Jul 19, 2018
The Witches’ Alphabet, also known as the Theban Alphabet, has long been used by practitioners of sorcery to encode their writings. The oldest surviving book containing the Theban Alphabet is Johannes Trithemius’ Polygraphia, c.1518. This exerpt explains how Trithemius learned of the alphabet from a pre-existing book on magick, now lost to time, which he attributes to Peter d'Abano:
“Sequitur aliud alphabetum Honorii cognomento Thebani, cuius ministerio suas in magicis fatuitates abscondit, sicut Petrus de Apono testatur in suo maiore libro quarto.“
Here follows another alphabet of Honorius surnamed the Theban, and the use thereof is for hiding the foolishness of his magic, as Petrus de Abano testifies in his greater fourth book.
