Sigil

A symbol designed for a specific magical purpose is called a sigil. The plural is sigla. Occultists may prefer to employ the anglicized plural "sigils". The term sigil derives from the Latin sigilum meaning "seal." Sigla differ from runes as they are designed not to represent an alphabet but are created to form a glyph, composed of a variety of symbols or concepts with the intent and inherent iconic meaning.

A sigil may have an abstract, pictorial or semi-abstract form. A sigil may have physical or a visual or other existence.

In a post-modern context the businesses may use corporate logos such as the Coca-Cola logo as their sigils and invest them with a comparable degree of prestige or power or else infamy.

By extension a sigil may apply to audial (the sound of a soft drink can opening), verbal ("Coke adds life!") or numeric information or a combination.

Individuals in history who are known to have used sigils include:

• Aleister Crowley
• Austin Osman Spare
• Kenneth Grant
• Peter Carroll