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Author Topic: General/Non-Specific: Sacred Alphabets  (Read 8774 times)

Sefiru

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #15 on: December 24, 2018, 02:33:09 pm »
I wouldn't be surprised if there's a good bit of overlap with Chinese folk practices. In fact, I think Ofuda and Omamori originated from Chinese sources. Have you looked at Benebell Wen's "The Tao of Craft"?

I have that! Haven't read it yet, it is a Big Tome (and I want to finish Christianity: the First 3000 Years first). I also recently picked up The Magician's Companion by Bill Whitcomb, which contains overviews and correspondence charts for all kinds of symbol systems, from Enochian to I Ching trigrams. I haven't gotten into that yet either, but it seems useful.
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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #16 on: December 24, 2018, 07:05:15 pm »
I also recently picked up The Magician's Companion by Bill Whitcomb, which contains overviews and correspondence charts for all kinds of symbol systems, from Enochian to I Ching trigrams. I haven't gotten into that yet either, but it seems useful.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I have The Magician's Companion on my shelf, and for basic magical info on a variety of alphabets, I'd recommend it too.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #17 on: January 06, 2019, 03:26:02 pm »
I was going to mention this is the OP but couldn't figure out how to word it. Kabalah (sp?) is probably one of the better-known examples of using an alphabet for mystical purposes.

Kabbalah/Qabalah/whatever is a transliteration of the Hebrew קַבָּלָה, meaning "tradition" or "received knowledge," so it doesn't exactly have a set spelling.

The book I have on the topic of the mysticism of the Hebrew alphabet, if anyone is interested in the subject, is called The Hebrew Alphabet: A Mystical Journey, and it's by Edward Hoffman, with lovely illustrations by Karen Silver.
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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #18 on: January 07, 2019, 03:13:13 pm »
I think most of us have heard of Runes, but there are many other writing systems out there that are or can be used for esoteric purposes.

Some religions, of course, have particular alphabets and/or languages associated with them - as a Kemetic I have hieroglyphs to work with (though honestly I only know a few). There are also alphabets used only for magic as far as I know, like Enochian.

Do you use a sacred or magical alphabet in your practice? Does your faith have a particular language connected to it?

I am a total alphabet-phile!  I have been into alternate alphabets since high school (technically since gradeschool when I learned the sign language alphabet), where me and some friends used the Greek alphabet as a code.

This was also the time (high school) where I was first exploring my craft, so I immediately added in a modified Futhark and Theban to my alphabet repertoire.  I would consider these my 'go-to' for alphabets, but in my notes I have many more, from fandom alphabets like the claw alphabet to more mystical ones like Celestial or Pictish.  I love looking for interesting alphabets and part of using them in spellwork for me is the additional effort of transcribing my words into another set of symbols.

I also use bindrunes and sigils (both Spare method and random pre-made ones that I've found and like on Pinterest or other sources) quite often. 

I worked with the Kaballah a bit, so dabbled in Hebrew (but I wouldn't consider myself a scholar of it in any way).

I also love languages, and have done spells and prayers in other languages.  I know a few chants that either feature words from another language or are entirely in another language (one of my favorite blessing chants is in Hawaiian).  Speaking another language helps make my words more deliberate (it is much harder to zone out when trying to recite in a language you aren't fluent in).
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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #19 on: January 07, 2019, 07:02:46 pm »
I am a total alphabet-phile!  I have been into alternate alphabets since high school (technically since gradeschool when I learned the sign language alphabet), where me and some friends used the Greek alphabet as a code.

I was into constructed languages and linguistics for a while (still am, really, though I have more hobbies and less free time now) and I invented a script or two. The hard part was that I wanted to do more than just make a cypher of the Roman alphabet, but lacked the knowledge to really do anything else.

Quote
fandom alphabets like the claw alphabet

Is that the one from Dinotopia?

Quote
Speaking another language helps make my words more deliberate (it is much harder to zone out when trying to recite in a language you aren't fluent in).

I did that for a while, but the opposite happened to me: if I'm  reciting in a language I'm not proficient in, I tend to just say the sounds without processing the meaning, so I switched back to English.
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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #20 on: January 07, 2019, 10:01:41 pm »
I was into constructed languages and linguistics for a while (still am, really, though I have more hobbies and less free time now) and I invented a script or two. The hard part was that I wanted to do more than just make a cypher of the Roman alphabet, but lacked the knowledge to really do anything else.

