The Wiccan writing system is a unique script used by practitioners of Wicca, a modern pagan religious movement. It is often referred to as the Witches' Alphabet or Theban Script. Created by an influential figure in the occult community, Cornelius Agrippa, in the 16th century, the Wiccan writing system is believed by some to have ancient origins. It is considered a magical script that adds an air of mystery and secrecy to Wiccan rituals and ceremonies. The Wiccan writing system is composed of various symbols, each representing a different letter of the alphabet. These symbols are often curvy and geometric in nature, resembling a combination of ancient runes and script.
Note: store these three inks in the fridge, they will not keep long in warm conditions.
Agrippa started referring to this script as the Theban alphabet in his book Three Books of Occult Philosophy and said it was from Honorius of Thebes. This helped to assist in the resurgence of magical theories and beliefs including The Theban alphabet from Johannes Trithemius and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa s publications.
These symbols are often curvy and geometric in nature, resembling a combination of ancient runes and script. The script is composed of straight lines, curves, and dots, arranged in different patterns to form the letters. One of the purposes of the Wiccan writing system is to provide a script that can be used for magical workings and inscriptions.
Wiccan writing system
Spell Writing and
Ancient and Magickal Alphabets
Magickal alphabets, are magickal in themselves. Originally created to symbolize common things in magick and rituals. There are many scripts, some of which are outlined below. A Witch may use these alphabets to inscribe tools with words of power, and/or in spells.
I do most of my writing on the computer, as it is most efficient for me. However, when handwriting spells, I like to make my own ink, and use natural (Chemical free) paper. It isn't hard to make your own, but I buy special paper for just such a task, my spells are important, so I don't use just any old scrap of paper that's handy! To make your own ink, click here for instructions.
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.
It is mostly written horizontally, left to right.
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.
Greek and Hebrew have no known common root, but the Greek alphabet is derived from the Phoenician/Hebrew alphabet; the Phoenician and Hebrew languages are very closely related; like dialects of one language.
The names of the Greek letters have their origins in Phoenician and Hebrew. They come from pictographs where the letters were originally derived by simplification. "Aluph" means bull (derived from a bull pictogram), "bet" means house (from the Hebrew "bayt") , "Gamma" comes from "Gammal", meaning camel, and so on. The Greeks added some new letters, those that come after Tau.
During the Hellenistic period, when Palestine was part of the Seleucid and Ptolmaic empires, Hebrew borrowed many Greek words.
The root "AGR" has two meanings in Hebrew. In one of these meanings it denotes collecting/gathering/storing. This sense of the root may have been borrowed from Greek. However, the root "AGR" in Hebrew also has the meaning of reward/recompense/price/fee. It has this meaning also in Aramaic and Arabic . The modern Hebrew "agorah" is derived from "AGR" with this old Semitic meaning.
Like Gothic, Greek and Hebrew also have numerical values associated with theier letters.
2 Slightly different versions of Malachim
2 different versions of Runes
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.
2 Slightly different versions of Theban
How to make your own Magick ink
Making your own �magickal� ink is an added bonus to spell work.
Hundreds of recipes for iron gall ink have been published over the centuries. The sheer variety and number of these recipes testify to the widespread use of iron gall ink and its primary importance to our literary and artistic traditions. Artists and scribes, domestics and entrepreneurs � each concocted their own formula to suit their particular needs.
Interest in making historic inks has increased in the last several years, due in large part to the efforts of a few ink enthusiasts who have shared their vast knowledge and experience on the subject. This website is an effort to continue this dialogue, by sharing information about iron gall ink and promoting an appreciation for its unique place in history.
It is surprisingly easy to make iron gall ink - the earliest recipes are often the simplest - and the ingredients are inexpensive and readily available.
Ingredients
Iron gall ink is essentially created by the chemical reaction between tannic acid and iron(II) sulfate in an aqueous solution. The primary active components in tannin are gallotannic and gallic acid. With iron(II) sulfate, these tannic acids produce a black pigment, called ferrogallotannate or ferrotannate, upon exposure to oxygen. A small amount of pigment forms by reacting with oxygen in the water, but much more pigment is produced after the ink has been applied to paper and exposed to air for several days.
