Alphabet/Symbol Dictionary

[Deadly Nyghtshade]

Symbols along with imagination can stimulate your subconscious mind to make a desired goal. If you can use symbols in your workings, please do. Along with the right correspondences, you can have a strong spell.

Bobileth
A late period Celtic alphabet which is thought to have possibly been used within a magickal context.



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Elder Futhark - Denmark Variety


There are quite literally some thousand of the Elder Futhark which exist. This alphabet is from Zealand, Denmark and dates from around 900 CE.

In general, the Elder Futhark is probably the best known and used alphabet within contemporary Paganism. Historially, there are quite literally several thousand variations on this alphabet, with the one represented below being just one of those variations. Although the order of occurring letters is fixed, the actual number of letters is not. It is also interesting to note that in 1639 AD, in Iceland, a law was passed which forbade the use of the futhark on pain of death - specifically written as punishment by death by burning.



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Etruscan

The Etruscan alphabet, known also as the North Italic alphabet, was primarily used from 700 to 200 BC. The Etruscan culture reached its golden age around 500 BC, and began its gradual decline around 400 BC. The primary cause of this cultural decline is attributed to the Gaulic invasions and Roman conquests of that period. The Etruscan language is not classified with other Indo-European languages or any other recognizable linguistic family. However, the structure of the alphabet appears to be similar to the anicent Greek alphabet which was utilized by the Dorios of Sicily. It is believed by some that this alphabet was actually the product of the Phoenician alphabet, but this remains unproven. The Etruscan people traded extensively and carried the use of their alphabet northward, toward the Baltic, along amber trade routes. Thus, the Etruscan alphabet also helped to give birth to such other alphabets as the Elder Futhark.
 

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Gothic


The story of this alphabet is a little odd. The Goths had an alphabet which was later modified by Bishop Ulfilas during the fourth century. Ulfilas combined th Gothic alphabet with that of the Greek alphabet written in cursive lettering to create a script which could be used to write with. The result was the alphabet which would become the Gothic alphabet itself. Although there were many books written using this alphabet, many were destroyed by order of the Council of Toldeo in 1018 because they felt that the alphabet was Pagan and thus should be destroyed - even though the alphabet itself was devised by a bishop.



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Linear A

Cypriot syllabry. The values of xa, xe, and zo are not entirely certain. Ga is only used at certain sites. This alphabet is from Cyprus. It is one of the earlier alphabets and is derived partially from cuneiform. Linear A was primary used for record keeping. It was the first alphabet to be used within Europe.




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Theban


The Theban alphabet is probably one of the most widely recognized alphabet besides the Elder Futhark within Paganism. It is often incorrectly called the "Witches' Runes." This alphabet emerged during the medieval period when Cabbalistic studies were prominate in the practices of European magicians. The other name for the alphabet is the Runes of Honorius.


 

[Deadly Nyghtshade]

Hand Symbols



The power hand is the hand you write with.
The power finger is the finger after the thumb on your power hand.
When waking in the morning, or before a spell, you can do an instant blessing. Start at your third eye, above your nose between your eye brows, go to the right n****e, the left shoulder, the right shoulder, the left n****e and then back to the third eye.
Making a pramid with your index fingers up and your thumbs overlapping, places on the third eye chakra, or or fourth chest chakra grounds your protective aura.
A cross made with your index fingers wards away evil and prevents rebound.
Making horns, by closing your fingers and putting up your index and pinky fingers, you can ward away evil and negativity.
Putting down your pink and ring fingers and holding them down with your thumb, and making an oval with your index finger and pointer finger, pointer being ontop, you make a blessing mantra. (Index is the finger after the thumb, the pointer finger is the finger after the finger after the thumb.)
Making an 'ok symbol' with your thumb and finger after your thumb, and placing up all your other fingers forms a deer symbol. This adds energy to your magickal workings,especially three times over a talisman, and can deflect unwanted magickal energies.
Making a fist and extending th finger after the thumb and the finger after the finger after the thumb is a blessing symbol and directs energy, Can be used instead of a wand or athame.  

