Witchcraft Definitions O-Z

Old Ones, The: A Witches term often used to encompass all aspects of the Goddess and God. Some Witches and/or Wiccans view it as an alternative of The Mighty Ones.

Ostara: Occurring at the spring equinox, around March 21st, Ostara marks the beginning of true, astronomical spring, when snow and ice make way for green. As such, it is a fire and fertility festival, celebrating the return of the Sun, and God and the fertility of the Earth (the Goddess).

Pagan: From the Latin paganus, country-dweller. Today used as a general term for followers of Witchcraft, Wicca and other magickal, shamanistic and polytheistic religions. It can be interchanged with Neo-Pagan.

Pendulum: A divinatory device consisting of a string attached to a heavy object, such as a quartz crystal, root or ring. The free end of the string is held in the hand, and the elbow steadied against a flat surface, and a question is asked. The movement of the heavy object's swing determines the answer. A rotation indicates yes or positive energy. A back and forth swing signals the opposite. (There are many methods of deciphering the pendulum's movement; use those that work best for you.) It is a tool which contacts the psychic mind.

Pentacle: A ritual object (usually a circular piece of wood, metal, clay, etc.) upon which a five-pointed star (Pentagram) is inscribed, painted or engraved. It represents the Element of Earth. The words pentagram and pentacle are not interchangeable, though they understandably cause some confusion.

Personal Power: That energy which sustains our bodies. It ultimately originates from the Goddess and God (or, rather, the power behind Them). We first absorb it from our biological mothers within the womb and, later, from food, water, the Moon and Sun and other natural objects. We release personal power during stress, exercise, sex, conception and childbirth. Magick is often a movement of personal power for a specific goal.

Polarity: The concept of equal, opposite energies. The Eastern yin/yang is a perfect example. Yin is cold; yang is hot. Other examples of polarity: Goddess/God, night/day, Moon/Sun, birth/death, dark/light, and psychic mind/conscious mind. Universal balance.

Projective Hand, The: The hand that is normally used for manual activities such as writing, peeling apples and dialing telephones 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 form the palm or fingers of the hand for various magickal goals. This is also the hand in which tool such as the athame and wands are held. Ambidextrous persons simply choose which hand to utilize for this purpose.

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 up. Other related terms: Divination is a ritual process that utilizes the Conscious Mind to contact the psychic mind. Intuition is a term used to describe psychic information which unexpectedly reaches the conscious mind.

Psychism: The act of being consciously psychic, in which the psychic mind and conscious mind are linked and working in harmony. Ritual consciousness is a form of psychism.

Receptive Hand: The left hand in right-handed persons, the reverse for left-handed persons. This is the hand through which energy is received into the body.

Reincarnation: The doctrine of rebirth. The process of repeated incarnations in human form to allow evolution of the sexless, ageless soul.

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

Ritual Consciousness: A specific, alternate state of awareness necessary to the successful practice of magick.  A Witch achieves this through the use of visualization and ritual. It denotes a state in which the conscious mind and psychic mind are attuned, in which the Witch senses energies, gives them purpose and released them toward the magickal goal. It is a heightening of the senses, an awareness-expansion of the seemingly non-physical world, a linking with nature and with for forces behind all conceptions of Deity.

Runes: Stick-like figures, some of which are remnants of the old Teutonic alphabets. Others are pictographs. These symbols are once again widely being used in magick and divination.

Sabbat: A Witches' festival. See Beltane, Imbolc, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Midsummer, Ostara, Samhain and Yule for specific descriptions.

Samhain: A Witches festival celebrated on October 31st, also known as November Eve, Hallowmas, Halloween, Feast of Souls. Samhain marks the symbolic death of the Sun God and His passing into the "land of the young," where He awaits rebirth of the Mother Goddess at Yule. This Celtic word is pronounced by Witches as: SOW-wen; SEW-wen; SAHM-hain; SAHM-ain; SAV-een and other ways. The first seems to be the one preferred among most Witches.

Scry, To: To gaze at or into an object (a quartz crystal sphere, pool of water, reflection, a candle flame) 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, simultaneous events through other than the normally accepted senses. A form of divination.

Shaman: A man or woman who has obtained knowledge of the subtler dimensions of the Earth, usually through periods of alternate states of consciousness. Various types of ritual allow the shaman to pierce the veil of the physical world and to experience the realm of energies. This knowledge lends the shaman the power to change her or his world through magick.

Shamanism: The practice of shamans, usually ritualistic or magickal in nature, sometimes religious.

Simple Feast, The: A ritual meal shared with the Goddess and God.

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

Spirits of the Stones, The: The elemental energies naturally inherent at the four directions of the magick circle, personified within the standing stone tradition as the Spirits of the Stones. They are linked with the Elements.

Talisman: An object, such as an amethyst crystal, ritually charged with power to attract a specific force or energy to its bearer.

Three Fold Law: The karmic principal of Paganism. It states that energy by the witch or magician (or anyone else for that matter), either positive or negative, will return to the sender three times over.

Tradition of Witchcraft:  An organized, structured, specific subgroup, usually initiatory, with often-unique ritual practices. Many traditions have their own book of shadows and may or may not recognize other members of the craft, although this is rare. Most traditions are composed of a number of covens as well as solitary practitioners.

Trilithon: A stone arch made from two upright slabs with one lying atop these. Trilithons are featured in Stonehedge as well as the circle visualization in The Standing Stones Book of Shadows.

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 magick for various purposes, including charging and forming the magick circle. It is a function of the conscious mind.

White-Handled Knife: A normal cutting knife, with a sharp blade and white handle. It is used within Wicca to cut herbs and fruits, to slice bread during the simple feast and for other functions. Sometimes called the bolline.

Wicca: A contemporary Pagan religion with spiritual roots in Shamanism and the earliest expressions of the Witchcraft within a reverence of nature. Among its major motifs are: reverence for the Goddess and God; reincarnation; magick; ritual observances of the Full Moon, astronomical and agricultural phenomena; circles of energy created with personal power, in which rituals occur.

Widdershins: Anti-clockwise motion, usually used in the Northern Hemisphere for negative magickal purposes or for dispersing negative energies or conditions such as disease.

Witch: Anciently, a practitioner of magick which predates known religions. Known as the Wise ones or Sages they carried the magickal knowledge particularly that relating to herbs, healing, nature, crystals, stones, moons, stars, planets and the natural elements. One who practiced Witchcraft. Later, this term's meaning was deliberately altered to denote demented, dangerous, supernatural beings who practiced destructive magick 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. This later, erroneous meaning is still accepted by many non-Witches. It is now, somewhat surprisingly, reclaimed and used by some members of Wicca to describe themselves.

Witchcraft: The craft of the Witch-magick, especially magick 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. However, some followers of Wicca use this word to denote their religion.

Yule: Witches' festivals celebrate on or about December 21st, marking the rebirth of the Sun God from the Earth Goddess. A time of joy and celebration during the miseries of winter. Yule occurs on the winter solstice.

By Lady Abigail