to Spare and many other magicians, it may be revitali+ed and tapped. 4"he parallels to Farl *. KungNs concept of the collective

unconscious$at least in one of its possible interpretations$should be obvious.5 "his is e#actly what happens with atavism, which in biology denotes a retrogression of sorts into earlier stages of evolution. "he term nostalgia calls for some clarification.
Aorking with Atavistic Bostalgia / <;

to old *erman ginesan of the same meani ha #perience and a strong psychic stability. And let us not forget that Spare uses the English word nostalgia 41ew Hatin nostalgia5, deriving from the *ree! notos Q 'homecoming6 and algos Q 'pain6= thus, 'homesic!ness6 is one of its meanings. 2t is also related to Old English genesan. Q 'survive6 and ng= *othic ganisan Q 'being saved 4healed56 also reveals SpareNs frame of reference when using this term. (e does not use the word so much in the sense of 'longing for something 4the source5,6 although this may be included as well, but rather employs it to

signify an act of conscious revitali+ation of old, archaic structures of the consciousness. Fonse uently, Spare tried to go bac! into early, pre>human stages of consciousness by activating genetic or hereditary memory. "his, for him, was not an end in itself, for his basic premise was that our greatest magical power, probably even the source of magic itself, lies hidden in these early stages of evolution. "his assumption is confirmed if we ta!e a loo! at the practices of Siberian or South American shamans or various African fetish priests, e.g., wor! with power animals, animal clan totems, etc. Practice also confirms this over and over again. Only when the magical will 4which Spare is fond of calling 'belief65 has become 'organic,6 meaning unconscious and carnal, is it, according to Spare, most effective. "he deeper we go into our magical trance,

returning to earlier stages of consciousness, the easier it will be for us to parta!e of its magical power and, most important, to direct and use it. 1evertheless, it must be mentioned here that suc procedure demands a great deal of magical e
<< / Practical Sigil Magic

2d was, Self shall become6 and belongs, in Fa ing and activating proper sigils. with Atavistic nostalgia we enter pre>human stages of life, which, when brought to consciousness, may have catastrophic results. "hus, you might reali+e that not only your whole world view but all your usual ideas about morals and ethics might be drastically changed by Atavistic nostalgia. &ou might be completely overwhelmed by your animal>consciousness 4for e#ample, your 'reptilian !arma,6 etc.5 or even become obsessed, which could result in particularly unpleasant conse uences in our bourgeois, conventional society. On the other hand, this entirely meets Sigmund

FreudNs demand '9here rl *. KungNs terminology, to the challenge of the 'shadow6 and thus to individuation itself. 7ut you should always reali+e that you are dealing with e#tremely ha+ardous powers, and if you have the slightest doubt whether you are ready for this, by all means !eep away from it, unless you are !een to e#perience one hellish trip after the other. Spare did not leave us any accurate directives on how to deal with Atavistic nostalgia, but his magical pictures and steles 4to which he usually added handwritten e#planations and reflections5 give us some idea about his possible mode of approach. As is to be e#pected, he achieved these changes in consciousness by employing sigils. "here are several methods of Atavistic nostalgia. For e#ample, we may shift our consciousness into that of different animals by construct Spare is fond of the term karma in this respect,

but his !arma differs somewhat from the usual meaning of the word. Jarma in his terminology means the 'sum of
Aorking with Atavistic Bostalgia / <=

perience atavisms in states of dream only, until y of awareness5. Again, this method calls for a l all e#periences.6 "hus, we may, for e#ample, create sigils from the following sentences of desire: $2 9A1" "O ETPEA2E1FE "(E JAAMA OF A FA". $"(2S M& 92S( "O ETPEA2E1FE "(E JAAMA LE A AEP"2HE 21 M& 3AEAMS. $"(2S M& 92HH "O O7"A21 "(EE FO1SF2O,S1ESS OF A 72A3 OF PAE&. $"(2S M& 3ES2AE "O 7EFOME A ,12FEHH,HAA OA*A12SM 1 M& 3AEAMS. 2n regard to the first sentence of desire, Pete Farroll in +iber Bull D Psychonaut mentions incredible results 4p./GB.5 2t is advisable, especially in the beginning, to e# ou have become more familiar with them. Only then should you e#perience atavisms in everyday life and, of course, in rituals. &ou could append the word 'immediately6 to the above sentences and then

charge pentacles or steles with the help of the Alphabet of 3esire for use in ritual for special wor!ings 4e.g., as 'gateways6 to an altered state ot of training and e#perience. Another method consists of phrasing the sentence of desire less specifically but more comprehensively. "his method should be understood as an augmentation to the aforementioned procedure and not as an a-ternative (ere again are some e#amples for
=> / Practical Sigil Magic

