Majokkid - Magia Records

Transforming item/magical key concept, pendulum form. Design given to me in a dream.

What is a Witch’s Kiss?

In Puella Magi Madoka Magica and related works, a Witch's Kiss is a marking, the personal symbol or calling card of a Witch, used by a Witch and its Familiars (or Minions) to control the minds of humans and to mark their Labyrinth. These markings can be used to exacerbate pre-existing negative emotions and thoughts, change personalities, make people commit crimes or self-harm, or lure them into a Labyrinth to be consumed by the Witch inside. Some of these actions may not necessarily lead humans to being consumed: some Witches may merely desire to spread evil and misfortune regardless if they get sustenance. Furthermore, a ‘kissed’ human may not always die from it. Familiars can also kiss humans well outside of the Labyrinth they hail from in order to bring them to their Witch.

Note: In the magical hero community, I’ve heard these markings referred to as ‘sigils’ as well, but I hesitate to use that terminology for this case because I think it can cause unnecessary confusion for practitioners who regularly use sigils in their own magia. I can acknowledge that a Witch utilizes their Kiss as a sigil for their own gain, however.

If a puella magi or other magical hero is in possession of a Witch’s Kiss, it generally means that they came across it somehow in their day-to-day or astral travels and took note of its components for later exploration into the corresponding Labyrinth. The Kiss can contain visual elements that reveal attributes of the Witch including her appearance, nature, or even aspects of her Labyrinth or Familiars; this information is extremely helpful for any magical hero who is preparing to engage in magical combat with a Witch. The Kiss itself can also be used as a portal into its owner’s Labyrinth.

As a chaos magick practitioner as well, I assert that one can also reverse engineer a Witch’s Kiss for their own spellcraft. Is there something that you want to combat magically? Sigilize components of whatever you want vanquish and create a Kiss. This, in turn, can help conceptualize the trouble you are facing into a Witch and thus easier to focus energy towards defeating.

If you need a template for understanding or documenting a Witch, whether found or created, I recommend this format that was used for many of the Witch Cards that were displayed on the original Japanese website for the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime:

[NAME], the [DESCRIPTOR, NOUN] Witch with a [DESCRIPTOR, ADJECTIVE] nature. The Witch is mainly colored [COLOR], is [DESCRIPTOR, SIZE], and resembles a/n [NOUN]. This Witch is [DESCRIPTOR, STRENGTH] and her weapon is [NOUN]. Her Labyrinth resembles [NOUN/DESCRIPTION] and her Familiars are named [NAME].

You can also add any additional information that helps you further visualize the Witch and its influence.

This post is part of my Magi Praxis series. If you have any suggestions for future topics, or you have attempted anything I have shared and want you share your experiences, please send me a message! I am always happy to go back and provide further explanation as well. ☆