Although tannic acid and iron sulfate in water will produce a coloured solution, it is not a true ink until a water-soluble binder, such as gum arabic, is added to improve the body and flow of the solution so it may be used with quill, reed or steel dip pens (because of the corrosive nature of the ink, it is not recommended for use in expensive fountain pens). Other ingredients can be added to strengthen or change the colour of the ink, act as a preservative, or prevent it from freezing. A brief description of the source and function of each ingredient may inspire you to experiment with your own ink formulas.
1. Tannic acid
Tannic acid is contained in the galls, bark, leaves, roots and fruits of various plants. The greatest concentration of gallotannic acid is found in galls; the bulbous growths formed on the leaves and twigs of trees in response to attack by parasites. Galls are collected from oak, oak-apple and pistachio trees. Depending on the source, they can be amorphous in shape (Japanese and Chinese galls); large, smooth and globular (British and American oak galls); or small, round and spiky (Aleppo galls). Aleppo galls, collected from trees native to Turkey, contain the highest amount of gallotannate, and were used in trial preparations of the inks described below. A lower proportion of gallotannic acid may be extracted from the bark of various trees, including oak, chestnut, mountain ash and cherry.
Essentially, there are three methods by which gallotannate is extracted from galls. "Instant" ink recipes call for powdered or crushed galls to be mixed with water or other liquid. Others require that the galls be boiled for several hours to release the tannins. The most time-consuming preparations involve fermentation of the galls by mould.
The fermentation process generally produces the richest, blackest inks. As the mold enzymatically digests the gallotannic acid, the solution is transformed to gallic acid. Gallic acid will produce a purer black colour in reaction with iron sulfate, while gallotannic acid will produce a comparatively browner pigment. Should you want to make a gallic acid ink without investing the time, pure gallic acid can also be obtained from a chemical supplier.
2. Iron (II) sulfate
Iron sulfate has been called by many different names, including ferrous sulfate, vitriol, and copperas to name just a few. The term "copperas" may be particularly confusing to contemporary readers. Artist manuals distinguish iron sulfate as green copperas and copper sulfate as blue copperas. In early recipes, iron sulfate and copper sulfate were used interchangeably, in part because natural sources of the minerals were usually mined together. As iron sulfate became available through chemical suppliers, some recipes suggested cooking in a copper pot or otherwise adding copper salt to the mixture, presumably based on the belief that copper sulfate reacted with iron sulfate to produce color. However, recent research (currently unpublished) indicates that copper sulfate does not play a significant role in the ink color, and in fact, may inhibit production of the black pigment.
Pure iron sulfate may be obtained from chemical, specialty art or fabric dye suppliers in the form of a pale green powder or granules. A less pure form may be made at home by dissolving iron scraps or nails in a weak acid. However, making your own iron sulfate should never be attempted without a good understanding of the health and safety hazards involved, which is not within the scope of this website. For a more detailed description of the preparation of iron sulfate refer to Manuscript Inks by Jack C. Thompson, available through his website address listed in the links option.
3. Water or wine
Most inks are made in water. Of course, the purity of water varies widely, and older recipes often suggest using rain water, probably because it was thought to be purer than available standing water sources. Water from the tap may be contaminated with chlorine, metals from pipes, calcium and other salts. For this reason it is generally better to use fresh rain water or distilled water instead. In trial preparations of the inks described in this website, only distilled water was used. When measuring the amount of water specified by weight in a recipe, it is helpful to know that one milliliter is approximately equal to one gram.
Wine, beer or vinegar were sometimes used instead of water for the same reason� because it was thought to be a purer liquid. Alcohol may also have prevented the ink from freezing in winter, but, since some recipes require boiling the alcohol (which would cause it to evaporate), there may be another explanation for its use. It may be that the glycerin in alcohol increases the rate of extraction for tannin. Alcohol also reduces the surface tension of the ink solution, allowing it to soak more quickly into the paper fibers. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a large proportion of alcohol or vinegar may have a preservative effect, inhibiting mold from growing on the finished ink.
