Sigil System — About & How‑To

1) Frame & Rationale

I work in a chaos magic frame: belief is a lever and models must earn their keep by producing results I can repeat and steer. I view ritual as a means of communicating with the unconscious, and offer this system as an effective tool in my experience of doing so. I designed in circa 2012 in a fit of reductive inspiration and have been using it since. The system treats the four Hellenistic classical elements as accessible operators with stable, culturally legible semantics:

Constraint as provision of meaning. Division in this system encodes “expression via channel”: X ÷ Y reads as “X expressed through Y’s constraints.” Nested ratios yield strategies and reciprocals provide safe brakes.

2) Field Geometry (13 Nodes)

The field is one circle with two large squares at 45° and a smaller square on the midpoints of the second. It yields thirteen useful nodes:

• Center — unity (M/N).
• Four triple‑line intersections — elemental gates (I/R, J/Q, K/P, L/O).
• Four inner corners — compound loci (same pairs as above, direct on A–M side).
• Four circle‑line junctions — divisions on the rim (E/V, F/U, G/T, H/S).

Others may choose to add more nodes at other intersections, but the number 13 was convenient for my purposes in designing this.

Nodes are numbered in a spiral from the center. Each node hosts a pair of letters: A–M on the direct side, N–Z as reciprocals (e.g., A↔Z, B↔Y,…, M↔N).

3) Alphabet & Formulas (A–Z)

The 26 letters of the alphabet are portable functions. Direct letters A–M use elemental or named ratios; N–Z are their reciprocals. Diagonal inverses flip numerator/denominator (not “1/…”) for legibility and to aid understanding.

4) Five‑Position Grammar

Every working is a five‑slot sentence drawn in order:

1. Force — the push.
2. Destination — the intended state.
3. Mode — the path.
4. Quality — flavor/tempo.
5. Impact — scale/timing/residue.

The Builder compiles this sentence into one glyph on the field.

5) Stroke Rules

6) Using the Builder

1. Open the Builder.
2. Select letters for each of the five positions
3. Toggle geometry, labels, nodes, diagonal overlay, or animation.
4. Export as SVG or PNG; copy a shareable URL from the toolbar.

7) Using the Symbol Library

Open the Symbol Library. Filter by group, search by name or formula, hover a card for a tooltip with position notes and a narrative vignette. Node dots show direct (●) vs inverse (○).

8) Design Patterns

9) Ethics & Scope

This system is a pragmatic self‑regulation tool. It borrows the classical elements for ergonomic reasons—symbols are a compact UI for the body and attention—not as an appeal to mysticism. Results are evaluated as observable behavior and condition change. If it doesn’t work, we adjust or discard it.

Operating principles

• Sufficiency over spectacle. Favor the smallest intervention that moves the curve.
• Local first. Start within your sphere of control (your state, habits, schedule, craft). Broader influence comes later, if at all.
• Explicit throttles. Encode brakes on scale and tempo (e.g., S as Quality, V as Impact).
• One method per project. One charge style for clean data; change methods only between runs.
• Transparent metrics. Define indicators you can score weekly without special pleading.

Scope of influence

• Self first. Use the language to change your own behavior, affect, attention, and environment.
• No covert coercion. Avoid workings aimed at overriding someone else’s agency or consent. If outcomes touch others, shift to environmental shaping (clarity, timing, provisioning) or get explicit consent.
• Bounded domains. Pre‑declare the domain (work, study, fitness, art). Do not let a run leak into unrelated areas.

Mental hygiene

• Cool‑downs. After charging, stop handling the sigil. Observe for 21 days; log, don’t ruminate.
• Non‑attachment to artifacts. The glyph is a program, not a relic. Redrawing repeatedly is usually an anxiety loop—avoid.
• Reality checks. Welcome disconfirming evidence. If indicators don’t move, conclude “no effect” quickly and adjust.
• Shame is a stop‑signal. If a run produces shame or persistent unease, abort with the reciprocal and debrief.
• Sleep, food, social baseline. If these degrade, pause the work and stabilize the basics first.

Consent & harm reduction

• Design for bystanders. When outcomes may touch others, encode throttles and sunset windows. Prefer gentle modes (G, H, T) and conservative impacts (V).
• Safety breaks. Keep a ready counter‑sigil: the relevant reciprocal (e.g., pair Force with its inverse for 48 hours) to quell overshoot.
• Debrief loops. After each run, write a short verdict: keep, invert, or retire—and why.

Self‑improvement focus

• Map to habits. Use the grammar to target cue→routine→reward loops, deep‑work windows, social scripts, and recovery.
• Skill ladders. Advance from simple Forces to orchestration only when your logs show stable gains.
• Shareable artifacts. When working with a coach or therapist, share your sentence, indicators, and week scores as plain behavioral data.

Data integrity

• Pre‑commit. Write the delta and indicators before you draw.
• Record confounds. Illness, travel, deadlines, relationship shocks—log them.
• No moving goalposts. Don’t redefine success mid‑run. Adjust only between runs.

Contraindications & when to stop

• Acute distress. If you’re in crisis (self‑harm urges, psychosis, manic escalation), stop the work and seek professional help immediately.
• Compulsion signals. Obsessive redrawing, sleep loss, appetite changes, or intrusive ideation → pause and debrief.
• Escalating conflict. If a working is increasing interpersonal harm, abort with reciprocals and reset the scope to “self.”

This material is for skill‑building and reflection; it is not medical or legal advice. If your situation includes clinical symptoms or risk of harm, contact qualified professionals or emergency services.

10) Metrics & Logging

Goal: ______
Force/Dest/Mode/Qual/Impact: _____ / _____ / _____ / _____ / _____
Indicators (3): 1) ___ 2) ___ 3) ___
Charge: ___ (duration)
Week scores: W+1 [,,], W+2 [,,], W+3 [,,]
Adjustment: ______
    

Define 2–3 indicators you can score weekly (0–4). Log for 21 days after charge, then adjust: reinforce, invert, or retire.

11) FAQ

Why elementals?

They’re already encoded in anglophone culture and bodies, so meanings land fast—less overhead before the work begins.

What’s the point of reciprocals?

They honor the principal of polarity - opposites are identical in nature but opposite in degree. Also, they’re reliable brakes. Pairing a letter with its inverse cancels toward unity, letting you trim overshoot without scrapping a run.

Do I ever start at center?

Only when the Force is M or N (unity or anti‑unity). Otherwise you always start at the Force node.

Why four strokes?

One segment per remaining position keeps motor memory tight and artifacts clean. More complex workings can be affected through the union of multiple glyphs designed in this way.

Can I hide the grid?

Yes—use the Composer’s “Show geometry” toggle for publish‑ready glyphs.