Wiccan Alphabet

Common Terms & Phrases dictionary
Aboriginal: Pagan tradition of the native Australian people.

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 base metals into gold.

Altar: A special, flat surface set aside exclusively for magickal workings or religious acknowledgement.

Amulet: A magickally charged object which deflects specific, usually negative energies. A protective object.

Ankh: An Egyptitian heiroglyphic 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 (Sometimes called the lesser Arcana).

Aspect: The particular principle or part of the Creative Life Force being worked with or acknowledged at any one time.

Asperger: A bundle of fresh herbs or a preforated object used to sprinkle water during or preceding ritual, for purification 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 seperating yor stral 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 cleansed and concecrated ritual blade. Usually double edged, and black handled. It is never used to cut anything on the physical plane. Pronounced several ways: Ah-THAM-ee, ATH-ah-may, ah-THAW-may

Aura: The life-energy field which surrounds all living things.

Auttomatic writing: Form of divination where the channeler uses a pen, paper, and an altered state of consciousness to receive messages.

Balefire: A fire lit for magickal purposes, usually outdoors/ They are traditional on Yule, Beltane, and Midsummer.

Bane: That which distroys life, which is poisonous, destructive, 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.

Bi-Location: A type of astral projection during which you maintain awareness of your present surroundings.

Bind: To magickally restrain something or someone.

Blood Of The Moon: A woman's menstural cycle. Should this cycle occur on a Full moon 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:A witch's book of spells, ritual, magickal lore. Much akin to a magickal cookbook. Also known as a BOS.

Boline:A white-handled knife, used in magick and ritual for purposes such as cutting herbs or piercing a pomegranate.

Burning Times: Reference to a historical time from around 1000 C.E. through the 17th century when it is said that up to nine million people were tortured and burned by church and public officials on the assumption that they were the Christian version of Witches. This turned into an extremely profitable venture, as all land and property was seized from the accused individual and portions given to the accuser ( in reward fashion) and the remainder seized by the church officials. Historians indicate that the majority of people tortured and murdered were women and children.

Call:Invoking Divine forces.

Cauldron:Linked to witchcraft in the popular mind, this symbolizes the Goddess, the waters of rebirth.

C.E.: Common Eras, Synonymous with A.D. but without religious bias.

Censer: A heat-proof container in which incense is burned. It is associated with the element Air.

Ceremonial Magick: A highly codified magickal tradition based upon Kabbala, the Jewish-Gnostic mystical teachings.

Chakras: Seven major 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.

Chalice: A ritual tool. It represents the female principles 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.

Chaplet: A crown for the head usually made of flowers and worn at Beltane.

Charge: The Originally written in modern form by Doreen Valiente, it is a story of the message from Goddess to Her children.

Charging: To infuse an object with personal power.

Charms: Either an amulet or talisman that has been charmed by saying an incantation over it and instilling it with energy for a specific task.

Circle: Sacred space wherein all magick is to be worked and all ritual contained. It both holds ritual energy until the witch is ready to release it, and provides protection for the witch.

Cleansing: Removing negative energies from an object or space.

Collective unconsciousness: Term used to describe the sentient connection of all living things, past and present. See also Akashic Records.

Coming Of Age Ritual: At age 13 for boys, and at the time of a girl's first menses, Pagan children are seen as spiritual adults. The ritual celebrates their new maturity. Generally this is the age when they are permitted membership in covens.

Cone Of Power: Psychic energy raised and focused by either an individual or group mind (coven) to achieve definite purpose.

Conscious Mind: The analytical, materially-based, rational half of our consciousness. The part of our mind that is at work while we balance out checkbooks, theorize, communicate, and perform other acts related to the physical world.

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.

Craft:Witchcraft.

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.

Cross-Quarter-Days:Refers to Sabbats not falling on the solstices or equinoxes.

Days of Power:See Sabbat. They can also be days triggered by astrological occurences - your birthday, a woman's menstrual cycle, your dedication/initiation anniversary.

Dedication:The process where an individual accepts the craft as their path and vows to study and learn all that is necessary to reach adept ship. It is a conscious preparation to accept something new into your life and stick with it, regardless of the highs and lows that may follow.

Deosil: Clockwise, the direction in which the shadow on a sundial moves as the Sun "moves" across the sky. Doesil is symbolic of life, positive magick, positive energies.