2SM $"(-S M& 92S( "O ETPEA2E1FE "(E S"A*ES 7 O,A 2HE are m n. "he incarnation of a bird sentences of desire: $"(2S M& 92S( "O ETPEA2E1FE M& A"AS S. EFOAE M& 72A"(. $"(2S M& 92S( "O ETPEA2E1FE "(E S FE OF M& H2FE. $"(2S M& 92S( "O ETPEA2E1FE M& AEP"

21FAA1A"2O1S 21 A2",AH. "he !ey words 'reptile incarnations6 show that we oving close to another techni ue of regression$ reincarnation therapy. 7ut the intention of the sigil magician is different insofar as s%he employs atavisms to charge sigils further or to start magical operations. For e#ample, a talisman charged while one is in a 'reptile consciousness6 will wor! more powerfully than a talisman charged while in a state of normal magical trances Of course, we must bear in mind that all of these atavistic states of consciousness have their own shortcomings and strong points. 2t would be downright foolish to demand highly intellectual wor! from a reptile with its small, barely developed brai wonNt be suitable to give us a lot of !nowledge about life underwater, and the !arma of a fish is not responsible for problems of hunting in the steppes or buying a car 4though it may be e#cellent for buying a submarine<5. 9e have to learn to choose and to

employ these specialists in the optimal manner.

Aorking with Atavistic Bostalgia / =)

animals has a long magical tradition nd m magical mental training in his boo! #nitiation to . inate attention was given in e time of the 2n uisition. Modem technology has largely rt has nearly disappeared in our culture. On the other hand, we . 9or!ing with a ost 'primitive6 peoples still do this. Even a 'city magician6 li!e Fran+ 7ardon recommends it on the fourth level of ' in ermetics. Su00a SuNaN1o>ta also covers it in the first part of her boo! Element>Magie. Aemember the witchesN familiars to which such inord th succeeded in subduing the animal aspects in our lives. "hus, this magical a can, with its help, create a good counterbalance to the modem tendency of overemphasi+ing artificiality and technology 2t will usually ta!e years and decades of practice

until you are ready to wor! with Atavistic nostalgia in a predictable and reliable way. As a species, we had to struggle much too hard for evolution, so our consciousness and our censor will not stand by unflinching y and watch as we scratch off our civili+ing varnish, ris!ing the possibility of destroying everything again. One reason why true mastership in this practice can only be achieved after many years lies in the fact that during this period a stabili+ation of the whole psyche has to be achieved. 2f not, our brain could never handle e#periences which are dead, similar to Hovecraftian tales Furthermore, if we endorse the evolutionary model, a new step in evolution must always be guaranteed or our own genetic alarm mechanisms would destroy the whole system of our organism. Finally, in evolutionary terms we are little more but parts of a general organism which
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canno

heer unlimited !nowledge to be gained from this practice. Atavism leads us bac! to the source of all life, regard> less of whether we ca t afford to allow uncontrolled regressions to a larger e#tent. "herefore, we will have to 'offer6 something to this general organism 4when seen as a personification5 for its collective development. Only then will 9e be able to use its huge power resources. 3espite all the dangers which are entangled with the use of specific or less specific animated atavisms, a small number of magicians will always consider this to be the crown of their art and one of their highest aspirations. "oday is the product of &esterday, and if we are inclined to ta!e the gnostic uestions '9ho am 2M,6 '9here do 2 come fromM6 and '9here do 2 go toM6 seriously, we cannot afford to do without the s ll it the 7ig 7ang, *od, Ain, 7ythos, Fhaos, or whatever we li!e. 2n this respect, the magic of

the 'reanimated atavisms6 also represents a mystical and philosophical method, a method which chooses the path 'directly through the flesh6 instead of, as is regular 9estern practice, employing the spirit only, without appreciating the vessel which enables its e#istence in the first place. "o complete the picture, it must be mentioned that sigil magic is not the only magical way. "hus, the 'path of carnal memory6 may easily be combined with purely mental and mystical paths, if this is preferred. Atavistic nostalgia offers us a variety of aspects which have yet to be e#plored. (ere we find virgin land which has been waiting for millions of years to be discovered and charted< Finally, 2 would li!e to mention that present e#Aorking
with Atavistic Bostalgia / =0

ar to be so to us5, but, of course for e#peri e#perience has shown that sigils created with

the pictorial method as well as the Alphabet of 3esire do better in Atavistic nostalgia than other glyphs. "he reason for this might be that these methods are somewhat more 'pristine6 4at least they appe , this may only correspond to sub0ective structures. 1evertheless, 2 urgently advise e#perimenting with the Alphabet of 3esire in this field because here its abilities can be developed to the fullest and because its energy seems to be best adapted to this line of magic. 9or!ing with a structured alphabet provides us with the additional advantage that our e#perience may gain more stability and, in some cases, more substantiality On the other hand, an associatively constructed alphabet often provides us with very powerful instantly successful, sigils because its glyphs pop up even more 'directly6 from the unconscious and the hereditary memory than

those of other techni ues with the possible e#ception of the pictorial methods. 2tNs also true that these two different methods of constructing the alphabet may be combined with one another. "hus, we might, for e#ample, 4as did Spare5 construct // basic glyphs 4being the generic or basic terms5 and then add any number of merely functional glyphs using the method of automatic association. "here are no limits whatsoever to oneNs own desire mentation. Aemember, who dares, wins.

