Dictionary of Magic Terminology

In this section you will find a convenient glossary of words commonly used in the learning and practicing of magic.

A
Abjuration: Magic that protects, contains, or banishes.

Adept: An individual who through serious study and accomplishments is considered highly proficient in a particular magical system.

Aether: The fifth element, which consists of "empty space" where no other elements exist.

Alchemy: A branch of magic developed in the Middle Ages which involves chemical reactions and scientific processes. Their are Arabic, Chinese, and European denominations.

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

Ambient Magic: The subtle form of natural magic that permeates the world.

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

Angel: Race of divine guardians.

Animation: Magic that grants an object life-like qualities.

Animistic Spirit: Weak spiritual consciousness that dwells in any distinct object.

Ankh: An Egyptian hieroglyphic widely used as a symbol of life, love, and reincarnation. It is a cross with a looped top.

Apotropaic Magic: Ugly visages designed to scare away evil spirits.

Apprentice Mage: Someone who is learning magic under the tutelage of a more experienced mage.

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 or lower 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 perforated 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 Projection: The process of separating your astral 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 consecrated ritual blade. Usually double edged, and black handled. It is never used to cut anything on the physical plane.

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

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

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

Bane: That which destroys life, which is poisonous, destructive, dangerous.

Banish: To magickally end something or exorcise unwanted entities. To rid the presence of something.

Bells: Often used as ritual tools. They can be used to invoke directional energies, to ring in the sunrise on a Sabbat, to invite seelie fae, or to frighten away unseelie fae and baneful spirits.

Besom: A witch's broom.

Bilocation: A phenomena in which someone is in two places at once.

Bind: To magickally restrain something or someone.

Black Mirror: Mirror painted black used in scrying.

Book of Shadows: A witch's book of spells, rituals, magickal lore. Much akin to a magickal cookbook.

Boon: A favour from a divine entity.

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

Branches of Magic: Eight vague categories which various workings can be sorted into: Abjuration, Conjuration, Evocation, Hypnosis, Illusion, Scrying, Thaumaturgy, and Transfiguration.

Brazier: Container of a flame which is used for the ritual burning of something.

Broom, Flying: A broom enchanted with the ability to be ridden through the air.

Bullroarer: Simple musical instrument used in shamanic rituals since the Palaeolithic Period.

Burning Times: Refering to the period of witch trials that occurred from around 1000 C.E. through to the 17th century.

C
Call: Invoking Divine forces.

Cantrip: Scottish term for a spell that is a palindrome (read the same backwards and forwards).

Cauldron: Used for the distilling and fermenting of magickal potions. It is associated with the element water.

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: Twelve vortex areas for mana found in the human body. Their are seven major chakras and five minor chakras.

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

Chaos Magick: A philosophy of magic that acknowledges the few actual rules of magic, freeing practitioners to perform their workings of magic whatever way they want.

Chaplet: Crown made of flowers worn at Beltane.

Charging: To infuse an object with your personal power.

Charms: An amulet or talisman that has been charmed by saying an incantation over it and instilling it with energy for a specific task. Also refers to a working that adds magical properties to something.

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 (coven) to achieve a definite purpose.

Conjuration: Creating or summoning something.

Conscious Mind: The analytical, materially-based, rational half of our consciousness. The part of our mind that is at work while we balance our 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.

Correspondences, Table of: Columns listing how different things are comparable. Usually divided into the four elements.

Coven: A group of magic-users that work together in an organised fashion.

Covenstead: Meeting place of a coven, often a fixed building or place where the witch can feel safe and at home.

Crystal Ball: Spheres of glass or crystal used for scrying.

Curse: Magic that inflicts a harshly negative effect onto someone. Most curses are considered dark magic.

D
Dark Magic: Magic that is considered by most to be highly unethical.

Days of Power: See Sabbat. They can also be days triggered by astrological occurrences - 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.

