Glossary
Akasha: The fifth and greatest element, formed by the combination of the ancient elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water that were considered in classical times and by alchemists to be the components of all life and matter. Also sometimes called Spirit or Ether.
Akashic records: The collective memory bank on the spirit plane said to hold the experiences of all people, past, present and future.
Alban Arthuran: The festival of the mid-winter solstice, named after King Arthur, the legendary Sun King, which takes place on or about 21 December in the northern hemisphere.
Alpha waves: Brain waves, cultivated in psychic work, that are associated with a very relaxed state of mind in which it is possible for intuitive faculties to find expression.
Amulet: A charm carried on a person or placed in a house to offer protection against danger and illness. When charged with healing energies, it becomes a talisman and can attract health and good fortune.
Anima: The term coined by Carl Gustav Jung to represent the female power within men as well as women.
Animus: Jung's term for the male power within women and men. Ankh: An Egyptian symbol of eternal life.
Archangels: Higher orders of angels, celestial beings featuring in the cosmologies of the three major religions of the Western world, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, as well as many other world religions.
Athame: A double-edged knife used in formal ritual magick.
Auric field/aura: The personal energy field around all animate life, visible to clairvoyants.
Beltain: The Celtic festival of summer, beginning on 30 April and lasting for three days.
Bicarmel mind: A way of thinking that uses both hemispheres of the mind, the logical and the intuitive, rather than the left (logical) hemisphere predominating as is normal in adults.
Book of Shadows: A book of reference containing magical spells, herbs, flowers, incenses and moon phases, etc.
Caduceus: The staff of the classical messenger of the gods (Hermes to the Greeks and Mercury to the Romans), shaped like two snakes, entwined in a double circle.
Cardinal: Principal, as in the four cardinal directions set round a circle - North, South, East, and West. Also a term applied to the astrological signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, because when the Sun moved into these signs it marked the start of a new season. Those born under a cardinal sign manifest this quality as a desire to initiate and to take command of people and situations.
Cauldron of Undry: A magical cauldron, one of the original four Celtic treasures, that could provide an endless supply of nourishment and had great healing and restorative powers. Believed by some scholars to be the inspiration for the Holy Grail.
Censer: A container for granular incense that is burned on charcoal. Also called a thurible.
Chalice: A cup or goblet made of glass, crystal, pottery or metal, traditionally silver, used in ceremonies to represent the Water element and to hold wine, juice or water.
Charge: A declaration of the power and benevolence of the Goddess (or god) in Wicca, similar to the Creed in other religions. It is spoken usually in the first person and is sometimes believed to be the words of the Goddess channelled through the speaker.
Ch'i: The invisible life force, the flow of positive energy through everything, promoting growth, health and vitality.
Clairaudience: A natural psychic ability to hear sounds beyond the range of the physical sounds and the physical ear, sometimes from other dimensions. Mediums often communicate with spirits by hearing their voices and so can convey messages to relatives or friends in whom the ability is not so developed.
Coven: A meeting of any group, numbering from two to 13 practitioners, who meet together to perform magick.
Deosil: Clockwise, or, literally 'in the direction of the Sun'. The direction used in creating a circle, in all forms of attracting magic and for giving healing energies. See also Widdershins.
Devas: The angelic beings who watch and direct the natural world. In formal magick, one Deva rules over each segment of a magical circle and one of the four elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth. Also known as the Devic Lords of the Watchtower.
Dhoop: An incense stick like a slender rope, from India.
The Divinity: Generic term for the ultimate source of goodness, light and creation.
Djinn: An invisible, shapeshifting creature of fire and air, originating in the Middle East. In Islamic tradition, djinns live in a parallel universe and so are invisible, created, it is said, before mortals from smokeless fire.
Druids: Celtic high priests and wise men (and women) who preserved a common culture, religion, history, laws, scholarship, healing, magic and science amongst the disparate Celtic tribes. There is historical evidence of Druids in Ireland, England, Wales and Gaul and it would seem that they also held sway in the Celtic settlements of Spain, Italy, Galatia and the Danube valley, although under a different name.
Eightfold Wheel of the Year: An ancient magical and spiritual division of the year, formalised by the Celts, though possibly dating back to the first agricultural societies.
