Research in cognitive psychology supports this. Studies on “ritual as cognitive scaffolding” (see: Batchelder, 2021) show that structured symbolic acts help bypass the critical faculty and embed intentions directly into long-term memory. When you distill a goal into a symbol, you’re leveraging what Freud called the “subconscious mind” — the part of us that runs on association, not logic.

Tarot symbolism maps perfectly to this process. Think of the Swords suit: mental focus, cutting through illusion, and disciplined intention. The Five of Swords warns against the “win at all costs” mentality, while the Hermit encourages the introspective work needed to design a clean, stripped-down symbol. You don’t need mystical energy; you need clarity.

As a midwife in Pittsburgh, I’ve spent decades helping people birth new states of being. And after five years sober, I’ve learned that recovery isn’t about toxic positivity — it’s about radical honesty. Sigils work the same way. You face your actual goal, strip away the fluff, and let the symbol do the heavy lifting. Comfort is overrated; clarity is everything.

How do you approach intention-setting? Do you use tarot spreads to validate your sigils, or do you prefer pure symbolic distillation?