Course Three: Practice 147
pentacle, which is used in tarot cards and on magickal
altars to represent the Element Earth, or the material
plane. Placed in windows or worn as a pendant, it is a
charm to repel evil. The five points of the pentagram
stand for the four Elements
(Earth, Air, Fire, and
Water) plus Spirit,
which is at the top,
over all. They also
stand for the five
senses by which we
know the world.
The pentagram
represents the hu-
man microcosm, or
tiny model of the Uni-
verse. In this drawing from
Agrippa’s Occult Philosophy, it is seen as a person
standing with feet set wide and arms outspread. In
this the pentagram is also a way of representing the
Goddess. In the inverted or upside-down position, the
pentagram resembles the head of a goat, with two
horns up, two ears out, and his beard hanging down.
Some Witches use it in this way to represent Pan, the
Horned God. But it is also used in this position by
Satanists to represent the face of the Christian Devil.Astrological
Astrological glyphs are familiar to most people.
Here are the ones representing all the planets:Sun Moon Mercury Venus Earth MarsJupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
And here are the twelve signs of the Zodiac:Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer LeoVirgo Libra Scorpio Saggit. Capricorn AquariusTask: Design Your Personal Sigil
Many Wizards—as well as many artists and writ-
ers—create personal glyphs or sigils with which they
sign their works, and by which they come to be known.
They may even have these made into
signet rings or personal jewelry. My
own glyph, which I have used for more
than 40 years, looks like this. Whenever
you see that mark on a piece of artwork,
for instance, you’ll know that I made it.
I recommend you to design your own sigil. One
way is to make a design out of your initials, the wayJ.R.R. Tolkien did (right). This is called
a monogram. But you don’t have to just
use the English alphabet; you can use
Theban, or any other alphabet, histori-
cal or magickal. Letters can be modified,
stretched, or even reversed. The Futhark
Runes in particular lend themselves to
clever glyphs and sigils, as they can be combined by
superimposition (putting one on top of another). This
way, you can convert your entire name into a single
runic figure. Here is an example, using my name:OBERON = OBEROn =
The first O is repeated, so only one is needed. B
contains R. Fitting them all inside the E makes the
design shown here, with the little crosspiece of the n
coming off the side. This is called a bindrune. Also,
any runes can be reversed (as in a mirror image)—
and always are when doubled (as in HELLO, written
in Runes as: ).
Try working with your own name and initials,
and play around with different versions till you come
up with something you like. The aim here is to make
your monogram as simple as possible, yet incorpo-
rate all the letters. When you finally have your own
personal glyph, sigil, or bindrune, you can use it to
sign everything from letters to artwork.Lesson 6: Glossary of Magickal
Symbols and ObjectsSigil: A design, symbol, or cryptic device used to rep-
resent someone or something. Also called a glyph
(“carving”), as in hieroglyph (“sacred carving”).
Cryptograms: Literally, “secret writing.” Any of vari-
ous magickal alphabets created and used by ma-
gicians, alchemists, and Wizards.
Runes: Any of various ancient Germanic alphabets,
each letter of which contains an esoteric (“secret”)
meaning as well as representing ordinary sounds.
Runestones: Stones marked with letters of a runic al-
phabet and used for divination by “casting the runes.”
Charge: To imbue something with magickal energy
and intent.
Talisman: A magickally charged object or drawing
that one makes or acquires, then carries on one’s
person in order to bring good luck, or as a tool to
accomplish a specific purpose. Usually engraved
with appropriate symbols, talismans may be made
or bought, and any object may be turned into a
talisman by magickally charging it.
Amulet: An object charged with power for protec-
tion, or to turn aside bad luck, and carried on one’s
person. Amulets are usually made from found natu-
ral objects, such as holy stones, fossils, crystals,
shells, meteorites, acorns, bones, etc. However,HE lOl- Practice.p65 147 1/14/2004, 4:26 PM