Sigil Maker: Make a Sigil on the Witch's Wheel

What Is a Sigil?

A sigil is a symbol made from a wish, a name or an intention, drawn so the words turn into a single shape you can carry, carve or keep. The word comes from the Latin sigillum, "seal." In medieval grimoires, sigils were the signatures of spirits and angels. In the early 1900s the artist Austin Osman Spare turned them toward personal goals, and that is how most people use them today.

There are many ways to make one. You can stack the letters into a monogram, build a shape from a magic square, or trace your words across a lettered wheel, which is what this sigil maker does. Our guide to the 8 types of magickal sigils walks through the others.

How the Witch's Wheel Works

The Witch's Wheel is a circle of letters in three rings. Each letter has its own fixed spot, so the same word always makes the same shape. On the wheel used here, A to M sit on the outer ring, N to U on the middle ring, and V to Z in the center, all read clockwise from the top.

The idea comes from the rose on the rosy cross of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which sets the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in three rings of petals: 3 at the center, 7 in the middle and 12 on the outside. Golden Dawn magicians traced names across the rose to draw their sigils. The Witch's Wheel does the same thing with the English alphabet, and practitioners have made versions for other alphabets too, including Greek.

The old rules are still the ones most people follow. The line starts with a small circle, it ends with a short bar, and a letter that appears twice in a row gets a little loop.

How to Make a Sigil With the Witch's Wheel

You can make a wheel sigil in five steps, with the tool above or with a pen and a printed wheel.

1. Write your phrase. Keep it short, positive and in the present tense, like "My home is protected."
2. Take out the vowels and repeats. Cross out A, E, I, O and U, then any letter you have already used. "My home is protected" becomes M Y H S P R T C D.
3. Find your first letter. Draw a small open circle on it. This marks where the sigil begins.
4. Connect the letters in order. Draw a straight line from each letter to the next, in the same order as your phrase.
5. Close the line. End on the last letter with a short bar across the line or a filled dot.

Dropping vowels and repeats is common, and it gives a cleaner shape, but it is a choice. Some practitioners keep every letter of a name so the sigil carries all of it. Untick the boxes above to try both and use the one that feels right to you.

Tips for a Good Phrase

• Say what you want, not what you don't. "I sleep deeply" gives a clearer focus than "I don't lie awake."
• Keep it to a handful of words. Long phrases use nearly every letter on the wheel, and the shape turns into a tangle.
• Use your own words. A phrase that sounds like you is easier to hold in mind while you charge it.

What to Do With Your Sigil

Once your sigil is drawn, most practitioners charge it to set it working, and then put it somewhere it can do its job. Our guide on how to charge a sigil covers the main methods, from burning and burying to focused gazing.

• Carve it into a candle before you dress and light it. See our candle dressing guide.
• Draw it on a bay leaf and burn it, or tuck it into a spell jar.
• Trace it over a doorway with oil or water for a home sigil.
• Keep it in your spell journal with the date and phrase, so you can look back on what you worked for.

For more ideas, see 17 ways to use sigils. If you are working for protection, our guide to protection symbols and sigils has traditional symbols you can pair with your own.

Sigil Maker FAQ

Is this sigil maker free?

Yes. The sigil maker is free, and it runs in your browser. Your phrase is never sent anywhere or saved.

Do I have to remove the vowels?

No. Removing vowels and repeated letters is a common habit that keeps the shape simple, but you can keep every letter. Untick the boxes in the tool to see your sigil with all of them.

Why does my sigil look different on another wheel?

Witch's wheels do not all place the letters in the same spots, so the same word draws a different shape on each one. This tool uses the common layout with 13 letters on the outer ring, 8 in the middle and 5 in the center. Any wheel works, as long as you use the same one each time.

What happens when a letter repeats?

If you keep repeated letters and the same letter comes twice in a row, the line makes a small loop at that letter. This is the traditional mark for a doubled letter on a sigil wheel.

Can I use letters with accents?

Yes. The tool reads accented letters as their plain form, so É is placed on E and Ñ on N. Numbers and punctuation are skipped.

Is the Witch's Wheel the same as the Wheel of the Year?

No. The Witch's Wheel is a lettered circle for drawing sigils. The Wheel of the Year is the cycle of eight seasonal sabbats.

Should I keep my sigil secret?

Many practitioners do. Austin Osman Spare taught that a sigil works best once you stop thinking about the words behind it, so some people put the sigil away or burn it after charging. Others keep theirs in plain sight as a daily reminder. Both are common.

Can I save my sigil?

Yes. The Save as image button downloads your sigil as a PNG on a plain background, ready to print, trace or keep on your phone.