[Opinion] Is Latin, or any one language specifically, better for magic?

[PelagicMind]

I don't particularly agree with this, but I remember reading or hearing somewhere that Latin had some specific quality to it that made it the "best" language for magic, and I think for specifically binding demons. As far as any of you know is there any veracity to this claim? Are there other languages that this may be true for (like Greek or Sanskrit) or is it truly all relative and up to the practitioner. I lean more toward the camp of do what you can and don't get caught up in specifics, but still, its an interesting question thats been on my mind.

 

[crooktooth]

Personal opinion the language you are most fluent in is the best for magick. Why would you attempt any serious magick in a language you are unfamiliar with? The lack of accurate translation or even pronunciation especially in something like latin could be dire. I totally agree it's up to the individual practitioner, personally though I never understood the romanticization of latin and other dead languages in magick.

 

[Anomander Rake]

Personal opinion the language you are most fluent in is the best for magick. Why would you attempt any serious magick in a language you are unfamiliar with? The lack of accurate translation or even pronunciation especially in something like latin could be dire. I totally agree it's up to the individual practitioner, personally though I never understood the romanticization of latin and other dead languages in magick.

Best answer. There is nothing to add I guess.

 

[OberonFromTheHills]

We use latin in magick cause, until the 17th century, all the books for high society were written in that language. It allowed people from all Europe to read and study them.

 

[Morell]

I like to use barbaric latin occasionally, barbaric meaning that I take latin terms that I get through translating what I want, set them like in English and sometimes mold the endings of words as I deem needed to sound better.

But No. Latin is no special. It is a language like any other...

 

[saber]

Some magickal formulae rely on the sounds of the words themselves as part of the magickal act, and wordplay has been a powerful component of spells for thousands of years (look into some egyptian scribe initiation rituals they’re crazy).

So, sometimes you end up using the original language of a magickal formulation for that reason, but I don’t think that one language is inherently more magickal than another. Anything you write yourself should probably be in a language you are very familiar with.