In many recipes, vinegar is suggested as a diluent in place of water to avoid diminishing the intensity of the ink color. Simple tests indicate that, in fact, color is not reduced by the addition of water any more than by vinegar; however, the gloss (imparted by gum arabic) is reduced more in water than in vinegar.
Gum arabic is a water soluble golden-coloured sap collected from Acacia trees native to North Africa. It may be purchased from art supply stores in the form of a liquid, a powder or as dried clumps or fragments. Gum arabic keeps the black pigment suspended in the liquid; otherwise, it would settle to the bottom of the container over time. It also helps to thicken the ink, allowing it to flow more easily from the pen or brush onto the paper.
More importantly, the gum holds the ink at the surface of the paper for a few extra seconds before sinking into the fibres. This influences the appearance and durability of marks made with the ink. The ink line is clearer and sharper than it would be without a binding agent, in part because the ink sinks less deeply into the paper fibres. However, too much gum arabic will cause the dried ink to become inflexible, and it can crack and flake off the surface.
Because the pigment in iron gall ink does not completely form until it is exposed to air, it is not very dark when applied to paper immediately after preparation. To bypass this latent reaction, provisional colorants were often added to the ink to obtain a dark colour as soon as it flowed from the pen. Natural dyestuffs, including logwood, indigo, and Brazilwood were used until synthetic aniline dyes replaced them in the late 19th century. Indigo had the further advantage of imparting a preservative effect to the ink.
Logwood has been used as a colorant since at least the Middle Ages, and was used widely in ink formulations produced in the first half of the 19th century. It is obtained from the wood of the campeachy tree and supplied as shavings or splinters by suppliers of artists' materials or fabric dyes. Boiled in tap water, logwood creates a blood red solution, although it will shift to blue in alkaline solutions and to yellow-orange in highly acidic solutions. Unfortunately, the colourant is not very lightfast, and, unlike the iron gall pigment, it will remain soluble in water after drying.
Some more recipes:
Beware! These inks may be corrosive and harmful to expensive writing and drawing equipment. There may also be toxic environmental effects in mixing them. Before experimenting with these recipes, you must consider the risks and accept responsibility for whatever happens.
Iron-gall ink (1)
Gallnuts, 5 grams
Ferrous Sulfate, 1 gram
Gum Arabic, 1 gram
Water, 200 grams
Grind the gallnuts to a fine powder and immerse in half of the water. In a few weeks, mold will cover the top surface. Skim off the mold and pour the liquid through a filter. Dissolve gum Arabic in a small amount of water and add it to the liquid. Dissolve the ferrous sulfate in water and add it to the liquid. Add 1 gram of carbolic acid to keep mold from forming.
Iron-gall ink (2)
Gallnuts, 30 grams
Crystallized ferrous sulfate, 20 grams
Gum Arabic, 20 grams
Water, 600 grams
Grind the nuts to a fine powder and place into a bowl. Add half the water and let soak. In the remaining volume of water, dissolve the ferrous sulfate and the gum. Into this liquid, pour in the ground-and-soaked gallnuts. The liquid will turn black and can be used immediately, but it will reach its most intense blackness if it is stirred frequently for one or two months. After this, allow it to set for a few days, then filter and pour into the ink bottle. To avoid the formation of mould, add 5% of volume of strong gallnut extract and boil for 5 minutes. Too much of the iron salts will make the ink turn a rusty brown with darker edges, and it may also eat into the paper. Too large a quantity of gallnuts will make the ink lose its intensity, but it will remain resistant to water and alcohol.
Iron-gall ink (3)
To make good ink. Take 150g of the best Nuttgalls, break them in a mortar but not in small pieces, then put the gall into one litre of clear rain water or soft spring water, let them stand 4 or 5 days shaking them often, then take 2 ounces of white gum arabick, 1 ounce of double refined sugar, 1 piece of indigo and put in the same and shake them well and let them stand 4 or 5 days more. Then take 60g of good green copperis the larger the better and having first washed off the filth put in to the rest and also a piece of clear gum, about as big as a walnut to set the colour and it will be fit for use.
