Theoria: The Essentials of the Semiotic Theory

of Magic

Acts of Magic, of whatever kind, are acts of Communication. I addressed this briefly in a private series
titled the "Lesser Black Magic Primer" as follows:
A Basic Model of Communication

One of the most useful models of communication was proposed in 1954 by Charles
Osgood and Wilbur Schramm.

Communication takes place between Interpreters, with a cyclical exchange. In a single act
of communication one of the Interpreters acts as the Encoder. This individual takes some
Message and puts it through a code of some sort. The most common in interpersonal
 communication is through language. The encoded message is then transmitted in some
fashion to the other Interpreter who acts as the Decoder. As long as they know the code the
Encoder used they can decode it and receive the message intended. Once a cycle like this is
complete, it repeats in the other direction, creating a circular feedback system.

You might notice a place where problems can arise. What happens in the Encoding
Interpreter used a code which the Decoder does not know? In that situation the Message
will not be received at all. what happens if the Decoder only understands part of the code
being used? They will delete and distort content from the Message that was encoded, and
will likely generalize from what they do understand or have experienced in the past. This
model of communication will be the basic model I will be using throughout the discussion
to follow. I will add to it from other Communications Studies resources, but the Osgood-
Schramm Model will be the basic I will return to again and again.

Communication Studies is a rather complex field with a curious history, drawing from
psychology, philosophy and other intellectual disciplines. It is outside the scope of this
series to go into full details, but I encourage you to do your own independent research in
this area.

From this model we see that the act of encoding is a central aspect of communication. Indeed, the
creation of acts of magic comes from clearly identifying desires, seeing how to define them as intents,
and then encoding this intent in a fashion that is resonant with your self of magic. For those fluent in a
specific tradition or neo-tradition of magic this process of encoding will often fit within the semiotic
structure of that tradition. For the purposes of this series however I am going to assume that you are not
already fluent in any given tradition/neo-tradition and thus will need to come to your own means of
encoding desires. It is for this reason that I draw from Liber MMM the practice of Sigil Magic.
In terms of existing texts on sigil magic, Frater U.D.'s Practical Sigil Magic is the best primary text
with Jan Fries' Visual Magick being a worthwhile secondary text to challenge aspects of Frater U.D.'s
thinking and to expand the potential media for practice.
All sigil magic follows a relatively simple formula. Identify a desire and turn it into a declarative
statement of intent. These are best formed as positive statements. there is a strong benefit to forming
these statements in a manner which J. L Austin termed a "performance utterance" in his seminal How
to Do Things With Words. Once the statement has been formed, it is then put through a process of
encoding. These encodings can be via nearly any media, however the two most common are visual and
auditory, with kinesthetic or gestural methods being less commonly discussed in the literature on sigil
magic.
Once the sigil is formed, it is then enchanted through an act of magic. A period of preparation takes
place, a time for the act is determined, compression takes place, a frame rite is performed and in this
magical space the sigil is charged in some manner appropriate to its communication. Once this is
complete the frame ritual is used to close and the intent is let go of by the magician to work.
Much as been made in the literature of sigil magic regarding the importance of forgetting the intent of
the sigil. This isn't nearly as necessary as has been suggested. What is important is not to be obsessive
about the intent and continually calling it to mind. Much like a farmer you need to trust that once you
have planted a well tended and selected seed that it will do the work of germinating on its own,
provided they give it the proper soil.
This covers the first direction of communication, at least in terms of the encoder and the sending of the
message, but what are we communicating with? As discussed previously, there are tow potential targets
for our message: the Inner Ring of Perception to engage in Metamorphosis and the Outer Ring of the
Objective to engage in Sorcery.
Ipsissimus Flowers provides a description of acts of magic drawn from the anthropologist Jan van Baal
in his dissertation Runes and Magic.

Magic is seen by van Baal as a two sentence affair. The first is the Magician communicating their
encoded desire to the other reality (Inner or Outer). The second is the response from that reality through
phenomenon providing the result of the original communication.
Ipsissimus Flowers provides an interesting typology for acts of magic that are worth considering when
identifying your desires. These categories are:
• a) protection from destruction, forces, beings, etc.
• b) restoration of disturbed natural order, health, etc.
• c) preservation of natural order, health, etc.
• d) attraction of desired forces, beings, persons — invocations, evocations, love-magic, etc.
• e) destruction of intrusive forces, beings, persons — curses, etc.
• f) transformation of forced, beings, persons — initiation, shape-shifting, etc.
• g) perception of hidden reality — divination
It is important to note that these need not be isolated or exclusive categories. A blending of them is
common, such as attracting people capable of preserving a given project, or looking to create the
potential for transformation via the destruction of hindrances. Interestingly different traditions and
styles of magic place emphasis upon some of these more than others. Ipsissimus Flowers notes that
much of the surviving examples of runic magic deal with protection, restoration and preservation. The
magic of Anton LaVey in contrast deals almost exclusively with attraction, destruction, and restoration.
You will likely find in practice that you rely more heavily upon some of these categories than others.
this will provide you with both a sense of your strengths and those areas where you are weakest