Alphabets
Some practitioners write their grimoires in alphabets that feel magical or spiritually resonant. For others, it's about privacy; encoding their knowledge so it’s only understood by themselves or those they deeply trust enough to have shared the alphabet with. Above are two of the most commonly used alphabets in magical and pagan communities:
Theban Alphabet: Sometimes referred to as the “Witches’ Alphabet,” Theban is used widely in modern witchcraft for inscriptions, spellwork, and grimoire entries. It has no known spoken form and is primarily symbolic and secretive in nature.
The alphabet was first seen in Johannes Trithemius's 1518 book, Polygraphia, and was later popularized by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa in De Occulta Philosophia, and then later repopularized by Wicca's adoption of the alphabet as a standard secretive magical text to write your book of shadows in. There is no phonetic version of this alphabet, it is a writing system only.
Nordic Runes (Elder and Younger Futhark): An ancient runic script used by Germanic and Norse peoples. Many witches use these runes for writing, divination, talismans, and connection to ancestral or Norse energies.
The Elder Futhark runes are widely believed to have been inspired from either the North Italic or Etruscan or Latin alphabet, around 2 BCE, and the Elder Futhark runes as we know them today were primarily used between 150 AD and 700 AD. The Younger Futhark runes originated around 800 AD as an adaptation of the Elder Futhark to match phonetic changes in the evolving languages of the area.
Theban: DaFont
Elder Futhark Runes: DaFont

