Chapter 4

2ut Ho1 Does It "or03

&ou may have noticed that in previous e#planations 2 fre uently referred to the 'unconscious6 into which sigils are 'implanted,6 after which they start wor!ing li!e good fairies. "he unconscious ma!es sure that sigils 'will flesh6 4to use SpareNs own term5. Aegarding this 'incarnation,6 we must never forget that the sigils themselves play nothing but a

secondary part in the overall process of magic. Spare even goes so far as to state that each evolutionary step has been an unconscious, literally 'corporeal6 act of will "hus, for e#ample, animals only started to develop wings when their desire to fly had become 'organic6 "his may seem a weird proposition, but basically it is nothing but a rephrasing of the old theory that all creation is based on an act of will of the godhead or of Fhaos, or incarnated 9ill. "he sigil is the 'flesh6 of the magicianNs will, so its successes are 'incarnations6 of the glyph itself. 2f we really want to e#plain why sigils start to wor!, we would have to e#plain magic as a whole,
=9 =: / Practical Sigil Magic

ut, unfortunately, a lot of it is at si#es and sevens. 2tNs ot as if there were no e#planatory models= indeed, they eem to come cheaper by the do+en. 7ut they are nothing odels which do not really prove anything= , they only illustrate the process. 7ac! in

e earliest days of psychology 4which is still struggling #isted a model hich has its . 2 am referring the model of the %onsciousness, the censor and the nconscious. Furthermore, there is the #d, the Self and the uper e. "his may have been 0ustified in SpareNs days, and b n s but 0ust that$m in the best cases th for ac!nowledgment as a 'science65 there e of e#planation for the human soul w shortcomings but still serves us rather well to u S ego. Some writers differentiate even more accurately between the unconscious and the subconscious, etc, but the model consciousness/unconsciousness/censor has become established nearly everywhere. 7ut this, as said before, is

only a model and not a scientifically ob0ectified fact in the sense of physics or any other 'e#act6 science. 1either Freud nor Kung went so far as many modem occultists tend to do$to confuse an e#planatory model with a law of nature. Fertainly, Spare may be accused of having stuc! too closely to what was in those days 4-DGD> -D-B, when the 1ook of Pleasure was written5 FreudNs brand> new psychoanalytic model. 2f we read SpareNs attempts at an e#planation, we get the 2mpression of a near fanatic hostility against the consciousness. 2n his opinion, only the ,nconscious possesses magical abilities and powers. "his is the reason why he stresses so strongly the necessity of forgetting sigils. "he consciousness is considered a continuously lur!ing enemy which has to be parried all the tim
1ut .ow oes #t AorkE / =;

maybe it still is. Many a sigil magician has come to the

conclusion that it is best to construct a multitude of sigils let them lie around for wee!s or months, and activate%internali+e them only when the contents 4and the purpose for which they have been constructed5 have been completely forgotten. "his techni ue seems to be reasonable, but then, of course, it is suited only for longterm operations. 1evertheless, it cannot be denied that sigils are more effective in relation to how completely they have been obliterated from consciousness. Aay Sherwin has presented an e#planatory model which is uite enticing.-B "o e#plain the illustration it should be mentioned that Sherwin considers the (oly *uardian Angel 4cf. the Abramelin system5 as being the psychic censor 4a somewhat unconventional interpretation which has its source in Fhaos Magic5. "he term $ia is ta!en from SpareNs system and is e#plained by SherwinNs description of point k.

1ow, a and b 0oin to construct the sigil, which then has to be implanted in d . 2f d refuses to accept the sigil, it is probably because it does not understand it. "he reason may be that it is either too complicated or that a and b use symbols, pictographs and ideograms which are not compatible with those of d. Sherwin points out that, according to Aleister Frowley, only a magician who is capable of direct communication with the (*A will achieve a direct connection to the unconscious. "he altered state of awareness, c, mar!s the point of intersection between a, b and d. 2t may switch off the censor completely and thereby provide direct contact between these areas of the psyche.
=< / Practical Sigil Magic

SherwinCs Model

a Q Ego, 9ill, 7elief b Q Awareness, Perception Fonsciousness: 2ndividuality, Awa!eness (*A Q "he (oly *uardian Angel Q Fensorship Mechanism Aeactive Mechanisms

c Q Altered Fonsciousness, 'liminal state of consciousness6 d Q Sub%,nconsciousness, Sleep, "rue 9ill e Q Macrocosm, Fhaos ! Q Jia, Soul, 2ndividuality without Ego
1ut .ow oes #t AorkE / ==

