Magical Alphabets by Nigel Pennick (1992).pdf

NIGEL PENNICK

~WEISERBOOKS

l!J Bos to n, MA /Yo rk Beac h, ME

First American ed ition published in 1992 by

Red Wh ee l/Weise r, 1.1.('

York Beach , ME

With offices at

368 Congress Street

Boston, MA 02210

www.redwhee/w eiser.colll

07 06 05

All ri ght s reserv ed. No part o f thi s publication may be reproduced or tran s-

mitted in any form or by any means, elec troni c or mec hani ca l. including pho -

tocopy ing, reco rdin g, or by any informati on storage and retrieva l sys tem,

without permission in writing from Red Wh ee l/Weise r. Rev iewe rs may quote

brief pa ssages. This work was first publi shed in England by Rider Books, a

division of Random House U.K. Limited, London, und er th e title Th e Seerel

Lor!' of Runes lind mha Ancielll Alp/wbels.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Penni ck, Nigel.

Magical <J lphabets / Nigel Pennick,

p. cm,

Includes bibliographical references,

J. M agic, 2, Alphabets-Misce ll anea,

BF I 623.A45P46

I. Title,

1992

I 33.4'3-dc20

92-7859

CIP

ISBN 0-87728-747-3

All illustration s in thi s boo k were mad e by th e author, except for Ilumbcrs ("

7, 10, 15 ,24,25,36, 43 , 55,56,57,61-63, whi ch arc hi stori c illustratioll s

from th e author's picture co llec ti on,

Printed in th e United States of Ameri ca

The paper used in th e publi ca ti on mee ts th e minimum requirement s o f th e

A merica n National Stand ard for Permanence

of Paper for Printer Library Materi als Z39.4K- 19K4.

Contents

Introduction

1 The Hebrew Alphabet

Qabalistic speculations

The meaning of Hebrew letters

Qabalistic letter manipulations

Hebrew magic squares and grids

Hebrew letter squares and other amulets

Medieval Hebrew-derived alphabets

2 The Greek Alphabet

Greek alphabet traditions

Greek gematria

Christian Greek gematria

The Etruscan script

3 The Runes

111

The Gothic alphabet

116

Runes and trees

4 The Celtic Oghams and Bardic Alphabet

123

148

Cryptic Oghams and other variant forms

154

The Bardic alphabets

166

The Gaelic alphabet

168

Variations in Northern European alphabets

171

5 Magical and Alchemical Alphabets

The Vehmgericht, the Inquisition and the alphabet

of Westphalia

177

182

House, holdings and stonemason's marks

186

Magic grid ciphers

188

Magical uses of the Roman alphabet

Magic Squares, Literary Labyrinths and Modern Uses 203

The magic square and the word labyrinth 203

Ramon L1ull, magic squares and the Talismanic art 212

Esoteric alphabets in the modern and post-modern

era

216

Postscript

223

I The Meaning of Hebrew Letters

Appendices

229

II Greek Letter Meanings

230

III

The Runic Correspondences

231

233

Runes and Tarot Major Arcana

Ogham Correspondences

234

Gaelic Alphabet Correspondences

235

VII

Magic Square Correspondences

236

VIII

The 72 Names of God

237

Glossary

239

Bibliography

241

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