Poetry as Spell: The Magical Power of Language

BY NICOLE LAU

Before poetry was art, it was magic. The oldest poems were spells—incantations to heal, to curse, to invoke gods, to bind lovers, to protect warriors. The word "spell" itself means both magical formula and the act of arranging letters—to spell is to cast a spell. In ancient traditions, poets were magicians, shamans, priests—those who knew the power of words, who understood that language doesn't just describe reality but creates it, shapes it, transforms it. The Kabbalists knew that Hebrew letters are creative forces, that God spoke the world into being, that to know the true names is to have power. The Norse knew that runes were magic, that poetry could curse or bless, that the skald's words had literal power. Even today, we feel it: the poem that changes us, the verse that haunts us, the words that cast their spell and won't let go. Poetry is not metaphor for magic—it is magic, the technology of transformation through language, the art of making words do what they were always meant to do: change reality.

In the Beginning Was the Word: Language as Creative Force

The opening of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

This is not theology but ontology—reality is linguistic, existence is verbal, being is speech.

Across traditions, creation happens through language:

Genesis: "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light"—speaking creates reality

Kabbalah: God creates through the 22 Hebrew letters, each a creative force, a divine emanation

Hinduism: The universe emerges from the primordial sound OM, the vibration that is existence itself

Ancient Egypt: Thoth speaks the world into being, language as demiurgic power

The principle: words are not labels attached to pre-existing things—words create the things, bring them into being, make them real.

Poetry, then, is participation in divine creation, using language's creative power to make new realities.

The Kabbalistic Poet: Letters as Angels

In Kabbalah, the 22 Hebrew letters are not arbitrary symbols but living forces, angels, emanations of divine creative power.

Each letter:

Has numerical value: Gematria—words with the same numerical value are mystically connected

Corresponds to a sephirah: Each letter is a path on the Tree of Life

Contains worlds: Infinite meanings, infinite creative potential

Is a name of God: The letters spell out divine names, formulas of power

The Kabbalistic poet:

• Arranges letters to create new combinations, new divine names
• Uses gematria to reveal hidden connections
• Meditates on letters to access their creative power
• Understands that to write is to participate in ongoing creation

The Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation) teaches that God created the world through "32 paths of wisdom"—the 22 letters plus the 10 sephiroth. To master these is to master creation itself.

Norse Poetry: Runes and the Mead of Poetry

In Norse tradition, runes are not just an alphabet but magical symbols, each with power:

Fehu (ᚠ): Wealth, abundance, manifestation

Uruz (ᚢ): Strength, vitality, primal power

Thurisaz (ᚦ): Protection, defense, the thorn

Ansuz (ᚨ): Divine inspiration, Odin's rune, the breath of the gods

Runes were used for:

• Divination (casting runes to see the future)
• Magic (carving runes to curse or bless)
• Poetry (the skald's art was runic magic)

The Mead of Poetry myth: Odin steals the mead that grants poetic inspiration and magical power. Those who drink it become skalds—poet-magicians whose words have literal power to curse, to bless, to shape fate.

The skald's praise-poem could make a king great; their curse-poem (níð) could destroy a reputation, bring misfortune, even kill.

Mantras: Sacred Sound as Transformation

In Hindu and Buddhist traditions, mantras are sacred syllables or phrases that transform consciousness through sound:

OM (AUM): The primordial sound, the vibration of existence itself

Om Mani Padme Hum: The jewel in the lotus, compassion mantra

Gayatri Mantra: Invocation of divine illumination

Bija mantras: Seed syllables, each corresponding to a chakra, a deity, a power

Mantras work through:

Vibration: Sound creates physical vibration that affects matter, consciousness, reality

Repetition: Japa—repeating the mantra thousands of times to embed it in consciousness

Intention: The mantra carries the practitioner's will, amplifies it, manifests it

Sacred language: Sanskrit is considered a divine language, its sounds inherently powerful

The mantra is poetry reduced to its essence—pure sound, pure power, pure transformation.

The Spell-Song Tradition: Incantation and Enchantment

Across cultures, spells are poems—rhythmic, rhyming, memorable formulas that carry power:

Anglo-Saxon charms: "Nine herbs charm," "Journey charm"—healing and protection spells in verse

Finnish Kalevala: Epic of spell-songs, where sorcerers battle through singing

Irish Gaelic incantations: Blessings and curses in poetic form

Hoodoo and conjure: African American magical tradition using rhyming spells

Why spells are poems:

Rhythm aids memory: Meter and rhyme make spells easy to remember and transmit

Sound carries power: The sonic quality of the words matters as much as meaning

Repetition builds energy: Chanting the spell multiple times amplifies its power

Beauty is power: The aesthetic quality of the spell makes it more effective

The spell-song is the original poetry—not art for art's sake but art for magic's sake, beauty in service of power.

The Poet as Magician: Yeats, Rimbaud, and Occult Poetry

Modern poets who understood poetry as magic:

W.B. Yeats: Golden Dawn magician who used poetry as ritual, symbols as invocations, verse as spell

Arthur Rimbaud: "Alchemy of the Word"—transforming language to transform consciousness

Charles Baudelaire: "Correspondences"—revealing hidden connections through poetic language

Stéphane Mallarmé: Poetry as hermetic mystery, the poem as magical operation

These poets understood:

• Poetry doesn't describe magic—it is magic
• The poem is a spell, the poet a magician
• Language has inherent power, not just representational function
• To write is to perform magical operation

Sound and Sense: The Sonic Dimension of Spell-Casting

Poetry's power is not just semantic (meaning) but sonic (sound):

Alliteration: Repeated consonants create incantatory effect—"Double, double, toil and trouble"

Assonance: Repeated vowels create resonance, vibration

Rhythm: Meter creates trance, alters consciousness, opens receptivity

Rhyme: Creates expectation, satisfaction, magical closure

Repetition: Builds energy, embeds the spell in consciousness

The spell works through sound as much as meaning—the vibration of the words affects reality directly, not just through their semantic content.

This is why poetry must be read aloud, why spells must be spoken, why mantras must be chanted—the sound is the power.

Practical Applications: Writing Poetry as Spell-Casting

How to write poetry as magic:

Set intention: What do you want the poem to do? Heal? Protect? Invoke? Manifest?

Choose words for power: Not just meaning but sound—which words vibrate with the energy you need?

Use rhythm and repetition: Create incantatory effect through meter, rhyme, repeated phrases

Speak it aloud: The spell must be voiced—sound is power

Repeat it: Chant the poem multiple times to build energy, to embed it in consciousness

Believe in it: The spell works through your belief, your will, your intention

Release it: Once spoken, let the spell do its work—don't cling to it

The Eternal Spell

Poetry continues to cast its spells—in love poems that bind hearts, in protest poems that inspire revolution, in healing poems that mend souls, in curse poems that destroy reputations.

The power hasn't diminished—we've just forgotten that it's real, that words actually have power, that to speak is to create, that poetry is not metaphor for magic but magic itself.

The letters still contain worlds. The runes still carry power. The mantras still transform. And the poet still casts spells, whether they know it or not.

In the beginning was the Word. The Word is still creating. Speak your spell. Cast your poem. Transform reality.