How to Create an Alphabet of Desire

Sigils, Seals & Symbols
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How to Create an Alphabet of Desire

“The basic idea behind the Alphabet of Desire is to construct a series of magickal symbols and align them to different aspects of yourself. This can be done in a hierarchical way, with certain aspects predominating, or you can forgo hierarchy altogether and create a balanced system, with each aspect working in concert to achieve your goals. Each letter of the Alphabet of Desire corresponds to a part of yourself and can be used as a means of summoning that aspect of yourself in a magickal context. You can also create an Alphabet of Desire to correspond to aspects of your experience of the outer world. Anything which you encounter—whether internally or externally—can be crystallized into a symbol.”

~ Anousen Leonte

An alphabet of desire is a customized symbol system unique to you which can be used for divination, spellwork, talismans, meditation, dream magick, shadowwork, etc. It is not difficult to create.

Step One: Conception

Write out a list of (preferably psychological) concepts or abilities to sigilize and empower with magick, such as:

  1. Dreaming power
  2. Rage
  3. Lust
  4. Joy
  5. Magickal power
  6. Writing abilities
  7. Perceptive abilities
  8. Intellectual power

Leonte recommends experimenting with duality and provides the following examples:

  1. Love / Hate
  2. Joy / Sorrow
  3. Lust / Disgust
  4. Peace / Agitation
  5. Light / Darkness
  6. Order / Chaos
  7. Logic / Irrationality
  8. Energy / Lethargy

Further inspiration can be found in @Celestia’s excellent post on emotional wheels and shadow work:

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Step Two: Sigilze

Sigilize your concepts, using the “classical” method or your own symbolism creation system. Art or automatic writing could be used, for example.

Step Three: Associate

Create attributions for your chosen elements and record them in a private notebook used exclusively for your alphabet. For example:

Love
Scent: Roses
Light/color: Red / White

Hate
Scent: Tobacco
Light/color: Red / Black

I imagine uncle al will protest and insist that tobacco should be assigned to love, and that Leonte should be flogged for their audacity :woman_shrugging:

Step Four: Activate

Preform a ritual that speaks to you in order to activate each symbol. Your ritual should include:

  1. Mental or physical intensity, or both
  2. A depiction of the letter
  3. The presence of any elements associated with the letter

Ref: The Alphabet of Desire: A Method of Chaos Magick by Anousen Leonte

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I like the idea of having a personalised ‘alphabet’ of emotional archetypes… I can see how it would be useful in a lot of workings, whether ceremonial or tool-free, or with/without entities overseeing the work.

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I created such a (similar) thing the other day and …through my energy link the divination is really accurate. I can see many useful ways it can be used.

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