Categorization of Sigils
Another follow up post on my Introduction to Sigils post as well as Advanced Sigils, in which i’m going to cover how I choose to break up the main purposes I see sigils typically being used for. This post will look to expand these terms, define them, and give examples for each category. This can also be used to help witches who are just starting off see what sort of things sigils can be used for, and I encourage them to come up with more creative variations.
Decreasers/Increasers
The most basic and common sigil I see are what i’d call Decreasers/Increasers. These are sigils that aim to ( as stated in the name ), increase an aspect or decrease it. These can be as simple as “Increased Happiness” or maybe “Decrease Negative Energy”, but they aren’t limited to such basic uses, and one can easily be creative enough to stretch the limits that are presented.
Influencers
Another common and relatively basic sigil is what I call an Influencer. These are cousins to Increaser/Decreasers, but rather then try to pull in or push out energies, they try to work with ones already present. So, maybe rather than saying “Decrease Negative Energy”, you could say “I will be able to handle the Negative Energy that comes to me”, which is influencing it more then completely avoiding it. In my work, I find that these tend to be more effective then Decreasers/Increasers since they have the basics to work with where as Decreasers/Increasers have to do a bit more work.
Wards
Not all wards are sigils, but the term fits for the general purpose this sigil plays. Warding sigils are sigils that aim to protect a person, object, or a space. Their intentions are a bit trickier, but if they’re aimed at keeping a space clean, safe and sound, then I’d place them into the warding category.
Wells
Again, wells aren’t always sigils, but the term fits. A welling sigil is a sigil made with the intention of storing a lot of energy. These can be helpful in spellwork to give certain spells a boost, or even can be used a refresher when you’re feeling low on energy. Wells don’t always have to store your own energy, as they can also be collector sigils, which draw in energy from their nearby environment and hold it for later uses. (If you are drawing from your area with a welling sigil, I recommend putting a limit on how much energy is stored so you don’t drain the area you’re working it)
Linking
Linking sigils are distant cousins of the welling sigil. Linking sigils are made to connect multiple workings, people, or even other sigils, to one main source. Linking sigils can hold energy, and supply/provide it to the things it’s connected to, or rather, it can collect energy from everything it’s connected to and store it/transform it and use it for a working. Popularized by chaos magicians, and was originally used to power glamour bombs in certain areas, but now has taken on a much larger and diverse role. ( In the future I plan on covering Linking sigils in more depth )
Builders
Building sigils are sigils that are made to be a representation of something or aid in creating something. These could be ideas, concepts, or more magickal based constructions. These can be helpful if one is doing work in the astral, using sigils to represent structures in a plain and can give one the ability to have quick access or an easy focus to edit the structure.
Anyways, for now, that’s all the categorizations i’ve personally found myself. If you have more, feel free to tack it on and i’ll look it over, and maybe eventually add it to this post if I feel it fits. Next post will most likely be covering Linking sigils and the history behind them, and that will probably be the last strictly sigils post for a while. Until next time! \o|o/