Deity: Multiple pantheons of immortal entities that possess immense power over the mortal world.

Demigod: Child of a human and a deity.

Demiurge: Something with the ability to create new dimensions/universes.

Demon: A race of entities that are of an evil nature. Commonly, they possess people and try to make deals with others.

Denomination of Magic: The culture and belief system of a specific type of magic. Denominations such as Witchcraft, Druidry, Vodou, Hermeticism, Kabbalism, Daoism, Wicca, ect.

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

Dimension: Parallel plane of existence.

Dirk: Ritual knife of the Scottish tradition.

Divination: Magical art of using tools and symbols to gather information. This can be on people, places, things and events past, present, and future.

Divine Power: Unmanifested, pure energies that are created and controlled by deities. The ultimate source of all things.

Dowsing: The divinatory 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 performed 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 the body of a male witch.

Dreamtime: Period of the Palaeolithic Era where the world possessed a much higher amount of ambient magic.

Druid: A mage who works closely with nature. The original druidic practices were created by the Celtics.

Duality: The opposite of polarity. When used as a religious term, it separates two opposites such as good and evil and places those characteristics into two completely separate God-forms.

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

Earth Plane: Metaphor for your normal waking consciousness, or for the everyday, solid world we live in.

Elements: Earth, air, fire, water, and the various permutations of each of them. The building blocks of the universe. Some consider light or darkness as core elements, and some include a fifth main element- spirit or aether.

Elementals: A spirit beings associated with one of the four elements.

Eleven: Secretive tradition of the craft which works closely with elemental beings.

Enchantment: A spell which grants some form of power to an object.

Eostre's Eggs: Colored, decorated eggs of Ostara; named for the Teutonic Goddess Eostre.

Esbat: A ritual usually occurring on the Full Moon and dedicated to the Goddess in her lunar aspect.

Evil Eye: A way of cursing someone via eye contact.

Evocation: To call something out from within, or to conjure out energy and the elements.

Exorcism: Removing a demon or evil spirit from someone.

Exorcist: A mage who specialises in performing exorcisms.

F
Fae: Beings of a natural affinity that inhabit the otherworld. Divided into seelie and unseelie courts.

Faerie Burgh: Mound of earth which covers a fae colony's underground home.

Familiar: An animal that has a spiritual bond with a witch; many times a family witch. Familiars can also be entities that dwell on the astral plane.

Fascination: A mental effort to control another animal or person's mind. Also known as "mind-bending". Often considered unethical.

Foci, Magical: Tools that have been consecrated to amplify their ability to conduct magic, such as wands, staffs, and talismans. Altars and cauldrons should also be imbued with magic to conduct magic the best.

Folk Magick: The practice of projecting personal power, as well as the energies within natural objects such as herbs, and crystals, to bring about needed changes.

Fulu: Taoist incantations that are calligraphically painted onto talismans.

G
Geas: Magical restriction placed upon something.

Genus Loci: Spirit of a location.

Gnosticism: Magic-based religious movement in which the ultimate aim for practitioners is to ascend to the level of godhood.

Grain Dolly: Figure usually woven at Imbolc from dried sheaves of grain collected at the previous harvest. The dolly is traditionally burned at Yule and a new one made the following Imbolc.

Great Rite: Symbolic sexual union (also sacred marriage) of the Goddess and God that is enacted at Beltane in many traditions, and other Sabbats in other traditions. It symbolizes the primal act of creation from which all life comes.

Grimorie: Magical workbook containing spell and ritual information, formulae, magical properties of natural objects and preparation of ritual equipment. Often used interchangeably with Book of Shadows.

Grounding: To disperse excess energy generated during magickal work by sending it into the earth. It also means the process of centering one's self in the physical world both before and after any ritual or astral experience.

Grove: Synonymous with coven.

Guardians: Ceremonial magicians use the Guardians of the Watchtowers or Four Quarters.

H
Hag Stone: A stone with a natural hole through it.

