Magical alphabet explained

A magical alphabet, or magickal alphabet, is a set of letters used primarily in occult magical practices and other esoteric traditions. These alphabets serve various purposes, including encoding secret messages, conducting rituals, creating amulets or talismans, casting spells, and invoking spiritual entities. Several magical alphabets, including the Celestial Alphabet, Malachim, and Transitus Fluvii, are based on the Hebrew alphabet, which itself has a long history of use in mystical and magical contexts.

As ordered letter-sets, magical alphabets are distinct from the various non-alphabetic, non-sequential "magical/magickal scripts" which contain symbols representing entities, festivals, ritual objects or practices, alchemical/astrological/astronomical objects or events,^[1] or other ideas,^[2] rather than sounds. Some alphabets, like runes, may serve both purposes,^[3] thus acting as both alphabets and logographic/ideographic scripts according to their use at the time.

Examples

The following are examples of alphabets considered magical:

• Alphabet of Daggers: presented in occultist Aleister Crowley's The Vision and the Voice^[4]
• Alphabet of Desire, or Atavistic Alphabet: created by occultist Austin Osman Spare, influential to chaos magic.
• Alphabet of the Magi

used by some members and emulators of the Order of the Golden Dawn; strictly speaking, an abjad.

• Celestial Alphabet, or Angelic Alphabet: used by some pagans; another abjad.
• Enochian

tied to the language of that name, and used in some ceremonial magic.

• Malachim

used by high-ranking Freemasons to a limited extent; an abjad.

• Ogham

especially used by modern Druids and Celtic reconstructionists.

• Runes

especially used in northern-Europe-oriented religions like Heathenry, but also widely elsewhere.

• Theban alphabet

especially used by Wiccans, though it predates Wicca by centuries.

• Transitus Fluvii or Passing the River: shown in the movie The Blair Witch Project; an abjad.

A natural language's alphabet can also be used for spellwork or encryption,^[5] so the above list cannot be exclusive.

Using such an alphabet may or may not involve using the language from which it came, e.g. users might transcribe their own language's words between its alphabet and another. Some traditions, but not all, expect members to inscribe their own tools; thus it is possible an item's owner might not be able to read it.

See also

• Alchemical symbol – Symbols used in pre-19th-century chemistry
• Astrological symbols – Symbols denoting astrological concepts
• Astronomical symbols – Symbols in astronomy
  • • Constructed writing system – Writing system specifically created by an individual or group
• Fulu – Daoist talisman incantations and magic symbols
• Jindai moji – Purported ancient Japanese characters
• List of occult symbols
• Magic (supernatural) – Rituals or actions employed to manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces
• Magical formula – Words expressing a process in ceremonial magic
• Ogham inscription – Primitive Irish writings on standing stones
• Planets in astrology – Astrological interpretations of the planets of our solar system
• Planet symbols – Graphical symbols used in astrology and astronomy
• Religious and political symbols in Unicode – Characters representing cultural, political and religious symbols
• Runic inscriptions – Inscription made in a runic alphabet
• Runic magic – Ancient or modern magic performed with runes or runestones

