Magic in plain sight, pt. 1: Sigils
So I kinda talked about this the other day a tiny bit. Sigils can be WAY more than a black and white geometric pattern.
Sigil (noun): an inscribed or painted symbol considered to have magical power.
The power of a sigil comes from your own power, not because the letters D and S can fit together in some magical way. In fact, your sigils don’t have to include letters at all! I usually have to hide my magic in plain sight, so here are a few ways that I personally make sigils and display them prominently.
The Victorian Language of Flowers is a wonderful tool for witches. Here you have a lovely system of symbolism, ripe and ready for use as magical components! Here is my favorite listing of flower meanings. Paint the most inane, fluff-headed painting of a vase of flowers you can think of: no one will notice lettuce leaves and wild briers mixed in with the daisies and chrysanthemums. Burn the painting when you’re done with it.
And no, I don’t mean ‘crystal magic’. Personally, I don’t believe very strongly in the type of crystal magic that says, “All crystals have their own precise powers in the world”. I believe that some stones hold certain energies better than others, not that they come with a specific energy themselves. But I digress. A glass bowl of stones is a VERY common household decoration, especially if you add in a little air plant or something. Take each stone in your hand (I use plain ol’ ugly river rocks from my local river spirit) and breathe your focus/desire into it, then place it in the bowl. This should take you a bit of time, and for god reason! The more time you spend doing this, the better you’ll remember the magic when you look at the bowl. Buckle down on that focus and get to work. Once the bowl is full, place it somewhere conspicuous. Everyone can comment on your nice, decorative touch, and you’ll see your three-dimensional sigil almost constantly. Dump the rocks into running water (either a creek or your sink) to erase the sigil.
What kind of stitch witch would I be if I didn’t put this in? Again, I don’t mean some arcane, black circle of symbols emblazoned on the front of your shirt. If your sigil is for self love, take a needle and thread and sew a tiny heart with a dot in the center on the hem of your shirt. Easy to tear out if you make it small, and you can rub it between your fingertips all day. I have a scarf that has had so many sigils sewn in and torn out that it’s starting to get holes. With a spool of cheap thread being $1 and three needles being $0.99, you couldn’t ask for a cheaper, physical, hidden sigil. Sewing simple things is easy, your symbol doesn’t have to look perfect. Here is a good place to learn about beginning stitches, if you want to get fancy at all.
Go have fun kids. If I think of more of these, I’ll let you know.
