How to charge a sigil safely

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

Once you have designed a sigil, most modern methods ask you to charge it: to give it a moment of complete, focused attention before you release it or put it to use. On this page I explain what charging means, describe quiet and active ways to do it, say plainly what I do not teach and why, and end with a ten-minute gazing charge you can try tonight.

What “charging” means

Modern The word charging is modern, borrowed from electricity: a battery is charged with energy and then used. In sigil work it means something like “empowering,” “activating,” or “consecrating.” People understand it in different ways.

• In Renaissance planetary magic, a talisman was made under particular celestial conditions: the right hour, the right metal, a fortunate planet. There was no separate “charging” step. The timing, materials, names, and prayers were the empowerment.
• In the grimoires, seals and pentacles were consecrated with prayers, perfumes, and sometimes sprinkling with water, much as religious objects are blessed.
• In Spare’s work, the sigil was impressed on the mind at a moment of emptiness or intense feeling and then forgotten, so that the desire could sink below conscious thought.
• In chaos magic, this became charging in a state of gnosis, a word chosen for intense focus or mental silence, followed by forgetting and often banishing with laughter.
• In modern witchcraft, charging often means directing energy into the sigil, through visualization, breath, chant, or ritual, often alongside candles, herbs, or moon phases.

You do not have to choose one of these explanations. A useful way to think about charging, whatever you believe, is this: it is the moment when you give your sigil your whole attention, once, and mark that moment as different from ordinary time. The rest of this page offers safe ways to do that.

Quiet methods: gazing, breath counting, meditation

Modern Carroll distinguished between inhibitory and excitatory states. In paraphrase, the inhibitory mode quiets the mind progressively until only one object of attention remains; the excitatory mode floods it with feeling or sensation. This site uses gentler language, quiet and active, and only safe methods of each.

Quiet methods suit most beginners, most rooms, and most nervous systems. They include:

• Gazing. Resting your eyes on the sigil, softly and steadily, for several minutes, until everything else fades into the background. The ten-minute gazing charge below gives a full method.
• Breath counting. Breathing at a comfortable, natural pace, counting each out-breath from one to ten and starting again, while the sigil sits in front of you or in your mind. If you lose count, start again at one, without judgment.
• Simple meditation. Sitting for ten or fifteen minutes with your attention on a single point, such as your breath or a sound, and then turning your eyes to the sigil for the final minute.
• Tracing. Slowly tracing the sigil with a finger, over and over, until the movement feels automatic.
• Drawing it many times. Copying the sigil carefully, ten or twenty times, on one sheet. The repetition itself can become absorbing.

All of these can be done at a table, in a chair, or on the floor, in silence or with quiet background sound, by daylight or by a candle.

Active methods: chanting, drumming, dance, walking

Active methods build focus through rhythm and movement. They suit people who find stillness difficult, and they can be very joyful.

• Chanting. Repeating a mantra sigil (Method 6), or a simple phrase, aloud, at a steady rhythm, getting gradually louder or more rhythmic and then stopping suddenly to look at the sigil.
• Drumming or clapping. Keeping a steady beat on a drum, a table, or your knees, with the sigil in front of you, until the rhythm carries your attention.
• Dance. Moving freely to music for a few songs, then stopping and looking at the sigil at the moment the music ends.
• Walking. Walking at a steady pace, with the sigil drawn on a card in your pocket or held in your mind, until the rhythm of your steps empties your thoughts. A safe route, in daylight, away from traffic, with your eyes open, is best.
• Exercise. Some people charge a sigil at the peak of a run, a swim, or a workout, by bringing it to mind at the moment of greatest effort. If you do this, stay within your normal level of exercise and never push yourself into dizziness. Do not combine sigil work with swimming in a way that involves holding your breath.

Active methods should leave you pleasantly tired, not dizzy, breathless, or in pain. If you feel faint, stop, sit down, and breathe normally.

