Rite III: The Cycle and the Sigil

Repetition is power.What is spoken once may be forgotten. What is spoken ten times becomes a spell.

You now control the flow of your ritual — your script listens, judges, and responds. But true power lies in ritual cycles: spells repeated, lists of symbols processed, and incantations iterated.

In this rite, you will summon loops — sacred repetitions — and harness lists, the vessels of many sigils.

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I. The Infinite Invocation (while loop)

while True:
    print("The ritual continues...")

This loop will repeat forever. It is an unbroken chant. A mantra with no silence.

To banish it:

while True:
    sigil = input("Speak or be silent: ")
    if sigil == "silence":
        print("The ritual ends.")
        break

• while True begins an endless cycle
• break is the command to end the ritual

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II. Counting the Cycles (for loop + range())

for i in range(3):
    print(f"Cycle {i+1}: The sigil glows.")

This loop repeats exactly three times. The range() function generates a series of numbers.

• range(3) → 0, 1, 2
• i+1 adjusts the count to begin at 1

You can modify the ritual’s structure:

for i in range(1, 10, 2):
    print(i)

• range(start, stop, step) gives you full control

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III. Sigil Arrays (Lists)

Lists are containers — vessels for many symbols.

sigils = ["open", "burn", "seal"]

for sigil in sigils:
    print(f"You inscribe: {sigil}")

• sigils is a list — denoted by square brackets
• The loop casts each sigil one by one

You may also allow the initiate to build the circle:

sigils = []

while True:
    s = input("Add a sigil (or type 'end'): ")
    if s == "end":
        break
    sigils.append(s)

print("The circle contains:")
for sigil in sigils:
    print(f" - {sigil}")

• append() adds each new word to the list

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IV. Your Trial: The Ritual Repeater

Create a script that:

1. Asks how many times to repeat the chant
2. Asks for the sigil to repeat
3. Prints the sigil that many times

times = int(input("How many cycles? "))
sigil = input("Name the sigil: ")

for i in range(times):
    print(f"{i+1}: {sigil}")

Bonus: Let the user enter multiple sigils and print each one in order.

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V. Reflection: Repetition as Ritual

In this rite, you’ve summoned:

• while loops — infinite or conditional cycles
• for loops — structured iteration
• Lists — sacred vessels of many inputs
• break — the final banishment of an endless cycle

Each loop is a chant. Each list, a grimoire. With these tools, you now command the first true rhythms of programming — not just instructions, but ritualized control.