The Path of a Christian Witch (21 page)

Glossary

Altar: Table on which rituals are performed.

Animal totem: Spirit representation that carries the core characteristic of an animal.

Anoint: Act of consecrating something or someone with oil.

Archetypes: Symbolic representations inherited through the ages and still pervasive in our collective experience.

Astral plane: Also referred to as the
spirit world
, it is a plane of existence where the spirit can travel and meet other spirit entities.

Astral temple: Place of worship that is constructed in the astral plane.

Astral travel: Practice by which the spirit leaves the body to travel the astral plane.

Athame: Small ritual sword.

Aura: Field of light that surrounds each individual, usually invisible to the untrained eye.

Between the worlds: Place where magic occurs. Being
between the worlds
refers to the fact that once the circle is cast, the participants in a ritual are no longer in the physical world but are not in the divine world either. They are suspended between two realms, where they can work with the universal energies and stand in the presence of their deities.

Blue moon: Rare occurrence when there are two full moons in a calendar month.

Book of Shadows: Book of rituals and spells.

Burning times: Period of the Middle Ages when people (mostly women) were burnt at the stake by the Inquisition for being accused of Witchcraft.

Centering and grounding: Technique used to start any magical work. It consists of finding the place where one’s energy is most concentrated and most stable and connecting that center to the earth’s energy.

Chalice: Cup used in ritual to symbolize the womb of the Goddess.

Charge of the Goddess: Traditional text used in Wicca in which the Goddess gives instructions to her followers.

Charging of objects: Technique by which energy is suffused into an object in order to give it a desired purpose.

Christian: Follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ, traditionally a member of an organized denomination of Christianity.

Circle: Circular enclosure in which rituals and magic are performed. It is usually invisible and constructed with energy. Its aim is to delineate a space that lies between the physical world and the spirit world.

Cleansing: Removal of unwanted impurities (both physical and energetic) from a space, object, or person.

Clergy: Religious leader, who often acts as an intermediary between people and the Divine.

Cone of power: Method of raising energy in which energy is made to spin and accumulate in the shape of a cone to be released toward a precise goal.

Coven: Group of Witches, traditionally thirteen, practicing Wicca according to a set tradition, usually following one Book of Shadows.

Craft: Common term for referring to a magical practice.

Crone: Elderly wise woman. Also refers to the waning aspect of the Triple Goddess, Maiden-Mother-Crone.

Dedication: Ritual by which a person voices his or her commitment to a path or deity.

Divination: Art of reading symbols to find answers to questions. Often used to answer questions about future events.

Elemental gates: Guarding posts set up at the cardinal points during a ritual, each representing a different element: earth, air, fire, and water. Their purpose is to bring protection to the circle and to supply the specific characteristic of the element to the rite.

Elements: Essences from which the physical world was created. Witches typically work with five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit.

Energy fields: Areas of concentrated energy around something or someone.

Energy work: Methods by which one learns to direct energy for a purpose.

Equinox: Date at which day and night are of equal length.

Esbat: Ritual held on the full moon.

Gnosticism: Religious movement of antiquity, with ascetic practices aimed at achieving wisdom (gnosis) to allow the spirit to transcend its material entrapment.

Goddess, the: Central deity in Wicca and Witchcraft, she is the Divine Feminine, worshipped under many guises, typically depicted in three aspects: Maiden-Mother-Crone. She is the essence of fertility, abundance, intuition, and wisdom.

Grounding: Method through which one becomes energetically connected to the earth.

Initiation: Ritual led by a High Priest or High Priestess, through which an adept is introduced into a coven or tradition.

Inner sanctum: Place within each person where the Divine resides.

Inquisition: Tribunal of the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages, whose mandate was to investigate all matters of heresy against church dogma by any means necessary. This tribunal had absolute power in investigating, sentencing, and carrying out sentences.

Invocation: Magical words used to come into contact with a deity or spirit form.

Journeying: Traveling in spirit through the spirit realm to gain wisdom.

Kabbalah: Jewish mystical tradition.

Lord and Lady: Generic designation for the God and Goddess worshipped in Wiccan rites.

