ANCIENT ALPHBET
At the time of the Middle Ages, when thousands were being murdered on the charge of witchcraft, there were many (including high dignitaries of the Christian Church) who engaged in the practice of magick quite openly. The reason they were able to work so freely lies in the word “practice”.
Witchcraft, on the other hand, was a religion, and hence a rival to Christianity. But magick, of the ceremonial or ritual variety, was only a practice, and therefore no cause for concern by the church. It was also, by virtue of its nature, a very expensive and learned practice and consequently only available to a select few. That select few consisted of a high percentage of ecclesiastics who not only had the time to devote to its pursuit, but also invariably had access to the necessary funds.Bishops, Archbishops even Popes were known to practice the “Art Magick”. Gerbert the Bishop, who later became Pope Sylvester II, was regarded as a great magician. Other practitioners included Pope Leo III, Pope Honorius III, Pope Urban V; Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople; Rudolf II, the German Emperor; Charles V of France, and many others.Each of the magicians worked alone and jealously guarded his methods of operation. They guarded them not from the church, but from other magicians. To protect their work from prying eyes, the utilized secret alphabets. Many of these alphabets are known today and are used not only by magicians, but also by Witches and other occult practitioners. So why would Witches be interested in using these forms of writing? Some, for secrecy, but the majority for another reason…one way to put power into an object is to write appropriate words on it whilst directing your energies into the writing.When you write in ordinary, everyday English script, you invariably do not concentrate. You are so accustomed to writing that you can let your mind wander. Compare this to writing in a strange alphabet you do not know well. Then you have to concentrate; you have to keep your mind on what you are doing. So it is in this way that you can direct your energies - your power - into what you are doing.As well as the alphabets shown below, why not have a go at creating your own secret alphabet? You can use it for marking tools, amulets and talismans, and also for writing in your Book of Shadows. The Theban script, also known as “Honorian”, was a popular alphabet and is used extensively by Gardnerian Witches, among others.
RUNIC ALPHBET
The word “Rune” means “mystery” or “secret”, in early English and related languages. From their earliest adaptation into Germanic usage, they served for divinatory and ritual purposes, as well as the more practical use, as an alphabet.There are three main types of Runes; Germanic, Scandinavian/Norse, and Anglo-Saxon. They each have any number of variations, depending on the region from which they originate etc. I have simplified it by putting here a basic selection from each type.
Within the Germanic, there is pretty much 24 Runes employed, though variations can be found in different areas. A common name for the Germanic runes is “Futhark”, referring to the first six Runes. Note that “th” is just one Rune.
Within the Scandinavian Runes (incorporating Swedish-Norwegian, Norse and Danish) are found 16 Runes, again with innumerable variations. Below is an example of the Swedish-Norse Runes, and the Danish Runes.
The Anglo-Saxon Runes vary in number, anywhere from 28 to 31. In fact in the ninth century, in Northumbria, we find 33 runes. A common name for the Anglo-Saxon runes is “Futhork”. Gardnerian and Celtic covens sometimes employ a Celtic form of the Runes. The Saxon runes are the ones favoured by the Seax-Wica, and these are the Runes shown below. They basically have taken a little bit from various types of Anglo-Saxon runes, to produce a full alphabet.
CELTIC AND PICTISH
The early Celts and their priests, the Druids, had their own form of alphabet. It was known as “Ogam Bethluisnion”. It was an extremely simple alphabet, and was used more for carving into wood and stone, than for general writing. With the center line, it lent itself especially to carving along the edge of a stone or a piece of wood.
The Picts were well known for their elaborate “Swirl” style of writing. The symbols can be quite confusing, so much care is needed when employing this style of writing, to avoid confusion. Single symbols, as seen below, are included for “ch”, “sh”, “th”, “gh” and “ng”.
Pictish artwork was later adopted by the Celts, especially throughout Ireland.
Ceremonial Magick Alphbet
The following alphabets were used almost exclusively by ceremonial Magicians, though occasionally you may find an individual Witch using them on a talisman.
turnnoffyourmind
areudirty
jbbartram-illu
pixelskylines
janainaart
