MagickalAlphabets

BOBILITH ProbablytheearliestknownpreRomanwritingintheislandsofwhatwouldbecometheareaofBritainandScandinaviawasaGoidelicalphabetknownasOgham, whichwasfirstmentionedintheBookofBallymote.Goidelicconsistedofanumberofuprightstrokes,standingon,suspendedfrom,andcrossingoneline.Followingthe Ogham,cametheBobilethorBoibelLothalphabetanditsderivatives,allpreferredtosomeextentbytheDruidsincertainareas.

ENOCHIAN TheEnochianalphabet,andthelanguagewrittenwithit,wereallegedlytransmittedtoCourtAstrologerandMagician,Dr.JohnDee(5271608)andhisassociate,Sir EdwardKelly(15551597)byentitiestheyreferredtoasangels.ThecharactersshowncomprisetheproperalphabetfortheEnochianTablets.TheEnochianlanguageis consideredtheonlycorrectandvalidlanguagefortheEnochianCallsorKeyswhichareusedtoinvoketheangels,therefore,itisafundamentalinthepracticeoftrue EnochianMagic.

ETRUSCAN TheoriginoftheEtruscanalphabetisaninterestingevolutionofalanguage.ThefirstalphabetwasinventedbySemiticspeakersintheancientNearEast.TheCanaanite andlaterPhoenicianalphabetshadonlyconsonants,withnovowels.TheGreeksderivedtheiralphabetfromthePhoenicianalphabetandaddedvowels,thereby producingthefirsttruealphabet.TheGreeksbroughtawesternformoftheGreekalphabettoItaly,andtheEtruscansacquiredthealphabetfromthem.TheEtruscans thenpassedtheiralphabettotheRomans. TheEtruscanalphabetwasdiffusedattheendoftheArchaicperiod,around500CE,intonorthernItalyandbecamethemodelforthealphabetsoftheAlpine populations. TheFutharkisbelievedtobeaderivativeoftheNorthernEtruscanalphabet.

FUTHARK TheRunicAlphabet,alsocalledFuthark,isawritingsystemofuncertainoriginthatwasusedbyGermanicpeoplesofnorthernEurope,Britain,Scandinavia,andIceland fromaboutthe3rdcenturytothe16thor17thcenturyAD.Becauseofitsangularletterforms,runicwritingisbelievedtobelongtoanancientsystem. ManymodernscholarsbelieveFutharkhasitsoriginsintheGreekorLatinalphabets,datingfromthe6thcenturyBCtothe5thcenturyAD.Oneplausibletheory,isthat therunicalphabetwasdevelopedbytheGoths,aGermanicpeople,fromtheEtruscanalphabetofnorthernItalyandwasperhapsalsoinfluencedbytheLatinalphabetof the1stor2ndcenturyBC.

GOTHIC ExceptforafewNorseinscriptionsinrunes,recordsofGothicareolderthanthoseforanyotherGermaniclanguage.TheGothicalphabetwasusedinallmanuscripts writteninGothicandfoundinEurope.ItistraditionallybelievedthattheGothicalphabet's27letters,consistingof25modifiedGreeksymbolsand2runes,wereinvented bybishopWulfila,alsoknownasUlfilas(311383).HisinventionoftheGothicalphabetmeantthat,forthefirsttimeintheGermanicworld,writingcouldbeusedforthe disseminationofideas.Thealphabetwasuseduntilthe6thcentury,andwasonlywrittenintheGothiclanguage.TheOstrogothsofancientGermanyandItalyandthe VisigothsofEasternEuropeandSpainspokeGothic.

MALACHIM

TheMalachimalphabetwasofferedbyAgrippainBookIII,ChapterXXX,ofhisOccultPhilosophy.BarrettinhisMagusthencopiedit.Agrippa'sonlycomments regardingthisalphabetwerethatitmeant"ofAngelsorRegal.".TheAngelicMalachimalphabetisoneofthemostfamousoftheAngelicscriptsandisstillused,toa limitedextent,inthehigherdegreesofFreemasonry.Advancedstudents,practitioners,andAdeptswillfindmanysignificantwritingsinwhichthesefiguresareused.

RUNIC TheRunicalphabetoftodaypossiblyevolvedfromtwodistinctsourcesonemagicalandoneliterate.PrerunicsymbolshavebeenfoundinBronzeAgerockcarvings, primarilyinSweden.Somerunicsymbolsareeasilyrecognizedinlateralphabets,whileothersrepresentideasorconceptsincorporatedintothenamesoftherunes (moon,dog,tree,etc.).Theexactmeaningsandtheoriginalpurposeofthesesymbolsarenowlonglost,buttheymayhavebeenusedfordivinationorlotcasting, therebycontributingtothemagickalfunctionofthelaterrunicalphabets.WhentheNorthItalictribesbeganintegratingtherunicalphabetintotheirownsymbolicsystem, thelettersweregivennamesthatrelatedtothetribe'ssecularandreligiouslives,thustransformingtheirsimplepictographsintoamagickalalphabetwhichcouldbeused fortalismans,magicalinscriptionsanddivination.

THEBAN "TheWitches'Alphabet" ManyPagans,Witches,andWiccansusetheThebanalphabettoencodetheirwritingsintheirBooksofShadowsorspellbooks.TheThebanScriptisalsoknownas the"Witches'Alphabet". TheearliestknownsourcefortheThebanalphabetisCorneliusAgrippa's"ThreeBooksofOccultPhilosophy"firstpublishedatAntwerpin1531.Agrippaprovidedthe ThebanScriptinBookIII,Chapter29andwrote,"OfthiskindofcharacterthereforearethosewhichPeterApponusnotes,asdeliveredbyHonoriusofThebes".Thisis almostcertainlyareferencetotheauthoroftheearly14thcentury"LiberJuratus,ortheSworneBookeofHonorius". However,itisbelievedthattheThebanalphabetactuallyoriginatedasaLatincipherbeforethe11thcentury.Theoriginoftheletterformsisobscure,butalltheevidence isconsistentwithanoriginasanearlyalchemicalcipheralphabetinfluencedbyAvestan. TheThebanalphabet,istoday,andalwayshasbeenemployedprimarilyfortalismanicinscriptionsandmagickalspellsandworks.

GREEK&HEBREW BelowisacommonlyusedtableofGreekandHebrewalphabet=numericalvalues.Whilemanyscholarsdisagreeonthenumericalvaluesattachedtothetwoalphabets, andvalidargumentscanbemade,thetablebelowisdesignedtobeusedasareferencepointonlyandnotasabasisofscholarlydiscussion. Wehaveincludedtheinformationinthistablebecausemany"OldReligion"spellsincorporatevariousnumericalvaluesintheirtext.