YEAR of MAGICK

K and I have struggled to come up with a debut sigil trial for Year of Magick. We needed a test that minimized the possibility of confirmation bias, coincidence or misreporting. We also wanted it to be fun, and something within reach. Since we decided to meet up for the C4 Star Wars convention in May, that seemed like the obvious focal point.

A sigil is a magickal symbol that represents will or intent. In its most simplistic form, the caster develops a brief statement of intent, strips out the vowels and duplicate consonants, and then takes the remaining letters and constructs an abstract symbol. The caster then focuses on the symbol, or sigil, in his or her mind’s eye while entering a state of gnosis. Common methods include chanting, masturbation and the death posture breathing exercise. The caster visualizes the sigil glowing brighter with power until, at climax, projecting it out into the universe. Then comes the hard part – not thinking about the enchantment.

There are many schools of thought about sigilization. Some hold that the caster is literally altering the world to impose his or her will upon it. Others, myself included, view magick as nothing more than a psychological self-improvement exercise. In this interpretation, sigils help focus the subconscious to help one accomplish one’s goals. I specifically wanted to test against this hypothesis by selecting trial sigil goals that could not possibly be achieved through personal effort alone.

The trial consists of six sigils. K and I each drew up three, tied to the C4 convention. Since the event is in May, this gives us ample time to forget what statement of intent each sigil represents. Each of us selected a sigil to be charged or activated by the other. We are then supposed to charge on of the other two sigils at random prior to C4. The third sigil remains uncharged as a sort of control:

• Sigil One: charged by other person
• Sigil Two: charged by self
• Sigil Three: not charged

This is done twice as there are two of us. We have recorded the original sigils and statements of intent in sealed envelopes, which will be opened after C4 to prevent confirmation bias. Neither of us knows what the other’s sigils represent. We also decided that success is qualified by occurring in the presence of both of us. This should cut down on confirmation bias and misreporting, as the other must agree that a given event matches the statement of intent enough to count as a success.

I have also included a tier system to my sigils to test against likelihood and coincidence. One is fairly general and is likely to happen even without magick. One is quite possible but distinct enough to be considered a success. The third is somewhat unlikely but still possible.

After C4 we will share the statements of intent and our experiences and see how they add up.