Magical Scripts and cipher Alphabets From the Nu Isis Working Group The Theban Script Also known as the Alphabet of Honorius, the Witches’ Alphabet, etc. It is referred to the Latin alphabet and written left to right (the last character, referred to the Greek Omega, is not generally used as a letter, rather as a period or separator). This script was popularised by Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia (it appears in lib. III cap. XXIX, De characteribus et sigillis spritiuum), although it may have appeared in earlier works such as the Polygraphia of Trithemius. The alphabet is traditionally ascribed to one ‘Honorius the Theban’, probably the author of the Liber Juratus (the Sworn Book of Honorius), a medieval work on magic, although as far as I am aware this script does not appear in that work. Theban A
A B C D E F G H A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I K L M I, J
K
L
M
N O P Q E S T V X Y Z , N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U, V, W
X
Y
Z
W
Theban B
BB C D E F G H I K L MM A A C D E F G H I, J K L N O P Q E SS T V X Y Z ,W N O P Q R T U, V, W X Y Z Magical scripts corresponding to Hebrew These appeared in Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia (lib. III cap. XXX, Alius characterizandi modus a cabalistis traditus) and are referred to the Hebrew alphabet. They do not include distinct final forms for any letters, although Malachim has a variant form of Samekh which may correspond to the otherwise unknown ‘Samekh final’ alluded to in some magical works. Malachim is also called ‘Angelic’ or ‘Regal’ (from Heb., \yklm, ‘Kings’) by Agrippa. The Characters of Celestial Writing Celestial A
k y f j zz ww h d g b a k y f j h d g b a t c r q x pp u s n m l t c r q x u s n m l Celestial B
k y ff jj z ww h dd gg b a k y z h b a t c rr q xx pp u s nn m ll t c q u s m
The Writing called Malachim Malachim A
k yy f j z w h k f j z w h t c r t c r
qq
x
x
dd
gg b a b a
p u S ss nn m ll p u m Malachim B
k yy f j zz ww hh k f j
d d
g b a g b a
c r q xx pp u S ss nn m ll t t c r q u m The Writing called the Passing of the River Passing of the River A
yy f j zz w hh dd gg b a k k f j w b a c r q x p u ss n m ll t t c r q x p u n m Passing of the River B
k y ff j zz w hh dd gg bb a k y j w a t c r q x p uu ss n m ll t c r q x p n m The Aiq Bkr Cipher Cipher This is also described by Agrippa (loc. cit) and does contain distinct final forms. Agrippa also gives an example of how the characters can be combined to form Sigils from Angelic Names and the like.
fjzwhdgba f
j
z
w
h
d
g
b
a
xpusnmlky x
p
u
s
n
m
l
k
y
{[}\]tcrq {
[
}
\
]
t
c
r
q
The Royal Arch Cipher This is a simple cipher for the English alphabet, loosely based on the Qabalistic Aiq Bkr cipher; it is taken in this instance from Duncan’s Masonic Monitor. There are two versions of the cipher; one is on the upper case keys, one on the lower case keys. The Royal Arch cipher (first form – upper case)
A B C D E F G H I J K A B C D E F G H I J K
LL M M
N O P Q R S T U V W X N O P Q R S T U V W X
Y Z Y Z
The Royal Arch cipher (second form – lower case)
a b c d e f g h i j k l m a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z n o p q r s t u v w x y z Y e Alphabet of NugNug- Soth This is a slight variant on the Royal Arch cipher which appeared in the Hay-Wilson-Langford-Turner Necronomicon. While generally corresponding to the English alphabet, C and K are not distinguished, nor are U and V.
A A
B B
C C, K
D D
E E
F F
G G
H H
I I
J J
L L
M M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U, V
V
W
X
Y
Z
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
W
X
Y
Z
The Illuminati Ciphers Ciphers These ciphers were published in A History of Secret Societies by Akron Daraul (a pseudonym of Idries Shah) and are alleged to have been used by the infamous Bavarian Illuminati. U and V are distinguished, but I and J are not. A third Illuminati cipher replaces the letters with numbers – A with 12, B with 11, and so on down to M with 1; then N with 13, O with 14 and so on to Z=24 (here U and V are not distinguished). There is also one set of cipher charaters for the digits. These ciphers are used to spell out cryptic messages in some of the illustrations to Cosmic Trigger by R.A. Wilson.
