from The Wicca Handbook
by Eileen Holland
Akashic Records: The astral record of
everything
that has ever been done.
amulet: Something that is worn for
protection,
usually jewelry.
ankh: Ancient Egyptian symbol of life.
It looks like a cross with a loop at the top.
astral projection, AP: An altered state,
often achieved via trance, in which the consciousness is freed
from
the physical body.
athame: Ceremonial knife used in magic
and rituals. In Classical Wicca an athame is only used ritually
and
must have a black handle.
aura: The bio-energy field of a living
creature.
banishing: A magical working performed
to remove evil, threats, darkness, negativity or people embodying
those qualities.
Book of Shadows: A witch's handwritten
book of spells, rituals and magical information.
botanica: A Santerian shop that sells
herbs, charms, candles, religious statues, etc.
bruja/brujo: Spanish for witch. (j is
pronounced like h)
the Burning Times: The historical period
in Europe when Christians persecuted and tortured witches and alleged
witches.
Thousands were put to death, usually by hanging or burning at the
stake.
chakra: Any one of the seven energy nodes
of the human body.
chalice: A ceremonial goblet that
represents
the element of Water.
charm: A magical object, action, or
incantation
that effects magic, averts evil or danger.
Circle: A group, less formal than a coven,
of witches who practice, worship, celebrate or study together.
clairvoyance: The psychic ability to know
things beyond your immediate knowledge (also called ESP and the second
sight).
coming out of the broom closet: Living
openly as a witch.
consecration: A ceremony that dedicates
a thing or place for sacred use.
corn spirit: The spirit of a grain crop,
embodied in an entity, person or animal.
coven: An organized group of witches who
practice, worship and/or celebrate together. Covens traditionally
consist
of no more then 13 members, are lead by a High Priestess with
High
Priest.
Covenstead: A place where a coven of
witches
usually meets, often the home of the High Priest/ess.
the Craft: Witchcraft.
Croning: A ceremony held to mark a woman's
transition from Mother to Crone, the final phase of a woman's
life.
crystallomancy: Divination by crystals,
usually a crystal ball.
dedicant: A new witch in the period of
study and apprenticeship before initiation. The traditional period for
this is a year and a day.
deosil: Clockwise.
divination: Any practice that reveals
the future or unknown things. Tarot cards, runes and crystal
balls
are all means of divination.
eclectic: A witch who works with deities
from or worships within more than one culture or mythological
system.
Elder: 1. A witch who has attained a
position
of respect in the Craft. - 2. A coven member who has attained an
advanced
degree of initiation.
Esbat: 1. Coven meetings held at the full
moon. - 2. A Lesser Sabbat, celebrating Spring Equinox, Summer
Solstice,
Autumn Equinox or Winter Solstice.
evocation: Calling upon spirits,
elementals
or other entities.
faery: Alternative spelling for fairy,
to distinguish it as a belief system.
familiar: An animal, usually a cat, with
whom a witch establishes a special psychic/magical relationship.
Familiars offer help, companionship, protection, and usually
unconditional
love as well.
Five-fold Bond: A ritual tie that links
wrists, neck and ankles.
Fivefold Kiss: A ritual greeting of eight
kisses between witches of opposite genders in Classical Wicca, on
the feet, knees, pelvis, breast and lips.
flying ointment: A paste, usually
containing
herbs, that is applied to the skin to aid in astral projection.
folk magic: A culture's traditional
magical
practices.
Gardnerian:1. Of or relating to Gerald
Gardner, who is credited with reviving Wicca in modern times. -
2.
Any formal Wiccan tradition that follows Gerald Gardner’s system.
grimoire: Book of Shadows, a handwritten
book of spells and magical information.
granny woman: A female shaman, usually
of the Appalachian Mountain region of the U.S.
hex: 1. n. A spell, usually negative;
the evil eye; a curse. - 2. v. To cast such a spell.
hedgewitch: A walker-between-worlds, a
non-Wiccan witch with a shamanistic path.