[Deadly Nyghtshade]

Gestures

Gestures are silent counterparts to words. Gestures can enhance Wiccan rituals when performed in conjunction with invocations or dance, or can be used alone for their real power. Pointing the use of the first and middle fingers splayed to create a "v", and the vulgar presentation of an upraised middle finger. Demonstrate the variety of messages that can be conveyed through gesture, as well as the range of our emotional responses to them. The magical significance of gestures is complex, and stems from the powers of the hand. The hand can heal or kill, caress or stab. It is a channel through which energies are sent from the body or received from others. Our hands set up our magical altars, grasp wands and athames, and pinch out candle flames at the conclusion of magical rites.

Hands, as the means by which most of us earn our livings, are symbolic of the physical world. But in their five digits lie the pentagram, the supreme protective magical symbol; the sum of the four elements coupled with Akasha, the spiritual power of the universe. The lines on our hands can, to the trained, be used to link into the deep consciousness and reveal things to the conscious minds that we would otherwise have difficulty knowing. The palmist doesn't read these lines as streets on a road map; they are a key to our souls, a fleshly mandala revealing our innermost epths. Hands were used as the first counting devices. They were seen to have both male and female qualities and symbolism, and images of hands were used around the world as amulets. Gestures in Wiccan ritual can easily become second nature.

When invoking the Goddess and God, the hands can be held uplifted when the fingers spread to receive their power. The Goddess can be individually invoked with the lift hand, the thumb and first finger held up and curled into a half circle, while the rest of the fingers are tucked against the palm. This represents the crescent Moon. The God is invoked with the first and middle fingers of the right hand raised or with the first and fourth fingers up, the thumb holding down the others against the palm, to represent horns. The elements can be invoked with individual gestures when approaching the four directions: a flat hand held paralleled with the ground to invoke Earth at the North; an upraised hand, fingers spread wide apart, to invoke Air to the East; an upraised fist for the South to invited Fire, and a cupped hand to the West to invoke Water. Two gestures, together with postures, have long been used to invoke the Goddess and God, and are named after them. The Goddess position is assumed by placing the feet about two feet apart on the ground, holding the hands out palms away from you, elbows bent slightly. This position can be used to call the Goddess or to attune with her energies. The God position consists of the feet together on the floor, body help rigidly upright, arms crossed on the chest (Right over Left) hands held in fists. Tools such as the wand and magick knife are sometimes held in the fists, echoing the practice of pharaohs of ancient Egypt who held a crook and flail in a similar position while trying disputes.

In coven work, the High Priestess and High Priest often assume these positions when invoking the Goddess and God. In solo workings they can be used to identify with the aspects of the Goddess and god within us, and also during separate invocatory rites. Gestures are also used in magic. Each of the fingers relates to a specific planet as well as an ancient deity. Since pointing is a magical act and is a part of many spells, the finger can be chosen by its symbolism. The thumb relates to Venus and to the planet Earth. Jupiter rules the forefinger The middle finger is ruled by the god and planet Saturn, the fourth finger the Sun and Apollo, and the little finger by the planet mercury as well as the god after which it is named. Many spells involve pointing with the Jupiter and Saturn fingers, usually at an object to be charged or imbued with magical energy. The power is visualized as traveling straight out throughout the fingers and into the object.

Other ritual gestures used in Wiccan rites include the "Cutting" of pentagrams at the four quarters by drawing them in the air with the magick knife, wand or index finger. This is done to alternately banish or invoke elemental powers. It is, of course, performed with visualization. The hand can be seen as a cauldron, since it can cup and contain water; an athame, since it is used to direct magical energy, and a wand since it can also invoke. Gestures are magical tools as potent as any other , ones we can always take with us, to be used when needed.