There seem to be two schools of thought regarding Spare-style sigils:
You must destroy the sigil upon launching, so that it may work through the heightened psychic matrix of the collective unconscious, unburdened by your active consciousness.
It doesn’t matter. You are a magician and you conditioned your consciousness when you got into magick. Or it just doesn’t matter.
I would like to hear your thoughts, opinions, and experiences with this. I have not had any problems getting results after not destroying sigils, personally.
I have done both when I used to work with spare-style sigils. My success rate with spare-style sigils was always very low as far as I could tell, I only had a few successes with them. The most powerful effect I had with a spare-style sigil was when I (unknowingly) basically turned it into a talisman. That had near immediate and extremely powerful effects. I eventually destroyed it, to which it no longer had an effect as far as I remember.
The second that I remember clearly was a success was when I created one of these sigils using an appropriate Kamea square, and visualized it being sent off into space.
The other sigils… well, they didn’t work. I remember working out them having a 20% success rate. It didn’t matter if I burnt them or kept them or threw them in the trash. The main way I “fired” them was by gazing upon them during orgasm. I believe I tried some different methods at other times.
Interestingly, it was just the sigils I had a low success rate with. My work with the invocation of spirits during that time had a very high success rate. Although, I really liked working with spare-style sigils so I wanted to keep trying them, so I made more than 30 over-all if I remember correctly.
I’ve made plenty of Spare-style sigils in my day and I don’t remember burning or disposing any of them. Although this was years ago when I wasn’t as practised as I am now. I still sometimes stumble across old physical journals full of Spare sigils and wonder if I should just fire them off and see what happens (since you’re supposed to forget the meaning of the sigil before firing them, according to Chaos magick, but I am not a patient person, so I turned to other methods).
Off-topic (sorry) but I take a somewhat similar approach to demonic or angelic seals. I might draw one for a ritual but I rarely burn it or dispose of it, unless I think it’s directly lending energy to the outcome. I’ve had a blood-smeared Belial seal on my altar for over two years now that I’m just so fond of and can’t bring myself to burn it, and I often find I’ve left other sigils or seals in random places (back of my phone case, folded up in my purse, left in my car, and so on). I just leave them where they are.
I can’t say definitively that I’ve had much success from Spare sigils, but I suppose I stopped using them a few years ago, so leaving them around or disposing of them makes no difference to me. But ye, like I said, I do get attached to some of my demon seals and keep them long-term. I couldn’t tell you the last time I worked with Belial, but he was one of the first spirits I worked with and he gave me an unmistakable sign of acceptance overnight, and delivered concrete results. I still have a whole space on my altar dedicated to him with the original seal I drew for him, in all its blood-stained glory.
It doesn’t matter imop, as long as you do something with it- what it is you actually choose to do can be anything-the actions only inform your subconscious that you want to release the energy towards the goal emblemized in the sigil.
It’s not about which actions you take, it’s simply about taking them, so that your subconscious gets the message and knows what you want it to do.
That matrix you talk about is available to the subconscious all the time, rain or shine, day or night, good or bad, dark or light.
Your subconscious just needs you to tell it, what it’s job is- this is why we do the physical things: the actions cause you to direct the energy that you are making with your mind and hands to the goal.
If you tell yourself before you do a working that you are going to do this working, and when you get to the end you are going to burn the sigil, your subconscious mind knows before you begin that the end is signified by the burning.
It knows you have put all the energy in and directed it with your actions, so now it can send it off according to the directions you just gave it.
Yes, I see this. Haven’t read the responses yet, so forgive me. I’ll stick to personal instances where I’ve messed these up, since that also matters.
#1
My preferred method for transactional operations. Without an underlying relationship (or working towards one), they should be seen as such. Burn and Turn.
Err, how about forgetting? There are other aspects to this approach. If you don’t burn immediately (my typical method), you may decide to keep them (longer-term workings) and make intermittent offerings or pay upon delivery. It it’s going to be within the timeframe of your memory (WITH stress and upheaval, (good note taking helps)), then burn upon recognition.
Otherwise, if you aren’t taking notes (that you revisit) and/or have a visual representation, you’re about to hose yourself from what you’ve gained.
Well if we’re talking about goetic evocation sigils…
I keep a nice wooden ( unlocked, they HATE to be locked in any vessel) box that contains All 72 of the seals of the spirits. That way when I need to see one, I just reach into my box and pull out the seal I need and go from there.
Where things get sticky as it were is when you offer blood to a spirit by rubbing it onto the sigil. Depending on how many times you do this you’ll notice the luster of the seal has faded and it no longer has the juice it used to.
When this happens I fold the seal twice and burn it in the spirit of friendship with the spirit to send it’s seal back to it in the spirit world.
Then I make a shiny new seal.
That’s just how I do it. I know in traditional demonaltry the seals or sigils are usually burnt after every ritual.
Different strokes for different folks.
I’m his book “my life with the spirits” Lon Milo Duquette had run into a problems with a Muggle friend handling an “active” seal of Prince Orobas. That is to say the seal was recently used used in goetic evocation. The muggle became irrevocably possessed by Prince Orobas and was never right after that.
Now Prince Orobas has a very different version of events but that’s beyond the scope of what we’re talking about here.
So is there wisdom in burning the active seals…yes possibly, I certainly do not allow my muggle domestic helper staff to handle anything like tools or spirit seals ever.
If we’re talking about chaos magic kind of sigil Magick yes burning them is one-way to release the energies built up inside it.
Edit update: I totally missed the OPs part where he said “spare style sigils” I went completely the wrong direction with this post. I’m sorry.
Prince Orobas says that a man came to him that was alone and lonely and needed a friend. When the man heard prince Orobas call he reached out and touched the charged seal. Orobas came to live inside after that. Prince Orobas says he was and is invited and it’s my business his relationship with others.
According to Duquette the man shortly after being possessed began demonstrating a bizarre interest in horses and horse racing. So much so the man could not have a normal conversation without bringing up horses somehow. This became old and awkward quickly but the man didn’t notice and became a friendless pariah. Duquette tried evoking Prince Orobas to let the man and vacate him. Prince Orobas was adamant “This one is mine”
Goetic spirits can be very… possessive…
Even bringing this subject up causes Prince Orobas to become irritated and irate. Yes Duquette and Prince Orobas ate still friends but he should never think he can dictate to the Prince who he associates with.
What’s the truth my friend. Some call it po-tay-to some call it po-tat-to. It is what it is.
the symbolism of destroying a sigil is the main reason to do it for most operations
destroying the sigil is like burning an offering, the show and mechanism of fully giving it leave, the symbolic “now go forth into the world and fulfill my will”
now on the other hand for various operations like charging a room with a certain energy or to turn something into a portal i wouldnt destroy it personally
Forgive me. I’m growing old and increasingly cantankerous, but a Seal is basically the signature of a Spiritual entity whereas a Sigil is a glyph of desire.
It’s the Ceremonial Magician coming out in me.
For a sigil, it’s something that was between my subconscious and me, so it doesn’t matter how it’s destroyed.
For a Seal, I always burn. And with respect.
If I am doing a working I consider constructive, I bury the sigil in a fitting spot. If it’s a negative work, I burn the sigil. Thus far, it seems to be an effective method. (Results are scattered—some of the work aims at the future some ways off.)
mouth.