Why use tarot cards to create sigils?

Sigils refers to symbolic representations of intentions or desires, usually created, according to Peter J. Carroll, by writing down an intention, extracting its consonants, and arranging them in a combined pictogram of various levels of abstraction.

They are used in magical and esoteric practices to focus willpower and bring outcomes in unconscious ways, meaning that the user tries to achieve their intention by consciously “charging” the sigil and letting it work in the background.

Letting the meaning and symbols of the sigil unconsciously influence their thoughts and actions, if we want to psychologize it a little bit.

Although very practical and a convenient point of entry into chaos magick, I find the traditional method of sigil creation overly minimalistic and limited to linguistic content, which doesn’t always represent the full depts of the intention.

This is where Tarot comes in. 

As a collection of 78 depictions of archetypal symbols and images, tarot cards are worth even more than a 1000 words, and can serve as a symbolic source of inspiration to deepen the intention behind your sigils and ground them in a universal source of meaning.

Card meanings, symbols, numbers, positions, I take everything into account, in addition to the intention behind the sigil.

Here are my two interrelated tarot-based sigil creation methods I’ve used and refined for years, with an example for both.

These two methods will allow you to create three types of tarot-based sigils:

• Base Sigil: A rudimentary sigil composed of your intention, the card’s positions in the spread and their numbers.
• Core Sigil: A sigil composed of symbols representing each card in your original spread.
• Full Sigil: A combination of the Base and Core Sigil representing every aspects of the intention and the chosen cards.

So, grab a quill, your favorite grimoire, and get to work!

Method 1 – Base Sigil

1. Intention

Write down in your grimoire your intention for the sigil you are about to create.

Example: Let’s keep it chill and take the intention “Looking Inwards and Introspection” for the sigil we will create together.

2. Card selection

Divide your tarot deck into the Major Arcana and the four individual Minor Arcana suits. I usually view the Major Arcana as being the main symbols and numbers related to my intention, whereas the Minor Arcana represent supportive forces, such as the alchemical elements (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind), cardinal directions (North, South, East, West) or aspect of self (Mind, Body Spirit, Action), and their supportive numbers.

Choose the Major Arcana cards that best represent your intention. Then, choose some Minor Arcana cards from each suit to represent the balance of forces (symbolic and numerological) supporting your intention. Choose as many or as little cards as you need to adequately represent your intention, there are no prescribed rules for this.

Example: These are the cards I have chosen to represent the intention mentioned in step 1, “Looking Inwards and Introspection”.

Figure 1.2.1 – The chosen Major and Minor Arcana cards

Here’s the meaning of each card presented. I have made sure to include both positive and negative aspects of introspection to bring a balanced and complementary symbolism to my sigil.

• The Hermit: Inner Guidance
• The Magician: Manifestation & Power
• The High Priestess: Hidden Knowledge
• The Hanged Man: Perspective Shift
• The Moon: Illusory Uncertainty
• Ace of Swords: Mental Clarity
• Ace of Wands: Creative Potential
• Ace of Cups: Emotional Renewal
• Ace of Pentacles: Material Opportunity
• Four of Swords: Rest & Recovery
• Four of Cups: Discontent Reflection
• Seven of Pentacles: Patient Assessment
• Seven of Cups: Wishful Thinking
• Eight of Pentacles: Diligent Mastery
• Nine of Swords: Anxious Overthinking
• Nine of Wands: Resilient Defense
• Page of Wands: Adventurous Spirit

3. Establishing the card spread

Start by placing the Major Arcana cards at the center of your tarot reading table in any meaningful shape you want. Then, place each of the four Minor Arcana suits cards around them, like a “container” for the intention, according to your understanding of their symbolism. As a rule of thumb, I usually try to link the shape of the spread with the intention.

Example: Here is the spread I have created using the cards from step 2. Now, Carl Gustav Jung, the famous psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, referred to mandalas as symbols of the totality of the Self, which I find quite fitting to my intention, and have attempted to represent in this spread.