Iron-gall ink (4)
". Copperas is ferrous (or iron) sulphate, which is available from any drugstore as a dietary supplement. In its natural and impure state copperas has a green tinge, hence the incorrect association with copper. Tannin, or tannic acid . is the brown substance found in the bark and leaves of trees. Medieval scribes had their own favorite sources, however: acorns, walnut shells and, most often, the small protuberances that grow on oak leaves in reaction to the eggs of certain parasite wasps. one part powdered gum arabic, two parts copperas, three parts crushed galls, and 30 parts water, all by volume. "
Paul Werner, "Dragon's Blood and Ashes", Calligraphy Idea Exchange, volume 1, number 2
Some others to try:
Berry Ink. Use 1/2 cup fresh berries or thawed frozen berries; push them through a strainer so that you get pulp-free juice. Add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar (to hold colour) and 1/2 teaspoon salt (as a preservative) and mix well. You can use a small glass jar as your "inkwell", if you have one.
Walnut Ink. Crush the shells of 12 walnuts by putting them in a sock and hammering them lightly. Pour the shells into a saucepan and cover them with water, then let them simmer for 30 minutes. After that, remove them from heat and let them soak overnight. Strain the shells out of the ink and add 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar to help preserve the colour.
Invisible Ink. Try writing with lemon juice on a piece of paper using a paintbrush or Q-Tip. When the ink has dried, hold the paper over a toaster to heat it. Your writing should appear in brown lettering as the parts of the paper with acid from the lemon juice brown faster than the other parts. You can also make invisible ink from equal parts baking soda and water. Brush grape juice over your secret message to reveal the writing--the acidic grape juice reacts with the baking soda, which is a base.
Note: store these three inks in the fridge, they will not keep long in warm conditions.
It is often used to create sigils, which are symbols charged with specific intent or energy. These sigils can be used in spellwork or as personal symbols of protection and empowerment. The use of the Wiccan writing system is not limited to written communication. It is also common for Wiccans to inscribe the symbols on candles, amulets, and other magical objects to enhance their effectiveness. Some practitioners even incorporate the script into their body art, tattooing meaningful symbols onto their skin. While the Wiccan writing system is not widely known or recognized outside of the Wiccan community, it holds significant importance for those who practice Wicca. It serves as a tool for self-expression, transformation, and connection to the spiritual realms. Overall, the Wiccan writing system is a unique and intriguing aspect of Wiccan practice. Whether used for communication, magick, or personal empowerment, it adds depth and symbolism to the rich tapestry of Wicca..
Reviews for "Wiccan Writing Systems and the Symbolism of the Pentagram"
1. John - 2 stars
I tried to give the Wiccan writing system a chance, but I found it incredibly difficult to understand and use. The symbols are convoluted and not intuitive at all. It feels like you need to have a deep understanding of the Wiccan culture and beliefs to even grasp the basic meaning behind the symbols. Furthermore, there seems to be no uniformity in the use of these symbols, which makes it even more confusing for beginners like me. Overall, I think the Wiccan writing system needs to be restructured and simplified for it to be accessible to a wider audience.
2. Lisa - 1 star
I was really excited to learn about the Wiccan writing system, but I was sorely disappointed. The symbols are overly complicated and require hours of studying before you can even begin to comprehend their meaning. It feels like the creators of this writing system took the idea of secrecy to the extreme, making it inaccessible and exclusive to only a select few Wiccans. I would not recommend wasting your time trying to learn this writing system unless you are deeply committed to the Wiccan culture and beliefs.
3. Mark - 2 stars
The Wiccan writing system just doesn't make sense to me. The symbols seem random and arbitrary, with no clear connection to the language or meaning they are supposed to convey. It feels like a convoluted puzzle that I can never fully solve. I appreciate the effort to create a unique and mystical writing system, but I believe it ultimately falls short in terms of practicality and accessibility. I would much rather stick to a more conventional writing system that is easier to understand and use.
4. Emily - 3 stars
As someone who is interested in Wiccan culture, I was excited to learn about the Wiccan writing system. However, I found it rather complicated and hard to grasp. The symbols are intricate and require a lot of practice and memorization to write correctly. While I understand the desire for secrecy and exclusivity, it makes it difficult for beginners like me to learn and appreciate this writing system. I think it could benefit from more resources and instructional materials to make it more accessible to a wider audience.