Blood, Ink, and Spellwork: Written Magic in British Traditions

Blood, ink, and spellwork: Written Magic in British Traditions

Written Charms, Canting Scripts, and Magical Inks: A Folk History

Medieval Charms and the Power of Ink

Throughout the Middle Ages in England and Scotland, written words and drawn symbols played a role in popular magic. Because literacy was limited, clergy or educated healers often prepared written charms for use as amulets or remedies. (We'll chat about communities with low literacy later)

Medieval charm manuals and manuscripts show instructions for inscribing holy names or symbols on parchment or other materials to invoke protection or healing.

These could be prayers, biblical verses, or mystical characters copied from older traditions.

For example, some late-medieval English charm texts specify that a formula be written “cum sanguine alba columbe in parcameno virgineo” – “with the blood of a white dove on virgin parchment”. (See more Here, in these medieval manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries)

This shows the importance of both ink and writing surface: the magical virtue of the charm was enhanced by using ritually pure materials (virgin parchment) and even magical ink (dove’s blood as ink). And it's something that continues on through British traditions until the modern day.

Figure 1:  British Library Board, London, British Library, Sloane MS 475, fol. 137v (detail).

Medieval written charms often blurred the line between prayer and magic. Words were believed to carry power simply by being written down- in the same way that in Canting Tribe communities (The UN recognised Indigenous Peoples of the UK) believe that the language itself is sacred and contains power. Many charms were essentially short prayers or sacred names written on slips of parchment, worn on the body for protection. For instance, inscribing the names of the Three Magi or writing a verse from the Gospel of John to carry as an amulet was a common medieval practice.

The charms could be anything from healing, to relocating rats from one place to another.

The materiality of these charms mattered- instructions might require special inks, specific days to write, or precise formats (such as writing words in the shape of a cross or in a magic square). This laid the groundwork for later folk-magic practices involving pen and ink.

Cunning Folk and the Trade of Written Charms in Early Modern England

By the 16th-17th centuries, professional folk magicians - the cunning folk or “wise people”- frequently employed ink and paper in their craft. The cunning man’s or woman’s repertoire often included pre-written charms prepared for clients.

Contemporary accounts and later folklore note that one could obtain a written charm for almost any need: finding love, protecting livestock, detecting thieves, or warding off evil.

Charms during this period continue to use Religious elements, older pagan magic (especially amongst Canting Tribe folks) as well as older grimoire materials, which by this point had begun circulating amongst non-gentry. The Abracadabra charm is possibly one of the most famous still used in this period, which we know had also been used by the Romans. (Owen Davies mentions this in his book 'Popular Magic Cunning Folk in English History')

Cunning folk would write “Abracadabra” in a diminishing triangular arrangement on paper and have the client wear it as an amulet to cure fevers or ague. We even have this charm still in recorded use in the 19thC in Essex -sewn into a silk bag and sold for a guinea. (Also mentioned by Davies)

Likewise, charms invoking the Biblical phrase “Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum” (“Let every spirit praise the Lord”), sometimes called the Paracelsian charm, were circulated.reginald Scot published one such formula combining Latin phrases from the Bible as a written house-protection charm. a version of this charm was found around 1900 above a farmhouse door in Lancashire, scrawled in a nearly illegible hand. It read (with misspellings) “Omnes spiritu laudet domnum... exurgrat disipentur inimicus”, clearly a corrupted copy of the Latin Scot gave, and was explicitly meant to be placed over the doorway to protect the home.

These charms were often treated as sacred objects. Clients were instructed to keep the paper secure and secret, often by sewing it into clothing or enclosing it in a little bag or bottle.

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Magical Ink and Parchment: Ritual Materials and Methods

The materials and manner of writing were often considered key to a charm’s efficacy. Many English grimoires circulating in the early modern period included recipes for special inks and strict instructions for writing charms. A common instruction was to use virgin parchment - parchment made from the skin of an unborn or never-mated animal - as the surface for writing holy names or conjurations. This was believed to ensure purity and amplify the spell. In 1655, the English occultist Robert Turner even advertised that his London bookshop sold “virgin parchment” and “the best ab*rtives” (unborn animal skins) for those constructing magical documents.

While such expensive parchment was ideal, rural practitioners more often resorted to common paper, except perhaps for very small and special charms.

The ink itself was often ritualised. Standard iron-gall ink (brownish-black) was used for most writing, but some charms specified using animal blood or other substances as ink for extra potency.

