I have always attempted to be an innovator within the chaos magick space. And while this has only ever been possible due to the work of the many and varied members of that ersatz community who came before me, I still consider invention to be the most important aspect of that current, even today. I doubt that I am the first Gutter Mage to apply a statement of desire to a grid, but I may well be the only person who does so with nested intents so that my subconscious can choose the best path towards manifestation all on its own. This guide will show you, with illustrations, how my Charybdis Sigils are made.

This process has gone through many iterations over the last few months, all to make the following methodology as concise as possible. Indeed it was never the basic concept that was the issue, but minimising the steps required within the actual mechanics to get to the end result instead. Layered statements of intent somehow working in tandem towards a common goal, giving each an equal chance of being the conceptual hand grenade that blows open the doors to consensus reality while those which fail also blast their own channels in potentiality as well. Go big or go back to the drawing board, as they say.

Simple on paper, but difficult to execute. Until the current version, which works extremely well and requires very little effort at the actual practical stage. Creating a Charybdis Sigil starts by designating a central point, as can be seen in Step One below. It does not need to be coloured in grey, unlike the images used within this tutorial, and indeed leaving it completely blank invites the void to play a role in the creation of the final glyph. As the spaces prove to be central to the overall working, grid notepaper is a must, preferably with enough room to write each letter comfortably.

To the ritual text then. It pays to be creative here, and perhaps to also have these listed before the actual pen hits the grid so as to not break the flow. Each should be a potential pathway to manifestation, so for wealth we will use the following: “It is my will to be wealthy. I gain my desired level of wealth. I am paid what I deserve for my work. My luck gambling makes me wealthy. I find opportunities to make honest wealth.” Yes, all perhaps a little too generic in hindsight, but suitable for this example if nothing else. Also, try to preserve any spelling errors in the statements as this mirrors how your mind actually parses that information.

Once a selection of interrelated desires are decided upon the individual letters are added in such a way that they radiate out from that point in a counter-clockwise motion using a black or grey pen, preferably erasable to correct mistakes on the fly. First to the right of that starting point, then above the previous letter, then looping backwards over the others, then down, then to the right again. Step Two shows this, while Step Three highlights how it bends the text in such a way that it is soon difficult for the conscious mind to follow. As a dyslexic the idea of creating something mirroring that effect in ritual makes me smile.

Step Four neatly highlights what sets Charybdis Sigils apart from regular ones. Entire sentences are used, without removing vowels or duplicate consonants. By keeping these intact the noise that allows for an easy shift below the psychic censor is actually made up of rotating signal, further strengthening the effect. This was an important consideration when I was working on the technique, as the much needed obfuscation was not allowed to dilute the overall meaning. And yes, the spirals of text would usually all be the same colour, unlike the example above where they have been differentiated to make the pattern easier to view.

In extremes diametrically opposed sentences can be used in the construction of the spiral itself as long as that thread would lead to the same destination. In this example we can see that both gambling and actual work are mentioned with equal weight, as the end result for either would still be the accumulation of wealth. There is no need to be quite so simple of course, and situational specifics can be added as long as the overall goal is served. Beware of overfeeding reality with too much information though, as it will struggle to manifest your desire without the room to move potentiality around in the background.

As we are working towards a broad improvement to a given situation we really do not care which path takes us there. While Step Four only shows five possible routes towards the outcome, that lack of detail was due to the instructional nature of this essay. In truth the more interrelated sentences that the mage can come up with and integrate into the overall pattern the greater the number of void spaces will be on the board by the end. And this then adds to the intricacies of the resulting sigil at the drawing stage, which is approached in one of two ways as seen in Step Five below.

The main difference is in the underlying pattern. The first example starts at the left most and highest void space, and draws a line to the next. then it travels downwards, line by line, tagging the empty blocks as it goes. This tends to give a lightning bolt or perhaps Ley Line effect. The second method creates a spiral, radiating out from the central square. This one can be a little too generic if overused, however, as after a while one swirl of lines can quickly start too look like another. That said, because Charybdis Sigils are Initially charged with the warped and wrapped text still behind them, such duplication is only a small concern.

That is just stage one of course, and is reminiscent of a software instillation in its simplest form. Charging is achieved by staring at the central void square beneath the actual body of the sigil for ten or so minutes while clearing the mind of any invasive thoughts. This can be done more than once, and over a few days seems to give the best outcome. Once this has been subsumed into the mental space a second and final firing stage occurs. It only uses the sigil itself, no letter grid, and can be done however the mage prefers. This provides the boot instructions for the mental software, and releases the spiral of desires to the void.

As far as other tools are concerned, that list has been kept deliberately small. Yes, a bright marker pen to draw the eventual sigil after the spiral of words is created will be required, though tracing paper or acetate is optional if preserving the initial square of text is also a consideration. An A5 notebook is the best way to store these as it will grow into a powerful personal artifact over time, accreting not only the continued attention but also various subconscious associations to previous rituals as the pages are filled. There is nothing wrong with choosing loose leaf and destroying it after charging if preferred though.

Named after the mythical whirlpool from Homer’s Odyssey, Charybdis is not just an edgy or referential title chosen at random. It instead describes how many paths to fulfilment are fired via the spiral of text that forms the basis of the sigil the same time, all variations on the end result and subject to the whims of chaos itself via the void spaces which set its eventual shape. And much like a sailor on the seas of fate, the mage is expected to lash themselves to the wheel while trusting that their efforts will be enough to not only safely make it to the other side but also profit from the shore they beach themselves on afterwards too.