How to Make a Sigil and Charge it: Comprehensive Guide

What's the big deal with sigils? What is a sigil, even? Are they even effective? If so, how to make a sigil? Also, how to charge a sigil successfully?

The answers to the above questions lie in the idea that the key to any successful magickal spell is non attachment of the conscious mind to the desired end result (if you are an advanced mage/witch or a Bardonian initiate, you'll know that this is not the full truth. But for now, this idea will more than suffice to learn how to make a sigil).

Coupled with this, it is also to be kept in mind that it is your subconscious itself that actually helps manifest any desire you may have. This is truth, even if your mental model is that of a rational atheist.

Lust for desire is always accompanied by fear of failure in the subconscious, which acts as a self fulfilling prophecy, blocking the effectiveness of your magick.

Lust for desire and fear of failure are two poles of the same phenomenon.

Armed with these magikcal axioms that help create a concrete magickal paradigm (especially if you are a beginner), we now know that developing certain tools may be necessary to help us manifest our will as mages. This is where mastering how to make a sigil and charge it come in.

Let's now dive deeper:

Anyhow, if you didn't know already, a servitor can be thought of as an energy spirit that is created by the magician or witch to do certain tasks over and over until they are no longer necessary.

This idea, and that of deities existing independently in realms beyond our minds, require a certain level of experience with magick to fully digest and believe in.

Hence, I recommend only working with them when you have some experience with basic sigil magick, which will only require you to believe in working with your own subconscious. Learning how to make a sigil that effectively channel your desire into the cosmos first is a good idea.

In either case, a sigil is used used to help manifest the will of the occultist (you), by bypassing the conscious mind, which is always riddled with conflicting desires and fear of failure, and accessing the power of the subconscious.

How sigils work

How do sigils work, then?

Here I present to you mental models that may explain how sigils work. There are a dozen, but I'll stick to the most popular and rational ones (doesn't mean that they are necessarily the most correct):

Pure psychological model

The best part about learning how to make a sigil and charge it is that you don't have to believe in the existence of the supernatural or any wild theories. The pure psychological model is the easiest paradigm that explains how sigils work.

Sigil magick can be thought of as a really effective tool to help reprogram your own subconscious to help change yourself and to put you into situations where your desires may manifest.

As an example, consider that you want to be a really physically strong person. The sigil will work as a tool to effectively imprint that desire in your subconscious, so that it will put you into situations enabling you to become a strong person effortlessly. It must be remembered that your subconscious makes up most of who you are and what you do on a daily basis after all!

A parallel can be seen with the use of self hypnosis and auto-suggestions. However, with the case of most methods of auto-suggestions, it is often difficult to bypass the chattering conscious mind.

The holographic model of the universe and the collective unconscious connection

Another rational theory of how sigils work (although it can be viewed as far-fetched), that aligns with many modern day speculations about the universe is that of the holographic universe model and the connection of your subconscious to the collective unconscious program. 

This model on how sigils work is useful in explaining the effectiveness of sigils on other people and things. The pure psychological model fails here.

According to the holographic universe model, the entire universe that we dwell in is nothing more than a complex simulation that runs on some sort of a hyper dimensional supercomputer.

The pure information realm that underlies this simulation can be equated to the Akasha or ether principle in many magickal traditions, below which the astral realm lies.

A simple hierarchy of the different levels looks like this:

Pure, unrealized information realm (God) - > Astral plane - > Material world.

Much like a video game, what you see and experience only come into manifestation when you as the observer, experiences it.

Although this is not exactly how the quantum mechanical description of the functioning of sub atomic particle is, it ties pretty cohesively with the description of how measurement collapses the wave nature of particles, materialising into particles.

This mental model of how sigils work is often tied to panpsychism, which is a speculation that all material things, all the way down to the smallest of subatomic particles have an element of consciousness. Your subconscious can be then considered connected to the entire matrix of consciousness of the universe itself.

If the universe is indeed a computer simulation, then it also explains how information transference can occur instantaneously across time and space.

Sigils can be then thought of as tools to “hack into” the collective unconscious, holographic matrix.

Sigils of deities? Yantras in the tantric traditions? Do they work like sigils that you make on your own?

In the tantric traditions, Yantras are diagramatic representations of deities. These deities in turn, are thought of as anthropomorphic representations of universal forces. For example, Kali can be thought of as the representation of the primordial chaos and darkness that existed before time itself.

The Sri Yantra on the other hand contains all the feminine forces combined.

They function like a compressed .zip file of the universal forces which can then be unpacked using various chanting and/or evocation methods.

Sigils of deities can be thought to function in the same manner. Only, with sigils, the diagrams are not limited to circles and triangles (unlike Yantras).

The functioning of yantras and sigils of deities can be explained by the same holographic principle of the universe elaborated earlier, where the sigils are used to access certain information containers within the matrix.

