Is printing sigils ok?

Hey guys. Sorry if this is a stupid question but I’m going to be doing some sigil magick shortly and I was wondering, is it ok if I print out the sigils on my computer? They come out perfectly and in dark ink too, plus I can cut the paper to make the square around the circular border as big or small as needed. A good size I found is about 4 inches per sigil plus a couple for the paper around it. But is there a downside to printing them? I mean, the sigil is just a link to the spirit right? So it shouldn’t really matter if it was printed. Also my art is…pretty grotesque. So my hand drawn sigils usually come out looking like abominations. Lol

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I struggle with stick figures, so we’re in the same boat. Printing it out never felt right, at least to me, so here’s what I do. I always slap that paper on the computer screen or over the page in the book and trace it, computer screen works best, if you can scan the sigil from the book, because of the back light. If its simple enough that I can free hand it, I try to, but that is rare. Drawing it with my own hand, even if it is tracing, seems better.

That’s a good idea. I hadn’t even thought of that. Honestly, I could just put another sheet of paper over the one I printed and it should be dark enough to trace. That way at least I’m putting a little bit of hands on energy into it.

You can also print it and then go over it by hand with a nice bold pen/marker.

I personally feel like a printed sigil is just fine, but I am only going by what works for me. Ultimately, it’s a piece of paper with a symbol on it. Doing the drawing yourself may make the connection stronger, but having a really ugly one might be distracting - so there is balance to be considered.

Also remember that you’ll be burning most of them from time to time, especially the ones that are for sigil magick or entities you aren’t going to contact again for a while.

I’m interested to hear what others have to say.

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I knew I wasn’t the only one doing that with the paper on the screen!
When I do it, I draw only the outline of the sigil and then I draw it completely. I devote quite some time on that and in the end it always feels right.
If, for whatever reason, I have to print out a sigil I trace it over usually with some blood or ink mixed with blood etc (it depends on the kind of the working).

The short answer is yes it is fine to just print out sigil, but as said above, it’s all about what feels right for you and what gets you into that magickal mental state. For some out there I’m sure printing sigils out does that for them, for me, I take the medieval approach and make it apart of my ritual. I draw my sigils out the old school way with a quill and an ink pot. Makes me feel like I’m about to secretly perform the most blackest and blasphemous rituals in the shadowy bowls of Vatican City.

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I have found that unappealing sigil drawings distract me from getting in the sync, therefore I have chosen to print them out using parchment paper. I took the advise of someone on another thread and have been happy with the outcome. Both ways work, it’s just whatever you are more comfortable using and looking at.

Haha, i also use the computer screen and put the paper on it then i start tracing the sigil. Handmade and perfectly, not ugly.

Excellent. Thanks for the help guys. I’m just going to trace over my print and try to infuse it with some energy. Maybe after I get more advanced I can just print them out. I like what y’all said about what feels right cause the idea of mass producing prints of them didn’t really feel right to me, and now that I think about it, that’s really why I asked. Lol

I hate to admit it but when I was a dumb ass teen, (My Family Was Rich) I would steal some checks from my mom and flip the old tube t.v. upside down and put the snow channel on and trace her old ones, I dont know if a professional forgery expert could of told the difference. So if its a complicated Sigil like the one for Astaroth I think that would be the way to go. For a simple one like Azazel’s I think looking and doing it by hand would suffice.

For those who prefer to draw out their sigils, I’ve noticed that the Goetic sigils as presented in DuQuette’s “Illustrated Goetia” are much more handy and easier to draw out decently than the ones of the original Samuel Weiser edition which are too detailed and complex.

If a sigil is like a signature then I don’t see how they can differ, I only sign my name one way not 3. Can someone explain this

Most sigils don’t come from the entity directly, they are made by magicians using a sigilization technique. They aren’t really analogous to a signature. If anything, they’re more like a phone number or a road map. So depending on who you are or where you are, there may be different ways to connect to said entity. Even the sigils that are “revealed” by the entities themselves may be different from person to person.

Most sigils don’t come from the entity directly, they are made by magicians using a sigilization technique. They aren’t really analogous to a signature. If anything, they’re more like a phone number or a road map. So depending on who you are or where you are, there may be different ways to connect to said entity. Even the sigils that are “revealed” by the entities themselves may be different from person to person.[/quote]

So will all the different sigils work for the same entity? Are some more powerful than others?

Well, for the sigils that actually work (not all created sigils are valid), they should indeed work. From what I gather, the revealed sigils are more powerful, especially if that is the purpose of their revelation - but I don’t speak from personal experience on this.

That’s awesome, Gozer! In fact you inspired me to print out sigils in another thread and it’s been going great so far, so thanks heaps for letting us know your method, it’s saved me hours of drawing time and frustration, haha!.

I tried Microsoft Word for printing sigils and it works in there as well. You can cut and paste a picture from a pdf and resize it if you want a basic and quick way to do it. I can only imagine what detailed creations can be made in Photoshop. The sky’s the limit!

There is a certain power that comes from drawing the sigil yourself. It is the second charging. The first charging comes during the contemplation. The second is the drawing. The third is the actual ritual of opening.

Now don’t mistake this as me saying that one way is wrong but it’s just as bit of power that is added.

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A sigil is less like a signature and more like a phone number. My office phone I hardly ever answer nor my business cell but my personal cell I almost always answer. Some sigils are like personal cell numbers - you just get a better connection

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A sigil is less like a signature and more like a phone number. My office phone I hardly ever answer nor my business cell but my personal cell I almost always answer. Some sigils are like personal cell numbers - you just get a better connection[/quote]

Great way of putting it, You have a way of explaining things so that its very easy to understand.