Elementals: The forces or energies that in nature and magick give shape to living things and bring thoughts and desires into actuality.
Equinox: The two times of the year when day and night are equal -namely, the spring equinox around 21 March (21 September in the southern hemisphere) and the autumn equinox around 22 September (22 March in the southern hemisphere). In Celtic myth these were the times when the twin gods of light and darkness fought each other for control.
Esbat: A monthly coven meeting traditionally held 13 times a year during each full moon.
Evil eye: A way of transmitting negativity to another person, not as a deliberate curse, but through feelings of envy, jealousy or resentment.
Evocation: The summoning-up of angels (and sometimes demons) in order to bind them to perform tasks.
Fixed: In astrology, a term applied to the signs of Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio because the Sun enters them in the middle of a season. Those born under these signs exhibit stability and a tendency to continue in a predetermined path. See also Cardinal, Mutable.
The Goddess: The archetype or source energy of the feminine ultimate power or principle. All the named goddesses are aspects of particular qualities of the Goddess in different cultures.
Grail: The chalice that Christ used at the Last Supper, in which His blood was collected after the crucifixion.
Grail guardians: Nine maidens, sometimes associated with the guardians of sacred wells or with the nine priestesses of the Isle of Avalon who included Morgan le Fay, Arthur's half-sister, and Vivien, the Lady of the Lake in Arthurian tradition who accompanied Arthur on his funeral barge. In some Grail legends, the Knights Templar were the traditional guardians of various holy relics, including the Grail Cup, that were brought back from the Crusades.
Grail treasures: The main elemental ritual items in magick, associated with the treasures of the Celts, and having parallels in Christianity.
Handfastings: A popular marriage rite among Wiccans, named after the focal point of the rite in which a couple's right hands are loosely joined by a cord to symbol the uniting of the two people, body, mind and soul.
Hedge witches: Lone witches; the name comes from the practice of village wise women surrounding their homes with a hedge of hawthorn, a magical tree that afforded privacy from the curious.
The Horned God: The male principle in Wicca, Lord of the Hunt, the Herds, Winter and the Underworld. Known to the Celts as Cernunnos, the generic name for 'horned one'.
Imbolc: The Celtic festival of early spring. A Fire festival, christianised as Candlemas on 1 February. Also known as Oimelc.
Immanent: Usually refers to a god or the Goddess; indicating that they are manifest within the object of their creation, as the divine spark within people. See also Transcendent.
Inner-plane teaching: Contacting through meditation or rituals the cosmic memory bank or Akashic records in order to tap into the great existing magical systems and wisdom without external formal teaching.
Invocation: The process by which the wisdom and benign powers of the natural world and of higher planes of consciousness, associated with the evolved self and divine power, are drawn into oneself. Medieval magicians would invoke spirits to take over their bodies -dangerous and mind-blowing.
Karma: The concept that the good and bad deeds and thoughts accumulated in an individual lifetime may either progress us forwards to spiritual perfection or mean we need to learn lessons in subsequent lives in order to right our mistakes.
Litha: The Celtic festival of light, held around the midsummer solstice on 21 June.
Lughnassadh: The Celtic festival of the first corn harvest, held from 31 July to 2 August in the northern hemisphere. Christianised as Lammas ('loaf mass'), the day on which loaves of bread were baked from the first grain harvest and placed on the altar to symbolise the first fruits.
Mabon: The second Celtic harvest festival of the autumn equinox, around 22 September.
Medicine Wheel: A concept central to all Native American magick. The wheels link the celestial, human and natural cycles. Also known as the Circle of Power.
Morphic resonance: The spreading of goodwill and positivity, through magick and good deeds, to increase the benign energies of the Earth and cosmos.
Mother Goddess: The giver of all life and fertility and mother of the animals, worshipped by hunter-gatherer societies since paleolithic times. In the shamanic religions in Siberia and Lapland, the Mother of the Herds is still a central icon of power. During the neolithic period, the Mother Goddess was the bringer of fertility to the land as well as to animals and humans. Gradually, she came to be seen as the wife of the great Sky Gods. She survives in the form of Mary in the Christian religion.
Mutable: The mutable signs of the zodiac are Sagittarius, Gemini, Virgo and Pisces, as when the Sun enters them the seasons are about to change. Those born under them are correspondingly versatile and ready to compromise.
