DIGITAL DESIGNS
A Modern Method for Shaping Sigils
Sigil for "Money"
Preliminary: I'd like to preface this article by stating that the process I will be sharing below has its origins in a art-lesson that was taught to me in the late 1980's by one of my most favorite teachers, Mrs. Ferrel.
Mrs. Ferrel was both my Elementary and my High-School art teacher and is a great source of inspiration in a lot of my artistic efforts because she was one of the few people in my life at an early age who actually encouraged me to discover myself as an artist and a creative being. In fact, she was the reason that I attended college in hopes of becoming an art-teacher myself ---but life had other plans for me.
Now before I go any further, I must point out that Mrs. Ferrel did not teach her students how to make sigils, per se, or even explained what they were. Her lesson was an exercise in creating abstract art from words. The actual words we used at the time was our own names.
Mrs. Ferrel was both my Elementary and my High-School art teacher and is a great source of inspiration in a lot of my artistic efforts because she was one of the few people in my life at an early age who actually encouraged me to discover myself as an artist and a creative being. In fact, she was the reason that I attended college in hopes of becoming an art-teacher myself ---but life had other plans for me.
Now before I go any further, I must point out that Mrs. Ferrel did not teach her students how to make sigils, per se, or even explained what they were. Her lesson was an exercise in creating abstract art from words. The actual words we used at the time was our own names.
The Art of Designing Sigils
When I learned the technique I am about to share with you, there were no such things as computers, or at least they were not as readily available and the process was done by hand. However, the advent of computers and programs such as paint.net has streamlined the art of designing sigils and given the aspiring sigil-artist more tools with which to work.
The technique for designing sigils is as follows. Write down a keyword or short phrase which represents your goal. Let's use "love" as an example.
The technique for designing sigils is as follows. Write down a keyword or short phrase which represents your goal. Let's use "love" as an example.
Next, you would turn the word counter-clockwise so it stands straight up.
Then you would create its mirror image and place them side by side like so.
The idea of using mirrored-images here is that you want your sigil to work in both worlds; that is the world of man, and the realm of the spirits. If you wish you can then remove portions of the symbol, divide it into sections, and re-arrange them as I have done with the word "money" forming the sigil at the beginning of this article.
When you are done, you can add a bit of color to your design.
Finally, you can then leave the sigil as it is, or add additional symbols that have meaning to you and your purpose. For example, I have added symbols below such as arrows, a bell, and X's (kisses) which speak to a finding love that will lead to a happy marriage.
As you can see the technique is fairly simple, especially if you are adept at using computer programs that allow you to manipulate images. With this simple guide, you are only limited by your imagination...and of course your bandwidth!
