For many years I have been making
talismans (and Sigils) on the computer. This is mostly because I am
messy and cannot get paint to do the things I really want to do.
Traditionally however magicians were
told to “make their own” and I reasoned that I had actually made
my own talismans on the computer and had just printed them out. My
belief was that it was not so much the physical body of the talisman
which was important, as the entity which you ensoul it with.
Recently though I have been
experimenting with making sigils using a half computer half me
approach. I make the template for the talisman on the computer and
print it out in light gray. I then colour it in with ink and ink
pens.
The final result does not look as good
but something weird happens when I charge it. The talisman appears
to be better tuned to me than the others. While the others still
worked, they were not as focused, and tended not to be attached to my
personal universe.
There is something that happens when
you sit down and draw or paint the symbols onto the surface of the
paper. You are interacting physically with the symbols.
This factor was well known to the
Hebrew biblical scribes who, before the printing press, had to copy
the bible by hand. There was a magical interaction between the
copiest and the work they were writing.
The first-century scribe Ishmael told
his student: "My son, be careful in your work for it is the work
of Heaven, lest you err either in leaving out or in adding one iota,
and thereby cause the destruction of the whole world.”
This is not a call to be a pedant, but
the awareness that when you create a magical document you are
“creating a universe” where your intention is the main theme.
The rules for the creation of a
cabbalistic document were similar to those of the magicians using the
Key of Solomon system. A scribe was to purify himself before
beginning his day of writing, and especially before writing the name
of God. A shallow washbasin discovered was found next to the remains
of the tables at Qumran where the scribes would have an extra scrub
before writing the name of God. Sometimes prayers were said before
writing each sentence.
It is worthwhile mentioning that the
Key of Solomon also had invocations to be said over the inks, paper
and pens that were used to create seals, sigils and talismans.
When I think about it, Madaline
Montalbon's system of angel magic was based around this principle.
She would have you write your intention down and then use your
magical inks to write the intention in a magical script such as
Passing the Rivers or the Theban script. With Montalbon, the
invocations and ritual were limited, but the magical act of writing
these letters in ritual space was surprisingly pressured and
difficult. Even with the highest amount of concentration, it was
possible to make mistakes and the process had to be started again
from scratch.
I know this process could be applied to
your tools and I am still outsourcing those, but I tend to make more
talismans and sigils than I do tools.
Anyway for what it is worth if you have not tried using pen and ink to create your sigils and talismans I suggest you try it. If you are like me and are messy, create your talisman in light grey on your computer, and then print it out on your virgin pieces of paper. Then draw the symbols in ink, much like you did when you were colouring in books as a kid. This will make the sigil or talisman unique and your own. If you want to beef up the process by saying a few prayers to the being you are calling first, then by all means try it, but at least wash your hands before you start.