Figure 1.3.1 – The chosen cards arranged in a spread representing the intention

Play around with your arrangement, and when you’re ready, take a photo of this organization and record it in your grimoire using the Psykeon Tarot Notation System. This final spread is the symbolic source of your sigil that will guide your creative process in the next steps.

4. Drawing the Base Sigil

Starting with the most central and important Major Arcana card you have chosen in your spread, draw a shape that connects all the Major and Minor Arcana cards of your spread in a creative way. Of course, this design should overlap in some way with the spread of the cards that support it. This is the skeleton of what will become your Base Sigil.

Example:

5. Your intention and the Base Sigil

Go back to the intention from step 1, extract its consonants without repetitions (as Carroll would), and add them into an outer ring around your sigil.

Example: “Looking Inwards and Introspection” would result in the letters LKNGWRDTSPC, which I would then incorporate in the sigil.

Figure 1.5.1 – The consonants of the intention added to the Base Sigil

6. Numerology of the Base Sigil

Now, let’s distill the cards’ numerological meanings and add them to the sigil. 

Sum up the values of the cards in each Minor Arcana suit and place them in the “body” of your sigil (not the center, not the outer ring, but in-between those).

Similarly, add up the sum of the Major Arcana cards composing the core of your sigil, and place that number into the inner circle of your sigil.

Finally, add up the numbers of each card included in your sigil, and, in a symbolic union of the Major and Minor Arcana, derive their digital root (add up the digits together until there is only one digit left). Place this number above your sigil; it represents the most condensed part of your sigil.

Example: Here’s a breakdown of the calculations I’ve made for this sigil (nota: I count court cards as 10, a little deformation from Blackjack that I am unwilling to change):

Pentacles : 1+7+8=16 (XVI)

Swords : 1+4+9=14 (XIV)

Wands : 1+9+10(P)=20 (XX)

Cups : 1+4+7=12 (XII)

Major Arcana : 9+1+2+12+18=42 (XXXXII)

Total : 16+14+20+12+42=104 = 1+0+4=5 (V)

Figure 1.6.1 – The numerology of the cards added to the Base Sigil

7. Your Base Sigil is now complete.

This is the numerological and positional representation of the tarot spread underlying your sigil, linked to your intention.

If you are going to keep this sigil as is, charge your sigil using your favorite method. If you want to deepen its meaning even more, move on to the second method.

Method 2 – Full Sigil

1. Add space into the Base Sigil

Complete Part 1 to create your Base Sigil, then, modify it slightly to include some space in its center.

Example: Here are two ways I’ve done this using the Base Sigil above. The first one sticks to the original design, while I took some creative freedom with the second one. Notice how in both examples, the numbers and letters remain unchanged.

2. Establish a list of symbols

Meditate in any way you like on the cards underlying your Base Sigil (both Major & Minor Arcana) to gain insight into their main symbols or aspects related to your intention. Write down one or two symbols per card in your grimoire.

Example: Here are the one’s I came up with for this sigil. Keeping it simple.

Figure 2.2.1 – The symbols representing the chosen cards in the original spread

3. Create the Core Sigil

Then, combine these symbols into a new, more freeform, sigil. Be creative and flexible in this process, and don’t hesitate to modify the design of your symbols. You could even let dreams and such states inspire your work.

This, once done, will result in your Core Sigil, or the symbolic representation of all the cards behind your Base Sigil.

Example: Combining the above symbols let me with this Core Sigil.

Figure 2.3.1 – The symbols above combined into a Core Sigil

4. Create the Full Sigil

Add your Core Sigil to the space inside your Base Sigil you have created in step 1.

Example: Based on the two examples from step 1 of this method, the Full Sigil could take two forms:

5. Your Full Sigil is now complete.

This is the positional, numerological, and symbolic representation of the tarot cards supporting your intention.

Charge the Full Sigil using your favorite method.

~

Till then,

Nikodemus of Psykeon🧙‍♂️

References

Carroll, P. J. (1987). Liber Null & Psychonaut. S. Weiser. (p. 20-22)