Unlocking the Reptilian Mind: Charging Sigils with the Wim Hof Method

Unless you've been living under a massive iceberg shaped rock, it's likely you're somewhat familiar with the enigmatic Wim Hof and his particular pattern of breathwork.

I actually met Wim Hof a few years ago. Did circular breathing until I saw angels, jumped in the ice, you know, all the stuff you see on Insta.

Wim comes largely from the perspective of health and healing - physical and psychological. In fact, it's impossible not to be around him without seeing his absolute authenticity and willingness to help people. He's a good dude!

With that said, the method offers a lot more scope than just improving your health and allowing you to tolerate sub-zero temperatures. It allows access to areas of consciousness that make practical magick highly effective.

Typically, sigil charging involves deep meditative states, sexual energy, or moments of high emotional intensity to imprint the symbol into the subconscious. But what if there was a way to supercharge this process by hacking into the primal, reptilian layers of the brain? Enter the Wim Hof Method.

The Reptilian Brain and the Power of Breath

In basic terms, Wim's breathwork method enhances oxygenation, shifts consciousness, and activates the deeper, primal regions of the brain—what neuroscientists call the reptilian complex. If you follow his reasoning, one of the goals is actually to bring those areas under conscious control. This ancient part of our neurology governs survival instincts, autonomic processes, and deep subconscious imprints. It is the seat of raw will, unfiltered by social conditioning or rationalisation.

By way of comparison, Austin Osman Spare, the father of modern sigil magic, understood that effective sigil charging requires bypassing the conscious mind and embedding intent directly into the subconscious. His method involved achieving altered states where the rational mind dissolves, allowing the raw intent of the sigil to take root in the unconscious. Wim Hof’s breathwork provides a perfect vehicle for this process, tapping into the reptilian brain and bypassing the limiting structures of everyday cognition.

Charging Sigils with the Wim Hof Method

The technique is simple yet profoundly effective. There's a blanket assumption here that you're in good health and know how to design a sigil. Ritual banishment is not mandatory but being relaxed and uninterrupted is.

If you are completely unfamiliar with this particular pattern of breathwork, I'd suggest practising for a good week or so first to get the hang of things. I offer coaching in this sort of stuff but you can get a pretty good idea of the basics on Youtube.

Here’s how you can integrate Wim Hof breathwork into your sigil magic practice:

1. Create Your Sigil – As always, condense your intent into a symbol using Spare’s method or your own preferred technique.

2. Begin Wim Hof Breathing – Perform the classic cycle:

   • Take 30-40 deep, rhythmic breaths, inhaling fully and exhaling passively. No pause between inhale and exhale. Surrendering on the out breath is important.

   • On the final breath, exhale completely and hold until the urge to breathe returns. The first cycle will usually be around one minute and get progressively longer on each round.

   • Inhale deeply and hold for 15 seconds before releasing.

3. Charging the Sigil – During the breath retention phase (after the deep inhale and 15-second hold), bring the sigil into your mind’s eye or look at it intently if that is not possible. Hold it there with full intent, allowing the oxygenated, altered state to saturate the symbol with primal energy. Attempt to think of nothing else but the sigil for this period.

4. Release on the Exhale – As you exhale, visualise the sigil dissolving into the universe, releasing its intent into the ether. This mirrors the classic method of orgasmic or trance-induced sigil release but with the added advantage of bioenergetic activation through breathwork.

5. Repeat for 3-4 Rounds – Repeating the process amplifies the imprint, reinforcing the sigil’s presence in the deep mind while maintaining the heightened physiological and neurological state induced by the breathwork. Depending on the level of intensity this can get quite psychedelic.

6. Go have a cold shower. Record results and go on with your day.

   
   

Why This Works

By using the Wim Hof method to oxygenate the body and stimulate the reptilian brain, we create a state where the conscious mind is subdued, and the deep, instinctual layers of the psyche are highly receptive. The sigil is implanted in a zone where thought, emotion, and primal will merge—bypassing logical resistance and embedding intent directly into the biological substratum of the will.

Magic is most powerful when it operates at the intersection of mind, body, and energy. The combination of sigil work and the Wim Hof Method offers a streamlined yet profoundly deep way to bridge these dimensions, leveraging the body’s natural capacities to access the unconscious. It also offers a very direct way to influence and change your body.

As with any method, experiment and refine. But one thing is clear: when breath, intent, and primal consciousness converge, magic becomes an undeniable force. Try it and see!