sigil

1. A seal; a signet.
2. A sign or an image considered magical.

[Latin sigillum, diminutive of signum, sign.]

A sign or seal for an occult entity. Sigils, especially those that are the marks of angels, deities, or demons, are often used on amulets and talismans. According to occultists, such signs are like the signatures of gods and other supernatural entities, and the inscribing of such sigils evokes the entities that they symbolize. (See also Yantra)

In this century, the art of creating sigils was recreated by artist-magician Austin Osman Spare. He saw in sigils a means of concentrating the magical will. He would write his magic intention or will down in a sentence or word, and then combine the major letters (without repeating any letter) into a patterned shape, the sigil. The symbolic shape thus created could be impressed upon the subconscious for working magic.

Sources:

Drury, Nevill, and Stephen Skinner. The Search for Abraxas. London: Neville Spearman, 1972.

Gettings, Fred. Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981.

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Sigil may refer to:

• Sigil (magic), a type of symbol used in magic
• Sigil (computer programming), a symbol that must be attached to a variable name in some programming languages.
• A seal (device) or signet ring
• Sigla, a symbol used to identify manuscripts or other primary sources in library catalogues, bibliographic discussions, or other forms of bibliographic or textual criticism
• Sigil (album), a 2006 album by Nuru Kane
• Sigil (Dungeons & Dragons), a city in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game
• Sigil (comics), a comic book from CrossGen
• Sigil Games Online, a software company in Carlsbad, California
• Sigil Stone, a daedric artifact in The Elder Scrolls series' universe
• Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled, a video game for the Nintendo DS platform
• The Sigil, an on-line story written by Henry Gee

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