"o begin with, this model suffers, li!e most modls do, from being overly one>sided. 2t pretends that the barrier of the cens 'semi>permeable6 membrane or filter which its movement in one direction only 4from d to a/ oc!ing everything in the opposite directions "his is certainly an e#aggeration because within this model we could not e#plain why conscious perceptions may be stored in the unconscious 4a fact which our dreams prove all the time with their digestion of the dayNs unresolved events= the same can be said for our memory and our programmed emotions, etc.5. Furthermore, it does not ta!e into account that the unconscious is engaged all the time and in all human acts, even when consciously constructing a sigil. After all, it is the only part of our psyche which is active

/C hours a day 4as opposed to consciousness which needs its daily brea!s5, encom consciousness. 1e#t, 2 would li!e to introduce two more models of my own, which also have shortcomings, but might help to rocedure. eshold of the censor in Model ermeable than in irect contact ciousness and .5 e eaning magical at the mouths of consciousness as well as of unconsciousness for a limited period of time. "hus, it creates the possibility for an e#change e or is absolute, a perm b5 while bl passing the stage of the illustrate the whole p Even though the thr A is seen as 4if only slightly5 more p SherwinNs model, there is usually no 4or 0ust a minor5

d between cons unconsciousness. 42magine it to be li!e a sieve, where only the smallest particles can slip through the holes "he channel of ecstasy goes around the filter of th censor, and the pressure of ecstasy 4m trance5 gets rid of the membranes
)>> / Practical Sigil Magic

Model A 'on a large scale6 whereby the shield of reality, i.e., the limited area of perception and evaluation which are re uired for normal everyday reality, is bypassed and sometimes even undermined. "his model is purely innerpsychic and does not e#plain why altered states of consciousness or whatever type of communication between Fonsciousness and ,nconsciousness 4read MA*2F5 may have an effect on the material plane.
1ut .ow oes #t AorkE / )>)

Such models are also termed psychologistic 2 have followed them in this study for convenience and accessibility, not because of any particular belief that

magic can only be e#plained in psychological terms. Finally, 2 present another model, which has been adapted from "heosophy 4and is still widely appreciated in magic5 and is oriented to the sphere structure while also integrating the psychological pattern. Hevels, which have formerly been seen as hierarchically stratified, are now understood as 'states of oscillation6 overlying one another which, of course, cannot be illustrated in a two>dimensional drawing. "he probes a are inlet ventiles which wor! in both directions. Point aN is a double probe through which not only the direct, censor>independent Fontact between consciousness and unconsciousness is controlled but through which the consciousness also gets in direct contact with the mental sphere 4while avoiding the censor>filter and the astral plane5. Fhannel c is only permissible in a state of 'altered awareness.6 "he two 'dream levels6 of the consciousness and the unconsciousness have direct access to the astral

level. ucid dreaming would imply an intersection point with the causes are planted by magical means, which often manifest themselves on the physical level 4H the mental level, which is very rare.5 "o be effective, sigili+ation should ta!e place in c 4the altered state of consciousness5. 7e aware that the consciousness does not have direct access to the causal plane and the unconsciousness has only got indirect access to the physical level via the causal plane. According to the "heosophical model, the causal plane presides over all the other levels and controls them. On the causal level,
)>* / Practical Sigil Magic

Model 1 a Q 'ventile6 or 'probe6 aN Q 'double ventile6 or 'probe6 c Q channel of communication%altered state of awareness
1ut .ow oes #t AorkE / )>0

s 'une#plained miracles,6 'strange coincidences,6 etc.$ everything we understand as magic. Eventually, such models do not have any real

value of cognition= all we are doing is trying to e#plain the un!nown 4in this case, the w the suspected 4here, the structure of the psyche5, achieving, however, little more but illustrations. 1evertheless, such illustrations are uite useful to satisfy our reason and to soften the censor, which in one way or the other truly seems to e#ist. 4One could also term it the 'un!nown barrierN that ma!es it difficult for us to sei+e and manipulate the magical universe.5 Of course, we may uite consciously rape our own reason to achieve a gnostic trance. "his, for e#ample, is practiced by the order of the Kesuits with its magical techni ue of the 'credo uia absurdum est6 4'2 believe in it because it is absurd65, as does Ain+ai Ren with its !oans, but in doing so we are already returning to the field of procedural techni ues, leaving the area of rational cognition.

