The Magical System of Austin Osman Spare's Sigils

The Magical System of Austin Osman Spare's Sigils

 Riikka Ala-Hakula Ala-Hakula

Image 1: Austin Osman Spare's sigils , 1913i

“Hidden in the labyrinth of the Alphabet is my sacred name, the Sigil of all things unknown,” wrote English artist and occultist, Austin Osman Spare (!!"#$%"&' An influential figure in twentieth century occultism, Spare deeloped a magical techni)ue which he named *sigili+ation' -he term relates to his theories of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious self' -he word sigil deries from the .atin sigillum, meaning *seal' -he current use of the term is deried from /enaissance magic, but its roots e0tend to the magical traditions of Anti)uity' Spare used a method by which the words of a statement of intent are transformed into an abstract design1 the sigil is then charged with the will of the creator' 2n this  paper,  paper, 2 propose that sigili+ation sigili+ation is a form of esoteric writing, of which which one purpose is to re3ect formal writing systems' 2nstead, Spare created a priate writing system to commun communica icate te with with his uncons unconscio cious us self' self' 2 analy analyse se Spare Sparess sigils sigils using using the  philosophical basis of /oy Harris theory of semiology, semiology, which includes the use of   priate languages in the field of semiotics' 2t can be deduced that, in contrast to the e0oteric nature of formal writing systems, the purpose of Spares sigils is to be esoteric' Key or!s: occultism, Austin Osman Spare, sigils, se0ual magic, esoteric writing, asemic writing

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The Magical System of Austin Osman Spare's Sigils

 __________________________________________________________________  """"" 1# Intro!uction /ecently, there has been renewed interest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth#century occultist moement in 4ritain' 2n the history of occultism this  period is called the 5agical /eial, when newly formed societies such as the 4rotherhood of the Siler Star, the 6olden 7awn and the -heosophical Society arose focusing on e0ploring the magic and occult ideas of the 8estern tradition, as well as renewing and deeloping them' 7uring this period seeral artists and writers became inspired by occultism' One such person was Austin Osman Spare who, in addition to his artistic reputation, created a system of magic upon which his creatie work is based' 2n order to accurately understand Spare9s artistic reputation, we hae to be ac)uainted with the form of magic which he practised and the occult sources of his artistic inspiration and creatiity' -his paper on the magical system of Spare9s sigils highlights 3ust one e0ample of the esoteric writing systems which form the basis of my doctoral thesis' 2n order  to establish the conte0t for this paper more clearly, 2 will briefly e0plain the  background of my research' -he main aim of my thesis is to define the term *asemic’, referring to a priate style of writing which cannot be e0pressed erbally,ii  within the conte0t of literary theory by proiding effectie e0amples within the tradition' Spare9s sigils are a priate form of writing which fits into this concept' -he second part of this paper focuses on the background of Spare9s occult  beliefs, and touches on his relationship with Aleister :rowley' -he third part of the  paper deals with Spare9s os !ia "ultus on whose key symbols the magical system of his sigils is based' -he fourth part of the paper e0amines how Spare used sigils in occult rituals' ;inally, 2 will briefly discuss /oy Harris9 theory of semiology which argues the importance of e0amining writing as an indiidual form of  e0pression' $# The %ac&groun! of Spare's occult eliefs Spare9s magical system is based on techni)ues and rituals that are peculiar to initiates of the .eft Hand $?=&, also a 4rit, who became famous through the seeral pop stars influenced by him, namely -he 4eatles and 7aid 4owie' 2n fact, :rowley, rather than Spare, is arguably the best known figure practising the rituals of the

 Riikka Ala-Hakula

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 __________________________________________________________________  .eft Hand symboli+ed anthropomorphically

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The Magical System of Austin Osman Spare's Sigils

 __________________________________________________________________   by the hand and the eye' -hese organs are the means whereby the sorcerer  inokes primal energies latent in the subconsciousness' i 2t can be suggested that Spare re3ected formal writing systems because he wanted to create a priate, and personal, form of writing to inoke primal energies latent in the subconsciousness' -he analysis of the main symbols of this cult indicates that this ob3ectie is not 3ust part of the system of his sigils but a fundamental of his entire cult' Spare gae to these two main symbols seeral names which added to their  meaning' -he symbol of Bos is the hand which he also named All Sensing -ouch' 4y contrast, the symbol of ia is the eye also named All Seeing Dision' He e0plains that these elements are the magical instruments needed to connect to ones  primal desire or innate obsession' 2n his system, Bos is fused together with its opposing energy, ia, which renders them deities of the flesh' ii -he sigils are one way to actuali+e this aim' 2n order to completely understand these key symbols of the cult, the ne0t definition is important' 9Bos9 he defined as “-he body considered as a whole”, by which he included body, mind, and soul1 it was the alembic of his sorcery' His other key symbol, the ia, represents the Atmospheric 929, -HE :osmic Self, which uses Bos as its field of actiity' iii Such are the concrete, abstract and uniersal meanings of the main symbols of  Spare9s Bos ia :ultus' 2n summary, these symbols can be seen as the feminine and masculine part of se0ual energy where the Bos represents a masculine force and the ia a feminine force' +# The Magical System of Sigils Haing established the essentials of the Bos ia :ultus it is now possible to moe on to the details of the magical system of Spare9s sigils' -he main aim of the sigils was learning through en3oyment' Spare wrote “Sigils are the art of belieing1 my inention for making belief organic, ergo, true belief'” i0 -he true desire of a  person is the starting point of creating a sigil' -his desire should be written on  paper by formulating it in a short sentence' -hen, the letters of the sentence hae to  be reformulated by creating a glyph' 0 -he ne0t e0ample illustrates the process of  conerting a true desire into a sigil' 2n this e0ample, Spare wished to obtain the strength of a tiger' 2n order to sigilli+e this desire, he put down on a piece of paper all the letters of which the sentence is composed, aoiding repetitions' -hen, the se)uence of letters is combined to form a single glyph'0i

