While my status as a self defined gutter mage may at first bring to mind the starkly solo exploits of characters such as John Constantine or Willoughby Kipling, I am very much a fan of group workings. But only those that encourage individuals to execute ritual within a common timescale, and from a practical point of view very much on their own. So seeing as no one else seems to have really picked up this sadly cooling torch in recent years I set out to bring such free-form chaos magick back to the masses using social media as the medium. No small task, but a worthwhile exercise in agency during trying cultural times.

This essay forms a loose commentary for others who have an interest in doing the same. It is broken up into the common stages that will be required to create a viable sigil bomb, as well as a few cautionary notes about holding on to the process a little too tightly as the master of ceremonies for the duration. Letting those who decide to spend their time taking part complete creative freedom is essential, after all, as is the decision to accept what they produce on its own merits. Nothing like overtly critical voices to hold back the entire movement much like the cult leaders of old, and inclusivity is key to fostering engagement.

So then, the first thing to think about is why bother in the first place. Even the largest of social media platforms only boast a small subsection of users who would identify as either Neopagans or occultists, and few of these practitioners would have the confidence to work semi-public ritual acts for the ever observant home audience. That said those, like myself, who are active in the chaos magick community seem to be far more open to staking their claim as soverign beings when given the chance. And the ease of creating and posting sigils as a tool of enshrined wishcraft only helps to smooth out any rough edges further.

Definition of reasoning is important though, and stating that all involved are encouraged to base the entries on their own desires before the first pen hits the parchment will also head off any potential misunderstandings further along the track. Both the Projekt Solarsigil and Projekt Lunarsigil events which I hosted via Twitter, Mastodon and then eventually BlueSky were structured to only require a single sigil from all those taking part per day. Decentralised mass charging on the solstice, which also formed the endpoint of each Projekt, was announced as the main lynchpin of the ritual ahead of time, leaving no room for confusion.

The second consideration is one of scope. Three or four day sigil bombs are easier to arrange but also lack the sort of duration to really attract those who want to experiment in public among their peers. That is not to say that latecomers or those who can only commit for the final few posts should be discouraged from joining in of course, but from experience I have found that allotting several days to the event works the best overall. Committing for a week also moves the entire operation from basic ritual territory to short pathworking, and seems to build more energy as the time ticks by. Even enough to birth the occasional egregore too.

As one of the main selling points of the whole experience is the repeated practice, a user friendly and preferably basic guide on creating sigils for those who have little to no practical knowledge of the technique should be provided. It is best to share this along with the announced timeline, to not only set out the predicted start and end dates but also the learning opportunity that taking part provides. Staggering these housekeeping posts over the week or two before the actual event begins is best to prevent overwhelm, and the more eye catching or graphic design focused these are the better.

Thirdly, mechanics. Hashtags form the backbone of much in the digital sphere, and turning those otherwise rarely examined knots on the wider information web towards the esoteric is a fitting recolonisation of an internet slipping ever further into hostile territory. As such a distinct and memorable one should be created to tie those taking part in the event together for the duration, with it being added to every sigil posted for ease of search. Part of the role of the master of ceremonies for the event, aside from setting the timescale and posting the instructions, will be to re-share these posts to their own timeline for better global visibility.

Each day then follows the same rough routine. Frequent checking in as the participants share their condensations of very personal desire followed by reposting and commenting on the results to help foster community cohesion. Encouraging others taking part to swap notes and perhaps even create lasting connections with others who share their outlook on the craft is a plus. Thus the person in charge of hosting the event does more than just post their own sigils during the week, and actively keeping the speeding occult related wagon on the rails becomes a surprisingly fun diversion for the duration.

The Projekt then ends on the solstice with a mass charging of both the participant’s own sigils and any others which resonated during the week. To keep things simple the actual hour that the individual magickians choose to do this is neither set nor correlated across time zones. From a purely esoteric point of view the scattergun approach is deliberately tailored to continually pepper the usually bolted doors of consensus reality with a whirling mass of alternate futures in the hopes that a few slip through. Practically, however, it makes the most sense to allow people autonomy in choosing the best time to perform the task.

A final consideration sadly remains one of bad actors looking to hijack the proceedings for their own ends. Honestly, the inherently hidden meaning of many of the sigils will make it impossible to weed out all those who are up to no good unless they are extremely blatant in their iconography. And it is not up to the master of ceremonies or those taking part to educate sigilnauts who happily wander down the path to division and cultural dissolution. The will is better served by creating what most would consider positive changes within their own lives rather than trying to drag others from divisive madness by their throats instead.

Of course should anyone else actually decide to take up the now hopefully kindled torch so long abandoned and run similar free and open access sigil bomb events across social media in the future then the exact rules they put in place are their own to define. What I have detailed here is based on my own experience offering that Promethean flame to others in solstices past. Your mileage will vary along with that of the potential audience, but hopefully by sharing my own methods of generating success in this brief essay I have provided a small link in the chain that eventually lifts the rest of the esoteric world into that warming light.