The value of the inherent spirit was clear: blood as the life-force could bind the spell more strongly. Even in demonic witchcraft lore, blood as ink had a place- witches were popularly believed to sign their pact with the Devil's book in their own blood. Blood contracts were understood to be more binding and harder to break without consequence, especially as it often links back in with ancestral magic.

The actual way an ink was constructed depended wildly on the tradition of the ink maker. many grimoires came packed with specific recipes, often based on eastern traditions of magic. While folk magic tended to make use of the animistic understanding of the world, utilising herbs, floral waters, native resins and so on. The spirits of these plants within the ink - and other spirits not found within the material of the ink itself- could then be conjured to work the ink so that it would reach it's full, ensouled potency.

Planetary Hours and Sacred Times

For less nefarious folk magic and witchcraft, the act of writing itself was often ritualised in other ways. Practitioners might choose astrologically significant times to write (as some charms demanded writing during a certain planetary hour or phase of the moon). Much of this was based on older grimoires, but native folk magic traditions, like that of the Canting Tribes did utilise this too, based on personal animistic experiences of the day dedications, such as significant solar days, week day dedications, saints days and phases of the moon. For a great example of planetary hours used in magic, have a look at the Discovery of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot

fixing, Sealing, reversing and layering

In some cases, the writing of a charm was done backwards or in reverse order - a technique believed to invert the effect. A striking example comes from Wales in 1594: a written charm written backwards was found hidden in the house of a gentleman, Thomas Mostyn. According to contemporary belief, writing the words backwards signified it was intended as a destructive spell (a curse) rather than a healing charm. (Richard Suggett,- A history of magic and witchcraft in Wales)

Occasionally, in living traditions of magic we still see this being used- as well as charms written forwards, backwards and then forwards again, sometimes layering different pigments and inks. This is to cast the magic, prevent malefica upon the magic (hence why a different ink would be used for the reversal) and the final writing used to seal the magic.

The direction of the words was also important, sometimes a word would be written over four times to draw from the four corners of the earth, or from four spirits if this was done in a more ritualised setting. In a similar way, symbols that draw from the heavens might be written down the page, while symbols connected to hell or the underworld would be written up from the bottom of the page.

Other times, a spell might be broken into several layers of work, each with a different ink layer in order to gradually build a spell, or to ensure that it would flow differently during different time periods depending on the ink and symbols used. Or, if a spell was to call on several spirits, each symbol or written charm would be written in different inks consecrated to different spirits.

Fixing magic- as in to fix or to seal it to another thing is a key part of British magic. The use of the word 'fix' in sheerly magical terms comes to use from the Canting Tribes. (Where the terms fix, fixing, and fixed are almost all used in a magical connotation when speaking the language, especially in the use of rigs or witchcraft)

Fixing is key when it comes to various types of written magic. The ink itself is understood to fix the magic, whether to it's charge (or intention) or to the page itself. This is only further solidified when the ink makes use of a resin or gum. We've got several gums and resins for use in the UK, one of the most commonplace probably being pine.

To inscribe a secret name or mystical sign was to fix and formalise one’s intent, whether to bless or to curse. So not only were the symbols and words inherently powerful, but so to was the ink and the very art of writing them to paper.

ways to use magical ink in folk magic practice

written magic inks, sigils and the power of the word

Canting Tribes and the Margins of Magic

Being from the Canting Tribes, we have some fairly rare insight into written charms as they were performed by the canting tribes. The Canting Tribes, a UN recognised Indigenous Peoples native to the UK and Ireland- who speak a variety of Pre-Celtic Canting Languages, have long held a variety of written charm work. However much of it doesn't appear in the written record- why is that?

Apart from the obvious issues within Academia when it comes to the Canting Tribes, as well as Cultural Genocide that obviously affected the amount of material recorded and still existing- there's a few key reasons why a lot isn't turning up.

Material

The majority of the charms were material or spoken. Paper itself was often far too precious to be used for charm work- it's fragile and hard to keep safe, especially for the Nomadic Tribes.

Due to the high prosecution rate of the indigenous people, many did not want material and obvious evidence for the authorities to take- especially after many of the death penalty laws for indigenous peoples in the 13 and 1400s under the guise of the 'anti-gypsy' laws.

So many charms had to be disguised in other formats- especially since the use of written magic had caught the attention of witch hunters during the 1600s. So you'd often find 'fixed' dyes being used on thread, and that being used for material pattering in the same way that fixed ink was used on paper.

