Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil
My Life = My Uterus = My Choices
The Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil was created to help combat authoritarian violence against those who possess a uterus. It helps to protect and aid those with a uterus, and to empower those who are fighting to restore the basic human right to bodily autonomy. It also includes a component of baneful magic, returning equivalent and punitive harm back upon those who seek to control others’ bodies regardless of the harm they may cause in doing so.
It can be used to help individual people who need protection or access to care, and it can be used to empower social movements for the restoration of human rights in the United States and elsewhere.
The subtitle is “My Choices” instead of “My Choice” because removal of bodily autonomy around the uterus affects so many more choices than just whether or not to have an abortion. It affects access to birth control, hormone treatments, reproductive health care, general health care, illness treatment options, voluntary tubal ligation or hysterectomy, gender-affirming care, and so much more!
Note: I am using the terms “people”, “carrying parent”, and similar gender-neutral terminology because anti-abortion laws affect not only most cis women, but also a large number of trans men, nonbinary people, and children who are old enough to conceive.
Bodily Autonomy
Bodily autonomy is the most basic human right, because if you do not own and control your own body, you do not truly own or control anything. For that reason, I will not entertain any distractions about exceptions or worthiness. The person who possesses the uterus is the owner of that uterus, and can do with it as they please. It does not belong to their spouse (real or hypothetical), to their family, to the government, or to any fetus. It belongs solely to the human being who bears that uterus within their body, and just as the organ of a dead body cannot be used by others unless specifically consented to by that person before they died, their uterus should not be used by others against their express consent.
The violence and harm inherent in denying bodily autonomy over one’s uterus is apparent when you barely scratch the surface.
Anti-Abortion Is Objectively NOT Pro-Life
The anti-abortion movement is about control and domination, using unborn fetuses as the shallow justification for life-shattering and potentially life-ending harm and violence against the people forced to carry those fetuses.
The fact that the harm is the point is proven by the simultaneous reduction or elimination of social programs that could help provide for the carrying parent and the resulting children, and the reduction or elimination of access to birth control that would allow for family planning without abortions. That means not only is the person with a uterus unable to easily prevent themselves from getting pregnant in the first place, but once pregnancy happens the health of the carrying parent can be easily shattered, and there will be additional children born which will not receive adequate shelter, food, and care. In other words, fetuses forcibly created, parents welcome to die, fetuses forcibly carried to term, and infants and children welcome to die once they are breathing.
When abortion is outlawed, not only do you have people forced to endure tremendous physical strain and change for the sake of a fetus, but there will be people who would otherwise live who instead die from forced pregnancy or childbirth, be the cause of those deaths medical complication, suicide, or murder.
You also have people who are denied medications and medical treatments (including cancer treatments) which are vital to their health and wellbeing, even if the patient is not pregnant, solely because such medications and treatments could potentially harm or kill a fetus, or prevent pregnancy. Denial of such medications and treatments will result in decreased quality of life, increased illness and disability, and in some cases the death of the person with a uterus.
Intentions and Symbology of the Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil
The intention of this sigil can be summed up as simply “My Body = My Uterus = My Choices”. The overall form is deliberately reminiscent of a uterus and jolly roger wearing a crown of liberty, because when authoritarian forces seek to deny your basic human rights and liberties, you fight for them and use them anyway.
- Demand and receive respect for bodily autonomy
- Wards against outside interference
- Access to needed health & medical care
- Strength and fortitude to fight
- Reversal of harm back onto those who seek to control others’ bodies regardless of any harm created
The Core
The core of the Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil is an abstract uterus shape, topped with a full circle and two crescent moons. The full circle represents both the head and heart of any person with a uterus, that they are the sovereign owner of their uterus, and should have complete control over their own choices regarding their body.
The top circle also represents the full moon, which along with the crescent moons represents that the needs and wants of the person in question and their uterus can change over time, but such changes do not negate their right to make the choices they wish in the moment, whatever choices there are at hand.
The ovaries are represented by circled pentagrams, representing energy, power, and protection. This follows the basic shape of the fallopian tubes, becomes the sides of the uterus, and flows out to the opening, representing that all product of those ovaries should be allowed to flow out of the body if the owner so wishes.
The center of the uterus contains a downward-facing pentagram, representing the energy, strength, and power inherent in the uterus and the individual who has that uterus. It is facing downward so the spike of the pentagram is ready to stab anything that enters without consent or otherwise interferes with bodily autonomy.
The Base
The base of the sigil is crossed swords, which have pentagrams for pommels, crescent moons for hand guards, and blood grooves. This sigil is not for playing around. It is for fucking around and finding out. I am a firm believer in using baneful magic to fight back against harm, including against structural violence and discrimination. When one is under attack, it is extremely helpful and compatible to bring baneful elements in alongside protective and healing magic. After all, if all you do is build a wall, eventually an attacking force will bring it down. You must also fight back if you want to successfully protect yourself.
The swords are positioned under the opening of the uterus to both protect it from intrusion and interference, and to create an image reminiscent of a jolly roger. When laws are unjust, justice can be found in going rogue.
The swords are ultimately controlled by the person with the uterus, so consensual access can be granted for any reason that person sees fit. They can also be used to fight for access to needed and wanted care and birth control.
