Sigils in Jewish Magickal Practice
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Sigils in Jewish Magickal Practice
Introduction to Ketzirah’s approach and sources for creating Jewish sigils
"Although the letters are best known as they are written down physically, they actually also represent spiritual forces. Through various combinations of the letters, the spiritual forces associated with them are brought together in various effective combinations. These spiritual forces are the “letters with which heaven and earth were created.”
Aryeh Kaplan, in his commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah*.
My approach to sigil is based on several sources and practices including the Jewish practice of “abbreviations, typographic ligatures, micography, paleo-Hebrew, spiritual meanings and formation of the Hebrew letters, Chaos magic sigils, bind runes, and much more.
Love this topic? I’m teaching a 3 week class on Jewish Magick through Sigils and Seals at the Judaism UnBound’s UnYeshivah from April 16-30, 2023!
The Jewish practice of “abbreviations”, which are called in Hebrew several things: Notarikon (נוטריקון), Siman (סמן), Roshi haBait (ראשי הבית), Roshi Tevot (ראשי טבות,) and a bunch of other names is a foundation of my approach to sigilsI took this long established practice and then looked at the concept of micro-calligraphy (aka micrography). There are also many examples of medieval (and later) text-based amulets with words written inside letters or letters in letters.
The next thing that informed my approach to text-based Hebrew sigils is the use of ligatures in Hebrew sacred texts. If you dig, you’ll find there is an extensive history of ligatures in Hebrew manuscripts and in a way many letters are ligatures themselves (or even sigils), as there are schools of thought that each letter is actually made up of the other letters, such as the Aleph with is said to be created from two yuds and a vav.
An example of a Hebrew ligature that can still be found is the Aleph-lamed ligature (ﭏ). It’s one of the most common overall and one that is still sometimes in use - so much so that you can find a Unicode version of it (ﭏ).
The last bits that pulled it all together were the practice of Hebrew illuminated manuscripts both old and new as well as paleo-Hebrew pictographs. In some ways, that what I feel like I'm doing, since I'm usually aiming for a visual meaning, not just a combination of letters like a bind-rune.
"Many sigils incorporate Hebrew letters and words and may or may not derive from Kabbalistic traditions and ancient Jewish magic. (Medieval Christian demonologists also commonly incorporated Hebrew into sigils.) The word sigil may also relate to the Hebrew word segulah, which has various, complex meanings. A segulah may be a talisman, treasure, virtue, remedy, or something possessing the power to heal or effect spiritual change.”
Judika Illes from the Encyclopedia of Spirits
When working with the letters to create a sigil, I play with their forms, try different fonts and ways of combining them into a form that has visceral power. First I look at the print/block script forms. I tend to work with computers for this, so I can quickly flip through Hebrew fonts. Then I also explore cursive forms, again often on the computer although not unheard of for me to handwrite first and then play with fonts on the computer. I move the letters around, change fonts, sizes, styles until something just pops off the screen at me. Thankfully not only is there the free Hebrew font library from Open Siddur, but Canva also now has an extensive collection. My preference is something that I can hand draw, even if the creation is done via computer.
“Using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Sefer Yetzirah creates a language to orient the practitioner to the architecture of creation.”
Rav Kohenet Rabbi Jill Hammer from Return to the place: the magic, meditation, and mystery of Sefer Yetzirah
I encourage people to find their own style. My friend and regular collaborator Kohenet Bekah Starr developed her own unique flowing style after taking a sigil-craft class with me a few years ago. I love how hers always feel like flowing water or smoke patterns, which you can see below in this sigil she created using the Shema prayer.
There are so many I’ve crafted over the years, and in later posts dive into the “how” of making them and the many ways one can activate and work with sigils, but I thought I would end by sharing one example of a sigil that I’ve created. This was created in early 2020, days before the world shut down for COVID. At a Kenissa gathering we were asked to create visualizations of the organization’s core “portals” to show how they interact and work together. I struggled with it until I realized I could create a sigil!
Instead of “diagram” I was called to cræft a sigil (power symbol) that incorporated all the portals of the Kenissa model (Kedusha, Kehilla, Tzedaka, Shomrei Adama, Yetzira, Chochma). I added Avoda (spiritual practice). I took the first letter of each word in Hebrew (קקצשאיח), reduced the letters into basic shapes without repetition, and then arranged them into a single symbol. In this case, the cursive letter forms worked best, both visually and invoking Jewish innovation. The sigil that emerged felt resonant because it has forward motion, shapes nested within shapes, a spark that is both protected and reachable as well as a through-line to hold it all together and plenty of room for growth.
Additional Sources and Resources:
Additional sources and resources not linked directly in the main content.
Text Based Amulets & Microcalligraphy
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/a-menorah-and-micrography-judaic-treasures
https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/amulets_and_talismans
Ligatures
Hebrew Ligatures
Illuminated Hebrew Manuscripts
Sigil Craft
Sigil Witchery by Laura Tempest Zakroff
Sigil Magic: for Writers, Artists, & Other Creatives by T. Thorn Coyle
Sigils 101: https://www.chaostarot.com/how-to-use-sigils/
Sigil Athenaeum: https://sigilathenaeum.tumblr.com