References

Works cited

• Book: Bailey, Michael D. . Magic: The Basics . . . 2018 . 978-1-138-80961-1.
• Bogdan . Henrik . Introduction: Modern Western Magic . . 12 . 1 . 2012 . 1–16 . 10.1163/147783512X614812.
• Book: Buckland, Raymond . Raymond Buckland . 1986 . Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft . . . 9780875420509 . The Theban alphabet is used quite a lot in the Craft. In Gardnerian [Wicca], for example, it is used for writing the High Priestess's name on her bracelet. It is an attractive form of writing. ... But the Theban was written on parchment, as well as being engraved and etched on talismans.... . en.
• Book: Page, Raymond Ian . Raymond Ian Page . 1999. An Introduction to English Runes . 2nd . Woodbridge . Boydell . 188 . 9780851159461 . If the rune-names are recited, they can form part of the verse form for they may carry stress and alliteration..
• Book: Pennick, Nigel . 1992 . Magical Alphabets . . . Back cover . 9780877287476 . Using the premise that languages and the alphabets that comprise them are metaphorical microcosms of our world, Nigel Pennick demonstrates how various alphabets function as a metaphysical description of reality. Magical alphabets actually enable seekers to experience a transformative process. This inner transformation is one of the main objectives of all esoteric traditions, and it can be accomplished by using any of the alphabet systems described in this book. . en.
• Book: Shelley TSivia . Rabinovitch . James R. . Lewis . 2004 . Magical Alphabets . The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft . . . 153 . https://books.google.com/books?id=xuvLRbKvyGEC&pg=PA153 . 9780806524078 . Although most often associated with the practice of Western ceremonial magic, magical alphabets are used by other neo-Pagans as well. ... [''illustration:''  'Theban alphabet (partial)'] ... Among neo-Pagans, the two most commonly used magical alphabets are runes and Theban. ... Magical alphabets are used in spellwork and for the keeping of records that one wishes to make difficult to decipher. ... Magical alphabets are also used when personalizing talismans. . en.
• Book: Tyson, Donald . 2001 . The Magician's Workbook: Practicing the Rituals of the Western Tradition  . Llewellyn Worldwide . 978-0-7387-0000-7 .
• Book: Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon . Oberon Zell-Ravenheart . 2004-02-04 . Magickal alphabets . Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard . . . 144–146 . 9781601639714 . Any of various magickal alphabets created and used by magicians, alchemists, and Wizards. . en.

Further reading

• Book: Kynes, Sandra . Sandra Kynes . 2020 . Magical Symbols and Alphabets: A Practitioner's Guide to Spells, Rites, and History . Woodbury, Minnesota . . 978-0-7387-6200-5 . none.
• Book: Mindy . MacLeod . Bernard . Mees . 2006 . Runic Amulets and Magic Objects . Martlesham, England . . 978-1-84383-205-8 . none.
• Book: Marijane . Osborn . Stella . Longland . Marijane Osborn . 1982 . Rune Games . London & Boston . . 978-0-7100-9303-5 . registration . . Discusses the meanings and divinatory uses of the Anglo-Saxon runes. Includes the Old English rune poem. . none.
• Web site: Patti . Wigington . April 27, 2019 . Magical Alphabets . Learn Religions . 2024-07-24.

External links

• Web site: Alchemical Symbols . unicode.org.
• Web site: Interesting and Useful Occult Unicode Characters . Grimoire Babylon.

Notes and References

1. E.g. Air Fire Water Earth, the four classical elements.
2. E.g. Pentagram, or Pentacle, representing the human essence and role in the universe; the lower four points are said to stand for the four classical material elements, while the fifth point on top is said to stand for either Aether or Spirit. E.g., "In the system of the Golden Dawn, the top point of the pentagram is assigned to Spirit, the upper-left point to Air, the upper-right point to Water, the lower-left point to Earth, and the lower-right point to Fire. These elemental forces are summoned and banished by projecting the pentagram in various ways."
3. As for instance the sundry rune-poems discuss the runes in terms of their names' meanings rather than their sounds – though most stanzas' first line "head-rhymes" (alliterates) with that sound, the rune's name being the first word.(.) E.g. the first line of the Old English rune poem, English, Old (ca.450-1100);: [[Fehu|"<big>ᚠ</big>&nbsp;[Feoh] bẏþ frofur fira gehƿẏlcum"]], uses the rune for its name's meaning "wealth": "Wealth is a comfort to all men".(.) A runic talisman might use that single rune to attract wealth. In the sole extant manuscript of the poem Beowulf, the English, Old (ca.450-1100);: ēðel rune ᛟ was used as a logogram for the word English, Old (ca.450-1100);: ēðel (meaning "homeland", or "estate"), per . Cf. German: [[Lebensrune]] as a symbol for life or (inverted) for death.
4. Web site: Daggers alphabet . Omniglot . 24 June 2024.
5. Including both the original Latin alphabet (see Sator square, Abracadabra amulet) and the modern Latin alphabet, as with the spells and talismans in the folk magic book: Book: Hohman, John George . John George Hohman . 1820 . en . German: [[Pow-Wows; or, Long Lost Friend|Der lange verborgene Freund]]. The Long Lost Friend&hairsp; . (published first in German, then in English). Reading, Pennsylvania. (Entire text online; Internet Archive copy of 1850 edition; printed replicas in each language are still sold.) Viz. the amulet at p. 17, resembling the Abracadabra triangle.