Theban alphabet

Theban alphabet
Script type
Alphabet
Creatoruncertain
(above chart from Polygraphia, 1518, by Johannes Trithemius)
Time period
16th c. – present
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
Related scripts
Parent systems
Latin alphabet (cipher)
  • Theban alphabet
From Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1533). Note character changes, including "w" becoming incorporated into the last sign itself, denoted by capital-Omega (Ω) — a symbol for "End" — rather than "W".
From the 1613 reprint of Polygraphia. Note changes to some characters, e.g. closed loops, and a left hook omitted from the symbol for W.
From Polygraphie (1561) by Gabriel de Collange (in French). W being a new letter and not used in France, that sign here represents the ampersand.

The Theban alphabet, also known as the witches' alphabet, is a writing system, specifically a substitution cipher of the Latin script, that was used by early modern occultists and is popular in the Wicca movement.[1][2]

  1. ^ "Theban alphabet". Omniglot. Retrieved March 6, 2023. The Theban alphabet is used as an alternative to the Latin alphabet. It was used by early modern occultists and is popular with the Wicca movement.
  2. ^ Wigington, Patti (April 27, 2019). "Magical Alphabets". Learn Religion. Retrieved March 6, 2023. One of the most popular magical languages in use today is the Theban Alphabet. ... In general, although this alphabet is popular among Wiccan and NeoWiccan paths, it's not typically used by non-Wiccan Pagans.