A little while ago I tried my hand at making an audio sigil. I like how it turned out, but it was a bit too complex. The range of tones was just too great. It was great to make a track and just listen to it, but I wanted something that I could easily play on the piano, hum, or whistle. So, I rethought how I chose the tones that represented the letters of the alphabet. I decided to use just one octave of notes, no sharps or flats, just the 8 notes starting on C. After I dropped the vowels, the letters fit perfectly. Here’s what I came up with.
Note = Letter of alphabet
C = B, K, S
D = C, L, T
E = D, M, V
F = F, N, W
G = G, P, X
A = H, Q, Y
B = J, R, Z
Getting from a statement of intent to musical notes looks like this. “I sleep peacefully” get rid of vowels and repeated consonants “SLPCFY” translate into musical notes “CDGDFA.” Now my audio sigil is quite simple and easily played/sung/hummed/whistled/etc.
Here, let me play it for you.
I am very happy with how this method turned out. It will be pretty easy to whip up a sigil in the morning for that day and whistle it as I go about my business.
The strophalos, or Hekate’s wheel, is an ancient Greek symbol and emblem of the goddess Hekate in her triple aspect.
This symbol is viewed as a connection to arcane knowledge or the soul’s journey through life as represented by a serpentine maze, with three main flanges whose fiery center appears to be rotating, drawing the psyche forward. The strophalos may also be considered a center of manifestation, “the life-producing bosom of Hekate, that Living Flame which clothes itself in Matter to manifest Existence.” When rotated and concentrated upon, the disc can alter one’s consciousness, allowing entry into the liminal state where Hekate dwells.
Another interpretation describes the strophalos as a labyrinthine serpent (symbolizing rebirth) surrounding a spiral, symbolic of the Iynges—“whirlings”—or emanations of divine thought. This represents the labyrinth of Hekate’s three-fold path and the goddess herself, who stands at the center where three roads cross. Traditionally, a Hekate-style labyrinth has a Y in the middle, rather than the typical X shape found at the center of most labyrinths.
The strophalos was also referred to as an iynx. It was used as a charm to attract lovers, spun as a devotional wheel and as a divinatory device. The iynx was the name of a bird: the wryneck, which was sacred to Hekate’s rites, given the task of transporting the magick into and out of manifestation. The word “jinx” is related to this Greek word. It was possibly used at some point as a thaumatrope, with the image of her labyrinth on one side and a bird or serpent on the other, then spun to merge the two images.
Another source describes the strophalos as a torus, often of jade, to which was attached a cord of sinew. When the strophalos was whirled over the heads of devotees, predators such as wolves would be spooked into the shadows. At the same time, its whirling produced a whistling hum that induced an altered state of awareness in worshipers.
Today, the strophalos is generally used by practitioners of Hellenic Recon or Dianic traditions of Wicca as an emblem of religious identification.
You are going to have to give them a lot of time. Give them
space. In that time, do some deep soul searching yourself and figure out all
the reasons things went wrong. They will notice when you are ready.
It’s time for tarot with old Frater Threskiornis. I have a
bowl of that fine herbal remedy and my brand new Shadowrun tarot deck. So if
you want a free one card reading, drop a question in my Ask box. I’ll be doing readings till round midnight.
Before you
ask, however, consider throwing a few bucks at my paypal, which can be found in
the right hand column at the website for my podcast – scrollofthoth.com.
I also do more detailed three card readings for $15. For
those light some incense, break out the florida water, and call on the
ancestors.
So, go ahead and send me an Ask with your question. One card
pulls are technically free, but priority will be given to those who donate.
After being lost in the mail for weeks, I finally received my new Shadowrun tarot deck from my favorite artist, Echo Chernik. My crappy pictures do not do it justice. Please check out: http://www.echo-x.com/.
Yes, there will be some free cyberpunk themed tarot readings tonight!