When it comes down to creation of servitors using sigils, you are essentially packing information from your own subconscious and creating and “pushing” information containers into the matrix all by yourself.

There are dozens of other theories on how sigils work, but let me assure you that if you have enough practical experience working magick, you will know that every one of them will seem incomplete. Hence, use the paradigms to convince your mind initially, to motivate yourself to learn how to make a sigil, how to charge a sigil and work with them.

How to know if your sigil worked?

This is pretty straightforward. Magick works through synchronous events. In most cases, people, events and opportunities will show up in your life that aligns with the desires that you wanted to manifest. 

Also remember that magick in most instances, will not put everything on your lap and spoon feed you. It will give you an edge, but you will have to actively work on achieving the said goal and be perceptive enough to notice the opportunities it presents in front of you.

Now that have mental models on how sigils work, let's move on to how to make a sigil, charging sigils and how to activate a sigil that are made to serve the purpose of a talisman.

How to make a sigil

There are a myriad of different ways to make a sigil and prepare it, some more complicated than others. What method you choose depends on you, but the simplest method can work just as well as the more complicated ones, provided you have enough mind control and practice.

The more complicated methods may help let your subconscious be more convinced, enabling a greater chance of success, but this again depends completely on the individual in question.

How to make a sigil 1: The desire writing method

The letter elimination method or desire writing method is the simplest way to make a sigil.  Simply write the desire in question. The most effective way to write an intent/desire is debatable, but in my experience it is best to write as though it is a given that it is going to happen. Also, the more specific the intent the better, both in terms of the desire itself and the time frame in which it will be achieved.

Example :

1. I am going to be a physically strong person in 6 months
2. I will be getting a BMW this year

Hexes (not recommended unless for defense) :

1. <Name of the person> will be hindered from making any progress in work this year

Next, remove the duplicate letters

For example, if your desire is “I will be getting a BMW this year”, then:

LNGBMWTHISYEAR

Next, remove the Vowels:

LNGBMWTHSYR

Now use the above letters to make a sigil (pictorial version of the letters) by rearranging the letters into   different positions:

I admit that I am an abysmal artist (it is still unique to me though!) but if you have even a little bit of artsy in you, I’m sure you can come up with sigils that look a 100 times better than that :-).

However, what's more important here would be mastering the process of how to make a sigil than the aesthetics itself. 

How to make a sigil 2: Creating sigils with magick squares (Kameas)

Magickal squares or Kameas are thought of as matrices that represents planetary energy. This is based on the works of Heinrich Cornelius Argippa, drawing on the Hermetic and occult works of Marcilio Fiscino and Pico dela Mirandolla.

Each planet is associated with its own unique matrix grid:

Magick squares can be traced back to Chinese literature to over 2800 BC and have been used in formulating magickal rituals for thousands of years. You can also find magickal squares in various grimoires.

Needless to say, if you connect this knowledge to the hologram theory of the universe, the fact that the magickal squares are associated to specific “planetary energies”, might in fact leave a better imprint on the subconscious than the simple letter elimination method, even if learning how to make a sigil with this process can be relatively cumbersome. 

Even if you do not conscious believe in the association of these matrices with planetary energies and that planets help bestow qualities on us, the extra steps taken to make a sigil with this method may be more effective simply because the subconscious has more reason to believe it to be effective, due to the extra steps.

The history and study of magic squares are quite vast and if you are interested in a detailed account of what they are and how they originated, you can read about it here.

For our purpose here though, we only need understand that each planet is associated with its own unique matrix grid and that the planets themselves are associated with different types of qualities.

This can be observed in different traditions all across the globe:

If the number appears more than once in the digits derived, simply join the line to closest multiple of 10 (in the square) of the number. In the above example, after starting the sigil from the number 5, the line is drawn to 30 instead of 3 first!

The final figure is then extracted and used as the sigil.

How to make a sigil 3: Creating sigils with sigil wheel

Creating sigils with the sigil wheel or witch’s wheel is yet another "how to make a sigil" method. A sigil wheel is a set of three concentric circles containing letters (You can find different variations of it online):

Similar method is applied to the previous ways of sigil making as far as removing duplicate letters and vowels are concerned:

1. WOLUCDMNGTHISYEAR
2. WLCDMNGTHSYR

Simply trace the letters over the Sigil wheel to get the sigil:

How to make a sigil 4: Combining sigils

Now you might think: is it alright to combine multiple sigils representing different desires? If so, how can you go about combining sigils?

Ideally, I would refrain from combining sigils simply because when you charge it (which we will be discussing in the next section), the subconscious will must be focused on the one, singular desire. It is better if you make multiple sigils and charge them on different occasions.

If you still want to combine sigils (for example in the case of related desires), you can pretty much do it anyway you want. Simply overlay one on top of the other, for example. The sky is the limit!

