A strange etching on a church in Pitchcombe, Somerset has villagers scratching their heads according to reports on the BBC website. The image looks like a large ‘N’ with a star on one end and a cross on the other, but no-one seems to be sure what it means. The Dioceses of Bath and Wells have tweeted a picture of the inscription in an attempt to discover its significance (if indeed it has one). Mr Charles Brook commented;
"I wondered if it was some sort of satanic symbol, or whatever, which is why we asked the Diocesan people if they had any thoughts about it. And the answer is 'no they don't'," added Mr Brook.
A sigil is a magical sign
Having looked at the image it does indeed look like a sigil. A sigil is a magical sign intended to work as a spell often invented by a magician for a particular purpose. Some sigils are a standard design but many are designed by one person for one use, so they can be very individual and their purpose almost impossible to guess. So is something sinister stirring in Somerset? Not necessarily; anyone with an interest in magic or even having read the right type of fiction could come up with the idea of producing one as a hoax without activating it or knowing how to.
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