Comic book writer, screen writer and self-confessed Chaos Magician, Grant Morrison's notion of the "hypersigil" is a magical-technology that offers tremendous potential for personal transformation. I'll be focussing mostly on body transformation (it's where I've had the most experience) but it should be obvious that it can be applied to any important life goals. If you've even a passing interest in Chaos Magic you'll be familiar, if not see Morrison's description below:
"The “hypersigil” or “supersigil” develops the sigil concept beyond the static image and incorporates elements such as characterization, drama and plot. The hypersigil is a sigil extended through the fourth dimension. My own comic book series The Invisibles was a six-year long sigil in the form of an occult adventure story which consumed and recreated my life during the period of its composition and execution. The hypersigil is an immensely powerful and sometimes dangerous method for actually altering reality in accordance with intent. Results can be remarkable and shocking."
"After becoming familiar with the traditional sigil method, see if you can create your own hypersigil. The hypersigil can take the form of a poem, a story, a song, a dance or any other extended artistic activity you wish to try. This is a newly developed technology so the parameters remain to be explored. It is important to become utterly absorbed in the hypersigil as it unfolds; this requires a high degree of absorption and concentration (which can lead to obsession but so what? You can always banish at the end) like most works of art. The hypersigil is a dynamic miniature model of the magician’s universe, a hologram, microcosm or “voodoo doll” which can manipulated in real time to produce changes in the macrocosmic environment of “real” life."
In principle Hypersigils are not that dissimilar to traditional methods of sorcery insomusch as you're essentially creating an approximate model of the thing you would like to happen. Where it expands on this idea is introducing the notion of narrative with yourself embedded in it. This essentially makes the hypersigil highly versatile and flexible in ways that more traditional methods can't easily accomodate.
Unless it is not obvious, hypersigils are most appropriate for someone wanting to make more radical shifts in their circumstances. If you only want to lose a pounds of fat or get a "little bit fitter" maybe consider something else. However, if you want to completely redefine yourself, there's significant scope with the technique.
From my experience the thing that gets missed about hypersigils - ironically what gets them off the ground in the first place - is the ability to enter into a feedback loop with the universe. If you understand this primary nuance you can get them to work for you. Morrison, for example, wasn't just writing his comic bookThe Invisibles, he was acting out some of those roles in his life until he actually became them. As the process progressed aspects of the narrative began to bleed into his life in a distinctly magickal fashion (read his semi-autobiographical book Super Gods for the full story) . Here's the take away; you can't just idly write a narrative wish list of all the stuff you want, you need to meet the universe half-way by playing the roles you design. The process is immersive not passive!
To get things going, what I like to do is to write out a ritual in narrative form with yourself as the central character. The narrative should make explicit whatever qualities you're trying to develop or call in. This, at the very least, is a marker that your hypersigil is now in play. Call upon whatever Gods, Daimons, Saints, Spirits etc you have a relationship with to witness and empower you. Forming a pact is not out of the question. I'd also suggest buying a witchy looking notebook used only for this process.
Continue to write about the positive changes becoming obvious, how you dress differently, behave in a manner coherent with your goals. Do you eat differently? Do yoga? MMA? etc. I suggest writing out a narrative of at least the next two days to get the ball rolling and writing more as you go. You'll need a bit of persistence but the point you need to keep in mind is you're really want the narrative to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
Once you've got a narrative you feel expresses your goals - and this is important - perform the ritual and do the stuff you wrote about to the letter! As much as possible you're trying to blur the boundaries between your current reality and the reality of the hypersigil. You need to become the person in your own narrative to the point of absorption. You'll know the universe has taken the bait when random things in your narrative actually start to show up in your life. From that point you've basically got yourself a cocked and loaded, multipurpose magickal device you can take in whatever direction you choose. Good luck pioneer!
Hypersigils are indeed powerful and transformative. Morrison warns they are potentially dangerous but I think that point needs qualifying. The risk he speaks about largely arose from the fact that he wasn't initially unaware of what he was doing, once he grokked to what was happening it mostly rainbows and sunshine....mostly. Bottom line here is don't write yourself into situations you don't want to experience.
The second more realistic danger is this; most people aren't ready to change. Consider how many people stay locked in unhappy relationships, jobs they hate or a body they're ashamed of rather than changing. From a purely logical perspective it makes little sense but it has to be realised that the innate human drive towards familiarity is a powerful force. It can also become a prison of our own making, hypersigils may represent one door out just be ready to be confronted with very visceral, life-altering change. You've been warned.
Comments