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See also: Diabolical signature

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An example of a sigil.

A sigil (pronounced /'sɪdʒ.ɪl/ or /'sɪg.ɪl/; pl. sigila or sigils) is a symbol created for a specific magical purpose. The term sigil derives from the Latin sigilum meaning "seal," though it may also be related to the Hebrew סגולה (segulah meaning "word, action or item of spiritual effect"). The old Norse binding rune is an example of the idea. However, sigila differ from runes as they are designed not to represent an alphabet but are created to form a glyph, composed of a variety of symbols or concepts which carry intent and inherent iconic meaning. In medieval ceremonial magic, the term sigil was most commonly used to refer to the occult signs that represented the various angels and demons that the magician might summon. The magical training books called the grimoires often listed pages of such sigils. The most notorious of these lists is found in the Goetia, in the Lesser Key of Solomon, in which the sigils of the 72 princes of the hierarchy of hell are given for the magician's use. Such sigils were considered to be the equivalent of the 'true name' of the spirit, and thus granted the magician a measure of control over the beings.

A sigil may have an abstract, pictorial or semi-abstract form. It may appear in any medium, physical or virtual, or only in the mind. Visual symbols are the most popular form, but the use of audial and tactile symbols in magick is not unknown.

Sigilia are commonly found in Jewish mysticism and Kabbalistic magic (being an especial focus of Sefer Raziel HaMalakh and other medieval Jewish mystical sources) upon which much of Western magic is based.

In 20th century magic a sigil is most often a linear figure created to be a visual concentration of the will of the magician. The concept was created by painter/occultist Austin Osman Spare. He devised a method by which a statement of intent for any specific magical spell is rendered into a linear design, in which the original intent is completely buried. That figure - the sigil - is then charged with the magical will of the creator, and becomes, in effect, a current of energy with a will, or a 'spirit' that brings about the intent of the spell. His technique, now known as sigilization, became a core element of chaos magic and from there, has developed into a popular element of Western magic.

The theory that sigila are consciously used as magical tools by businesses (such as in the highly-recognized corporate logos of Coca-Cola and McDonald's) and invest them with a comparable degree of prestige and power is popular among occultists and a common element in conspiracy theories.

An excerpt from Sefer Raziel HaMalakh, featuring various magical sigils (or סגולות, seguloth, in Hebrew).

Traditional sigils as found in grimoires are used to the book's instructions, or to be used as an object of contemplation for its effect. In Chaos Magic the user made sigil takes a magical desire or intent and folds it down creating a highly charged symbol. This desire is then forgotten. Only the symbol remains and this can then be charged.

To charge the sigil one must concentrate on its shape and hold that form in his or her mind while emptying the mind of all other thoughts.
Many magicians use various body mechanism for inducing brief 'no mind' like states. These include fasting, sex, drugs, spinning, exhaustion, fear, fight or flight responses, etc. Some magicians claim to utilize the process of masturbation for use of sigilia. Noteworthy proponents of this method are Peter Carroll in Liber Null, Phil Hine in Condensed Chaos and Grant Morrison in Pop Magic!

The sigil can be written on a piece of paper, the hand, the forehead, merely visualized, or anywhere the magician feels it will be most powerful.

A 'hypersigil' is an extended piece of artwork, be it a novel, song, dance etc, that is created with a similar intent as a sigil. People attempting to create a hypersigil optimally want it to allude to and be referenced by multiple other artworks to reinforce its 'strength.' The term was possibly coined by Grant Morrison. He used the word to describe his purpose in writing the comic book series The Invisibles. Morrison considers it the key to a memetic complex created with magical intent.

• In the graphic novel series The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman, each of The Endless can contact another by holding or touching the appropriate sigil and summoning them. They each keep a "gallery" for this purpose containing representations of the sigils of all their siblings, hung on the wall and framed. Death's sigil is the ankh; Destiny's is his book; Dream's is his large mask/helmet; Desire's is a heart, although in his/her own gallery it seems to be a pair of lips; Despair's is a ring with a hook, often Despair is depicted cutting and mutilating herself with this ring; Delirium's is swirling mist. Destruction's was a sword, but at the time of the story, he is incommunicado, and his sigil is absent from the galleries of the other Endless.

• Liber Null and Psychonaut. Peter Carroll ISBN 0-87728-639-6

• Grant Morrison. 'Pop Magic!' from The Book of Lies Edited by Richard Metzger ISBN 0-9713942-7-X

• Thee Sigil Garden
• The Rose Cross Sigil Creator
• Xaognosis Sigiliser