How to charge a sigil: Methods of charging a sigil

In the very process of making a sigil, you must keep the desire/intent of the sigil in mind throughout. Taking this into consideration, the sigil charging process starts not AFTER you create the sigil, but even during the very act of making one.

This ensures that the subconscious knows exactly what the sigil is supposed to mean and to be associated with later down the road. Mastering the art of how to make a sigil properly in itself comes with experience.

That being said, like we have already discussed in the beginning, the sigil has to be further imprinted into your subconscious without conscious interference (in a state of trance) .

Ideally, it is advised that you let the conscious mind lose the meaning of the sigil completely before the sigil charging process. Remember: Lust for desire is always accompanied by fear of failure in the subconscious, which acts as a self fulfilling prophecy, blocking the effectiveness of your magick.

Hence, make multiple different sigils (over the course of a week for example) and then pick up a sigil to randomly charge later. Of course, you may not be able to completely forget the intent/desire. Even so, this should help tone down the ‘lust for desire’ factor.

Anyway, there are a myriad of different ways to charge a sigil and I’m going to list below, some of the most effective ones that will enable you to bypass the chattering mind and focus on the sigil without interference.  The idea is to make a lasting subconscious imprint.

How do you pick one? Easy -- pick a method that closely resonates with the desire/intent of the sigil. For example, if your desire is that of destruction, then charging it with blood might be an option

Ideally, the method has to be written down on the sigil before you put it away for a week (or more) right after creating it so you don’t have to remember the actual desire behind the sigil and obsess over it during the charging ritual.

After the sigil charging process is done, it is then “sent off” into the universe by various methods like burning, sending it into the river, burying it and so on.

If the sigil is made to function as a talisman or if it represents a deity, then it is often “activated” over and over.  How to activate a sigil will be covered in the next section.

Charging sigils with intense emotions like rage, sadness, love, euphoria and fear

One of the most effective ways to charge a sigil is to deliberately  grow emotions within you in a controlled fashion, focus intently on the emotion and stare directly at the sigil.

Props can be used, of course. For example, in order to channel an ecstatic emotion, you can use the help of music and dance. Tune in on a piece of music that gets you in a state of euphoria, let the feelings flow into you. Dance if need be. At the peak of this euphoric feeling, focus intently on the sigil. When learning how to charge a sigil, I suggest you start with something like this

If you have mastered your emotions totally, even fear can be channeled to charge sigils. Putting yourself in the middle of a dark, isolated place (like a forest) and meditating on all the possible ghosts that can grab you into the underworld is a good way to channel this emotion. Focus on the sigil when at the peak of your fear.

The emotion channeling method is straightforward and limitless. Just pick an emotion most closely associated with the intent of the sigil and channel it to your subconscious by manipulating the environment around you (if need be).

How to charge a sigil with sexual orgasm

Your sexual energy is the most potent tool you possess. It is the power you possess that creates life itself and it is through the transformation of this energy that every other creative energy sprouts from, within you.  

Not only that, during the climax of a sexual activity (be it actual sex or masturbation) you reach a point of satori for a fraction of a second before tumbling down again. The only other way to get to the same space, and for longer is through years and years of meditation and mental training.

There is no need to consider this sacred energy as something taboo as many do. It is nature’s gift to man. Therefore, do not let this potential go wasted.

The key is to focus intently on the sigil at the peak of a sexual orgasm (even masturbation will do) to make a lasting impression of it in your subconscious.

It can be challenging of course, because sex and masturbation often involves having erotic thoughts. It will be difficult to have those thoughts shut down in the climax period when your sole focus should be the orgasm and its association with the sigil. For a beginner learning how to charge a sigil, sexual orgasm method can be one of the least effective though most appealing to many.

Hence, you might want to practice having an orgasm without thinking about anything. Sex is way better than masturbation in this regard, because you and your partner can both have the same goal of charging the sigil. Plus you don’t have to think about erotic thoughts!

How to charge a sigil with blood

Just like how your sexual energy is the source for all creative faculties within you, your blood can be considered as the physical manifestation of the life force within you. By charging sigils with blood, you inevitably associate this force to the sigil to your subconscious.

However, you often have to accompany some emotional trance state while charging sigils with blood.

An example:

Use the emotion of sadness or rage to prick your thumb with the needle and anoint the sigil with your blood while focusing intently and solely on the sigil. Be careful not to hurt yourself too much, because there is no need to. Maintain total control throughout the act.

Charging sigils with blood is also associated with planets in some circles. Each finger and areas of the hand is associated with certain planets. Each planet is of course, associated with qualities as we have already discussed above. Where you draw blood from while charging sigils with blood, depends on which planet your desire is most closely associated to.

Note: If you are a female, then you have a two fold power of both blood and sex energies.

