I was recently doing some research on runes, and ran across several interesting historic and fantasy scripts. Further inquiry into this subject brought me to some pages covering “magical” writings.
I am well aware that aside from Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, the languages used by modern occultists tend to be made up out of a whole cloth. Or divinely inspired, if you prefer – i.e., John Dee’s Enochian. Or they may claim shaky historical antecedents, like Cornelius Agrippa’s Theban, a.k.a. “The Witch’s Alphabet”
However, there is one script I have been unable to discover a source for, this with extensive Google searching, though I haven’t gone so far as a trip to the library yet. This is the so-called “Alphabet of the Magi.” (http://wolf.mind.net/library/magic/alphabets/magi.gif) My most easily found connection to the script pointed to one Arthur Edward Waite, a Golden Dawn Hermetic and Rosicrucian.
I also turned up the name Paul Christian, author of the “History and Practice of Magic,” in a more tangential search [cited in an article referring to the alphabet].
I have collected a fair amount of biographical data on Waite, none of which attributes the script to him, and virtually none on Christian. The script itself has aspects reminiscent of many common alchemical symbols. Any information concerning its origin would be greatly appreciated; as expected when I began looking into this, the muddled and secretive nature of the “occult arts” makes locating definitive sources difficult.
Btw, does anyone know of a good aramaic font I can get my hands on?
The alphabet you link to can be found in a wonderful book called Pantographia by Edmund Fry, published in 1799. He lists it as one of many Babylonian alphabets, many of which were used by magicians and occultists in the middle ages. You can see the first few pages of this book (or at least the alphabets from them, including yours) at this link. Some Aramaic fonts can be found at this link
Aw, what the heck, since no-one else is touching this thread yet…
I thought I’d throw in that the alphabet listed as Chaldean 10 in my first link was co-opted for use in the Blair Witch Project (towards the end when they’re in the house with all the handprints and weird writing) and its sequel (which I never saw, and from what I hear, don’t want to).
Thank you so much! Pantographia looks fascinating… I’m going to have to see if I can find a copy of it. In fact, I’m going to spend some quality time on the site you linked right now. Mmm, alphabet…
Good luck on finding a copy. I lucked out grabbing a reprint, but it took a bit of looking. Most of the ones for sale online are first editions, and will run you around $800US. Most university libraries have a copy, though; so it’s possible to spend an afternoon paging through one, even if you can’t take it home.
I had a chance last night to get out my copy, and here are the notes given with the alphabet you asked about (in addition to the general notes on Chaldean in the link I posted above):
He gives as his source for this information page 119 of Thresor de l’Histoire des Langues de cest Univers by Claude Duret, published in Yverton in the year 1619. Since the Pantographia is a catalogue of alphabets, and not an occult work, I lean towards betting on the legitimacy of his attribute. Thus, it’s probably safe to say the alphabet came along quite a while before A. E. Waite.
Just as a point of interest (if you’re into such things), I’ve got a book on my shelf at home called The Western Mysteries by David Allen Hulse (pub. by Llewellyn Publications in 1994, along with its companion The Eastern Mysteries) that claims Dr. Dee’s Enochian alphabet wasn’t actually given to him by angels, as he claimed; but instead was cribbed from a book in his library, specifically Voarchadumia contra alchimia by Joannes Antonius Pantheus, which he claims Dee owned in 1560, twenty years before the Enochian transmissions.
Don’t know if I’m convinced by this, having recently run across the Voarchadumia version (which doesn’t look much like Dee’s). Still, you can get fonts for both (as well as many other alphabets–magical and otherwise, including the Magi) at this link.
Nods Yes, there just wasn’t much (any) info on the net about it… none that I, being not terribly conversant in matters occult, could find anyway. In my experience being well versed in a subject to begin with helps immensely.
As for finding that delicious book… the library at FSU, my college, is fairly extensive, with lots of wonderful tomes; I was hoping I might find it there and at least spend some quality time with it. Also, since it’s quite old, it should definitely be public domain, so… I can hope for a reprint.
Your last alphabet link I’ve been to… great source! The books look interesting – are there any others you would suggest for someone who’s curious about the subject, but doesn’t want to slug through a bunch of mumbo-jumbo? Not necessarily written from a skeptical point of view, but detached/semi-scholarly would be nice.
I ran across a link a few years ago that gave a list of which university libraries had copies of Pantographia, but I can’t find it right now, as luck would have it. Interlibrary loan is a possibility if yours doesn’t have a copy in-house.
The Hulse books are great (and huge, clocking in at 1,200 pages as a pair), with extensive correlative tables, and even an examination of a few non-alphabetic systems (Tarot and I Ching hexagrams come to mind). If you’re interested in magical applications of alphabets, I’ve never found a more comprehensive treatment of the subject. Most other books I have which mention alphabets in conjunction with the occult/magic either have a few “magic alphabets” listed but don’t say much about them (I’ve got Barrett’s Magus, which contains several of these, a copy of the Key of Solomon, books on Enochian, etc.), or else they’re mainly qabbalistic books dealing with Hebrew.
Of the latter, I’d suggest Sefer Yetzira by Aryeh Kaplan. The Sefer (or sepher) itself comes in a variety of translations and commentaries; but this one impressed me the most. Again, very scholarly, very in-depth, very detailed, but very understandable. Loads of tables, diagrams, illustrations, etc.
Of course, if you’re just looking for a book on alphabets in general, I’m told this one can’t be beat. From the price, I can believe it.
Even though there are only two people posting here, I wanted to say that this is an amazing thread. Geez, you people know a lot, and you care about your research material. I’m impressed.