The Crown
The sigil is crowned by seven spikes like the statue of liberty. It is both a crown of individual sovereignty, and a protection that will stab anyone attempting to come for the uterus from above (metaphorically, from an authoritarian position).
Overall
There are five pentagrams total, representing all four elements plus spirit, bringing to bear the full spectrum of power in the universe for protection and change.
Related Balancing Path Articles
- Embodiment – The Magic of Claiming Ownership of Your Body
Claiming unconditional ownership of your own body has profound positive implications for mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, and magical wellbeing. - Menstrual Magic for Uterus-Owners of All Genders
If your body includes a uterus that produces a period, you can perform menstrual magic. It is an incredibly powerful component for spellwork. - Ethical Baneful Magic for all Skill and Experience Levels
In order to ethically engage in baneful magic, you need to have a clear understanding of your moral compass, and the why, what, and how of your spellwork. - The Interplay of Baneful and Blessing Magic
Harm and benefit are not absolute universal values, and the magics we weave can and do often incorporate aspects of both baneful and blessing energies.
Additional Images for Home Printing
Please only share the image with descriptive text from the top of this page. These images are provided so it will be easier for you to print the sigil at home if you are not up to drawing it by hand and cannot afford print-on-demand services. They may also be used for creating derivative works, but please post a link back to this page when posting online.
If you want to print with the black background, I highly recommend using a print shop because it will eat a LOT of your black ink.
How to Use the Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil
The Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil is extremely compatible with menstrual magic, if you have a uterus and experience a menses. However, it can also be used by anyone to help create social justice for people with uteruses.
You can use this sigil in any way that is in line with its intent and makes sense for your practice. Some ideas are to:
- inscribe it on a candle
- print it or draw it on a piece of paper and place it on your altar or somewhere you see regularly
- put a copy in your wallet
- use it as the wallpaper, login background, or screen saver on your phone, tablet, or computer
- make something crafty and include the sigil in your creation
- use it as a focus for meditation or as a component in a ritual
- draw it on the body using salted water, anointing oil, an herb blend, makeup, body paint, henna, markers, temporary tattoo pens, etc.
- print it onto temporary tattoo paper and apply it to your body
- and so on
Your rendering of the sigil does not need to be perfect. Intent is what matters, so do not worry if you cannot draw it “perfectly”. As long as all the elements are there, you are good.
Like any sigil, it will be most effective when it is used in conjunction with real-world actions. On the big scale, be sure to do what you can to support efforts to restore reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, especially voting and what political activism you have the capacity to engage in.
On the small scale, do not give up and roll over. Be resourceful about securing the care you need, finding the helpers that are available to you, and helping others whenever possible. We get through this together. I would love to provide links to resources, but such resources are going to vary tremendously across the country, and it is likely that lists of resources will come and go as legal battles progress.
Please read On the Care and Use of Sigils for more information about how to use sigils.
Tattoos and Body Art of the Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil
If you want to get a tattoo of any of my sigils, you do not need to ask me for personal permission. Permission is granted. However, I do recommend that you carefully consider whether or not the sigil in question is actually something you need working on you constantly for the rest of your life. If the answer is no, temporary body art is probably the better way to go, even if you recreate it on a frequent or semi-regular basis.
I also strongly recommend using a temporary body art method to test-drive any sigil before getting it permanently inked. This can let you test the impact of the sigil, including how placement changes the effects. This isn’t just some cool design that you like. It is a piece of magic and will have impact beyond aesthetics.
If you do decide getting a tattoo of one of my sigils is the way to go, I would love it if you showed me how it turned out! You can send me a message through my website or social media. If you post the photo to the internet, please tag me on social media so I can see.
Print-on-Demand Purchase of the Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil
I have set up the Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil print-on-demand in my RedBubble shop, so it can be more convenient to use for those who do not have the time/skills/energy to redraw or recreate the sigil. I have set the items in the shop to 0% commission, so the prices you see are the base prices. Due to my own health problems, I am incapable of doing order fulfillment or running a business, and as a spoonie witch I want the convenience of purchasing for myself as well.
Print-on-demand is provided purely as a convenience, not as a business endeavor. That means I am unlikely to rush to meet any requests for available items or sigils, and I have no control over RedBubble’s order fulfilment processes. I have not purchased or tested the vast majority of products available from RedBubble, but I have set them up in ways that I hope will be issue-free.
Sharing the Uterus Bodily Autonomy Sigil
The main sigil graphic does contain enough text to help clarify it when it is shared out in the wilds of the internet, but best practice is to include a link back to this article. That way others who see it can find out exactly what it is intended to do, in detail. Sigils are most effective when the user understands the symbology and knows exactly what they were created to do, and that is also the only way they can be certain this sigil is right for them and their situation.
This sigil is Creative Commons licensed:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as they credit Sidney Eileen and license their new creations under the identical terms.
Want to Make Your Own Sigils?
I use the method described in the excellent book Sigil Witchery, by Laura Tempest Zakroff. You do not need to consider yourself an artist to make your own sigils.
Want More Sigils?
Go to my Sigil Magic page to find all of the sigils I have created and shared publicly.