I love that kind of stuff, too, if only it weren't so time-consuming!  I once started to make a script of my own based on synaesthesia, however that stalled due to realizing that (1.) Synaesthesia in general is not a universal experience, let alone my specific synaesthesia( I really did not know that until I was in my 30s, I thought everyone could see the sound-color patterns like me), thereby defeating my intended goal of a truly universal script everyone could intuitively read with very little learning curve, and (2.) You could never write it in a monochrome ink, but would need a full set of colored pencils at all times as many characters would be different only in color( also creating an accessability issue for the colorblind).

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #21 on: January 08, 2019, 11:36:16 am »
Do you use a sacred or magical alphabet in your practice? Does your faith have a particular language connected to it?

The Devanagari script is arguably the most sacred alphabet in Hinduism, and is supposedly the same script used by the Devas and Naga themselves (hence the name), though archaeologists now know that the Brahmi script and a few other script forms actually predate it. It's used to write over 200 languages, though Sanskrit is the uncontested sacred language of Hinduism.
"The worshippers of the gods go to them; to the manes go the ancestor-worshippers; to the Deities who preside over the elements go their worshippers; My devotees come to Me." ... "Whichever devotee desires to adore whatever such Deity with faith, in all such votaries I make that particular faith unshakable. Endowed with that faith, a votary performs the worship of that particular deity and obtains the fruits thereof, these being granted by Me alone." - Sri Krishna

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #22 on: January 08, 2019, 02:55:03 pm »

Is that the one from Dinotopia?



I don't think so...it was a basic alphabet, something that theoretically could be scratched into things by a critter with claws (I don't remember if it was intended to be some kind of dragon alphabet or just random animal inspired)
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arete

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #23 on: January 16, 2019, 02:43:45 pm »
I think most of us have heard of Runes, but there are many other writing systems out there that are or can be used for esoteric purposes.

Some religions, of course, have particular alphabets and/or languages associated with them - as a Kemetic I have hieroglyphs to work with (though honestly I only know a few). There are also alphabets used only for magic as far as I know, like Enochian.

Do you use a sacred or magical alphabet in your practice? Does your faith have a particular language connected to it?
The greek alphabet is a prayer.  :)

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #24 on: January 16, 2019, 06:28:00 pm »
The Devanagari script is arguably the most sacred alphabet in Hinduism, and is supposedly the same script used by the Devas and Naga themselves (hence the name), though archaeologists now know that the Brahmi script and a few other script forms actually predate it. It's used to write over 200 languages, though Sanskrit is the uncontested sacred language of Hinduism.

Devanagari script is incredibly pretty...though not quite what I'd deem the most beautiful. That honor IMHO still goes to Arabic script; freaking gorgeous!
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Sefiru

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #25 on: January 16, 2019, 06:30:20 pm »
The greek alphabet is a prayer.  :)

How so?
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Sefiru

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #26 on: January 16, 2019, 06:39:24 pm »
Devanagari script is incredibly pretty...though not quite what I'd deem the most beautiful. That honor IMHO still goes to Arabic script; freaking gorgeous!

When it comes to appearance, I kind of like Hangul/Korean. Especially as it's a rare example of an alphabet that was designed, rather than just happening through history.
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arete

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #27 on: January 17, 2019, 10:41:59 am »
How so?
this is the greek alphabet  :) it forms words and sentences that are a prayer

“AL FA, VI TA GA!

AMA DE EL TA EPS ILON.

STI IGMA (INA) ZI TA,

I TA, THI TA IOTA

KATA PALLAN DA.

(INA) MI NYX I,

O MIKRON (ESTI),

PYROS (THE) IGMA,

TAFI EPS ILON,

FY(OI) PSYHI,

O MEGA (ESTI)”.

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #28 on: January 18, 2019, 05:20:15 pm »
this is the greek alphabet  :) it forms words and sentences that are a prayer

Do you know which thinkers (ancient or modern) influenced this view of the Greek alphabet as a prayer, or what sources it shows up in? I haven't stumbled upon it myself in my studies, and now I'm curious about what connections there might be to the Jewish mysticization of the Hebrew alphabet.
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arete

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Re: Sacred Alphabets
« Reply #29 on: January 21, 2019, 06:01:51 am »
Do you know which thinkers (ancient or modern) influenced this view of the Greek alphabet as a prayer, or what sources it shows up in?
According to Hermetic.

http://www.heliodromion.gr/palaio/e_Hellenic-alphabet.htm

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