Magic: Methods by which an adept shapes and bends reality according to his or her intent.

Monotheism: Religious system that worships one central deity.

Mysticism: Spiritual current that aims to achieve inner wisdom and reconnection with the Divine.

Mythology: Collection of tales, often arising from historical events, that have grown to a supernatural status and that carry symbolic representations of the human life experience.

Neo-Pagan: Term used to designate the Pagan religions that have surfaced in modern times, following the lifting of laws banning Witchcraft.

Paganism: Term relating to religions whose core practice is reverence for the sanctity of the earth and nature.

Pantheon: Group of all gods and goddesses belonging to a specific culture.

Pentacle: Object on which is inscribed a five-pointed star, a common symbol in Paganism. It represents the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit.

Polytheism: Religious system that worships multiple deity figures.

Quarter calls: Invocation to the elements at their respective cardinal point, in order to invite them to safeguard a ritual space.

Raising energy: Accumulation of energy in a confined space through a variety of techniques, in order to release it toward a precise goal.

Reiki: Method by which a practitioner channels the universal life force and directs it into someone for healing purposes.

Ritual: Series of actions by which one symbolically re-creates an event or an intent. Rituals are done in commemoration, in worship, or to manifest change. Rituals are symbolic and energetic in nature and usually include invocation and reverence of a deity figure.

Rosary: String of beads that are used to pray in the Catholic faith.

Sabbats: Celebrations marking the changing of the seasons and the related mythologies associated with the earth cycles.

Sacred Feminine: The female expression of the Divine.

Sacred space: Consecrated space where one can meet with Deity and receive wisdom.

Sensing: Technique by which one intuitively reads the energy signature of an object or person.

Shaman: Traditionally, a healer of a tribe who consulted the spirit world for healing and protection of tribe members. Modern shamans use trance to travel the spirit world in order to gain wisdom and perform healing.

Shielding: Technique by which one builds an invisible energy barrier to prevent unwanted energy from entering. This can be done around one’s self, around an object, or around a place.

Solitary practitioner: Witch who chooses to perform rituals on his or her own, without being part of a formal coven.

Solstice: Either of the two times in the year (usually on June 21st and December 21st) when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky. This produces the longest day and the shortest day.

Spell: Series of actions whose aim is to materialize an intent or goal. Often, these actions are a symbolic representation of the goal that is wished.

Tarot: Set of cards used in divination.

Third eye: Energy wheel (chakra) located between the eyes, which is the seat of intuition and psychic communication.

Threefold Law: Law of magical ethics, which states that everything you do will come back to you threefold.

Tradition: Teachings that can be traced back to a common source or common founder. Covens can subscribe to a tradition if they have been initiated by a High Priest or Priestess who has a lineage that links him or her to the founder of the tradition.

Voodoo: Magical practice issued from the merging of Catholic Christianity with African magical practices.

Wand: Wooden stick used in ritual to direct energy.

Waning: When said of the moon, it is the time when the moon is decreasing—i.e., in transit from full to dark.

Warden: Person who guards a magical rite. This person usually stands outside the circle and guards against intruders, both physical and psychic.

Waxing: When said of the moon, it is the time when the moon is getting fuller—i.e., in transit from dark to full.

Web: Interconnection of all things through energy channels.

Wicca: Modern Pagan religion built on knowledge that was passed on secretly from traditional Witches who survived the persecutions by the church. When the persecutions ceased, this knowledge started to be disseminated, and adepts formed a new religion, Wicca, based on reverence for nature, reverence for the God and Goddess, and the practice of magic.

Wiccan Rede: Ethical guideline that Witches follow: “An ye harm none, do what ye will.”
An
is an old word for “if.”

Will: Intent used in magical work to produce change.

Witch: Person, male or female, who practices the “Craft of the Wise,” or Witchcraft. Usually refers to an adept of Wicca, but in a larger definition it can refer to any person who performs magic within a Pagan framework.

Witchcraft: Word derived from the “Craft of the Wise.” Practice by which one shapes and bends reality using magic and, in a religious context, follows the principles of Paganism.