Hidden Children: Witches, who must often
keep their religion secret, are the hidden children of the
Goddess.
High Priest/ess: A witch who has
attained a tradition's highest degrees of initiation and leads a
coven.
hoodoo: African-American folk magic
tradition.
HP/HPS: High Priest/High Priestess.
I Ching; The Book of Changes: Chinese
system of divination that uses yarrow stalks or coins inscribed
with
hexagrams.
incubus (pl. incubi): A malevolent male
entity that takes sexual possession of sleeping women.
invocation: Calling upon a god/dess, such
as for help or to empower a spell.
juju: West African word for magick.
karma: That which accrues and is carried
over from one lifetime to the next one. Karma can be positive or
negative, according to what sort of lives you have lead.
kitchen witch: A witch who mainly uses
practical magic centering on the home, hearth and family.
kundalini: Dormant bio-energy resident
in the base of the human spine, in the root chakra. Kundalini
energy
is released through yoga and other practices for enlightenment,
intelligence
and spiritual insights.
libation: A liquid offering to a god/dess,
such as wine or milk. Libations are usually poured out upon the
earth,
but may be poured into a fire or offered in another way.
mage, magus (pl. magi): 1. Someone who
is adept at magic but not a witch. - 2. In some Wiccan traditions, a
male
witch who has attained more than the first level of initiation.
magick: 1. Ceremonial or ritual magic;
high magick. - 2. A spelling for magic used by some witches and other
practitioners
to distinguish it from the illusions and prestidigitation
of
stage magicians.
Maiden: 1. The stage of a woman's life
between menarche and motherhood or mentoring. - 2. The assistant High
Priestess
in a traditional coven.
Matrix: I use this word to describe the
Universe as the Goddess-web-of-life.
medicine bag: A Native American shaman's
pouch, usually containing herbs, stones, feathers, etc.
medium: A person who is able to channel
spirits or other entities. An African-American word for magic.
mojo bag: A small bag, usually containing
charms or talismans, that is worn around the neck for power,
protection,
etc.
necromancy: Divination via the spirits
of the dead.
novice: Someone who has just begun
studying
the Craft.
OBE: Out-of-body experience; astral
projection;
lucid dreaming.
Ogham: An ancient Celtic magical
alphabet.
Old Soul: A person who has been
reincarnated
several times.
omen: Anything which may be interpreted
as a sign, positive or negative, from the Universe.
oracle: A place or method for divination
by means of deities, as interpreted by a priest/ess. Methods
include
the flight of birds, the sound of splashing water or rustling
leaves.
The most famous oracle of the ancient world was that of Apollo at
Delphi.
orisha: Any deity in the Santerian
religion.
Ouija board: A board printed with letters
and simple words that is used for communicating with spirits. It
is operated by two or more people touching a paten that moves
around
the board pointing to letters or words.
pentacle: 1. A 5-pointed star inside a
circle. - 2. One of the suits of a Tarot deck.
pentagram: 1. A pentacle that is written,
printed or drawn. - 2. A 5-pointed star inside a circle.
postulant; neophyte: A new member of a
coven, someone who has not yet been initiated.
praña: The Hindu word for
bio-energy,
the vital force shared by every living creature.
poppet: A humanoid figure that is used
to represent someone for a spell or other magical working.
psychometry: Drawing psychic impressions
from objects while handling them.
psychopomp: A god/dess who guides
souls to the Underworld or afterlife.
reincarnation:\ Transmigration of the
soul; metempsychosis; rebirth in another body after death.
runes: 1. The ancient Nordic alphabet,
marked on stones or sticks and used for divination .- 2.
Magical
chants or songs. - 3. Any magical alphabet; the stones, cards or sticks
on which it is printed.
Sabbats: The eight annual Wiccan festivals.
Sands of Time: Sand taken from between
the paws of the Great Sphinx in Egypt, used to make spells and
charms
permanent.
