Wiccan Terminology

Wiccan Terminology

AKASHA: The omnipresent spiritual power that permeates the universe. It is the energy out of which the Elements formed.

ASPERGER: This is used for purificatory purposes. It is a bundle of fresh herbs or a perforated object used to sprinkle water during or preceding a Ritual.

BALEFIRE: A fire lit for magical purposes, usually outdoors. A balefire is traditional on Yule, Beltane and Midsummer.

BANE: That which destroys life, which is poisonous, destructive, evil, dangerous.

CHARGE: To infuse an object with personal power.

CONSCIOUS MIND: The analytical, materially-based, rational half of our consiousness.

DIVINATION: The magical art of discovering the unknown by interpreting random patterns or symbols through the use of tools such as, tarot cards, runes, smoke, clouds, etc. Divination contacts the psychic mind by drowsing the conscious mind through ritual and observation or of manipulation of tools.

DIVINE POWER: The unmanifested, pure energy that exists within the Goddess and God. The life force, the ultimate source of all things.

ELEMENTS: Earth, Air, Fire, Water. These four essences are the building blocks of the universe. Everything that exists (or has potential to exist) contains one or more of these energies.

EVOCATION: Calling up spirits or other non-physical entities, either to visible appearance or invisible attendance.

HANDFASTING: A Wiccan, Pagan or Gypsy wedding.

INITIATION: A process whereby an individual is introduced or admitted into a group, interest, skill or religion.

INVOCATION: An appeal or petition to a higher power (or powers), such as the Goddess and God. A prayer. Invocation is actually a method of establishing conscious ties with those aspects of the Goddess and God that dwell within us.

MAGIC CIRCLE: A sphere constructed of personal power in which Wiccan rituals are usually enacted. The term refers to the circle that marks the sphere's penetration of the ground, for it extends both above and below it. It is created through visualization and magic.

MEDITATION: Reflection, contemplation, turning inward toward the self or outward toward Deity or nature. A quiet time in which the practitioner may dwell upon particular thoughts or symbols, or allow them to come unbidden.

MEGALITH: A huge stone monument or structure. Stonehenge is perhaps the best-known example of megalithic construction.

PERSONAL POWER: That energy which sustains our bodies. It ultimately originates from the Goddess and God. We release personal power during stress, exercise, sex, conception and childbirth. Magic is often a movement of personal power for a specific goal.

POLARITY: The concept of equal, opposite energies. Universal balance.

PROJECTIVE HAND: The hand that is normally used for manual activities such as writing, etc. It is symbolically thought to be the point at which personal power is sent from the body. In ritual, personal power is visualized as streaming out from the palm or fingers of the hand vor various magical goals.

PSYCHIC MIND: The subconscious or unconscious mind, in which we receive psychic impulses. The psychic mind is at work when we sleep, dream and meditate. It is our direct link with the Goddess and God and with the larger, non-physical world around us.

PSYCHISM: The act of being consciously psychic, in which the psychic mind and conscious mind are linked and working in harmony.

RECEPTIVE HAND: The non-dominant hand. This is the hand through which energy is received into the body.

RITUAL: Ceremony. A specific form of movement, manipulation of objects or inner processes designed to produce desired effect. In religion, ritual is geared toward union with the divine. In magic, it produces a specific state of consciousness which allows a person to move energy toward needed goals. A spell is a magical ritual.

SCRY: To gaze at or into an object such as a crystal sphere, pool of water, reflections, a candle flame, etc., to still the conscious mind and to contact the psychic mind. This allows the scryer to become aware of possible events prior to their actual occurrence, as well as of previous or distant events through other than normally accepted senses. A form of divination.

SPELL: A magical ritual, usually non-religious in nature and often accompanied by spoken words.

TRILITHON: A stone arch made from two upright slabs with one lying atop these.

VISUALIZATION: The process of forming mental images. Magical visualization consists of forming images of needed goals during ritual. Visualization is also used to direct personal power and natural energies during magic for various purposes.

WITCH: One who practices witchcraft. A practitioner of the remnants of pre-Christian folk magic, particularly that relating to herbs, healing, wells, rivers and stones. This term was deliberately altered to denote demented, dangerous, supernatural beings who practiced destructive magic and who threatened Christianity. This change was a political, monetary and sexist move on the part of organized religion, not a change in the practices of witches.

WITCHCRAFT: The craft of the witch - magic, especially magic utilizing personal power in conjunction with the energies within stones, herbs, colors and other natural objects. While this may have spiritual overtones, witchcraft, using this definition, isn't a religion.

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