Recognition

There's probably a lot of Canting charms that have been recorded- and are probably holed up in university libraries. Given the low university rates to this day of Canting Tribe folks, these materials are essentially not visible to Canting Tribe members- leaving us unable to identify them. Plus, nobody from the universities, not being from the tribes, would be able to recognise the Cant when they did see it. Many people don’t recognise the cant in writing, nor canting specific symbols. Much of the time it is pushed underneath the 'Gibberish' charm category, and presumed to be nonsensical.

The greatest irony is that the word Gibberish originally referred to the Cant- Gib being the Canting Word for Tongue- language.

Marginalia

A lot of Canting Charms was not only marginalised, but also literally kept to the margins. Charms were often written in the margins of books, such as bibles, cheap print (Prognostications, “Poor Robin” almanacs), and pocket service books. They would sometimes be written near specific bible verses, or more commonly on to saints cards and occasionally on the inside edges of envelopes. Most Cant on these sort of objects is marked down as 'unintelligible scribbles' in the Marginalia index.

Due to the physical nature of Marginalia, these charms will be the first to be thrown away or worn away by use- compounded by the fact that there wasn't inherent wealth attributed to the material on which the charms were drawn.

Inks and Pigments

Inks for Canting Tribe folks was a lot more rugged and less physically refined than inks you may purchase elsewhere due to the nature of the resources available. It would more likely be made from blood, soot, chalk, clays, boiled florals and would not necessarily make use of a metal pen- feather nibs being far more easily sourced.

Lamp Black was a favoured ink amongst Non-Nomadic Tribes, and normal ink could also be 'sourced' more easily by Non-Nomadic Tribes folk if they worked for the Masters in the Big House.

Ultimately, you'd be more likely to find more degradable inks used by Canting tribe folks- which means that the writing might be out there, but would probably need specialist equipment to recognise it.

Clever Jacks

Clever Jacks was a name given to 'educated' Canting Tribe folks- they could read and write in English as well as being able to produce words in Cant in the English alphabet- many of these words are now part of the casual English lexicon. Patricos- Canting Priests, also known as Hedge Priests, would often be able to read, write and speak in English, two or more Canting Languages and Latin. Even most regular Canting Tribe folks could speak three or more languages- usually a couple of Canting languages, and one or two dominant languages of the country- like Irish, English, Scots, Doric or Gàidhlig for example.

However, because of the multi-lingual abilities of all of Canting Tribes, many examples of Canting Magic are presumed to be just 'British' Folk magic, without recognising the inherent connection to Canting Tribe beliefs and understanding. Because Canting Tribe belief is that all languages and even the spoken word and breath itself had within it a soul and an ability to change things- and so they were not limited to just one language, and would often use several languages in a charm if there was a use for it. Some of this was helped due to the unique, ever changing and collaborative aspects of the Canting Languages themselves.

What could be done to bring these charms to light?

An easy way to bring these charms to light is to make the original documents accessible to those who do not attend university. Also providing research funding for those Canting Tribe folks who are studying these subjects (instead of denying funding in a never ending negative cycle).

Allowing everybody digital access to the manuscripts recorded would also aid Canting Tribe folks who are trying their best to preserve their history for the future.

Oh look, a 'gibberish' charm.

Ink magic in the modern Era

These days within magical practice, we have access to more pigments, plants, oils and resins than at any other time in history. But handmade magical ink - especially those made from plants themselves - has become something of a rarity. Folk magic inks, once crafted with care and spirit, are now overshadowed by quicker alternatives. Ceremonial inks have held on a little more firmly, but even then, many so-called “dragon’s blood inks” are little more than red dye, with no resin at all.

Crafting inks is a time consuming process, and so even though we've now got more access to the materials, we now have lost access to the other precious commodity- time.

But the layers of magic within a page are vital, and shouldn't be lost to history. The ability to craft a whole spell or ritual with a few words and the right inks is a powerful tool that shouldn't be forgotten. If you already love colour symbology in your workings, or already know that a certain spirit you work with has a preference for offerings in a certain colour- then magical inks is the next step to further layer in spirit work and magic and deepend devotional work.

If you have a spirit who works with dream and prophecy, and their favoured colour is green- go for a mugwoprt ink for their petitions. Want to work with Apollo for abundance? Go for a Gold goldfinch ink. If you're a painter- use inks in your artwork and make whole pieces devotionmal and magical.
There is so much you can do with magical pigments.

So we’ve brought some of that world back to life. Drawing on Canting Tribe traditions, we craft inks in the old way - working directly with the plant spirits, conjuring with them, charging the ink so it carries a living current. Just as generations before us did.

That way you get to enjoy using inks and explore the full depth of written charms without having to scrape soot off of a lamp casing or boil up mugwort and stir in resin for hours.

You can shop our inks here

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