𝔚𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔐𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠

‘𝔚𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢, 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔶 𝔫𝔬𝔱-𝔰𝔬-𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔬𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔬𝔫, 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔵𝔥𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔠𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠. ℭ𝔞𝔭𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔟𝔬𝔱𝔥 𝔦𝔫𝔣𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫𝔧𝔲𝔯𝔶, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔡𝔶𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔱.’

~

𝔍𝔨 ℜ𝔬𝔴𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤

They say that ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ — an old age axiom indicating the power of the word, albeit intangible and airy, words truly are powerful. Capable of shaping, moulding, bending and twisting the very fabric of reality. The power of words are elucidated in mythological, metaphysical or abstract realms, namely within stories pertaining to the creation and destruction of the universe. They are also revealed through various historical circumstances, which this work hopes to explore.

ℭ𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫

Brahman, the god of creation

Many traditions regard speech as the foundation or basis of existence. More specifically, creation stories posit that the creation of the cosmos is predicated upon words. This was perhaps the primordial or atavistic way in which ancient people expressed their innate knowledge or intuitions pertaining to the power of words. For example, in Hinduism, perhaps the oldest of religions, as the Rig Veda states, ‘In the beginning was Brahman, with whom was the Word, and the Word was truly the Supreme Brahman.’ Particularly, the mantra ‘Om’ or ‘Aum’ is considered the first vibration of creation. Similarly, according to the creation myth (Memphite Theology) of another primitive polytheistic religion, that of the Egyptians, the god Ptah is said to have brought the world into being through speech. Within the Hermetic Tradition, as outlined in the Corpus Hermeticum, more specifically within The Divine Pymander, (a book inspired by Egyptian mythology), it is outlined that ‘All things in the world are interwoven with the eternal logos, and the world is brought into being by the divine word.’ Even within the icy terrains of Scandinavia and its Norse Mythology, the god Odin — all father or king of the gods, equivalent to Zeus (Greek mythology), Jupiter (Roman mythology) or Shango (Yoruba mythology) — is said to have created the world through his knowledge of runes and chants. In the monotheistic or Abrahamic religions, as elaborated in Genesis, God creates being through speech — ‘God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.”’ (1:3). The New Testament, within the Gospel of John, elaborates upon this idea noting that, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ In the religion which follows, Islam, the Quran states, in Surah Ya-Sin (36:82) — ‘When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is.’ Diverse — monotheistic, polytheistic, eastern, western, northern and southern —  though the cultures may be, they converge on the notion that all is created through the word, that speech is a prerequisite to creation. 

𝔇𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔠𝔲𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫

The angel Israfil, blowing his Trumpet

Just as words can create, so too can they destroy. According to Egyptian mythology, Ra, the sun god, makes and unmakes things through words. Within the uncharted territory of African Mythology, more specifically within Yoruba mythology, Olodumare, the supreme deity, upon the corruption of the world, summons through his speech divine storms to cleanse the earth. Additionally, Shango, through his fiery voice and thunderous roar, annihilates civilisations. The Nordic apocalypse, (Ragnarök), begins when Heimdall, watchman of the gods, blows the Gjallarhorn, (a mighty horn), announcing the final battle. Within such a battle, Fenrir, a monstrous wolf’s roar shatters the sky, and Surtr, the fire giant, sings a song of destruction, setting the world ablaze. In Hinduism, Shiva, the god of destruction, performs the Tandava, a cosmic dance alongside a roar which shakes the universe apart. In the Abrahamic traditions divine wrath is often expressed through sound — though not necessarily words, such sounds are generated through the mouth, a possible metaphor for words. For example, within the Book of Revelation, the end of the world is heralded by seven trumpets, each unleashing certain disasters — fire, blood, darkness, earthquakes, hail, thunder, lightning, plagues and poisons. More specifically, in Islamic eschatology (the part of theology concerned with death, judgment and the final destination of the soul), the Sur, Trumpet, is blown by the angel Israfil, signalling the demise of all. Such myths serve to illustrate that cross-culturally, perhaps even universally, that ancient civilisations acknowledged the power of words, allying such a force with divinity, with the sacred and the holy, with the gods. 

The power of words to destroy is also seen historically, both in the classical and modern worlds. For instance Socrates criticised the sophists — ancient paid teachers of rhetoric in Greece, who taught to reason with clever and persuasive but false and deceptive arguments, arguments which were externally attractive and alluring but internally ugly and corrupt — for utilising their words to undermine Athenian Democracy. Sophists would focus on persuasive argumentation rather than truth and wisdom, an irony for the word sophist is derived from the Greek word sophos meaning ‘wise’. Ultimately, manipulating the public into believing outwardly beautiful and inwardly rotten views, in turn infecting, diseasing and demolishing Greece with ill ideas which were voted for, and worse, worshiped by the gullible masses.

Adolf Hitler, giving a speech, 1925

In the modern world, Adolf Hitler is perhaps unanimously recognised to be a master orator, skillfully wielding his words to bring about mass destruction in the form of genocide and a world war. With many historians such William L. Shirer, noting in The Nightmare Years, that his speeches were not just words, but incantations designed to hypnotise and enchant: ‘The words he uttered, the thoughts he expressed, often seemed to me ridiculous, but that week in Nuremberg I began to comprehend that it did not matter so much what he said but how he said it … He established a rapport almost immediately and deepened and intensified it as he went on speaking, holding them completely in his spell.’  

𝕾𝖕𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖘

This brings us to the crucial point which is that words are magic. To better understand this point, one must think as a philologist would. In the English language the word ‘spell’ possesses two definitions, the first is to name the letters that form a word, the second is a form of words used as a magical charm or incantation, and etymologically, both are derived from the Germanic base of ‘spell’. ‘Spell’ possessing the two definitions that it does is of profound significance, for words are spells in the final analysis, albeit airy and intangible, and therefore seemingly insignificant, they have concrete and lasting effects on the visible, earthly domain. This is why the primary tool of the witch, her wand, irrefutably morphologically resembles the pen, both upright and phallic. Both capable of fabricating, and devising and at the same time, annihilating, terminating and destroying. Both capable of giving birth to benevolence and rise to malevolence, both able to heal and harm, bless and curse, give life and take life. This is also why the archetypal witch mounts the broom (also geometrically connected to the pen and wand), symbolising her dominion over the word or logos (in theology the word of God). Now then, it would make sense to revisit our well-known proverb regarding the might of the pen, and add that though wars may be fought with swords, they begin and end with the pen.