Hand Fasting: Pagan wedding ceremony where the hands of two people are bound together.

Healer: A mage who primarily practices healing magic

Hedge Witch / Hedge Mage: A mage who practices by themselves in a solitary environment.

Herbalism: The art of using herbs to facilitate human needs both magically and medicinally.

Hermeticism: A denomination of magic created from the works of Hermes Trismegistus.

Hex: More powerful than a jinx and less powerful than a curse.

Higher Self: The spiritual part of a person ascended from their body.

Historiola: Short folktales used as incantations.

Hiving Off: This term is used when a small coven which splits off from a larger one. Sometimes this is done to keep the gatherings of a manageable size, other times covens split over philosophical differences.

Hoodoo: Magic that subtly influences fate in its casters favour.

Hunting Magic: Primitive rituals used to insure bountiful hunting.

Hypnotism: Controlling or altering the mind of a person.

I
Iddhi: Magic casted without using verbal, somatic, or material components, with only one’s own mental strength to channel it.

Illusion: Something that is not really there, created with magic.

Initiation: A process whereby an individual is introduced or admitted into a coven. Usually a ritual occasion. Not to be confused with dedication.

Incense: Herbs, oils, or other aromatic items that are burned to scent the air during acts of magick and ritual, and to better help the witch attune to the goal of the working.

Invocation: To call upon an entity of higher power during a working of magic.

J
Jew-itch: Name coined by some Pagans of Jewish origin who are actively seeking out the pagan roots of their birth religion.

Jinx: Offensive spell that has some kind of effect on its target. Weaker than a hex.

K
Karma: The belief that one's thoughts and deeds can either be counted against them or added to their spiritual path across several life times.

Kabbala: Mystical teaching from the Jewish-Gnostic tradition. Ceremonial Magick and the Alexandrian traditions are based in these teachings. Also, Qabala.

Kodoku: Having several insects kill each other in a jar. The dead bugs can be used in cursing someone, and the winner can be turned into an amulet.

L
Labrys: A double-headed ax which symbolizes the Goddess in Her Lunar aspect. Has roots in ancient Crete.

Left-Hand Path: Refers to the practice of using magic to control others, to change the will of others, and for personal gain. Considered dark magic by some.

Libation: Ritually given portion of food or drink to a deity, nature spirit, or ghost.

Life-Force: The bio-electricity that keeps the body functioning.

M
Macrocosm: The world around us.

Mage: Non-denominal term for someone who uses magic.

Magic: A supernatural force

Magic Circle: A sphere constructed of personal energy in which rituals are usually performed. Within it, the mage is protected from outside forces. The sphere extends both above and below the surface of the ground.

Mana: Energy used by a person to cast magic

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

Megalith: A huge stone monument or structure. Stonehenge is the best-known example of a megalith.

Menhir: A huge stone probably erected by early peoples for religious, spiritual, or magickal reasons.

Microcosm: One’s life and the world within them.

Monotheism: Belief in one supreme deity who has no other forms and/of displays no other aspects.

Myth: A body of lore about any land or people that makes up their mythology.

N
Necromancy: Reanimating a corpse. Considered dark magic due to it’s unethical nature.

Neo-Pagan: A new religion that adopts practices and deities from pagan religions

New Age: The mixing of metaphysical practices with a structured religion.

New Religion: Pagan term used in reference to Christianity.

Nkisi: An object, often a totem, with a spirit bound into it.

Nursery Rhyme: Cute doggerel or poems supposedly written for the amusement of children. Much Pagan lore was hidden in these ditties during the years of witch persecutions.

O
Occult: Broadly applied to a wide range of metaphysical topics which lie outside the accepted realm of mainstream theologies.

Occultist: One who practices and or studies a variety of occult subjects.

Ogham: Celtic equivalent of the Teutonic runes. The ancient alphabet of the Celtic people.

P
Pagan: A religion that is not commonly practiced in the modern era.

