Besides perhaps conspiracy theorists, who come to all the wrong conclusions, most people (including many witches and magicians) are unaware of the latent use of sigils in mass political movements and warfare. It is not impossible that some of the people who designed recognizable political symbols over the past hundred years have been occultists, but even if they weren’t, it is not unreasonable to recognize that such symbols often act as sigils regardless.
Many of us are likely familiar with the story of how Churchill’s famous “V for Victory” hand gesture may have a had an occult origin. Allegedly, Allied occultists (perhaps even Aleister Crowley) felt the Typhonian V symbol to be an effective counter to the forces represented by the swastika, which resembled the ritual sign known as the Mourning of Isis. This is an unconfirmed tale, naturally, but may well be true, even if only on the level of the collective unconscious.
Born from roughly the same time period, the Kotwica (Polish for “anchor,” due to its shape), has a long and storied history. Not only was it used by those resisting the Nazis, but it also played a role amongst groups opposing the communist regime that followed. I personally believe that this is one of those symbols that acts as a latent sigil, and has been charged and cast millions of times in the cause of fighting tyranny and oppression.
The origins of the symbol resemble those of most sigils, to a degree. As one can probably see, it’s a combination of the Latin characters “P” and “W.” This is an abbreviation of the Polish phrase “Pomścimy Wawer,” which means “Avenge Wawer,” and refers to the Wawer Massacre, where atrocities were committed against Polish civilians by the Nazis. A later association for the initials was “Polska Walcząca,” which means simply, “Fighting Poland.” It seems that the symbol has many different connotations. The majority, though, are centered around combating tyranny.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this story is the symbol’s initial dissemination. It was coined by Polish Boy Scouts who worked to sabotage Nazi efforts, and was summarily tagged everywhere. If you wander Warsaw today, you’ll find examples of it from that time period still relatively intact on walls and buildings.
It is still used relatively frequently in a memorial sense, an thus, it is ubiquitous. Stories of early and later efforts to spread resistance via the symbol call to mind the 21st-century use of the LS linking sigil. Though some chaotes might find this disappointing, I would argue that the Kotwica is far more powerful than LS, mostly because of the sheer drive, emotion, and utter raw need behind it, both in its nascent forms and throughout the years.
In today’s world, I believe it is still useful, and likely just as effective as ever. The creators of this symbol may not have been occultists, but it is, in my mind, utterly a sigil against the rank forces of evil that infest this world.
@bodaciousbanshee
modern-day protective sigil against white supremacists??
To foil their efforts for fucking sure.
As someone from a polish family, this is a very comforting symbol to me. I hadn’t thought of using it as an antifascist sigil but in the times ahead it might be necessary to start circulating it again, even if it’s just symbolically.