 Riikka Ala-Hakula

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 Fe0t, Spare stresses that after the wish has been sigilli+ed, it has to be forgot# ten' 2ts creator must resist thinking about it consciously' 0iii 2nstead, the creator must think of the sigil during *the magical time, meaning any moment in which a per# son is conulsed by emotional or elemental reactions, for e0ample, during an or# gasm, pleasure, pain or rage'0i Spare saw *the magical time as an open concept, which depended on the tem#  perament of the creator of the sigil, and gae a wide range of e0amples of what it could mean including mantras, postures 0, women and wine, tennis, the playing of   patience or walking while focusing on a sigil' 0i One reason for this agueness is likely his thought that the sigils work at the subconscious leel and it is not pos# sible to instruct their actuali+ation consciously' 6rant sums up the two main aims of Spare9s sigils by highlighting the import# ance of the subconscious actiity in his magical system' Sigils and the Alphabet of 7esire 0ii are used specifically to enable two things to occur' ' Effectie communion with elementals e0isting at subconscious leels' @' -he lodging of the desire or wish at such leels without the conscious mind being aware of the transaction, for 9conscious desire is unattractie9'0iii E0ploring the sigils in the conte0t of Spare9s Bos ia :ultus clarifies not only the terms he used but also his magical system as a whole' 2n addition, it highlights the fact that Bos ia :ultus magic refers not only to concrete se0 rituals, but also to the creatie process of the artist' 5oreoer, the symbols of the cult e0plain the magical system of sigils in following way, -he hand signifies the phallic will, the creatie urge to do or to make' -he composite glyph of the hand and the eye therefore contains a simple formula the 8ill and its means of e0pression through the agency of desire, or imagination' 0i0

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The Magical System of Austin Osman Spare's Sigils

 __________________________________________________________________  2t is important to add that the actual sigil which we can see does not contain magical power' 2t is rather a ehicle of the desire whose power actuali+es at the subconscious leel of the creator' 00 -hese facts offer a 3ustified basis for analysing the sigils from their material and aesthetic leel, as we know one of the intended  purposes of Spares cult was to create art' 2n the literature on Spare9s magical art his dual role as magician and artist has been highlighted without e0ception' -# An esoteric form of .riting Haing established the basics of the magical system of sigils, it is now important to amplify the etymology of the term' -he term sigil deries from the .atin sigillum and sigilla “statuettes, little images and seal,” and it is a diminutie of the .atin  signum *sign'00i  -he last meaning is especially pertinent from the  perspectie of asemic writing' 2t can thus be suggested that each sigil has a specific meaning, but in Spare9s system of magic, the interpreter cannot read the meanings of the sigils 3ust by looking at them' Spare9s method of writing through sigils is, therefore, esoteric, “not openly admitted1 priate,” 00ii as is demonstrated in Image 1 on the first page of paper' 5onograms are another interesting concept concerning sigils' -he term is part of 4enoGt 6rin9s and Iulien DronJse9s classification where they hae diided medieal signs into si0 families' -heir definition of the term is ”signs composed of  identifiable elements such as letters'” 00iii Sigils hae also been called “monograms of thought, for the goernment of energy” which was suggesting that they were a form of meditation'00i -herefore, it seems that sigils are multidisciplinary characters, which is possible to interpreter in dierse ways' :onersely, in e0amining Spare9s sigils through /oy Harris9 theory of  semiology, a completely different conte0t for Spare9s cult is reealed' -he main claim of Harris book is that, in the 8estern 8orld, writing has long been seen as merely a transcription of oral language, not as its own medium of e0pression' Harris holds the opposite to be true' Spare is a notable e0ample of an artist who created a form of writing which can be seen as its own form of e0pression' Harris gies seeral e0amples of this kind of poet and artist

Once it becomes obious # by practical demonstration # that written communication does not depend either on the e0istence of an oral language which it transcribes, or on the e0istence of orthographic conentions which goern it, only the persistence of earlier and more rigid ways of thinking can preent recognition of the conclusion that writing can create its own forms of e0pression' 2t took the genius of 5allarme, Apollinaire and Ioyce, as it had taken the genius of @L"' 00ii  5O- "ollins 2nglish ictionary 6 78 th Anni&ersary 2)ition9 :8 th  2)ition ;88@%'  Few ork, F -he 7isinformation :ompany, @L?' OckenstrPm, .auri' */efined /esemblances -hree :ategories of Astromagical 2mages in 5arsilio ;icino9s 7e ita C'! and -heir 2ndebted# ness to QAbominableQ 4ooks' 2n Magic, Ritual, an) *itchcraft , edited by :laire ;anger and /ichard ieckhefer, >C@'