2f you find it fun to do so, you might develop your wn models of e#plaining magic. "his would have the dvantage of establishing a stronger commitment to agic in your consciousness and unconscious 4to remain ersistently within psychologism5, thus ma!ing it easier r magic to b e integrated in everyday life . 7ut donNt rget that this is nothing but an$admittedly uite musing$way of fiddling around. a bit disappointed now if you lanation for magic, life, that case, try to get over it with one of FrowleyN s a ay in which magic wor!s5 by o a m p fo fo a &ou may perhaps be had e#pected to find the final e#p the universe and everything in this chapter. 2n
)>7 / Practical Sigil Magic

ve certainty over the

(O9 favorite aphorisms: '(e who !nows the (O9 does not care about the 9(& .6 &ou can achie mainly through practice$and practice is much more productive anyway than vague speculations of dubious value.

Chapter (

Constru*ting Sigils "ith %lanetary Cameas

Magical s uares, or cameas, are often used as a basis for the construction of individual sigils. 2n fact, the traditional sigils for planetary spirits and demons have been cabbalistically construed with the help of these cameas. Since this techni ue belongs to yet another important branch of sigil magic and is relatively un!nown, it shall be covered here. "he following e#planations are based on 2srael AegardieNs e#cellent boo! .ow to Make and (se /alismans, which contains a very clear summary, though the author refers to the older material of the *olden 3awn and other writers have e#plained the system

elsewhere.-C "o be able to use these systems, however, you need a sound basic !nowledge of cabbalism and planetary magic. ,nfortunately, these cannot be taught here and would lead away from our main topic. Aeaders who are uite unfamiliar with these disciplines should refer to the relevant literature listed in the bibliography. "he basis of this method of constructing sigils is
)>9 )>: / Practical Sigil Magic

e Aiq 1ekr, also labelled the 'Jabbalah of the 1ine hambers.6 Each letter of the (ebrew alphabet is uivalent to a numerical value. "he alphabet with its cal values is as follows: th F e assigned numeri
%onstructing Sigils with Planetary %ameas / )>;

"hese letters are arranged in nine 'chambers6 according to their decimal values: 3epending on the appropriate magical camea, sometimes it is necessary to reduce a numerical value so that the pertinent number in the camea can be

touched when drawing the sigil. For e#ample, loo! at the demon 7art+abel of the Mars sphere, following Aegardie4p.-E5. 2n (ebrew this name is written 4from right to left5: Hamed Aleph 7eth "+addi Aesh 7eth BG - / DG /GG /
)>< / Practical Sigil Magic

ters: "he magical camea of Mars follows, one version in numbers, the other in (ebrew let ou will note that the numbers /GG, DG and BG do not ap e, two rcs are drawn. HetNs have a loo! at this sigil in its camea Figure /I. 2n this e#ample, the traditional sigils really have een constructed consciously. ng pages gether with the sigils of their intelligences and demons, as well as the planetary seals, which have been developed with a very similar but slightly different method. & pear in the magical s uare= deleting the +eros in our demonNs name gives us /, D and B. "hus, we get

the following order of numbers 4again from right to left5 : B%-%/%D%/%/. ,sually the sigil begins with a curlicue and ends with a stro!e. 2f any one number is covered twic a in b "o complete the picture, the followi consist of the magical cameas of the planets to
%onstructing Sigils with Planetary %ameas / )>=

8igure *;

))> / Practical Sigil Magic

7eside each numbered camea you will find a s uare containing the (ebrew letters according to their numerical values, which may save you a lot of trouble constructing your sigils in e (ermetic tradition. "he illustrations are ta!en from grippaNs classic wor! e -cculta Philosophia 4/nd vol., -EBB5. "he rule of mar!ing the beginning and the end of a planetary sigil, namely to sta t with a curlicue and to end with a stro!e, has not been followed throughout. "his may be due to AgrippaNs intention of preventing any

possible abuse. 7y mar!ing the beginning and the end of such a sigil we have all the directional information necessary to draw it in evocation 4with the e#ception of the composed sigils5. 2 have deliberately not 'corrected6 the sigils because 2 wanted to present the traditional form without any changes of my own. Furthermore, these corrections might confuse those readers unfamiliar with the sub0ect if they suddenly come across different versions of one and the same sigil in other traditional boo!s. For practice, however, 2 advise you to redraw the sigils and correct them where necessary. th A r
%onstructing Sigils with Planetary %ameas / )))

/.6 MA!#%A+ %AM6AS -8 /.6 P+AB6/S 2F/A1+6SG4 AB /.6 S6A+S AB S#!#+S -8 /.6 P+AB6/A?H P-A6?S, #B/6++#!6B%6S AB 6M-BS.
4following Agrippa of 1ettesheim, -EBB5 e -cculta Philosophia, Sol. /,

Ta/le of Saturn 1umbers (ebrew Hetters

Seals or Fharacters of Saturn his 2ntelligence his 3emon 3ivine names in accord with the numbers of Saturn 3um.ers /i'ine 3ames In He.re, %. A.

