USB sigil–a debriefing

So. I feel I can now talk about the USB sigil having not found the cable, but rather, having resolved the issue.

First, a few notes on the casting. It has been quite awhile since I did the death posture, and I collapsed out of it sooner than I thought I would. I’m not certain my visualization was all that effective. Nevertheless, one has to start somewhere.

Results: I did not find the cable. But I’m pretty sure I know where it is: GONE FOREVER

Having done the sigil, I tried to create a pathway for it to operate by looking for the cable. During this process I decided to try and remember the last time I had used it. After trawling through my pictures folder I discovered I hadn’t transferred any pictures since last July–specifically, the last San Diego Comic-Con. That was in California. I live in Massachusetts. I know for a fact the cable was missing in October, and I believe that was the first time I went to look for it since July. So in reviewing the evidence, I have concluded that I left it behind in California. Several things could have happened to it there. It could have been inadvertantly packed in someone else’s luggage and swept away to points unknown. It could have become lost in P’s apartment. It’s also not unlikely that I lost it in the convention center. All scenarios leave little hope of recovery. So I bought a new cable for $6.90 including shipping off eBay. Case closed.

Results: I didn’t find the cable. But I did learn its fate in a general sense. I will not call the sigil a success. Because I don’t have my cable back. I’m getting a different one. But I will call it helpful in learning what happened to the cable–without having done it, I would have continued to thoughtlessly storm through my apartment wondering why none of the dark corners I’ve probed yielded the cable. So I won’t call it a failure either.

This brings us to the question–what is magick really? More on that later.

The first Sigil–I want my USB cable!

Here is a link to my USB sigil

This sigil represents the statement: “I want to find the USB cable to my camera.”

I will be activating it today. A quick run down of the activation process:

1) Hold the sigil in your mind.
2) Acheive a state of gnosis or no-mind. I will be using the Death Posture for this.
3) During that state visualize the sigil with burning clarity lauching into the void.
4) Break the circuit with laughter–this is technically called banishing. I see this part as a way to return to regular consciousness–a kind of reboot, or cleaning of the slate.
5) Finally, forget the sigil and let it do its work. This sometimes include destroying the sigil.

Sigils present two challenges for me. The first is that I have difficulty with visualization. I can get around this by taping the sigil to the ceiling and staring at it.

Secondly, I have a hard time forgetting about the sigil. It will be especially tricky in this case. Because in order to provide a pathway for the sigil to operate along, I will have to do at least a little looking for it. This means that somehow, when I’m looking for the thing, I will have to avoid dwelling on the fact that I launched a sigil to help me find it.

A few notes on creating the sigil. When I finished drawing it, I kept thinking how ugly it was–possibly the ugliest I’ve ever created. But then I noticed that it looks quite a lot like the end of a USB cable. I figured that was fortuitous so I decided to keep it ugly.

The first Sigil–keeping it simple

The USB cable to my digital camera is missing and I don’t want to spend the money on a replacement. To that end, my first enchantment will be to find my USB cable. The liguistic statement of will that I will use to create my sigil will be:

I want to find the USB cable to my digital camera.

I have traced my steps with the camera. The last time I loaded pictures onto my computer seems to be October 10th of last year. The cable should be in my house. I have looked extensively for it already, to no avail. I see this as a perfect opportunity to try my first official Year of Magick sigil. I’m asking for something specific, and the results are measurable. Either I’ll find my cable, or I won’t.

The next step is to create the symbol and lauch it. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. I’ll need to achieve the gnostic state while visualizing the sigil.

Grant Morrison, the author of The Invisibles comic book, among many other things popularized the “wank method” of achieving gnosis. The advantage to the wank method is that anyone can do it, and the moment of orgasm is said to generate the gnostic state required to properly launch a sigil. Unfortunately, I have had no success with the wank method. When I’m wanking, I’m not thinking of a sigil. I’m thinking about sex. Which makes it difficult to switch to my sigil at the appropriate moment.

I have done some experimenting with the death posture, which seems to work through hyperventilation. Phil Hine has written a good description of it here. The specific method I’m interested in appears at the bottom:

…the magician stands on tip-toe, eyes closed, with arms locked behind, the neck stretched and back arched, the whole body straining to the limit. A wall may be used for balance. The breathing becomes deep and laboured as the crucifixion continues. Oblivious to everything but strain and tension he may attain the void as this too is suddenly removed and he falls exhausted, supine to the floor.

The advantage of this method is that I don’t have to get myself sexually aroused to perform it, so I have some time to build a good image of the sigil in my mind before the moment of gnosis occurs. Once I’ve created the sigil, I’ll post it, and I’ll report back once it’s lauched, which will probably happen on Saturday.