Although taboo, menstrual blood can also be used to charge a sigil. The benefit? The menstrual blood has the combined effect of both sex (creative) energy and blood (life) energy!

Charging Sigils by Chanting Mantras

Getting into a trance state/altered state of mind where the sigil can leave a lasting impact on the subconscious is key to successfully charging a sigil. By chanting mantras, a trance state can be achieved.

Although this method is slower and time consuming, the “trance state window” lasts longer, enabling you to charge sigils almost 100% effectively. With other methods, you often need extreme control and focus or else you might miss the opportunity. However, it can take a while to master the technique to effectively achieve a trance state through mantras.

Different types of sounds can produce different kinds of effects and there is a whole science behind mantras in the tantric traditions. To learn more about mantras, you can download the free book that we’ve put together below:

Charging Sigils with Crystals

Charging sigils with crystals is yet another method. However, it is indirect and may require a great deal of experience working with and charging crystals, including the knowledge of the effects of different crystals. Charging sigils with crystals can be done by keeping them in close proximity to one another for a period of time or by performing a short “association ritual”. For example, gazing deeply into the crystal in a meditative state and then immediately focusing intent on the sigils.

Crystal magick deserves an article on its own, so I won’t be going too much into it here.

How to Charge a Sigil on Your Body

How to charge sigils on your body? Is it even possible? if you are a fan of tattoos, having sigils on your body can be an excellent way to have effective sigils that require reuse over and over. However, you must be very wary of  the type of sigil and what sigil you engrave on your body permanently.

Do not tattoo any servitor or fleeting desire related sigil on your body. You do not want a sigil that represents wanting a Ferrarri to be engraved on your body till you die.

A good example sigil to tattoo on your body would be a patron deity that you trust will guide you throughout your life. 

That being said, after you tattoo them, how to charge sigils on your body? The very act of tattooing such a sigil on your body should be sacred. This is the only way to truly charge a sigil on your body -- in the process of tattooing itself.

Think of the countless different traditions across the world, especially tribal societies that still preserve the Shamanic traditions. To them, tattooing the body as an act is always sacred and not a mere act of “coolness”.

Sigil activation: How to activate a sigil?

Now that we’ve learned how to make a sigil and charge it, there is yet another aspect to be covered -- How to activate a sigil? Sigil activation in this context pertains to sigils that function as talismans and engravings on amulets and on the body itself. This is in direct contrast to sigils that are disposed of, and “sent into” the universe immediately after charging it.

Often, such sigils are used to protect and defend an area or yourself or to bring positivity and/or negative effects in a particular area.

Such sigils may already possess power from its creation and charging phase, but certain types of functions, when sigilised, require repeated activation. For example, a sigil of a deity on your body will pretty much function like an idol of the deity. By repeated chanting and meditating, you “activate” the power of the sigil and reinforce it.  Activating a sigil can be very useful in times when you require that quick “power back up” before you set about completing a challenging task.

The hyper religious tend to do this one bit right!

In the above example, the different methods of activating the sigil would be:

Close your eyes and visualize the sigil while focusing on the part of the body where the sigil is tattooed to.

Breathe on the sigil tattoo constantly until you get into a trance.

Trace the sigil continuously until you get into a trance or almost into a trance.

Exercise the part of the body where the sigil is until you get into a trance state, while focusing on the sigil

Your imagination is your limit here. The key to activating a sigil is to focus intently on the sigil while getting in a trance state, much like charging a sigil!

Burning a Sigil and/or destroying it

Burning a sigil or destroying it is done for two purposes: 

1.) To release the will into the universe

2.) Destroying a talisman and/or servitor sigil once the purpose is depleted

In this context, burning a sigil refers to the second purpose: removing the effects of the said talisman sigil. 

The process is largely the same with charging a sigil, except you do not use elaborate methods and techniques. Getting into a meditative trance and simply burning and/or destroying the sigil in any way should do the trick. 

However, when it comes to sigils of deities and lower order spirits such as familiars or demons, one must achieve the same level of deep magickal trance and emotions as when the sigil was charged to successfully banish it.

Techniques of exorcism can also be used on such sigils. Proceed with caution though, because there is a chance that the process can backfire. 

There you have it, you have now successfully learned how to make a sigil, how to a charge a sigil and how to activate one (in case of talismanic sigils). You also learned some of the most popular mental paradigms/models on how they work. 

Before working with sigils though, I'd suggest you take a week or two to master the following skills: 

1. Body and mental stillness: Learn how to sit in a lotus posture, without being wavered by thoughts and body restlessness for at least 20 minutes.
2. One pointed concentration: Learn how to focus on a single idea/thought/object for more than 10 minutes, without being distracted by other thoughts.
3. Observe your thoughts, emotions and actions as if you are a third person as much as you can. Stay aware of yourself and minimize "auto pilot" mode.

Happy magicking!