Dirk:Ritual knife of the Scottish tradition

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 force of all things.

Dowsing:The divinitory art of using a pendulum or stick to find the actual location of a person, place, thing, or element.

Drawing down the moon: a ritual preformed 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 a male witch

Duality: the opposite of polarity When used as a religious term it separates two opposites such as good and evil places those characteristics into two god forms

Earth Magick: the energy that exists within stones, herbs, flames, wind , and other natural objects

Earth Plane: metaphor for your normal state of consciousness, the everyday world we live in

Elements: earth, air, fire, and water

Elementals: archetypical spirit beings associated with one of the four elements sometimes called faeries

Eleven: secretive traditions of the craft which works with elementals

Eostre's Eggs: colored, decorated eggs of Ostara, named for the goddess Eostre

Esbat: a ritual occurring during a full moon and dedicated to the moon goddess

Evocation: to call something from within

Faerie Burgh: mound of earth that covers a faerie colony

Familiar: an animal that has a connection with a witch or her family can also dwell on the astral plane

Fascination: a mental effort to control another person or animals mind a.k.a mindbending

Folklore: traditional sayings, stories, cures, and wisdom which is separate from mythology

Folk Magick: the practice of projecting personal powerand energies within herbs and crystals to bring about needed change

Gaea/Gaia: mother earth

God: male form of deity

Goddess: female form of deity

Grain Dolly: figure woven at Imbolc from dried grains collected at the previous harvest traditionally burned at Yule

Great Rite: symbolic sexual union of the goddess and god that is enacted at Beltane symbolizes the primal act of creation

Green Man: another name for the god

Grimorie: a magickal workbook containing information of ones journey thru witchcraft

Grounding: to disperse excess energy created during magical works by sending it into the earth also a means of centering ones self in the physical world before a ritual

Guardians: the four quarters

Hand Fasting: pagan wedding

Herbalism: act of using herbs to facilitate human needs both magickally and medicinally

Higher Self: that part of us which connects our corporeal minds to the "Collective Unconscious" and with the divine knowledge of the universe

Hiving Off: this term is used for a small coven which splits off from a larger one

Horned God: NOT SATAN!! usually the form of a man with stag antlers

Initiation: a process whereby an individual is introduced or admitted into a coven usually a ritual

Incense: ritual burning of herbs, oils, or other aromatic items to scent the air during acts or ritual

Invocation: to bring something in from without

Jew-itch: name coined by some pagans of jewish descent who are seeking the pagan roots of their religion

Karma: the belief that ones thoughts and actions can either be counted against them or added to their spiritual path across several life times

Kabbala: mystical teaching from the Jewish-Gnostic tradition

Labrys: a double headed ax which symbolizes the Goddess in her lunar aspect origins from crete

Left-Hand Path: refers to the practice of using magick to control others to change the will of others for personal gain Dark Magick

Libation: portion of food given at a ritual to deity, nature spirit, or ghost

Macrocosm: the world around us

Magick: the projection of natural energies to bring about needed change Energy exists in all things : us, plants, stones,colors, sounds, movement

Magick Circle: a sphere constructed of personal power in which ritual are usually performed within it the witch is protected from outside forces

Magickal System: the basic set of guidelines relating to the worship of specific Gods and Goddesses or cultural traditions

Male Mysteries: pagan study which attempts to reclaim the power and mystery of the old Gods of for todays pagan males

Matrifocal: term used to denote pre-patriarchal life when family clans centered around and lived near or on clan matriarch

May Pole: sexual symbol of Beltane representing the phallus

Meditation: reflection, contemplating, a quiet time in which a practitioner may either dwell upon particular thoughts or symbols or allow them to come unbidden

Megalith: a huge stone monument or structure Stonehenge

Menhir: a huge stone probably erected by early people for spiritual reasons

Microcosm: the world within us

Monotheism: belief in one supreme deity who has no other forms or aspects

Mother: the aspect of the Goddess representing motherhood, mid life, and fertility represented by the full moon, the egg, the colors red and green sabats are midsummer, and Lughnasadh

Myth: lore about any land or people

New Age: the mixing of metaphysical practices and structured religion

New Religion: pagan term used in reference to Christianity

Nursery Rhyme: cute poems supposedly written for the amusement of children much pagan lore was written into these during the burning times

