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LittleGoa-t — Alphabet Theban
#arts #draws #symbols #witch #art #alphabet #draw #illustration #theban #old
Published: 2016-11-26 22:24:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 2687; Favourites: 25; Downloads: 0
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''The Honorable Alphabet or Runes of Honorius according to the legendary magician (the Theban, however, is not about Runes), or Alphabet of Sorceresses, because of its use in modern Wicca and other forms of witchcraft. It is one of many substitution ciphers for writing magic texts, such as the Book of Shadows with uninitiated eyes. This writing bears little resemblance to other alphabets, and there have been no prior publications to Trithemius...''Related content
Comments: 12
"No prior publications"? I first saw it in Paul Huson's "Mastering Witchcraft," back in the early Seventies.
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I was looking for someone who could tell me about it, How I did not find I relied on one subject from a blog, but thank you for making this comment * happy *
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They also appear in Z Budapest's "Feminist Book of Lights and Shadows", later published as "The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries", but she clearly copied from Huson (or Huson's source, whatever it was), mislabeling them as Celtic runes in her first edition. I have a second edition (1976) in which this is corrected by hand to Theban. I seem to remember seeing them in other sources back in the day, but "Mastering Witchcraft" (which is NOT Wiccan) is the earliest I have in my library, having been published in 1970.
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Omg, I adored this informations, thank so much *big smile*
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It's the least I can do. After all, I'd be an elder in the Craft now if I hadn't turned atheist back in the Nineties. And of course I still have my books and all my Pagan doo-dads. I was big on doo-dads.
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Omg *shine* I-I would love to know more * shines *
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This is what Huson says about "The Witch Runes" (which are not actually runes at all). My comments are in [square brackets].
"These are, in fact, the letters of your witches' alphabet. Whenever you write your name on one of your magic instruments, you will use them. They are quite easy to learn, and with a little practice, you will soon be able to write them speedily [Not true, unless you're a complete fanatic with nothing else to do with your time but practice them]. They are variously called by practitioners the Runes of Honorious or Theban Script, although the latter name does not necessarily imply a Greek or Egyptian derivation [i.e. the names are pure nonsense]. Some witches believe they are relics of Atlantean days [but not witches who know anything about plate tectonics], while others think that they have a connection with the Cabalistic "Enochian Script" of the Elizabethan astrologer and magician Dr. John Dee [but are they found in any of Dee's surviving writings? I wouldn't put it past Dee to have invented them as he did his Enochian script, but I know of no evidence.] Whatever the case, they are very ancient [Unlikely: they're probably late 19th or early 20th century creations of some occultist or other] and have been been used from time immemorial [HAH!] as the magical alphabet in which spells and inscriptions were written."
"Mastering Witchcraft" by Paul Huson, p. 41, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1970 The alphabet itself is on page 42.
Huson's book was one of the first I read when I got interested in Witchcraft in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Once I got farther into the occult scene (we called it "The Occult" back then; later we called it Neo-Paganism), I realized that Huson had assembled a potpourri of ceremonial magic, Gardnerian Wicca, and miscellaneous folklore, which had nothing to do with any sort of witchcraft practiced by anyone in the real world. On the other hand, it was my introduction to something what was important to me from my late teens all the way through my thirties, so I have a certain fondness for the book, despite its many faults. If you decide to track it down and read it, be sure to take it with not just a grain of salt, but a couple of pounds.
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I feel ashamed of this information that I put as discretion in my art, compared to this little class I'm having * I'm sorry *
Thank you, this is really fantastic * shining *
Do you think you should update the information in my description? What should I take and place?
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You can always re-write your introduction, using the information I’ve given you. I have no other information about the alphabet to share, but I doubt that it’s particularly ancient. It was common practice back when I first got into Paganism (and apparently still is) to claim vast antiquity for things that were invented relatively recently. Quite often people will claim vast antiquity for things they themselves made up out of whole cloth just last week.
I am reminded of Ray Buckland’s book about Saxon Witchcraft, “The Tree” (1974). I have the first edition, in which Buckland proudly proclaims Seax-Wica to be the newest rather than the oldest tradition of Wicca, since he created it himself out of his own knowledge of occultism and the Craft (which was, in fact, considerable). But later editions of the book are changed to claim that it really is what the pagan Anglo-Saxons practiced in the Dark Ages. Fake antiquity strikes again. Buckland later did the same thing with “Pictish” Wicca, except he didn’t bother telling the truth in the first edition, and claimed antiquity right from the start.
That doesn’t mean you should not use the Theban Script if you like it, but don’t delude yourself about it. If something is supposedly old and venerable, try to find confirmation of its age and origin. I personally have no confirmation that this alphabet is older than 1970, but that in itself is no reason not to use it, if it suits your taste.
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It is at least as old as the 1500s, according to wikipedia. Not a great source, I know, but it says it was first published in Johannes Trithemius's Polygraphia in 1518 in which it was attributed to Honorius of Thebes, which is why some people call Theban the Runes of Honorius... it could be older, it could not be, who knows. But your point is valid, I just knew that Theban was older than the 1900s and wanted to share.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theban_a…
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Thanks for the info. I'm not surprised it goes back to the Renaissance, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been invented in Victorian times, either. Genuinely old, but not ancient in the sense of going back to Classical Antiquity.
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