it's literally read like a spellbook because the syntax consists of all natural language, and newlines are optional. your code can now be an essay, like everybody wants!
for example, if you want to print something, you'd write: `begin the grimoire. inscribe whispers of "hello, world!". close the grimoire.`
it has variables, dynamic typing, arrays, functions, conditionals, loops, string manipulation, array manipulation, type conversion, and user input, among other (listed in the docs!)
but why? i wanted to see how far you could push natural language syntax while still being parseable. most esolangs are intentionally obtuse (BF, Malbolge), but i wanted something that's weird but readable, like you're reading instructions from a spellbook, which makes it incredibly easy to read and understand. like an anti-esolang? hmm...
github: https://github.com/sirbread/spellscript
docs: https://github.com/sirbread/spellscript/blob/main/resources/...
I think you should read some actual grimoires before developing this further. I suggest the Picatrix or the PGM as starting points. Maybe a copy of 777 as well.
Where is the surprise that it raises ire?
Magic can certainly interact with things commonly seen as religion - talking to gods, angels, demons, saints, ghosts, ancestors, and other non-physical entities - but it doesn't have to. You can cast a spell without ever mentioning a single deity. Chapman's Advanced Magick For Beginners discusses some of the techniques involved in this but skips others that make it much more likely for you to be able to say "this is what is going to happen now" and have the universe listen.
You can also have your magic deeply intertwined with your religion. Prayer is magic. A pantheon of gods or a list of angels, saints, or demons is a dictionary of specialists; ask this god for help with your problems involving going on a trip, ask this saint for help with finding a thing you lost, ask this demon for help with learning math. And part of how you make one of these entities more likely to lend a hand with your problem is by regularly saying hi to them and making some kind of offering, which is definitely getting into the territory of religion.