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''Voces magicae'' (singular: ''vox magica'', "magical names" or "magical words") are
''Voces magicae'' (singular: ''vox magica'', "magical names" or "magical words") are Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
magical words, written in either Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
or Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
.
Definition and use
They were compensable, pronounceable, but nonsensical words with allegedarcane
Arcane may refer to:
Books and comics
* Anton Arcane, a DC Comics character
* Arcane Jill Watson, a character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''
* Arcane literature, such as in Cthulhu Mythos
Gaming
* Arcane magic (''Dungeons & Drago ...
origins which were used in spells, charms, and amulets to enhance their magical potency.
The ''voces magicae'' were related to the Greek Ephesia Grammata. They may include alternative names of gods or other unusual phrases which may have been intended as the secret, authoritative true name
A true name is a name of a thing or being that expresses, or is somehow identical to, its true nature. The notion that language, or some specific sacred language, refers to things by their true names has been central to philosophical study as wel ...
of certain gods. As an example: in the Greek Magical Papyri
The Greek Magical Papyri (Latin: ''Papyri Graecae Magicae'', abbreviated ''PGM'') is the name given by scholars to a body of papyri from Graeco-Roman Egypt, written mostly in ancient Greek (but also in Old Coptic, Demotic, etc.), which each cont ...
, the first spell of the first papyrus intended to summon a daimon
Daimon or Daemon (Ancient Greek: , "god", "godlike", "power", "fate") originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit such as the daimons of ancient Greek religion and mythology and of later Hellenistic religion and philosophy.
The word ...
assistant and included the phrase (in translation) "his
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
is your authoritative name: ARBATH ARBAOTH BAKCHABRE".
See also
*Magic in the Greco-Roman world
In classical antiquity, including the Hellenistic world of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, historians and archaeologists view the public and private rituals associated with religion as part of everyday life. Examples of this phenomenon are found ...
*Magical formula
In ceremonial magic, a magical formula or a word of power is a word that is believed to have specific supernatural effects. They are words whose meaning illustrates principles and degrees of understanding that are often difficult to relay using ...
References
{{Authority control Ancient Greek religion Ancient Roman religionGreco-Roman
The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...
Religion in classical antiquity
Magic words