What I do not teach, and why

Some older and some modern sigil books describe ways of reaching altered states that this site will not teach. Here they are, with the reasons, so that you can recognize them when you meet them.

• Hyperventilation and breath-holding. Spare’s death posture includes forced overbreathing, and some later chaos magic texts add breath restriction. Neither is safe. Deliberate overbreathing lowers the carbon dioxide in your blood, which can cause dizziness, tingling, chest pain, and fainting. Breath-holding after overbreathing can lead to sudden loss of consciousness without warning. Healthy swimmers who hyperventilated on purpose before holding their breath under water have drowned this way. On land, fainting can mean a fall. This site never asks you to hold your breath, breathe fast on purpose, or restrict your breathing in any way.
• Drugs and alcohol. Spare himself dismissed drugs as useless for this work. Substances also cloud judgment, can interact with medications, and can trigger mental health crises in vulnerable people. Never charge a sigil drunk or high.
• Sleep deprivation. Staying awake to reach an altered state stresses the body and mind and can trigger mania or psychosis in some people. Charge sigils when you are rested.
• Fasting. Going without food to reach an altered state can be dangerous, especially for people with diabetes, eating disorders, or other health conditions. Eat normally. If an eating disorder is part of the picture, please talk to a doctor, counselor or crisis line.
• Pain. Hurting yourself, even mildly, is not a method on this site. If you notice an urge to use pain, talk to someone you trust or a professional. If self-harm is part of the picture, please talk to a doctor, counselor or crisis line.
• Overexertion. Exercising to the point of collapse, dizziness or injury is not a method on this site either.

The quiet and active methods earlier in this page can bring you to deep focus without any of these risks. There is no evidence that a dangerous method makes a sigil “stronger.” There is clear evidence that some of these methods can hurt you.

A ten-minute gazing charge

This is a quiet charge for any sigil. It is a modern practice, built on the gazing methods common to Spare, chaos magic, and many meditation traditions.

You will need your finished sigil, drawn clearly on paper, and a timer. A candle is optional; an LED candle or ordinary lamp works as well.

1. Prepare. Choose a time when you are rested and will not be interrupted for fifteen minutes. Silence your phone. Sit comfortably at a table with the sigil in front of you, about an arm’s length away, at eye level if possible. If you use a candle, set it safely to one side, not between you and the sigil.
2. Settle. Close your eyes. Breathe at a slow, comfortable, natural pace for about a minute. Do not force or hold your breath. Feel your feet on the floor and your weight in the chair.
3. Set the timer for ten minutes.
4. Gaze. Open your eyes and rest them softly on the sigil. Do not stare hard. Blink naturally. Let your eyes trace its lines, then let them settle on the whole shape.
5. Return. Thoughts will come, as they always do. When you notice your mind has wandered, gently bring your attention back to the sigil. There is no failure here; returning is the practice.
6. The moment. At some point, you may notice that the sigil seems to stand out sharply, or the room seems to fade, or you feel a moment of stillness. Some people experience this; many do not. If it happens, hold that moment for a few breaths. If it does not, continue until the timer ends.
7. Close. When the timer sounds, close your eyes. You may see an afterimage of the sigil. Watch it until it fades.
8. Release or keep. Now do whatever you have planned for this sigil: turn it face down and put it away, burn it safely, or keep it. Many people like to laugh, stretch, or say “done” aloud to mark the end.
9. Ground. Stand up, drink some water, and do something ordinary for a few minutes.
10. Record the date, time, and a line about the experience in your journal, without writing the statement of intent if you plan to forget it.

If gazing bothers your eyes, close them and hold the sigil in your mind, or trace it slowly with a finger instead.

If you have photosensitive epilepsy or are sensitive to flicker, do not use a candle. Use steady daylight or a lamp.

Where to go next

When your sigil is charged, read about launching, forgetting and disposing of it safely. New to sigils? Start with the beginner’s guide and ten design methods.