1$. ?ah 1$. Hod

(. Hod )$. !xt. Tetragrammaton )$. Agiel= Intelligence of Saturn

)$. Ga+el= /emon of Saturn

))* / Practical Sigil Magic

Ta/le of 4upiter 1umbers (ebrew Hetters Seals or Fharacters of Kupiter his 2ntelligence his 3emon 3ivine
3um.e e 3ames In He.r

1 f
1f

1ames in accord with the numbers of Kupiter

rs
).

/i'in
A..a

e,

 1-.
1-. %). !l A.

%-. Iophiel= Intelligence o Hupiter %-. Hismael= /emon o Hupiter

%onstructing Sigils with Planetary %ameas / ))0

Ta/le of #ars 1umbers (ebrew Hetters Seals of Fharacters of mars his 2ntelligence his 3emon 3ivine 1ames in accord with the numbers of Kupiter
3um.ers /i'ine 3ames In He.
He= Cetter of the holy name 2 A %2$. >raphiel= Intelligence of %2$. 5 mon of #ars

re,

$.
$. -$. donai

#ars art+a.el= /e
))7 / Practical Sigil Magic

Ta/le of the Sun 1umbers (ebrew Hetters Seals or Fharacters of the Sun his 2ntelligence his 3emons 3ivine 1ames in accord with the numbers of Kupiter
3/
Fau= Cetter of the holy *rolonged He= Cetter of the holy name %! 13 the Sun -S the Sun

um.ers
-. name -. -. loh

i'ine 3ames In He.re,

11. a2hiel= Intelligence of --. orath= /emon of

%onstructing Sigils with Planetary %ameas / ))9

Ta/le of 5enus 1umbers (ebrew Hetters Seals or Fharacters of Senus her 2ntelligence her 3emons ivine 1ames in accord with the numbers of Senus
3um.e In He.re,

)(. e of

1 enus

3
rs /i'ine 3ames
1. Aha Hagiel= Intelligenc us

Fen 11$. Eedemel= /emon of Fenus

2%2. 5eni Seraphim= Intelligence of F

)): / Practical Sigil Magic

Ta/le of #er*ury 1umbers (ebrew Hetters

%onstructing Sigils with Planetary %ameas / ));

Seals or Fharacters of Mercury his 2ntelligence his 3emons 3ivine 1ames in accord with the numbers of Mercury
3um.ers /i'ine 3ames In He.re,
4. As.oga= *rolonged num.er eight

 -). /ani
-). /in 2-8. Tiriel= Intelligence of #ercury

2848. Taphthartharath= /emon or mercury

))< / Practical Sigil Magic

Ta/le of the #oon 1umbers (ebrew Hetters

%onstructing Sigils with Planetary %ameas / ))=

of the Moon her 3emons Seals or Fharacters her Supreme 3emon her Supreme 2ntelligence 3ivine 1ames in accord with the numbers of the Moon
3um.ers /i'ine 3ames In He.re,

41. !lim
(. Hod %-(. Chasmodai= /emon of the #oon

%%21. Shed 5arshemath Sharthathan= Supreme /emon of the #oon

%%21. #al2a .eITarshishim ad 5eI@uah ShehaBim= Supreme Intelligence of the #oon


)*> / Practical Sigil Magic

2ndividual s your first name5 may be formed by using t , defined the numerical value of the name, the sigil is made by going over the chosen planetary camea. Obviously, the same name will have a completely different design in the seven different cameas. 1ow if we, for e#ample, assign the purpose of a special sigil operation to a specific planetary sphere, we an, with this method of construction, assume the identity magical name is MEAH21. 2n (ebrew, this would be written in the following manner 4from right to left5: 4Final>5 1,1 &O3 HAME3 AES( MEM IGG -G BG /GG CG e am is basic matri#. " 4after the proper reduction of the numbers5 in: S I/!3TIT? igils 4for e#ample, he same system. "o do so, the

name has to be transferred into (ebrew, which, of course demands some previous e#perience. Once you have c of the chosen sphere. Het us ta!e a magician whose (e now wants to perform some aggressive operation, e.g., a magical attac!. "hus, he will choose th c ea of the Mars sphere as h his results J #A@
%onstructing Sigils with Planetary %ameas / )*)

? ethod we ay transfer reduced sentences of desire, words of system and sigili+e them with the help of the cameas e#perience with planetary m gic, you will immediately recogni+e the vast possibilities of this procedure. (e might also use this sigil in combination with the Alphabet of 3esire for his operation, or he might integrate it into a word or pictorial sigil, etc. 2f, however, he wanted to be successful in a lawsuit, he would choose the Kupiter sphere and get the following sigil on the camea of Kupiter: J HA*IT!@ I/!3TIT 2t is always the same name, but with and in a

different planetary vibration. 7y the same m m power, etc., to the planetary . 2f you already have some a

