Spiritual Alchemy: Scrying, Spirit Communication, and Alchemical Wisdom - Jenny Tyson 2016

Sigils and Symbols
Practical Applications

A sigil is a symbol or signature of a spirit that is unique to that spirit. It’s like a symbolic fingerprint. Concentrating on a spirit’s sigil during a séance helps to focus the mind on that spirit. In traditional grimoires, the sigils of spirits are provided along with their descriptions and a list of their offices or abilities. These traditional sigils are formed by combining either letters of the spirit’s name, symbols associated with the spirit, or imagery intuitively linked to the spirit.

For example, the sigil of a spirit might be made up of the letters in the spirit’s name brought together and overlapped so that the letters form a single symbolic emblem. Simple symbols such as crescents, circles, triangles, crosses, spirals, squares, and pentagrams may be combined to form a spirit sigil. Lower spirits sometimes have sigils that include imagery such as clouds, lightning bolts, streams of water, wind, insects, and so on. It is also possible for traditional spirit sigils to combine all three and have letters, symbols, and images in the same sigil.

Symbols are not as specific as sigils but represent a general concept such as one of the elements, not just an individual spiritual entity. Both may be used as aids in learning to focus the mind during trance. When doing trance, it can be difficult to focus on nothing. If you have a goal, it gives you the sense of going from one place to another, and this makes deepening the trance state easier.

I found initially that sigils helped a great deal with my focus. If you focus your attention on a sigil, it gives you something to occupy your mind and helps exclude distractions. You hold the sigil in your imagination as if you were looking at it with your physical eyes and studying it. You can mentally turn it over and look at it from different angles.

Using sigils made me feel more secure because I knew for certain the identity of the spirit with whom I was in communication. A feeling of safety is important to the process of opening up the heart and going deeper with the aid of a guiding spirit. The level of intimacy required to deeply open your heart can be intimidating.

Sigils will help you cope with issues of control and security until you are advanced enough to outgrow their use. In my case, because I wanted to make certain I was in contact with Edward or Dr. Dee, not with other spirits, I made specific sigils linked with Edward and Dr. Dee. I based my designs on what I knew about them, both from the historical record and from what I had learned about them during the time we were together. They approved of my designs (see pages 62—64), and we used the sigils for a couple months until I felt more secure in my ability to identify these spirits. This allowed me to relax and focus more of my attention on the opening and deepening that I needed to do.

MAKING SIGILS

When I made sigil disks for Dr. Dee during the year of training, I used simple wooden disks. When I made angel seals a few years ago, I made them very elaborate and used rare, expensive materials. I layered laminated wood from rare hardwoods such as rosewood and burled walnut, carved the sigils on the disks, and coated them with a 24k gold paint in a frankincense oil base.

Sigil disks do not need to be elaborate or difficult to make. All you need is a piece of paper or cardboard and a pen. The material should be fairly heavy to withstand handling. Another material that I like to use for making sigils and seals is polymer clay. It’s good for holding the design and easy to work with. It’s also fairly inexpensive. It is hardened by baking in the oven. Once hardened, it is also very durable.

Traditional sigil disks were often made of metals—usually tin, lead, gold, silver, copper, or iron. Parchment was also used, and I have had good success with parchment that I made myself. Parchment is basically very thin rawhide. The rawhide is salted, dehaired, and dried on a frame to stretch it, then sanded until it is nearly translucent. It can then be used as paper. Any kind of rawhide can be turned into parchment. Even beef rawhide dog treats found in pet stores can be sanded and processed into parchment without having to go through the process of skinning and salting. Soak the rawhide until it is soft. Stretch it on a frame and sand it until it is thin. I used garden lime to dehair the skins. The liquid hair removal cosmetic products can also be used. If the skin is a fine thin skin, such as rabbit, do not use full-strength solution.

The size of the sigils or symbols that I used in my own work was usually under 12 centimeters (approximately 5 inches) in diameter. In invocational/evocational magical traditions, the size and construction of the disks are usually specified.

For the purpose of using the sigil to assist in focusing, it would be best to make it simple and small enough to fit into your hand. Since you will be discarding it, using expensive or hard-to-find materials that require sophisticated working to shape is not recommended.

When using a symbol or sigil in meditation, hold the sigil in your hand and study it. When you have the image memorized, hold it steady in your mind for as long as you can. If your mind drifts from it, redirect it back to the sigil.

Using sigils and symbols in meditation is much like using a mantra, except that the object of focus is visual instead of audible. A sigil or symbol can also be combined with a mantra during meditation. Using both together may be helpful if your mind does not stay on track with mantra or symbol/sigil use alone.

AMULETS AND CIRCLES

I do not recommend the use of devices such as circles, charms, or amulets for the purpose of protection. To use them in this way reinforces the erroneous belief that there is an inherent danger in communicating with spirits. This conviction on your part will generate a hostile shadow. The influence of that thought form will further reinforce your belief that interacting with spirits is dangerous.

Using ritual items such as ritual circles to help your focus is acceptable and can be a useful tool. A careful self-examination of personal beliefs is needed to determine the difference. In my situation, I had no fear of communicating with Edward or Dr. Dee. The equipment they had me make was to help my focus and increase my confidence for the messages to be accurate.

Once I learned how to focus properly, the equipment became unnecessary. I no longer need or use ritual equipment in my practice. Such items are tools, not necessities. Once proper focus is accomplished, tools become distracting and burdensome and should be set aside.

Amulets are natural stones, herbs, and other objects designed to generate a particular effect. The same rule for the use of circles applies to amulets. Amulets should never be used for protection. Unpleasant shadows will be generated, reinforcing the use of the amulet, if this is done. Their use as an aid for focus is acceptable, but they should only be employed in this way until focus is learned. Once this is accomplished, they should be set aside.

If you do not feel safe without a circle or other protective devices, then you are dealing with a fear that may cause you to have an unpleasant experience with spirit communication. Asking for divine help in resolving that fear is the best course of action before starting with the two-way communication systems.

There is an old saying: the magic is in the magician. The paraphernalia used in spirit communication can be complicated and very expensive. The equipment is a tool to use only for as long as you derive a benefit from it. Development of focus is critical to practice and should be the centerpiece of learning spirit communication.