What Language do you use for magic?

[Dr_Sir]

I can't remember the source, but somewhere on the internet I found a page saying that Modern English is not the best language to use in magickal practice. because it's a mix of so many languages and dialects acquired over the years the words don't hold as much power as, say, Latin or enochian or the Norse languages.

I thought this was an interesting idea, as I don't actively practice yet, I was wondering what some of you more experienced witches thought about it

Blessings Be!

[Lord_of_Nightmares]

Whatever language you are comfortable with to produce results.

[Dr_Sir]

Whatever language you are comfortable with to produce results.

Ah, that makes sense, thank you

[smogie_michele]

The words we use only hold as much power as we give them. I usually speak in modern English because the words are easier to memorize and I can focus on my intent rather that "Did I mispronounce that?"

Of course, if you feel inclined to spice it up, go for it. Whatever works for you

[YanaKhan]

I prefer to keep the spells in their original language. My own work is in Bulgarian, I do have some spells I have used different alphabets for, but they are still in either Bulgarian or English. Very few entries in my BoS are in Russian or Serbian.

I'd say, there is nothing like "Modern English is a mix of languages and so magick doesn't work". I'd rather understand what I'm chanting than chant something I can't understand a word of. Simply because I wouldn't be able to put the intent the spell requires. In my view the spells you create work the best, so like Lady_Lilith said, whatever language feels comfortable for you, use that.

It's a whole different story if you would like to learn another language to use in spells or even create your own magickal alphabet though.

[Siona]

I can't remember the source, but somewhere on the internet I found a page saying that Modern English is not the best language to use in magickal practice. because it's a mix of so many languages and dialects acquired over the years the words don't hold as much power as, say, Latin or enochian or the Norse languages.

But Latin and Norse can be traced back further to a reconstructed proto-Indo-European language, so if you're going to take that route, you'd have to go back even further wouldn't you? (Enochian is a whole different boat, since there's no proof of it's divine origins, and has it's own issues with it's creation.) Personally, I don't agree with the idea that newer languages are bad because they've a mix of this and that, have evolved over the years, because that's really going to be true of most languages that can be spoken with certainty, even some of the older ones.

I believe that words have the power we give them. Your native language is going to be powerful because that's what your mind is wired with. Which is not to say using other languages is not okay, either. Some pray to the Greek deities in ancient Greek, and they feel it brings them closer to their deities, and hey, whatever works! One is not inherently more powerful than the other, it's up to the practitioner to harness which is more powerful to them.

[Dr_Sir]

That makes sense @Siona and @Yana

I was just toying with the idea, if words do hold some kind of power. But yes, the idea of words gaining power from the practitioner seems far more logical