One of my favorite subjects in Witchcraft is studying runes. Ever since I was a young teenager they have spoken to me, whispering quietly in a secret forgotten language, their form and meanings elusive, but one I could just begin to grasp the edges of if I squinted at them long enough. I found that with runes, old memories of them often flowed through the edges of my mind; memories that seemed to lead to undiscovered magical worlds or even entire universes. Those memories were vague and unclear but like a hidden meandering steam flowing underground, they were there waiting to be rediscovered. As an adult, with time and a lot of study their forms have become more clear. But before I dive into how I use runes in magical work and divination, I want to talk about magical alphabets. First off, you might ask what is a magical alphabet? And how do magical alphabets differ from a standard alphabet that we use everyday?

Magical alphabets are a language of Spirit that form a cosmology that can be used to facilitate personal evolution. Unlike conventional alphabets where each glyph primarily represents the spoken sounds of an oral language that are then used to form written words, glyphs in magical alphabets like the runes or ogham also represent metaphysical descriptions of reality. If we take the Elder Futhark Runes as an example, I see them as much more than just letters; each glyph is truly a magical realm, a container crafted for a specific vibration of spirit. And when using runes, each glyph contains a unique vibration of spirit that can be used for a multitude of purposes. 

Magical alphabets are a vast subject with many areas of exploration, far too many to explore in just one article. And there are many magical alphabets, not just the runes or the ogham. But for today, one area of exploration is the connection between magical alphabets and the god Heka in Ancient Egypt. Heka represents the spirit of both magic and medicine, and it is also the Ancient Egyptian word for magic itself. Heka was considered a divine force present at creation, spoken by the breath – or Pneuma, which is Spirit – a power in the universe the Egyptians believed infused all gods and humans. 

Ancient Egyptians believed Heka was a fundamental force in the universe, which preceded even the gods. Heka was the Power by which the world was created and sustained, and was central to Ancient Egyptian religious rituals and spells. It was believed that Heka could be summoned during those rituals to achieve specific results, such as healing or ensuring safe passage to the afterlife. Heka was the Power that  supported Ma’at, the Egyptian goddess of cosmic order and balance that underlaid all things. As a traditional witch who works with Hekate, that powerful goddess of the Crossroads and Witchcraft, one who is a true midwife of Spirit and who has deep roots in the Greco-Egyptian pantheons, it is not at all surprising to me that Heka is at the root of her name! 

Speaking of gods, while there are many other examples we could delve into, we can also look at magical alphabets through the lens of Ptah, the Ancient Egyptian creator god. Ptah’s creation myth describes him as thinking the world into existence and realizing it through the Word, creating the universe with the utterances of his mouth using the power of Spirit, or Heka. Ptah is recognized in the Egyptian pantheon as a personification of lifeforce and Divine Mind, who has the power to mold life substances into physical forms, much like a blacksmith shapes molten metal. 

In short, glyphs in magical alphabets, like the runes, are vibrational states of reality. As witches, we empower those glyphs through the breath, which through lifeforce manifests them into this reality. And with those empowered glyphs, that is really where the fun begins!