Paganing: When a baby is presented in circle to the Goddess and God, and given a craft name which they will keep until about 13 and can choose their own at their Coming of Age celebration.

Pantheon: A collection deities in a particular religious or mythical structure.

Pantheism: Belief in many deities who are really one because they are all merely aspects of the single creative life source. Paganism is pantheistic.

Paradigm Shifting: Switching up the denomination and methods of your magic.

Passing Over Ritual: Ritual observed when a loved one has dies.

Past Life Regression: Act of using meditation or hypnosis to pass through the veil of linear time and perceive experiences encountered in a previous existence.

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, the elbows steadied against a flat surface, and a question is asked. The movement of the heavy object's swings determines the answer. It is a tool which contacts the psychic mind.

Pentacle: A circle surrounding a five-pointed, upright star (pentagram). Worn as a symbol of a witch's beliefs. Many witches consider wearing it inverted to be blasphemy of their faith and is commonly associated with Satanism.

Pentagram: The basic interlaces five-pointed star, visualized with one point up. It represents the five elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. It is a symbol of power and protection.

Philosophers Stone: Crystal created through alchemy, which possesses many magical properties.

Philter: Love potion.

Playback: The technique of casting magic through the use of recorded audio.

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

Polytheism: Belief in the existence of many unrelated deities each with their own dominion and interests who have no spiritual or familial relationships to one another.

Poppets: Anthropomorphic dolls used to represent certain human beings in magick spells.

Potion: A magical liquid which causes some kind of effect, usually when drunk.

Pow-wow: Folk magic healing charms.

Projective Hand: The hand thought to be the point through which personal power is sent from the body. Normally the hand used for manual activities such as writing, dialing the phone, etc. It is also the hand in which tools such as the athame and wand are held.

Psychic Mind: The subconscious, or unconscious mind, in which we receive psychic impressions. It is at work when we sleep, dream, and meditate. It is our direct link with the higher plane, and with the larger, nonphysical world around us.

Psychism: The act of being consciously psychic, in which the psychic mind and conscious mind are linked and working in harmony. Also known as psychic awareness.

Psychokinesis: Magic used to move an object. Separated into telekinesis and various forms of elemental psychokinesis.

Psychometry: Learning the past history of an object.

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

Recipe: Term for the process used in creating a potion, talisman, or something comparable to either. One of the three main types of workings.

Rede, Wiccan: The foremost tenet of the Wiccan practice: "An it harm none do what ye will".

Reincarnation: The process where the soul elects to be reborn into a new living thing after it dies.

Remote Viewing: Scrying magic that causes a persons eyes to see somewhere else.

Renaissance Magic: Relating to the resurgence of the magic arts during the Renaissance Period. Combines tenants of Hellenistic and Hermetic magic.

Ritual: A working of magic more complex than a spell, but which amplifies the potency of ones magic to a higher degree. Requires various objects and time to prepare.

Ritual Space: An area that has been set up in a way that it is further attuned to the prospect of magic.

Runes: Symbols used in divination and other types of workings. There are several sets of runes from different cultures.

S
Sabbat: A festival or holiday where mages congregate together.

Saining: Scottish ritual involving water and poetry.

Seidr: Fortune-telling using Norse runes.

Smudging: Cleansing something using incense. Sometimes used to get rid of ghosts.

Sanctum: A protected room in which a mage performs their rituals.

Scourge: A small device made from leather or hemp which resembles a whip that is used in flagellation rites within some traditions.

Scrying: The practice of divination through workings of magic.

Shaman: A person in a tribe or society who can perform magic for the benefit of others.

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

Shillelagh: A cudgel made from blackthorn wood, used as a magical staff.

Sigil: A magically oriented seal, sign, glyph, or rune with magical properties. Those you create yourself are the most effective. Sometimes sewn into clothing to protect oneself.

Simple Feast: A ritual meal shared with a deity.

Simulacrum: A representation of something.

