Magickal Glossary
This list is finally complete! I do believe that I have all the most important words that you will need to know. If I find anymore that I don't have I will add them though. So, study these words and try to get them memorized. :) If you don't understand these words, you won't understand some of the words in the Wiccan books you read because they are used a lot.
~*Bright Blessings*~
A
Adept:
An individual who through serious study and accomplishments is considered highly proficient in a particular magickal system.
Akasha Spirit:
The fifth element, the omnipresent spiritual power that permeates the universe.
Alchemy:
A branch of High Magick developed in the Middle Ages which sought to magickally and/or chemically turn lead into gold.
Altar:
A special, flat surface set aside exclusively for magickal workings or religious
acknowledgment.
Amulet:
A magickally charged object used to deflect specific, usually negative, energies. A protective object.
Ankh:
An Egyptian hieroglyphic widely used as a symbol of life, love, and reincarnation. It is a cross with a looped top.
Arcana:
The two halves of a tarot deck. The Major Arcana consists of 22 trumps, the Minor Arcana consists of 56 suit cards.
Asperger:
A bundle of fresh herbs or a perforated object used to sprinkle water during a ritual, for purificatory purposes.
Astral Plane:
A place which is generally conceptualized as an invisible parallel world which remains unseen from our own solid world of form.
Astral Travel/Projection:
The process of separating your astral body from your physical one to accomplish travel in the astral plane or dream time.
Astrology:
The study of and belief in the effects the movements and placements of planets and other heavenly bodies have on the lives and behavior of human beings.
Athame:
A double bladed ritual knife with a black handle. Used to direct power during ritual workings. Never used for physical cutting.
Aura:
The life-energy field which surrounds all living things.
B
Balefire:
A fire lit outdoors for magickal purposes. Balefires are traditional on Yule, Beltane and Midsummer.
Bane:
That which destroys life, which is poisonous, destructive, evil, dangerous.
Banish:
To magickally end something or exorcise unwanted entities. To rid the presence of.
B.C.E.:
Before Common Era. Synonymous with B.C. without religious bias.
Bells:
Often used as ritual tools. They can be used to invoke directional energies, to ring in the sunrise on a Sabbat, or to frighten away faeries and baneful spirits.
Besom:
A Witch’s broom.
Bind:
To magickally restrain something or someone.
Blood of the Moon:
A woman's menstrual cycle. If this cycle occurs over a full or New Moon she is far more powerful than during any other time of the month, as long as she acknowledges this strength within herself.
Book of Shadows (BOS):
The collection of information in book form for a Witch's reference. Another name for it would be grimoire.
Bolline:
A white handled knife used to cut herbs and such.
Burning Times:
It is said in reference to a historical time from around 1000CE through the 17th Century when it is said that over nine million people were tortured and burned by church and public officials on the assumption that they were the Christian version of Witches. Historians indicated that the majority of people tortured and murdered were woman and children.
C
Call:
Invoking Divine forces.
Cauldron:
Linked to witchcraft in the popular mind, this symbolizes the Goddess, the waters of rebirth.
C.E.:
Common Era. Synonymous with A.D. but without religious bias.
Censer:
A heat proof container in which incense in smouldered. An incense burner.
Chakras:
Seven major energy vortexes found in the human body. Each is usually associated with a color. They are: crown - white; third-eye - purple; throat - blue; chest - pink or green; navel - yellow; abdomen - orange; groin - red. Smaller vortexes are located in the hands and feet as well.
(Click here to check out my page on the Chakras.)
Chalice:
A ritual tool. It represents the female principals of creation.
Channeling:
A New Age practice wherein you allow a discarnate entity to "borrow" your body to speak to others either through automatic writing or verbally.
Charging:
To infuse an object with personal power.
Charms:
Object made and infused with magickal energy, and carried or placed somewhere to achieve a goal.
Circle of Power:
Ritual area created to contain raised energy that may be directed in spellwork.
Cleansing:
Removing negative energies from an object or space.
