Wiccan terminology

Here's a basic glossary I wrote of reasonably common terms used in Wicca. This glossary is based upon the ones in Scott Cunningham's 'Living Wicca' and Silver RavenWolf's 'To ride a Silver Broomstick'. I added some terms I thought missing, and left out others I felt weren't necessary for someone making an initial investigation of Wicca. Many of the definitions here are short and incomplete, again my goal was to basically define some common terms so that people can read texts which don't bother to define every term. May the Goddess and God bless.

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Athame: A Wiccan ritual knife. Generally double edged with a black handle, but not always. This knife is seldom used for physical cutting, if at all, and need not be sharp. It is *never* used to draw blood and Wiccans do not draw blood or use blood in ritual. Its primary use is as an energy directing device, much like the wand, though with different common uses. compare: Boline, Wand

Balefire: A fire laid and lit for magical or religious purposes, usually outdoors. Physically similar to the non-magical non-religious bonfire.

Balefull: see Banefull.

Bane: That which is harmful, destructive or evil.

Banefull: harmful, destructive or evil.

Banish: To make go away, cast out ,etc.

B.C.E: Before Common Era, non-christian version of B.C.

Besom: Broom.

Bind: To prevent or limit. in the magickal context the act of limiting a spell (ie: to ensure it will harm none) or person (ie: to prevent them from harming others). Some consider it unethical to bind people other than yourself or spells you did not cast.

Boline: A Wiccan ritual knife used for more practical purposes, such as cutting herbs, etc. *never* to draw blood. Generally white handled with a curved blade. compare: Athame.

Book Of Shadows: A collection of Wiccan Ritual information that commonly includes religious rituals, chants/poems to gods and goddesses, magick, advice, and coven laws (if a coven B.O.S.) among other things. A B.O.S can be a coven book, detailing that coven's craft, or owned by an individual wiccan with a more personal style.

C.E.: Common Era, non-christian version of A.D.

Censer: An incense burner.

Circle, magic: A sphere of magical energies in which Wiccan rituals are usually practiced. The area inside the circle is seen as being sacred ground in which Wiccans and their deities may meet. The circle is deconstructed (released, grounded, etc) after use. Often constructed using the athame, along with incense, salt, and water, but methods vary greatly.

Coven: A group of Wiccans, usually initiatory and led by one or two leaders, that gather together for religious and magickal celebrations.

Craft, the: Witchcraft, Wicca.

Desoil: In northern hemisphere, clockwise. Southern, counterclockwise. Direction of motion for creative magick.

Divination: The art of peering into the unknown by interpreting random patterns or symbols. Incorrectly referred to as "fortune telling". examples include: tarot cards, the I Ching, rune stones, staring (scrying) into water or fire, etc.

Elements, The: Earth Air, Fire, Water.

Esbat: Any Wiccan religious celebration held which is not a sabbat, commonly held on full moons in honor of the goddess.

God, The: Loving father to all and the perfect compliment to the Goddess. He is viewed as co-creator of the universe. Often Identified with the sun, sky deserts, forests, agriculture, and wild animals. not to be confused with the monotheistic Christian concept of 'God' he is part of a pair.

Goddess, The: Definitions differ but Generally the universal mother of all who created the universe with the god. Often associated with the Moon, ocean, earth, fertility, birth and death.

Handfasting: The joining of two humans in a bond of love before the goddess and god. Yes, they can be made to be a legal marriage, there is no requirement that a marriage be Christian to be legal in the U.S. (separation of church and state).

Magic/Magick/Magik: The movement of subtle, natural energies to manifest positive, needed change. This is a natural, not supernatural process.

Meditation: Reflection, contemplation, turning inward toward the self or outward toward Deity or nature.

Neo-pagan: A person following a modern religion born from older pagan faiths, such as Wicca.

Pagan: from Latin paganus a 'country dweller' or villager. Today it' a general term for followers of Wicca and other polytheistic, magic-embracing religions. Some prefer that Wiccans are called neo-pagan and that pagan refer to practitioners of ancient polytheistic faiths in their more or less original form , such as Odinism, etc... Pagans are not Satanists.

Pentacle: A ritual object (usually a circular piece of metal, wood or clay) with a five pointed star (pentagram) inscribed, painted or engraved.

Pentagram: An interlaced five pointed star (with one point at the top) inscribed in a circle. The pentagram is a symbol, as opposed to a pentacle which is object (a disk with a pentagram on it). The pentagram is a symbol of protection and is not evil.

Reincarnation: The doctrine of rebirth after death. It is one of the tennents of Wicca.

Sabbat: Any one of eight Wiccan solar festivals, marked by the 4 solstices and equinoxes, as well as 4 dates in between them. They are (Celtic style names, other names exist) Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, and Samhain.

Satanism: A very different religion from Wicca, which is technically a form of atheism. Satanists embrace importance of self, and vengeance against those that wrong them.

Sunwise: Another term for desoil. CounterSunwise is widdershins.

Tradition, Wicca: An organized, structured, specific Wiccan subgroup. Much like Christianity has denominations each with their own style, Wicca has many traditions (and some Wiccans follow no specific tradition see eclectic Wicca). Common examples include Gardnerian, Seax (not sex), Dianic, Faery, Pecti, Teutonic, Caledoni, Alexandrian, and there are many others...

Wand: One of the ritual tools used in Wicca, generally it is another tool of energy direction, much like the athame. The specific choice of wand vs athame varies among Wiccans, almost all choose athame over wand for circle casting and many prefer the wand when calling the Goddess and God.

Widdershins: Counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in southern. Direction of motion for banishing magic to some, bane (harmful) magic to others. (different wiccans interpret this motion differently)

Wicca: A modern neo-pagan religion with spiritual roots in the earliest expressions of reverence for nature as a manifestation of the divine. Wicca views Deity as Goddess and God; Thus it is polytheistic. It embraces magic and reincarnation, and is in no way associated with Satanism.