Out of the Broom Closet
How often one hears such phrases as, “That didn’t come out right” or “That’s not what I meant to say.” The mind has raced ahead of the words coming out of one’s mouth, and the damage is (generally) minimal, the apology sincere. Don’t expect the same leeway when casting a spell, or invoking a deity. Magical speech requires not only intention, but precision.
It’s all about the power of words. For Ancient Egyptians, the Creator deities had two ways to create; masturbation or the spoken word. Ptah went for “thoughts of his heart and the words of his mouth.” Atum preferred self-gratification, there being nothing else around to, shall we say, lend a hand. Writing itself could bring living things into creation; hieroglyphs that were based on dangerous animals would sometimes be drawn in sections, or crippled, so they could not come alive and cause harm. Talk about being careful about what you say.