Cone of Power:
Psychic energy raised and focused by either an individual or group mind (coven) to achieve a definite purpose.
Consecration:
The act of blessing an object or place by instilling it with positive energy.
Coven:
A group of thirteen or fewer witches that work together in an organized fashion for positive magickal endeavors or to perform religious ceremonies.
Covenstead:
The meeting place of witches, often a fixed building or place where the witch can feel safe and at home.
Crone:
Aspect of the Goddess represented by the old woman. Symbolized by the waning moon, the carrion crow, the cauldron, the color black. Her Sabbats are Mabon and Samhain.
D
Days of Power:
See Sabbat. They can also be days triggered by astrological occurrences - your birthday, a woman's menstrual cycle, your dedication/initiation anniversary.
Dedication:
The dedication of a Witch is that process where the individual accepts the Craft as their path, and vows to study and learn all that is necessary to reach adeptship in a given tradition.
Deosil:
Clockwise movement during a ritual. Deosil is symbolic of life, positive magick, positive energies.
Divination:
The magickal art of using tools and symbols to gather information from the Collective Unconsciousness. This can be on people, places, things and events past, present, and future.
Divine Power:
The unmanifested, pure energy that exists within the Goddess and God. The life force, the ultimate source of all things.
Drawing Down the Moon:
A ritual performed during the Full Moon by witches to empower themselves and unite their essence with a particular deity, usually the Goddess.
Drawing Down the Sun:
Lesser-known and lesser-used companion ritual to Drawing Down the Moon in which the essence of the Sun God is drawn into the body of a male witch.
E
Earth Magick:
The energy that exists within stones, herbs, flames, wind, and other natural objects.
Element:
Usually counted as four: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Some Witches add Spirit into this category as well.
(Click here to check out my page on the Elements.)
Elementals:
Archetypical spirit beings associated with one of the four elements. Elementals are sometimes called Faeries.
Enchantment:
A magickal object that must be kept absolutely secret and hidden from all human eyes and affects a hidden aura. They must be charmed first. Gems and magickal writing are good items to use.
Esbat:
A ritual usually occurring on the Full Moon and dedicated to the Goddess in
her lunar aspect.
Evocation:
To call something out from within.
F
Familiar:
Witch's animal or spirit helper in magickal work. Familiars can be a family pet or entities created to portect your home.
Folklore:
Traditional sayings, cures, faerie tales, and folk wisdom of a particular locale which is separate from their mythology.
Folk Magick:
The Practice of projecting personal power, as well as the energies within natural objects such as herbs, and crystals, to bring about needed changes.
G
Gaea/Gaia:
Mother Earth.
God:
Masculine aspect of deity.
Goddess:
Feminine aspect of deity.
Grain Dolly:
Figure usually woven at Imbolc from dried sheaves of grain collected at the previous harvest. The dolly is traditionally burned at Yule and a new one made the following Imbolc.
Grimorie:
A magickal workbook containing ritual information, formulae, magickal properties of natural objects and preparation of ritual equipment. Often used interchangeably with Book of Shadows.
Grounding:
To disperse excess energy generated during magickal work by sending it into the earth. It also means the process of centering one's self in the physical world both before and after any ritual or astral experience.
Guardians:
Guardians of the Watchtowers or Four Quarters.
H
Hand Fasting:
A Pagan wedding.
Herbalism:
Art of using herbs to facilitate human needs both magickally and medicinally.
High Priestess:
The feminine leader of a coven or Wiccan organization and plays the role of Goddess in certain ceremonies.
High Priest:
The male leader of a coven or Wiccan organization and plays the role of the God in certain ceremonies.
Hiving Off:
This term is used for a small coven which splits off from a larger one. Sometimes this is done to keep the gatherings of a manageable size, other times covens split over philosophical differences.
I
Incense:
Ritual burning of herbs, oils, or other aromatic items to scent the air during acts
of magick and ritual, and to better help the witch attune to the goal of the working.
Initiation:
An experience that so transforms the individual that their concept of personal and worldly reality has been altered.
