Pontos Riscados

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

Pontos Riscados




In Brazilian Candomble and Umbanda religious practices, Pontos Riscados are sigils used in
ritual to invoke the Orixas (gods). There are different riscados for each aspect of an Orixa.

These symbols are drawn on the ground during an invocation of an Orixa with colored chalks
called pembes. The symbols bear a strong resemblance to the Goetic sigils used in Ritual
magick, from which they are derived. They are related to the Veves of Vodoun and the Firmas
of Palo. The emblem above is one of many belonging to Exu, the Orixa of the Crossroads.

Sigil

The word sigil means a seal or device (like a personal seal, a printer's mark, etc.), but the word
today usually denotes a magical sigil, a glyph used in ritual or sympathetic magick as a focus, or
for summoning angels, demons, or spirits. Sigils as the signature of 'mark' of a spirit began in
antiquity and reached a peak of popularity in during the Renaissance. The seal or signature of an
angel, spirit, or demon was thought to contain the essence of that being's name, and give one
power to summon that entity.

There are several methods of devising sigils for this use, usually involving special arrangements
(planetary squares, Enochian tables, etc.) of letters or numbers, and tracing the desired word over
this pattern to reveal a symbol (the detailed center of the Golden Dawn Cross is such a pattern),
or reducing alphabetical characters into a single glyph.


Sigil Rose from
the Rosy Cross
of the Golden Dawn.
Use to create sigils.

Pronunciation: Sij-ill (noun)


Sigil of Goetic Spirit



Sigils from Levi's "Transcendental Magic."