Con*lusion
2 hope that 2 have provided you with ample practical hints in this brief introduction so that you can e#plore on your own the vast, fascinating area of sigil magic. 3onNt start off in a dogmatic spirit, though. 3are to e#periment, ma!e changes where you feel they may be necessary, and always aspire to develop your own techni ues and methods. Sigil magic lives by the individuality of the magician= generally, people who stic! to every letter of laws or rules ma!e very little progress. Even though one of its ma0or strong points lies in the field of success magic, sigil magic serves the individualNs spiritual development as well. 2t can open completely new universes to us$an unlimited number of universes

of e#perience$and eventually it will lead us bac! to the sources of magical power itself. SA(5 AT6U 5A( $ U2I6U DA #ON)

)
) U2I6U D US)

)
)
)*0

'lossary
A. . A. .IAstrum Argentum or Silver Star. A magical group founded by Aleister Frowley based on the teachings of the (ermetic Order of the *olden 3awn. Abramelin system$A potent cabbalistic system of magic. 2t involves si# months in prayer, following which you achieve 'the Jnowledge and Fonversation of &our (oly *uardian Angel6 "his angel provides information on how to control demons so that they will bring you whatever you desire. Agrippa$(enry Fornelius "heophrastus 7ombastus Agrippa von 1ettesheim 4-C.8>-EBE5 was a famous alchemist, astrologer and magician. (is

/hree 1ooks of -ccult Philosophy or Magic is considered to be a classic wor!. Aiwass3revelation$2n -DGC, Aleister Frowley 'received6 /he 1ook of the +aw, a revelation from an entity referring to itself as Aiwass, "he three short chapters in the boo! describe the end of the current aeon and the beginning and methods of the 1ew Aeon. Aleister %rowley$7orn Edward Ale#ander Frowley 4-.IE>-DCI5, he is one of the most important and
)*9 )*: / Practical Sigil Magic

controversial magical writers nd practitioners. (e became a member of the (ermetic Order of the *olden 3awn but later left the order roup, the A...A.... Hater he 0oined the ts head. A prolific writer %haos magic$Of recent origin, this system of magic ocuse ianNs reality. -rder of the !olden awn$"his group egan operation in -... and fell victim to schism

and strife in -DG e and umerous others. teros4$"he Pact is a loose conglomeration of groups and individuals practicing Fhaos magic. a to found his own g O.".O. and became i , his magical system combined 9estern Fabbalistic magic with Eastern "antrism, "aoism, 7uddhism and &oga. f s on personal symbolism rather than a traditional system. E#perimental and free form, chaos is the field of potential from which we can tap magical forces. ogmatic magic$"his type of magic forces a practitioner to use symbols and systems that may or may not be part of the magic 8raternitas Saturni$"he 7rotherhood of Saturn is a *erman magical Order. (ighly secretive, some of their teachings are 0ust coming to light. .ermetic b G. 2ts importance is in its uni ue combining of numerous magical systems into a coherent whole.

2ts membership included 9illiam 7utler &eats, Arthur Machen, Sa# Aohmer, Mac*regor Mathers, 3ion Fortune, Aleister Frowley, 2srael Aegardie, A.E. 9ait n #-/ 2/he Magical Pact of the illuminates of /hana
!lossary / )*;

tually became its sole ader /he !reater $ey of olom $"he philosophical belief that abstractions, generalities or universals have no ob0ective reality -rder of 6astern /emplars4 $ Founded in the late -.GGs, it claimed to $oans$A 7uddhist method for meditation, it involves giving the meditator an idea with no simple answer on which to contemplate. "he most famous is '9hat is the sound of one hand clappingM6 +ao3/se$Founder of "aoism. Master /herian$A name used by Aleister Frowley under which he wrote several of his most important boo!s, including Magic in /heory and Practice.

Mathers$Samuel Hiddell Mac*regor Mathers 4-.EC>-D-.5 was one of the founders of the (ermetic Order of the *olden 3awn and even le . "hrough him came many of the uni ue and impressive rituals and magical techni ues. "he boo!s he translated and edited on magic, including /he Sacred Magic of Abramein the Mage, S on and /he $abbalah ,nveiled, have helped many to become magicians. (is autocratic nature lead to schisms in "he *olden 3awn, and he eventually had magical wars with Aleister Frowley. (e died in the influen+a epidemic that roc!ed the world after 9orld 9ar 2. Bominalism , e#isting only as names. -./.-. 2-rdo /empli -rientisJ
)*< / Practical Sigil Magic

be ass ideas !nown s the "helemic current. 1umerous groups calling recent years. nown as the "en Sephiroth and form a pattern called the "ree of Hife. 2t is used by magicians for person