Invocation:
To bring something in from without.
K
Karma:
The belief that one's thoughts and deeds can either be counted against them or added to their spiritual path across several life times.
L
Left-Hand Path:
A term that points to those people who feel that they are justified in using magick for purposes that are not constructive to other human beings.
M
Macrocosm:
The world around us.
Magick:
The art and science of focusing your will and emotions to effect change both in the world around you and the world within you. Magick is neither good nor evil, positive or negative.
(You will see magick spelled with a "k" in order to show the difference between stage magic...and Witch's Magick.)
Magick Circle:
A circular boundary drawn in visionary blue flames or white light that protects the Witch from outside forces while conducting ritual magick.
Meditation:
Reflection, contemplation- turning inward toward the self, or outward toward Deity or nature. A quiet time in which the practitioner may either dwell upon particular thoughts or symbols, or allow them to come unbidden.
Microcosm:
The world within us.
Mother:
The aspect of the Goddess representing motherhood, mid-life, and fertility. She is represented by the full moon, the egg, the colors red and green. Her Sabbats are Midsummer and Lughnasadh.
Myth:
Cycles Body of lore about any land or people that makes up their mythology.
N
New Age:
The mixing of metaphysical practices with a structured religion.
O
Occult:
Literal meaning is "hidden" and is broadly applied to a wide range of metaphysical topics which lie outside the accepted realm of mainstream theologies.
Occultist:
One who practices and or studies a variety of occult subjects.
P
Pagan/Neo-Pagan:
General term for followers of Wicca and other magickal, shamanistic, and polytheistic Earth-based religions. Also used to refer to pre-Christian religious and magickal systems.
Paganing:
When a baby is presented in circle to the Goddess and God, and given a craft name which s/he will keep until about 13 and can choose their own at their Coming of Age celebration.
Pantheon:
A collection or group of Gods and Goddesses in a particular religious or mythical structure.
Past-Life Regression:
Act of using meditation or guided meditation to pass through the veil of linear time and perceive experiences encountered in a previous existence.
Pendulum:
A divinatory device consisting of a string attached to a heavy object, such as a quartz crystal, root, or ring. The free end of the string is held in the hand, the elbows steadied against a flat surface, and a question is asked. The movement of the heavy object's swings determines the answer. It is a tool which contacts the psychic mind.
Pentacle:
A circle surrounding a five-pointed, upright star. Worn as a symbol of a Witch's belief and used in magickal workings and ceremonies.
Pentagram:
The basic interlaces five-pointed star, visualized with one point up. It represents the five elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. It is a symbol of power and protection.
Personal Power:
The energy which sustains our bodies. It originates within the Goddess and God. We first absorb it from our biological mother within the womb, and later from food, water, the Moon and Sun, and other natural objects.
Priestess:
A female dedicated to both the service of her chosen deity(ies) and humankind.
Priest:
A male dedicated to both the service of his chosen deity(ies) and humankind.
Projective Hand:
The hand thought to be the point through which personal power is sent from the body. Normally the hand used for manual activities such as writing, dialing the phone, etc. It is also the hand in which tools such as the athame and wand are held.
Psychic Mind:
The subconscious, or unconscious mind, in which we receive psychic impressions. It is at work when we sleep, dream, and meditate. It is our direct link with the Divine, and with the larger, nonphysical world around us.
R
Receptive Hand:
The hand through which energy is received into the body. The left hand in right-handed persons, the reverse for left-handed persons
Reincarnation:
The belief that one has lived before in another lifetime.
Ritual:
A focused mental/physical ceremony to either homor or thank one's chosen pantheon, or to perform a specific magickal working or act.
Runes:
A set of symbols that are used both in divination and magickal workings. They can function as an alphabet and are useful in vision questing, dream recall and controlling your environment.
S
Sabbat:
A witch's festival.
Scrying:
A divination method using specific tools such as a bowl of inked water, a mirror, crystal ball, etc. where the diviner "sees" either normal visual pictures, mental visual pictures, or information without any pictures at all.