Three methods for creating practical pop culture magic workings
And how you can apply this to the pop culture of your choice.
The first system of magic I developed was Pop Culture Magick. I developed this system because I noticed that in a lot of pop culture, whether it was anime, books, TV shows, etc., there were novel ideas shared around how magic could work. The question that I came to was:
Is it possible to turn these novel ideas into practical techniques?
It definitely is possible to take something you read about in pop culture and create a variation of it in your practical magic work. It does help if you already have a foundational knowledge of magic that you can draw on, because then you know what works as well as what may not work (you can always experiment to find out for sure!).
Pop culture magick is a powerful, dynamic way to integrate modern mythology into your spiritual and magical practice. With fictional worlds, iconic characters, and multimedia narratives shaping contemporary belief systems, these sources can be tapped for real magical workings.
Below are three methods I’ve developed to create magical techniques inspired by pop culture.
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1. Character Invocation and Aspecting
One of the most effective methods in pop culture magic is invoking or aspecting a character, deity, or figure from your favorite series, film, or game. This method allows you to embody or channel the energy and traits of the character for magical purposes as well as for doing internal work on yourself.
How to Do It:
Choose a character that represents the qualities or skills you wish to develop (e.g., Sherlock Holmes for intelligence and deduction, Wonder Woman for courage and strength).
Meditate on the character, imagining yourself embodying their energy.
Wear symbolic items related to the character (such as a replica of their weapon, costume elements, or accessories).
Perform a ritual where you call upon the character’s attributes and allow their essence to guide your actions.
Example:
A magician wishing to enhance their intuition may invoke Yoda from Star Wars. Through visualization, they imagine Yoda whispering wisdom and guiding their decisions, developing their ability to sense outcomes beyond logical reasoning.
This can be a great way to also develop a collaborative relationship with a pop culture spirit. I do recommend choosing the pop culture spirit carefully and with awareness of both the light and shadow aspects of the character. For instance, while working with Yoda can be useful accessing some wisdom, the shadow side of Yoda is inflexibility. Just as with any other type of spirit, you don’t get to cherry pick one or two aspects of the spirit…you deal with all aspects and this can be rewarding because of how it will challenge you to grow.
What pop culture spirit would you choose to invoke or work with?
2. Sigil Crafting with Pop Culture Symbols
Symbols from pop culture often carry immense energetic resonance due to the collective belief invested in them. By repurposing these symbols as sigils, you can use them to enhance magical workings.
In some ways the symbols are already sigils, because they represent something specific to us. For example, the S symbol for Superman, with its iconic colors represents specific associations. We can repurpose the symbol for our own purposes, and draw on the associated beliefs and attention that has been attached to the symbol.
How to Do It:
Select a logo, emblem, or symbol from a pop culture source that aligns with your magical intent (e.g., the Deathly Hallows from Harry Potter for transformation and mastery of fate).
Modify or combine elements of the symbol to personalize it.
Charge the sigil through meditation, drawing it repeatedly, or embedding it into artwork, jewelry, or digital wallpapers.
Activate it through ritual, visualization, or by incorporating it into spellwork.
Example:
A practitioner wanting protection could use the Superman "S" logo mentioned above, adapting it into a personal sigil. By charging and carrying the sigil, they imbue themselves with resilience, strength, and invulnerability. They are drawing on the pop culture associations of the S symbol to access that the resilience, strength and invulnerability.
Think about the particular pop culture you are interested in. What symbols are related to that pop culture? What associations come to mind when you think of those symbols?
3. Pop Culture-Based Divination
Many fictional universes offer powerful symbolic structures that can be adapted for divination. Whether using fictional tarot decks, books, or other media as oracles, pop culture can provide meaningful insights to our own life or the existing situations that we are dealing with.
How to Do It:
Select a pop culture system with rich lore that resonates with your path (e.g., using a Pokemon deck for elemental divination, or Game of Thrones characters for archetypal guidance).
Create a set of divination tools based on elements from the chosen universe (e.g., using quotes from a book, casting dice with symbols from a fantasy world).
Formulate spreads or layouts inspired by the fictional world (e.g., a divination spread based on Avatar: The Last Airbender with positions representing fire, water, earth, and air).
Example:
A pop culture magician might use The Lord of the Rings mythology for rune-based divination, casting small stones marked with Elvish script, interpreting the meaning based on the characters or locations they represent.
What pop culture do you enjoy that can be adapted to a divination system? What types of readings would you do?
Final Thoughts
Pop culture magic is a deeply personal and highly adaptable practice. By drawing on modern mythology, we can craft powerful magical techniques that resonate with our time. Whether you invoke fictional figures, charge sigils with pop culture energy, or read omens through media, the possibilities are endless. The key is to experiment, refine, and make the magic your own.
Getting Started with Pop Culture Magic?
If you’re intrigued by the possibilities of how to work with pop culture magic or just getting started, I have a pop culture magic course that walks you through how pop culture magic works and show you how you can create pop culture magic techniques and work with pop culture spirits to get results that transform your life.
You’ll learn:
What pop culture magic is and how it works.
How to create collaborative relationships with pop culture spirits
How to create practical pop culture magic workings that get results