Aicca$An Old English word meaning 'wise.6 Origin he negative connotations at many hundreds of years of defamation have placed on the ociated with the Jnights "emplar and combined some fringe masonic traditions along with se# magic. Aleister Frowley became a member and later head of the order. (e revamped it to match his magical a themselves O.".O. have sprung up in /en Sephiroth$2n Fabbalism 4and 1eo> Platonism5, the universe is seen as being created through a series of emanations from the *odhead. 2n the Fabbalah these are ! al development, a !ey to astral travel, and a way to ma!e correspondences for magic. /helemic concept$"he system of magic propounded and advanced by Aleister Frowley. /imothy +earyCs and ?obert Anton AilsonCs circuits$ Kust as we have evolved, so has the 'circuitry of our brains.6 9e have eight circuits, and each can be

opened by various means. Aeaching a higher level allows a person greater personal and magical power, as well as greater awareness of the universe. ally pronounced '9ee>Fha,6 it is the source for the more common word witch. Many 9itches prefer the term 9icca as it does not have all of t th word 'witch.6

Comments
th the ame er member of the 2O" n a si eiser, 2nc., -DIE5.
)*=

- . One has only to thin! of the unfortunate development which occurred to a name li!e Astarte 42shtar5 in the course of centuries$an erstwhile Fhaldean Moon *oddess developed in the Middle Ages via the addition of the plural ending 'oth6 into a male4<5 demon wi n Astaroth. "odayNs evocatory magicians might be in

for uite a surprise or two, if, for e#ample, a supposedly male demon li!e Jedemel from the Senusian sphere suddenly appears before them as a female entity 4Luite obvious, actually, but who would have thought of it beforehandM5 /. Aay Sherwin, writing as a form o milar connection in his e#cellent /heatre of Magic 4Heeds: "he SorcererNs Apprentice Press5, introduces the term 'Himinal *nosis.6 B. Fompare the section '"he Physiological *nosis6 and the subse uent e#planations in +iber Bull 4&or! 7each, ME: Samuel 9eiser, 2nc., -D.I5, p. BBff C. Jenneth *rant, #mages and -racles of Austin -sman Spare 4&or! 7each, ME: Samuel 9 E. 2ncidentally, this difficulty can even be used constructively should you encounter problems with visuali+ing or imagining ob0ects or persons For e#ample,
)0> / Practical Sigil Mag

if you donNt succeed Since it is financially unprofitable to mother cow or to induce an artificial

t to procure, especially since don parchment #change. 2n e#tremely paper>thin form it is also utili+ed G. Ff. Su00a SuNaN1o>ta '3ie Sprache des ,nbewuUten, Anleitung +ur Erarbeitung einer individuellen Aitualesprache6 in (nicorn, 222%./, pp. -BI>CCic

in seeing a giraffe with closed eyes, try very intensely not to see one. Sometimes the spell is immediately bro!en by this simple tric!. 8. Aay Sherwin, /he 1ook of ?esults 4Heeds: "he SorcererNs Apprentice Press5, p. BC. I. 2 should perhaps briefly point out that virgin parchment is not, as many people still seem wont to believe, tanned from the hymens of desperately destitute virgins< 2nstead, the s!in of unborn calves is used for its manufacture. slaughter the abortion for obtaining it, only animals which have died in an accident, had to be put to sleep, or died a natural death can be e#ploited. "his is why the most time> honored commodity of all 9estern magic is so rare. 2t is,

therefore, very difficul veterinary regulations in most countries pose an additional obstacle for its production. 2ts chief commercial source of supply is the Hon e as 'goldbeaterNs s!in.6 .. Jenneth *rant, #mages and -racles of Austin -sman Spare, p. EDff. D. Marcus M. Kung!urth, "os $ia 47erlin: Stein der 9eisen, -D.B5, pp. /E8>/8C. %omments / )0)

T2%.C, pp. //-> /D. g scribble. 3NArch Smith does oint out, however, that some aesthetic corrections may his thesis is enlightening and witty and annot be discarded completely, although a convincing ided more clarity to his rocedures. --. For e#ample, refer to Su00a SuNaN1o>taNs 6lement> Magie 47ad (onnef: Edition Magus, -D.B5, pp. E-> E8. -/. Ff. my article 'Mythen in "Vten. Som magischen ,mgang mit Analogien6 in (nicorn, /

-B. Aay Sherwin, /he 1ook of ?esults 4Heeds: "he SorcererNs Apprentice Press5, p. B/ff -C. See "imothy 3NArch SmithNs introduction to Francis 7arrettNs /he Magus 4Secaucus, 1K: Fitadel Press, -DII5, pp. vi>vii. (is e#planation is a bit tric!y. "he magician places the figures of a magical camea in their numerical order 4always from left to right, starting in the bottom row5 in a camea. After this, he traces the numbers following their numerical order on the original camea. "he result of the e#ample given in his introduction, the Saturn glyph, is uite convincing. 7ut in the case of Kupiter and Mars, you need a good deal of imagination to recogni+e the proper glyph as given in the relevant classics in the resultin p have been made to obtain more or less symmetrical figures. "hus, c

presentation of the construction of all glyphs following this model might have prov p