Glossary

Following the theme of the site, the terms listed here are associated but not nessisarily realated to magic. The terms are academic in nature often with examples to clarify there meaning.

Agnosticism

is the belief that a person cannot be sure that there is or is not a god or gods.

Atheistism

is the belief that not only there is no god or gods, but also that there cannot be any god or gods.

Cult

is is the collection of physical practices of a Faith. In this site it has nothing to do with drinking Kool-Aid.

a Conscious

is an intuitive process of making judgments about the value of things or actions. It is constantly formed and developed with each new experience of life. It is not "a little voice that tells you right from wrong." All people are obliged to follow their own conscious.

Deism

is the belief in god or gods, but that they have nothing to do with the Universe and humanity than just creating them.

Doctrine

is a teaching about a the divine, the universe, or humanity that does not concern truths about the aforementioned subjects. E.g. the LBRP is the most essential rite of a Ceremonial Magician is doctrine since that statement is not about a universal truth of the divine, universe, or humanity.

Dogma

is a true statement about the divine, the universe, or humanity. E.g. "Any action is paid back to the actor with the same moral value three times" is a dogma of Wicca, since it is a truthful statement about the universe.

Evil

in monotheism is anything entity created with Free Will that does not choose God. It is not a created reality, but a definition of a relationship. Evil is a finite and definitive reality, but often that aspect overlooked with Sophistic arguments. E.g. In an example where someone steals a piece of bread there is always a shumck that asks "what if their family was starving and this is the only way?" The thief is rich, infertile, and doesn't believe in maridge in the same way you do not belive in Evil. Since the negative side of actions has two words for it i.e. bad and evil, while the positive side only has one, i.e. good, this web site will use the word evil for simplicity.

a Faith

is a personal set of believes concerning the nature of the divine, universe, and humanity. This is also known as a Belief.

Faith (virtue)

is the virtue that allows people to use logic and reason to know about the divine. It is not an emotion "believing in things when common sense tells you not too." E.g.
* Given that a person named Alice dies.
* Given that she comes to life.
* Given that there are no external forces to bring this change.
.'. Alice brought herself back to life.
.'. Alice must be god or god-like.
The virtue of Faith allows a person to definitively know that the previous prove of valid. The statements are true only if the person's Belief allows the premises to be true.

Form (artistic)

is an objectic existing in three dimensions, i.e. length, width, height, e.g. sphere, cube, cylander.

Free Will

is the ability to make actions without the influence of the divine, nature, biology, or instinct. Free Will is about choosing up or down, not left or right.

Good

in monotheism is anything that is made from God without Free Will, or anything with Free Will that chooses God. Good is a finite and definitive reality--see the first part. It is only the ambiguity arises are grey areas of choice by entities with Free Will.

Idealism

is the belief that there are differences amongst entities besides the arrangement of their subatomic particles. This is the opposite of Materialism.

Intuition

is the process of learning something new that is accomplished instantly and without conscious thought. It has nothing to do with the emotions or touchy-feely hunches. E.g. a person that touches water intuitively knows it is wet unless the have leprosy.

Metaphysics

is the philosophical study of the nature of God, the Universe, and the Soul.

Materialism

is the belief that there is nothing besides the physical world. The only thing that separates the stars, me, you, your dog, bacteria, fecal matter, electricity, etc. are just the arrangement of subatomic particle. The materialist would never say "I have a body", but would actually say "I am my body."

Monotheism

is the belief that there is only one God and it is a distinct entity and reality from the Universe. Often it entails that the being is omnipotent and omniscient. If four people are talking about Yaweh, Allah, Amun-Ra, and the Great Architect, they are all talking about the same being.

Optimist

is the belief that every human is not only inately Good, but that there is no Evil in the world. This is not the same as Idealist.

Pantheism

is the belief that all things are God or divisions of it.

Pessimist

is the belief that every human is inately Evil and that there is no Good in the world.

Polytheism

is the belief that there are more than one god and that they are distinct entities and realities from the Universe.

Religion

is the communal expression of a Faith. For a faith shared by a group of people to be a religion is requires the three W's of Wisdom, Worship, and Works. I.e. a set body of knowledge about the divine, universe, and humanity; a organized means of honoring the ideals of the religion both in public, communal, and private; and a set of rules and principles to live out life. The three W's are also known as the three C's of Creed, Cult, and Code.

Secularism

is world view or practice that although the after life is more important since it can be eternal, that is not to say that a person cannot enjoy this world. It is not total focus on the physical world, but an acknowledgment of it in normal life.

Shape (artistic)

is an object that exists in two dimensions, i.e. length, height, e.g. circle, square, triangle.

Sin

is to miss the mark. The word in both the Greek and Latin are from an archery term meaning that you aim for the target, which is Good, but you miss. This also is the same word used for "Tragic Flaw" in Classical Tragedy, in which it is a simple and not necessarily Evil, but it brings them down.

Slavery

is the denial of Free Will or the lack of exercising it. E.g. not waking up in the morning due to sleepiness knowing that it will be OK since there is a refrigerator stock piled with preserved goods and the utilities will not be turn off in a month, is an act of being enslaved to physical biology.