- Maybe you're a Sanderson Sister transmuting a boy into a black cat, "Ichita copita melaka mystica," or an illusionist cutting your assistant in half, "Abracadabra," or a student begging for an extension on your paper, "Please."

Whether invoking a spell, performing an illusion, or simply asking a favor, for magic to happen, you have to say the magic words, and you have to say them right.

After all... - It's leviosa, not leviosa.

- But do words actually have the power to change reality, or is it all hocus pocus?

I'm Dr. Erica Brozovsky, and this is "Otherwords."

(quizzical music) - "Otherwords."

(graphic rustling) - Magic history is almost as long as human history.

And from the beginning, humans attempted to harness the mystical potential of language.

Ancient Mesopotamians use incantations and rituals for defense against evil and purification against sins, and even in love spells and medicinal treatments.

In Ancient Egypt, priests chanted sacred words during religious ceremonies, hoping to curry favor with the gods, and written language was pure power.

It was believed to actually create what a text documented.

If you wanted your deceased loved one to be provided for in the afterlife, and of course, you did, writing a wish for "a thousand of bread and beer" would guarantee their sustenance.

Or on the other hand, you could curse someone so thoroughly that, "They will suffer every evil word, recitation, thought, plot, struggle, disturbance, every evil thing, every nightmare in a terrible slumber," as one vase recounted.

In Jewish folklore, you can bring a golem made of mud to life with ritual incantations and a sacred word.

Around the world and in the movie musical, "Wicked," grimoires chronicled spells that could allow you to speak to djinn, or gain all the knowledge of Solomon, or cause monkeys to fly.

Even today, incantations deriving from the P.I.E root kan, to sing, can be found in religious and cultural practice.

Chanting is a sacred part of Catholic mass.

(chanting) 笙ｪ Hallelujah 笙ｪ - [Erica] And of Buddhist spiritual practice.

(chanting) - [Erica] Even motivational speaker Tony Robbins uses incantations as a part of his morning ritual to start off the day.

- I'd say God's wealth is circulating in my life.

His wealth flows to me in avalanches of abundance.

- Incantation can arise in surprising places.

Think of the children's rhyme for wishing on a star.

Star light, star bright, (crickets chirping) first star I see tonight.

I wish I may, I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight.

Maybe it's a habit or a superstition to say it so that you're more likely to get your wish, but that, my friends, is an incantation.

In Western tradition, Latin has dominated the magical arts since the Middle Ages, and it's where we get our most famous magic word, abracadabra.

(bells chiming) While speculation abounds on the etymology, including suggestions in Hebrew and Aramaic, there's been no real documentation to support its pre Latin origins.

What we do know is that abracadabra has been around since at least the second century CE.

Serenus Sammonicus, a Roman physician and tutor, proposed a malaria treatment based on the magic word, which involved wearing an amulet featuring abracadabra written repeatedly in a triangle shape, one fewer letter each line.

As the letters are reduced, so too would your illness fade away.

According to author Craig Conley, magic words resonate with the audience because, "There is an instinctive understanding that words are powerful creative forces."

If you've ever been lost in a good book, you understand that authors can craft an entire world in a piece of literature.

And almost every major religion considers a written scripture to be the foundational source of authority.

In fact, in the book of Genesis, God uses words to create the universe.

He says, "Let there be light," and then, ta-da, there was light.

One of the most powerful magic words is a name.

Unlike Beetlejuice, oh, no, I better not say his name again, in a lot of magical tradition, to name something is to have power and control over it.

Rumpelstiltskin's power over the queen was broken when she learned his name.

(bubble whistles) Ra, the Egyptian sun god, was believed to have created all life by speaking each creature's secret name.

And his own true name was a source of much of his power.

By learning Ra's real name, Isis took his power, ensuring her son's might as ruler of Egypt.

While most of us aren't levitating objects with runes or Latin phrases, language can shape our real life and perception of reality.

And it's not just a placebo effect, though that actually does work for pain and nausea management.

If you don't have a fairy godmother to bibbidi-bobbidi-boo you into your dream life, affirmations have been proven to change your own self-perception and, therefore, your reality.

Repetition of affirmations increases neural activity in regions of the brain related to self-processing and valuation systems.

As Muhammad Ali says, "It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief, and once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen."

Even specific words can channel a positive effect on your health.

The mantra om has sacred significance in Hinduism and can be heard in spiritual recitation and ceremony, and also in your local yoga class.

If chanting isn't part of your daily life practice, it may feel awkward at first, but dozens of studies have shown chanting om to relieve pain, deactivate the brain from its resting brain state, stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing stress, and lower blood pressure.

So if you're stressed, try an om.

Barney taught us that please and thank you are called the magic words, and if you want nice things to happen, they're the words that should be heard.

But please and thank you are linguistic tools that can positively influence social interactions and secure compliance.

In legal situations, words still hold an almost mystical power.

The "I do" you say at the altar isn't just a cute part of the ceremony before sharing a kiss.

It's a required declaration of intent without which you aren't legally married.

In court proceedings, witnesses swear an oath, "Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," (bell chiming) often on the Bible or preferred holy book.

The same goes for political office in the United States.

During Barack Obama's first inauguration as president, one word of the oath was switched around.

So just to be safe, the oath of office ceremony was performed a second time to ensure the presidency was official.

Even words we don't perceive to be magic on their own take on a power depending on context.

Think about the word fire.

(bells chiming) It means something completely different at the office, on a camping trip, or in a crowded theater.

Whether you're casting spells in a fantasy world or navigating the complexities of human communication, every word you say has the potential for magic, so use them wisely because the next thing you say might just change your whole world.