Most powerful languages

[Allofyoush]

I've been debating which language to use as my magical language. I'm stuck between Hebrew, Phoenician, and Futhark. Any input?

 

[Mycelial_Adept]

The most powerful magical language is the one you can fluently speak with powerful intent.

 

[Allofyoush]

The most powerful magical language is the one you can fluently speak with powerful intent.

Well as of now, it's just English. But I can still learn the letters of a more symbolic language, as I think they're inherently more dense with meaning and power. I have some experience with Hebrew, but there are synchronicities between the 3 languages I mentioned (Hebrew comes from Phoenician)

 

[Mycelial_Adept]

You say the other languages are more dense with meaning. Think about how many subconscious connections you have for any word you speak in your language. You aren't missing depth or density, in your native language. it just doesn't feel special to you. The ancient Romans were not summons spirits every other sentence just because they spoke Latin everywhere.

You are what conjures the power, your will and emotions give the words and symbols their might, not the other way around.

 

[Eliberto1]

In truth, as the others have pointed out, language is not important: you can work perfectly with your native language. However, there are undoubtable effects in the use of Nomina Barbara. Maybe it is just a psychological effect, but some words have a kind of potency, able to enhance a ritual. They call some connections, that your everyday words usually cannot offer. However, as Mycelial_Adept said ultimately you have the power, and utterances are just a symbolic manifestation of you inner potency.
Regarding your question, it depends on the paradigm you will use to perform the works. Old Norse/Old English is preferable if your operations will be related to Nordic/Germanic gods/entities. For Solomonic Magic (and some other Western traditions), Hebrew will be the optimal choice. I personally do not recommend Phoenician because: (i) pronunciation is not recorded (only consonants were written), so it has to be reconstructed; (ii) Phoenician records are scarce, so it lacks a lot of technical (and common) terms; and (iii) it has not got a living tradition for magical operations, you will have to create a lot of new stuff to work with it.

 

[HoldAll]

Glossolalia. Seriously. Speaking in tongues. By this I don't mean channeling a higher being and squirming in ecstasy while babbling incoherently but consciously speaking straight from one's innermost feelings. Pure expressiveness without semantic content whatsoever. It makes playing around with speech melodies or emphasising random syllables a lot easier, and although you might feel a little silly in the beginning, with some practice the pure sound will just flow. In this way, you can give voice to what normally can't be expressed in regular languages.

On another level, you won't be using voces magicae/barbarous words here and there but nothing but. The long vowel strings in the PGM definitely have an effect once you chant them yourself, and there's even a book called The Mystery of the Seven Vowels In Theory and Practice by Joscelyn Godwin in our Library (also see Michael Kelly's Words of Power).

During my glossolalia experiments, I've noticed that some 'nonsense' words that just came out of my mouth do have power, so I wouldn't discount this approach. Take for example the mantra "Phat!" It doesn't mean anything but is said to be very powerful in dispelling negative energies - and it works! I think it's possible that the ancient Indian yogis discovered it by means of experimental glossolalia as well. So you could either develop your own vocabulary of barbarous words or integrate improvisationally speaking in tongues into your rituals where communication straight from the unconscious is a good idea.

 

[macshalom]

My take on is that using your mother's tongue/language is more grounded. This is because, it's the tongue that shaped your life and in it, death and life are embedded. The powers in the spirit realm traces your being via the womb that have birth to you.

 

[levi777]

I've been debating which language to use as my magical language. I'm stuck between Hebrew, Phoenician, and Futhark. Any input?

Hebrew are really strong, other languages are Greek, Arabic, Aramaic, Farshi