Skinwalker: A mage that can transform themself into an animal.

Sky Father: Shamanistic in origin, it assigns deification to the sky as a male entity.

Skyclad: The act of celebrating or performing magickal works in the nude. Exceptionally controversial, and it is a derogatory stereotype.

Smited: Killed by a divine entity.

Soul: Spiritual essence of a person.

Soul Eater: African Dark Mages who feed on souls. This causes deadly illnesses in their victims.

Spell: A working of magic performed in a simple manor, in most cases quite quickly. Requires little to no preparation compared to rituals and recipes.

Spiral: A symbol to represent coming into being.

Spirit: Entities who exist in the spiritual plane and can be summoned by magic.

Staff: A holdable pole made of wood or another substance, which is used in evoking out one’s own magic. One of the three main magical foci.

Stang: A ritual tool from Pagan Rome which resembles a two-pronged trident. Most often used in place of the wand or circle.

Subconscious Mind: A part of the mind which functions below the levels we are able to access in the course of a normal working day. This area stores symbolic knowledge, dreams, the most minute details of every experience ever had by a person.

Summerland: The afterlife.

Sympathetic Magic: The practice of using one object to represent another.

T
Taglock: Something to specify the target of a working of magic. Often a genetic sample.

Talisman: An object charged with personal power to attract a specific force or energy to its bearer. One of the three main magical foci.

Tarot Cards: A set of 78 cards with different meanings. Dealt in various ways

Tarologist: One adept at the art and science of handling the Tarot.

Techno-Magic: New-age magic that incorporates the use of machines and computers.

Tempestarii: Mages who are masters of weather magic.

Thaumaturgy: A branch of magic that manipulates the forces of life and death. Both healing magic and necromancy are forms of thaumaturgy.

Theurgy: The magic-like power used by deities.

Third Eye: Metaphysical eye that appears on the forehead during divination.

Thought Pattern: The first step of a working of magic, in which the caster conceives the intent of the magic.

Threefold Law: A karmic principle that posits energy that is released returns three times stronger.

Touch Piece: Coin-like talisman that cures diseases.

Transfiguration: Transforming something into something else.

Trilithon: A stone arch made from two upright slabs with one lying atop these. This is what is found at Stonehenge.

Triple Goddess: The goddess who possesses three aspects: Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

True Name: The spiritual name of something, assigned by reality.

Tsentsak: Magical dart made from its casters spit.

V
Vision Quest: Using astral projection, bilocation, and dream travel to accomplish a specific goal. Also called path working.

Visualization: The process of forming mental images to focus ones working of magic.

Voodoo (Vodun): A denomination of magic that originates from West Africa. Its main focuses are on hoodoo, sympathetic magic, and communing with spirits called Loa.

W
Wand: A short stick-like tool which is used in evoking out one’s own magic. One of the three main magical foci.

Wards: Magical protections on a person, place, or object.

Web Weaving: Networking with other magickal people via conversation, writing, e-mail, to gather information which will mutually assist each party.

Wheel of the Year: One full cycle of the seasonal year.

Wicca: A neo-pagan religious denomination which practices ritual magic.

Widdershins: The counter-clockwise motion, usually used for negative magickal purposes, or for dispersing negative energies or conditions such as disease.

Witch: A practitioner of several branches of magic, particularly the kind relating to herbs, stones, colors, wells, rivers, etc.

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.

Witches Knot: A knotted cord that unleashes a magical effect when undone. Usually associated with wind magic.

Working of Magic: The process in which someone makes any kind of magical effect occur. Broadly categorised into spells, rituals, and recipes.

Y
Yantra: Magical geometric diagram.

Ya Sang: Thai denomination of Dark Magic that involves poisoning.

Yggdrasil: One of the best known Tree of Life symbols. It unites all existence from the Underworld, to the Physical world.

Z
Zos Kia Cultus: Occult belief system created by Austin Osman Spare.