Oimelc: See Imbolc.
Ostara: The Celtic festival of the spring equinox.
Pentacle: A ritual item, symbol of the Earth, consisting of a flat, round disc, engraved with a pentagram.
Pentagram: A five-pointed diagram, one of the most sacred geometric forms in magick. Each of the five points represents one of the five elemental powers. The uppermost, single point is symbolic of Spirit, or Akasha.
Poppet: A featureless doll made of cloth that is filled with herbs and used in healing or as a talisman to attract love or fertility. It may also be made of clay and used as a focus for positive magick to being health or happiness to the person represented by it.
Power hand: The hand you write with, used to transmit assertive and creative energies. See also Receptive hand.
Quarters: The four segments of a magical circle. Each is associated with specific archangels, colours, crystals, herbs, incenses, ritual tools, etc.
Receptive hand: The hand you do not write with. Used for receiving energies. See also Power hand.
Rede: A rule or moral code. The Wiccan Rede states: An [If] it harm none, do what you will', and so ensures all magick has a positive intent.
Sabbat: One of eight special days of the year on which Wiccan celebrations are held - the solstices, the equinoxes and the Celtic Fire festivals.
Samhain: The Celtic Fire festival of the new year, celebrated at the end of summer.
Scrying: Seeing magical images in a reflective medium, such as a crystal ball, mirror or a natural moving source of inspiration, such as fire, water or clouds. The word 'scry' comes from the Anglo-Saxon word descry, which means 'to perceive dimly'.
Shamanism: Possibly the oldest spiritual practice in the world, continued today in communities as far apart as India, Australia, Japan and China, Siberia and Mongolia, in Africa, among the Bedouins in the Middle East and in North, Central and South America.
Sky-clad: Naked.
Sky Gods: The powerful patriarchal gods of the classical and Viking world, for example Zeus of the Greeks, Jupiter of the Romans, Odin of the Vikings and Thunor of the Anglo-Saxons. They gained supremacy over the Earth Mother who appears as their wife-consort, full of human foibles.
Solstice: One of the main astronomical points of the year. The summer solstice (21 June, or 21 December in the southern hemisphere) marks the Sun at its height and greatest power. The winter solstice (21 December or 21 June) is the shortest day when the Sun is at its weakest and it was feared by early humans that the Sun would die.
Spirit guides: Guardians from another dimension who advise and protect humans. They may be deceased relatives, wise teachers, for example Native Americans, angels or evolved essences who never assumed mortal form.
Talisman: A charm or amulet that has been charged with specific healing or magical energies to make it powerful and to attract health, wealth or luck. It tends to become more powerful the more it is used.
Tarot: A pack of 78 highly illustrated cards often used in rituals to represent people or qualities that are being sought in a spell.
Threefold Law: A law in Wicca that states that whatever you do or send to others, good or bad, will be returned to you threefold - a great incentive to positive thought and action.
Thurible: See Censer.
Transcendent: Term used of god forms to express the belief that their existence extends beyond and is separate from creation. See also Immanent.
Triple Goddess: A concept of a deity found in many cultures. May represent the three main phases of the Moon - maiden, mother and crone - or, as in Celtic tradition especially, three sisters.
Tulpa: A thought form created by medieval occultists seeking mastery over the elemental beings that they fashioned by their incantations. In extreme cases a tulpa might destroy its creator -hence the warnings of the Threefold Law.
Wheel of the Year: See Eightfold Wheel of the Year.
Wicca: A contemporary, neo-pagan religion that regards the divine life source as a part of nature, not a force beyond creation. This divine source of life is manifest as the god and goddess within everything living, male and female, animal, bird, tree and flower. Sometimes regarded as the oldest religion on the world.
Wiccan Rede: See Rede.
Widdershins: Anti-clockwise, moonwise, or against the Sun. The direction used in closing a circle, banishing or removing pain and in banishing magick generally. See also Deosil.
Yin and yang: The complementary components of everything in life, according to ancient Chinese philosophy. Yang is the original Sun concept of light, power, masculinity, assertiveness, logic and action. It controls heaven and all things positive. It is balanced by Yin, the original Moon concept of darkness, receptivity, femininity, intuition, acceptance and inaction. Yin controls the Earth and all things negative.
