I saw a discussion about on reddit and wondered what people’s thoughts here are.
If burning or destroying the sigil activates it, how can you deactivate it? I know that there are other ways to activate a sigil, so maybe if you use a non destructive form you can then destroy it to deactivate the sigil.
Anyone know?
Warning label: Don’t do magick frivolously, or on a whim. Serious complications may occur. The Universe may hold you accountable for Unintended Consequences. Please use magick responsibly.
That’s a really great question, @anon87969570. Usually, I’d say you could burn or destroy the sigil (as part of a breaking ritual) in order to deactivate it- but for when the sigil is activated by burning or destroying? Hmmm
After a bit of thought, I’ve got two potential methods for you:
If you know how the sigil was made, you could follow a classic way of undoing something- which is undoing it by retracing the steps it took to create it. You would start with a recreation of the sigil and could “erase” the lines in the same way it was drawn. Any materials used in its creation would need to be gathered again and then offered as replacements, giving them to nature or a trusted deity. This method erases the sigil from existence through undoing the steps it took to create it
You could also recreate the sigil (and I would suggest using ashes to draw it for the recreation- most ideally, the ashes from when the original sigil was burned, but any ashes will suffice), stating very clearly that this recreation is a vessel for something that no longer has physical form (the original sigil) and then use the recreation in a deactivation ritual
Just my personal thoughts here- I’m looking forward to what the coven has to think about this one!
Thanks as always for a very thought-inducing question, Ron, and I pray that if you are trying to deactivate a sigil that it goes successfully for you!
In all the sigils I have ever made, I don’t think I’ve ever had to deactivate them. In my experience, sigils are usually very short-term magic. They don’t last for very long so I can’t imagine a time when I would need to deactivate them. I was curious, though, So I went to see if Laura Tempest Zakroff’s book on sigils had anything about it. I’ve never read this book, but it’s available on Scribd so I thought I’d check.
In her book, there is no mention of reversing a sigil. Interesting! I think I would still do it as @BryWisteria has mentioned, taking all steps in reverse.
The scope of the sigils I’ve created were more immediate action based, for myself to myself, those were obvious success. Sigils dealing with more general areas, dependent on many other aspect, up in the air, maybe it’s working in the background, but I felt those fell really flat. There is a possibility that the sigil created is not doing anything, if that’s the case leave it be, but I can definitely understand the feeling of “what if” looming over the caster.
The sigils I’ve had success with, runs for only a short amount of time, strong, potent, but short, and then I make the choice if I want to continue on with it, making the action a habit and part of my life or not.
But as the @BryWisteria puts it very well, and the topic of this discussion, how to destroy something when destroying it activities it. It’s a catch-22 for sure.
I haven’t had to undo a sigil, but if I had to, I’d choose one of two things, just letting it run its course, or creating another sigil to try to counter it, to run simultaneously with it, crossing fingers it phases each other out.
The steps mentioned by @BryWisteria , sounds real promising too.
This is a great question. The answer depends on two things.
was this sigil used as a ward?
Was this a blood sigil?
In most cases, sigils are short-term sometimes immediate action spells. Because of this most are not made as blood sigils. Warding sigils require energy to function without whatever the caster used to power them. The ward sigil will dissipate over time. Blood sigils require the original caster to remove. if this is not possible then would have to wash the area with a holy water of some type then banish it via a spell. You can banish any sigil or singles this way even if you don’t know their purpose or who made it.
Bry gave you one of the best means for deactivating these more simple sigils.
On the topic of long-term sigils (I tend to think long-term in general), it’s probably best to create a new sigil based on your new intention or goal. Not necessarily targeting the previous sigil but just as a change of direction moving forward. Otherwise, you’re just feeding the old sigil with energy/attention.
I was worried you were stuck under the influence of some negative sigil, Ron- glad to hear it’s not so!
You know I’m a bit fan of magickal theory, and how to deactivate a sigil with no physical form was definitely a fun challenge for the brain- so thanks again for opening up such a great discussion! It’s been really interesting and enlightening to read everyone’s thoughts about it!
@LadyDennaRahl, wow what a great and authoritative answer! Thanks for joining the discussion!
@BryWisteria, your thoughts about undoing make great sense to me. I have heard that others activate with fire, so my thought would be to deactivate with water. On the idea of them being short term, I guess I don’t see the point. Why go to the trouble of making an actual sigil if you’re going to burn it? I read somewhere on the internet that sigils were made as symbols so that your unconscious/subconscious mind could see them and work on them without interference from the conscious mind. That suggests a longer term to me. That’s probably why I stick to regular ol’ spells. Theoretically, if were going to deactivate a moon activated sigil, I’d use the Principle of Opposites (…pretty sure I didn’t make that up) by putting the sigil in a bowl of water and leaving it the sun until the ink ran and the paper dissolved.
One day we’ll all have to combine our genius and write The Infinite Roots Book of Magick! Certain to be a foundational work
I’m in the same boat with this one- I personally see the work involved with designing and crafting a sigil to be more geared towards long-term or permanent spells. The idea that the spell will remain in effect for as long as the sigil is present just feels right to me.
I also usually use fire in spellwork to “turn things to ashes” so to say- burning and destroying things, to me, seems more like an act of banishment than anything else. But I do know others see burning things as “sending them into the Universe”, which just proves that its to each their own with spellwork
I am really liking your Principle of Opposites- I googled it and Jungian theory comes up, but it seems to be a different application than what you’ve got going here for magickal usage. If it hasn’t already been coined, then quick, Ron! Go copyright it! I think it’s genius
The Infinite Roots Book of Magick!?! Take my money!
I would definitely want a copy of a coven wisdom book for my magickal library- maybe someday!
No, I haven’t done many sigils, and the ones I have I activated with moonlight. I just read about this and thought it was interesting.
