A magical alphabet, or magickal alphabet, [1] 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. [2] [3] [4] 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. [4] [5]
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, [6] or other ideas, [7] rather than sounds. Some alphabets, like runes, may serve both purposes, [8] thus acting as both alphabets and logographic/ideographic scripts according to their use at the time.
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The following are examples of alphabets considered magical:
A natural language's alphabet can also be used for spellwork or encryption, [10] 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; [11] thus it is possible an item's owner might not be able to read it.
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An athame or athamé is a ceremonial blade, generally with a black handle. It is the main ritual implement or magical tool among several used in ceremonial magic traditions, and by other neopagans, witchcraft, as well as satanic traditions. A black-handled knife called an arthame appears in certain versions of the Key of Solomon, a grimoire dating to the Renaissance.
Ceremonial magic encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it. Popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it draws on such schools of philosophical and occult thought as Hermetic Qabalah, Enochian magic, Thelema, and the magic of various grimoires. Ceremonial magic is part of Hermeticism and Western esotericism.
A pentacle is a talisman that is used in magical evocation, and is usually made of parchment, paper, cloth, or metal, upon which a magical design is drawn. Symbols may also be included, a common one being the six-point form of the Seal of Solomon.
The Key of Solomon, also known as The Greater Key of Solomon, is a pseudepigraphical grimoire attributed to King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance. It presents a typical example of Renaissance magic.
A hexagram (Greek) or sexagram (Latin) is a six-pointed geometric star figure with the Schläfli symbol {6/2}, 2{3}, or {{3}}. Since there are no true regular continuous hexagrams, the term is instead used to refer to a compound figure of two equilateral triangles. The intersection is a regular hexagon.
A rune is a letter in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write Germanic languages before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised purposes thereafter. In addition to representing a sound value, runes can be used to represent the concepts after which they are named (ideographs). Scholars refer to instances of the latter as Begriffsrunen. The Scandinavian variants are also known as fuþark, or futhark, these names derived from the first six letters of the script, ⟨ᚠ⟩, ⟨ᚢ⟩, ⟨ᚦ⟩, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚬ⟩, ⟨ᚱ⟩, and ⟨ᚲ⟩/⟨ᚴ⟩, corresponding to the Latin letters ⟨f⟩, ⟨u⟩, ⟨þ⟩/⟨th⟩, ⟨a⟩, ⟨r⟩, and ⟨k⟩. The Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc, or fuþorc, due to changes in Old English of the sounds represented by the fourth letter, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚩ⟩.
An adept is an individual identified as having attained a specific level of knowledge, skill, or aptitude in doctrines relevant to a particular occult discipline, such as alchemy or magic.
A magic circle is a circle of space marked out by practitioners of some branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be marked physically, drawn in a material like salt, flour, or chalk, or merely visualised.
The Elder Futhark, also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Period. Inscriptions are found on artifacts including jewelry, amulets, plateware, tools, and weapons, as well as runestones, from the 2nd to the 8th centuries.
The Theban alphabet, also known as the witches' alphabet, is a writing system, specifically a substitution cipher of the Latin script, that was used by early modern occultists and is popular in the Wicca movement.
The Celestial Alphabet, also known as Angelic Script, is a set of characters described by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa in the 16th century. It is not to be confused with John Dee and Edward Kelley's Enochian alphabet, which is also sometimes called the Celestial alphabet. Other alphabets with a similar origin are Transitus Fluvii and Malachim.
The Behenian fixed stars are a selection of fifteen stars considered especially useful for magical applications in the medieval astrology of Europe and the Arab world. Their name derives from the Arabic bahman, "root," as each was considered a source of astrological power for one or more planets. Each is also connected with a gemstone and plant that would be used in rituals meant to draw the star's influence. When a planet was within six degrees of an associated star, this influence was thought to be particularly strong.
The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is a ceremonial magic ritual devised and used by the original order of the Golden Dawn that has become a mainstay in modern occultism. This ritual is considered by many to be a basic preliminary to any other magical work, so much that it was the only ritual, besides initiation rituals, taught to members of the Golden Dawn before they advanced to the Inner Order.
There is some evidence that, in addition to being a writing system, runes historically served purposes of magic. This is the case from the earliest epigraphic evidence of the Roman to the Germanic Iron Age, with non-linguistic inscriptions and the alu word. An erilaz appears to have been a person versed in runes, including their magic applications.
Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoteric Masonic organizations such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, is a key element within the Thelemic orders, and is important to mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.
In the neopagan religion of Wicca a range of magical tools are used in ritual practice. Each of these tools has different uses and associations and are commonly used at an altar, inside a magic circle.
The Merlin Mystery is a 1998 puzzle/children's book, written by Jonathan Gunson and illustrated by Gunson and Marten Coombe. Published by Warner Books and certified by Mensa, it served as an armchair treasure hunt book, challenging its readers to solve the titular mystery by deciphering the pictures to learn how to cast a magic spell, the details of which were to be drawn and sent to an official address. None of the 30,000 entries received contained the correct solution, so the £75,000 prize was donated to the World Wildlife Fund.
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's Natural History describes as "an object that protects a person from trouble". Anything can function as an amulet; items commonly so used include statues, coins, drawings, plant parts, animal parts, and written words.
A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed permanently in architecture. Talismans are closely linked with amulets, fulfilling many of the same roles, but a key difference is in their form and materiality, with talismans often taking the form of objects which are inscribed with magic texts.
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....
If the rune-names are recited, they can form part of the verse form for they may carry stress and alliteration.
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.
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.
Any of various magickal alphabets created and used by magicians, alchemists, and Wizards.