Cipher 1 Cipher 2 (uppercase) Cipher 3 (lowercase)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I, J
K
L
M
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
A B C D E F G H J K L M a b c d e f g h j k l m
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
Cipher 1
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Cipher 2
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Cipher 3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
U
V 20
7
8
W
X
Y
Z
21
22
23
24
9
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
The Enochian Alphabet. This script emerged from the ceremonial skrying of John Dee and Edward Kelly. The name ‘Enochian’ was applied by later writers; for Dee it was the ‘Angelic’ or ‘Adamical’ alphabet. There is some evidence that it should be written right to left.
E A E
F D G C B
A
F
D
G
C,K
B
N QP L H I M N
Q
P
L
H
T S U Z T
S
U, V, W
I, J, Y
R
Z
M
O X
R
O
X
The Alphabet of Daggers This is a magical script which appears in Crowley’s The Vision and the Voice. It corresponds to the English alphabet.
AB C D E F G H I J KLM N O P QR S TU V WXY Z I
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
R
The Alphabet of Arrows Continuing the theme of sharp pointy things, this is another script from The Vision and the Voice. The letters approximately map to the Enochian alphabet, although V is distinguished from U and W.
A B C D A
B
I L I, J, Y
L
C, K
M M
D
E E
F G H F
G
N O P Q R N
O
P
Q
S T U V X Z S
T
H
U, W
V
X
Z
R
Fonts and filenames Filename niaiqrg_.ttf niarrg__.ttf nicearg_.ttf nicebrg_.ttf nidarg__.ttf nienrg__.ttf nihearg_.ttf niilrg__.ttf nimaarg_.ttf nimabrg_.ttf ninusrg_.ttf nipaabrg.ttf niparbrg.ttf niroarg_.ttf nitharg_.ttf nithbrg_.ttf
Font name NI AIQ BKR NI Arrows NI CelestialA NI CelestialB NI Daggers NI Enochian NI HebrewA NI Illuminati NI MalachimA NI MalachimB NI Nug-Soth NI PassingRiverA NI PassingRiverB NI Royal Arch NI ThebanA NI ThebanB
Script The Aiq Bkr cipher The Alphabet of Arrows The Characters of Celestial Writing (version A) The Characters of Celestial Writing (version B) The Alphabet of Daggers The Enochian alphabet Hebrew The Illuminati ciphers The Writing called Malachim (version A) The Writing called Malachim (version B) Ye Alphabet of Nug-Soth The Writing called The Passing of the River (version A) The Writing called The Passing of the River (version B) The Royal Arch cipher The Theban Script (version A) The Theban Script (version B)
Of the four scripts for which a “version A” and “version B” is given, the A (Agrippa) versions are based on scans of the scripts from De occulta philosophia (as reproduced in the 1992 critical Latin edition – the versions in the Llewellyn edition appear to have been redrawn by a modern illustrator); the B (Barrett) versions are based on scans of the plate of magical alphabets in The Magus. The Enochian alphabet is based on a scan of the letters from Sloane MS 3188 as reproduced by Laycock. The Alphabet of Daggers is based on a scan the plate in Equinox I (5); the Alphabet of Arrows was not scanned but drawn from scratch in CorelDraw following the figure in Equinox IV (2). Key mappings for Hebrew and scripts referred to Hebrew (both upper and lower case keys map to the same glyph, with the exception of Samekh in Malchim, where s gives s and S gives S). Final forms only on the ordinary Hebrew and Aiq Bkr cipher fonts. Aleph Beth Gimel Daleth Hé Vau Zayin Cheth Teth Yod Kaph Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Pé Tzaddi Qoph Resh Shin Tau
A B G D H V, W Z J F I, Y K L M N S O, U P X Q R C T
Kaph final ] Variant Lamed | Mem final \ Nun final }
Pé final [ Tzaddi final {
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