Santeria: An Afro-Caribbean earth religion
that joins Yoruban god/desses with Catholic saints.
scrying: Divination by means of gazing,
such as into water, a dark mirror, a crystal ball or a bowl of black
ink.
Seance: A gathering of people, usually
seated around a table, for the purpose of communicating with
spirits.
shaman: ,A priest and medicine man,
usually
of Native American or Siberian peoples. Shamanic practice
includes
magic, healing, shapeshifting, communication with ancestral
spirits
and divination.
shamanka, shamaness: Words sometimes used
for female shamans.
shapeshifting/skinwalking: The shamanic
practice, often aided by drugs, drumming and/or dance, of
mentally
assuming animal form.
sheikh/sheikha: Modern Egyptian Arabic
words for magical adepts.
sigil: An occult or mystical sign, a paper
talisman.
skyclad: Ritual nudity. Some Wiccan
traditions
insist on skyclad worship.
solitary; solitaire: A witch who practices
alone, without a coven.
sorcerer/sorceress: 1. (traditional) A
person who practices black magic, usually by aid of malevolent
spirits.
- 2. (modern) Term used by some magic-users to differentiate
themselves
from witches.
succubus (pl. succubi): A malevolent
female
entity that takes sexual possession of sleeping men.
Strega; Stregheria: An Italian magical
tradition.
Summerlands: The place where we rest after
death, between incarnations.
synchronicity: A meaningful coincidence.
talisman: A magical object, usually one
made or carved at an astrological moment suitable to its purpose.
Tantra: A Hindu path based on kundalini
yoga and sex magic as ways to enlightenment.
the Tarot: An ancient system of
cards used for divination.
telekinesis: The ability to move objects
with your mind (also called psychokinesis, PK). Telekinesis is a
very rare gift that usually manifests accidentally when a person
is angry or upset. It is most often seen in adolescents and fades
with age.
third eye: The chakra in the middle of
the forehead.
totem animal: An animal which
represents
a person, tribe or other group.
voodoo; Voudoun; Voudu: Afro-Caribbean
faith with both right- and left-hand paths. Like witches they worship
various
god/desses , use magick as part of their
religion,
and are the subject of superstitions and misinformation.
warlock: An old term for a male witch
that no one uses any more. Warlocks were men who pretended to be
witches
in order to penetrate covens and betray witches during the
Burning
Terms.
Wheel of the Year: The annual cycle of
the sun, the moon, the seasons and the zodiac.
white witch: A witch on a right-hand path.
widdershins: Counter-clockwise
witch doctor: African shaman.
witch's ball; witch ball: 1. A mass of
dried entwined herbs blown about by the wind; any small
tumbleweed.
- 2. A glass ball with a mottled surface that is hung in a window
to
thwart witches and trap their spells. - 3. A fancy dress party attended
by witches.
witch's bottle: A sealed bottle
placed in the house or buried on the property for protection.
There
are many ways to make a witch's bottle. Some witches use the
detritus
of the year: broken pottery, rusted nails, junk mail, etc.
Witches
sometimes add something personal like their hair, nail clippings,
urine,
a bloody bandage or tampon. This sort of bottle is always buried,
usually at Samhain (for the new year). Another type is a bottle
filled
with salt and sugar, and/or herbs for blessings like protection,
happiness, prosperity, and charms to avert specific threats. This
type of bottle is secreted somewhere in the home.
witch's ladder: 1. A type of knot magic
in which charms are knotted or braided with specific magical
intention
into cords, making a powerful talisman. - 2. A cord with 40 knots in it
or a string of 40 beads, used as a meditation device or aid to
concentration.
Witch Queen: A High Priestess whose coven
has hived off two or more new covens.
wizard: Someone who practices magic but
is not a witch.
wort; wortcraft: Herb; herbalism.
yin/yang: The opposite but balancing male
and female principles. Yin is female (Moon) energy, negative and
passive.
Yang is male (Sun) energy, positive and active.
Yoni: The female genitalia as a sacred
symbol of life, creation, fertility, sexuality, the Goddess, etc.
