Magickal Alphabets
BOBILITH Probably the earliest known pre-Roman writing in the islands of what would become the area of Britain and Scandinavia was a Goidelic alphabet known as Ogham, which was first mentioned in the Book of Ballymote. Goidelic consisted of a number of upright strokes, standing on, suspended from, and crossing one line. Following the Ogham, came the Bobileth or Boibel-Loth alphabet and its derivatives, all preferred to some extent by the Druids in certain areas.
ENOCHIAN The Enochian alphabet, and the language written with it, were allegedly transmitted to Court Astrologer and Magician, Dr. John Dee (527-1608) and his associate, Sir Edward Kelly (1555-1597) by entities they referred to as angels. The characters shown comprise the proper alphabet for the Enochian Tablets. The Enochian language is considered the only correct and valid language for the Enochian Calls or Keys which are used to invoke the angels, therefore, it is a fundamental in the practice of true Enochian Magic.
ETRUSCAN The origin of the Etruscan alphabet is an interesting evolution of a language. The first alphabet was invented by Semitic-speakers in the ancient Near East. The Canaanite and later Phoenician alphabets had only consonants, with no vowels. The Greeks derived their alphabet from the Phoenician alphabet and added vowels, thereby producing the first true alphabet. The Greeks brought a western form of the Greek alphabet to Italy, and the Etruscans acquired the alphabet from them. The Etruscans then passed their alphabet to the Romans. The Etruscan alphabet was diffused at the end of the Archaic period, around 500 CE, into northern Italy and became the model for the alphabets of the Alpine populations. The Futhark is believed to be a derivative of the Northern Etruscan alphabet.
FUTHARK The Runic Alphabet, also called Futhark, is a writing system of uncertain origin that was used by Germanic peoples of northern Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, and Iceland from about the 3rd century to the 16th or 17th century AD. Because of its angular letterforms, runic writing is believed to belong to an ancient system. Many modern scholars believe Futhark has its origins in the Greek or Latin alphabets, dating from the 6th century BC to the 5th century AD. One plausible theory, is that the runic alphabet was developed by the Goths, a Germanic people, from the Etruscan alphabet of northern Italy and was perhaps also influenced by the Latin alphabet of the 1st or 2nd century BC.
GOTHIC Except for a few Norse inscriptions in runes, records of Gothic are older than those for any other Germanic language. The Gothic alphabet was used in all manuscripts written in Gothic and found in Europe. It is traditionally believed that the Gothic alphabet's 27 letters, consisting of 25 modified Greek symbols and 2 runes, were invented by bishop Wulfila, also known as Ulfilas (311-383). His invention of the Gothic alphabet meant that, for the first time in the Germanic world, writing could be used for the dissemination of ideas. The alphabet was used until the 6th century, and was only written in the Gothic language. The Ostrogoths of ancient Germany and Italy and the Visigoths of Eastern Europe and Spain spoke Gothic.
MALACHIM The Malachim alphabet was offered by Agrippa in Book III, Chapter XXX, of his Occult Philosophy. Barrett in his Magus then copied it. Agrippa's only comments regarding this alphabet were that it meant "of Angels or Regal.". The Angelic Malachim alphabet is one of the most famous of the Angelic scripts and is still used, to a limited extent, in the higher degrees of Freemasonry. Advanced students, practitioners, and Adepts will find many significant writings in which these figures are used.
RUNIC The Runic alphabet of today possibly evolved from two distinct sources--one magical and one literate. Pre-runic symbols have been found in Bronze Age rock carvings, primarily in Sweden. Some runic symbols are easily recognized in later alphabets, while others represent ideas or concepts incorporated into the names of the runes (moon, dog, tree, etc.). The exact meanings and the original purpose of these symbols are now long-lost, but they may have been used for divination or lot-casting, thereby contributing to the magickal function of the later runic alphabets. When the North Italic tribes began integrating the runic alphabet into their own symbolic system, the letters were given names that related to the tribe's secular and religious lives, thus transforming their simple pictographs into a magickal alphabet which could be used for talismans, magical inscriptions and divination.
THEBAN "The Witches' Alphabet" Many Pagans, Witches, and Wiccans use the Theban alphabet to encode their writings in their Books of Shadows or spell books. The Theban Script is also known as the "Witches' Alphabet". The earliest known source for the Theban alphabet is Cornelius Agrippa's "Three Books of Occult Philosophy" first published at Antwerp in 1531. Agrippa provided the Theban Script in Book III, Chapter 29 and wrote, "Of this kind of character therefore are those which Peter Apponus notes, as delivered by Honorius of Thebes". This is almost certainly a reference to the author of the early 14th century "Liber Juratus, or the Sworne Booke of Honorius". However, it is believed that the Theban alphabet actually originated as a Latin cipher before the 11th-century. The origin of the letterforms is obscure, but all the evidence is consistent with an origin as an early alchemical cipher alphabet influenced by Avestan. The Theban alphabet, is today, and always has been employed primarily for talismanic inscriptions and magickal spells and works.
GREEK & HEBREW Below is a commonly used table of Greek and Hebrew alphabet=numerical values. While many scholars disagree on the numerical values attached to the two alphabets, and valid arguments can be made, the table below is designed to be used as a reference point only and not as a basis of scholarly discussion. We have included the information in this table because many "Old Religion" spells incorporate various numerical values in their text.