Occult: literally meaning hidden

Occultist: one who practices a variety of occult practices

Ogham: Celtic runes ancient alphabet of Celtic people

Old Ones: a term which refers to all aspects of the Goddess and God

Old Religion: a name for paganism as it predates Christianity by at least 20,000 yrs

Pagan / Neo Pagan: general term for followers of wicca and other magickal or shamanistic or polytheistic earth based religions

Paganing: when a baby is presented in circle to the goddess and god and given a craft name which she /he will keep until about 13 and can choose their own in a coming of age ceremony

Pantheon: a collection or group of Gods and Goddesses in a particular religious or mythical structure

Passion over Ritual: ritual observed when a loved one has died

Past Life Regression: act of using meditation to pass thru the veil of of linear time and perceive experiences encountered in a previous existence

Path Working: using astral projection to accomplish a goal

Patriarchal: term used to apply to the world since the beginning of a male dominated society

Pendulum: a divinitory device consisting of a string attached to a heavy object such as a crystal or ring or root. The movement of the object determines the answer to the question

Pentacle: the circle surrounding a five pointed upright star worn as a symbol of witches beliefs many consider the inverted to be a blasphemy of their faith and is associated with satanism

Pentagram: an interlaced five point star with one point up it represents the five elements Earth , Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit it is a symbol of protection

Personal Power: the energy which sustains our bodies

Polarity: the concept of equal opposite energies Yin and Yang is an example

Polytheism: belief in the existence of many unrelated deities

Poppets: anthropomorphic dolls used to represent certain humans in a spell

Projective Hand: the hand one uses for writing also the hand used to send power from the body

Psychic Mind: the unconscious mind at work when we sleep or dream our direct link to the Divine

Psychism: the act of being consciously psychic

Receptive Hand: the non dominant hand in which you receive energies

Rede: basic code or laws of witchcraft

reincarnation: the process of repeated incarnations in human form to allow evolution of the soul

Ritual: a specific form of movement a manipulation of objects or inner processes designed to produce desired effects

Ritual consciousness: a specific alternate state of awareness necessary to the successful practice of magick

ritual tools: general name for magickal tools used by witch

Runes: a set of symbols used in both divination and magick

Sabat: a witch's festival

Scourge: small device made of leather or hemp that resembles a whip and is used in flagellation rites

Scrying: a method of divination

Shaman: a man or woman who has obtained knowledge of the subtler diminsions of earth

Shamanism: the practice of shamans

Shillelagh: a staff traditionally made of blackthorn wood

Sigil: a magickal seal or sign

Simple Feast: a ritual meal shared with the Goddess and God

Sky Father: shamanistic in origin the male sky god

Skyclad: the act of ritual in the nude NOT sexual in nature

Solitary: pagan who worships alone

Spell: a magickal ritual accompanied by spoken words with a specific need

Spiral: a symbol of coming into being

Staff: ritual tool which corresponds with the wand or athame

Stang: a two pronged trident from Rome used in place of a wand

subconscious mind: part of the mind which functions below the levels we are able to access in the course of a normal working day

Summerland: the pagan land of the dead

Sympathetic Magick: the concept of likes attract most common way spells are worked

Talisman: an object charged with personal power to attract a specific force or energy

Tarot cards: set of 78 cards which feature pictures and symbols used to connect the diviner with the collective unconscious

Threefold Law: karmic principle that energy that is released is returned three times over

Tradition: a branch of paganism or wicca

Trilithon: a stone arch made of two upright slabs with one laying across the top

Triple Goddess: one goddess in three aspects, maiden , Mother , Crone

Virgin: youngest aspect of the triple goddess also known as the maiden represents the waxing moon colors are white and blue

Vision Quest: using astral projection also called path working

Visualization: the process of forming mental images

Wand: ritual tool brought to the craft from ritual magick

Warlock: reference to a male witch means oath-breaker or liar very offensive term

Web Weaving: networking

Wheel of the Year: one full cycle of the seasonal year

Wicca: a modern pagan religion with spiritual roots in the earliest expressions of reverence for nature

Widdershins: counter clockwise used for dispersing negative energies

Witchcraft: magick, mostly using personal powers in conjunction with stones and herbs

Yggdrasil: one of the best known tree of life symbols