Words & Terms

In order to truly become a Witch, you must make a commitment to study and practice. You need to know all you can about this religion, if you hope to gain spiritually. You must learn and understand what you learn. Wicca is first and foremost a spiritual path, so consider carefully before you begin. As for magic, if you dabble in magic without a proper foundation, you are apt to get your fingers burned, and not know why.

It may help you to have a special notebook in which you record the lessons and your thought. Writing things down not only helps clarify your thinking, but helps you discover, and uncover, your inner-most feelings.
It is best for beginners or apprentices in Wicca to make themselves familiar with the following words.

These are words that are known and used in the Wiccan, Pagan, and magical communities.

Adept: a person who is very skilled in some form of magic.

Alphabets, magical: special alphabets used in the writing of some magical spells, they also are used to write secret words and names on tools. Originally, all alphabets were sacred and used for magic.

Apprentice: a beginner in Wicca. The words neophyte, novice and postulant are also used, although these are more reminiscent of orthodox religious orders.

Athame: the traditional black-hilted, double-edged knife used by Witches during rituals and in magic. It is not used to kill or cut anything.

Banish: to cast something out by magic, usually negative spirits, entities, or energies. The word is also used when referring to cutting the astral ritual circle. Some Wiccan groups use the word banish in reference to expelling a member.

Besom: an old word for a broom. This special broom is used to symbolically sweep the circle clean before a ritual.

Bind: the use of magic to restrict the power and movement of people, entities, and energies. This is primarily used by Witches when they are attacked.

Bolline: a white-handled knife with curved blade; primarily used to cut herbs, usually resembles a small hand sickle.

Book of Shadows: the traditional name for the book in which a Witch keeps her rituals, spells, and any other information she has learned. Although some Witches believe this can only be black, bound book, others choose notebooks in colorful designs.

Cakes and Wine/Cakes and Ale; a phrase used by Gerald Gardner to describe that wine/ale/juice and cakes/cookies/bread used by some Wiccan groups during ritual.

Call; a series of words or sounds that are used to invoke, or call, deities.

Cauldron; the cast iron kettle used by Witches for burning request papers, holding lighted candles, brewing up herbal potions for healing or magic, or as a symbol of the womb of the Great Goddess.

Chanting; verbally repeating words or verses to build up power within a magic circle. This accumulated power is released as part of spellworking.

Charge of the Goddess: a message from the Goddess to Her followers, this appears in Aradia: Gospel of Witches. Gerald Gardner wrote a version, including much material by Aleister Crowley. Doreen Valiente wrote a later version, deleting the Crowley material. The Valiente version has since been adopted by most Wiccan groups and is frequently rewritten It is also known simply as The Charge Circle; a symbol of eternity

Cleansing; removing all negative energies or entities from an object, person, or place.

Cone of Power: the magical, psychic energy that is raised and contained within a consecrated circle. Psychically seen, the power emanates from the edge of the circle and rises to a peak high above. At its height, this power is released to manifest a desired result.

Consecration the purification and blessing of an object, person or place

Coven; a group of Witches who work together regularly. Some believe a coven must have thirteen members or less, but never less than three. The word coven was first used in sixteenth-century Scotland.

Covenstead; the place where Witches regularly meet.

Craft name; the new, magical name taken by a Witch at initiation. This name is kept secret from all except those with whom the Witch works.

Dancing; a practice of some Wiccan groups to raise power and create a state of semi-hypnosis. Spiral dances symbolize entering the Inner Mysteries, while the circle or round dance represents the circling stars in the heavens.

Days of Power; generally speaking, these can be the holy days or New or Full Moon. Other days can be powerful for Witches because of eclipses, astrological alignments or personal days of significance.

Dedication; the oath made by Wiccan initiates that promise their life and self to the Wiccan religion.

Degrees; in traditional Wiccan groups, there are three degrees of initiation, earned by study and practice.
The last, called the Third Degree, makes one a High Priestess or High Priest.

Deosil; to move in a clockwise or sunwise direction. Old spellings are deiseal and deasail.

Drawing Down the Moon; a Full Moon ritual, usually performed by a priestess or female Witch, to bring the essence of the Goddess within the woman.

Earth Magic; magic performed with natural objects found in or on the earth. Also magic that uses power drawn from the earth.

Elder; the title bestowed upon an older, knowledgeable member of some Wiccan groups. In traditional Wiccan groups, an elder is generally a Third Degree Witch.

Elementals; non-corporeal beings and creatures who inhibit the astral plane and are conned with the

Elements. The most commonly known traditional Elementals are gnomes, undines, sylphs, and salamanders.

Elements; psychic energies connected with Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit.

Esbat; the Full and New Moon rituals of Witches.

Evocation; the calling of a lower order of spirits into a triangle made outside the consecrated circle.
God, The; the consort of and co-creator with the Goddess; the masculine aspect of Divine Power.
Goddess, The; the creatrix of the universe and everything in it; the feminine aspect of Divine Power.
Great Rite; a symbolic sexual ritual of the Great Marriage between the Goddess and the God, High Priestess and High Priest. This is rarely physically enacted.

Guardians; the psychic an astral entities who are called to guard the four quarters of a consecrated circle. It may also be used when referring to the spiritual guardians of a person.

High Priest; the principal male leader of a coven. Second and Third Degree male Witches may also be priests, although they do not lead the coven.

High Priestess; the principal female leader of a coven. Second and Third Degree female Witches may also be priestesses, although they do not lead that coven.

Holy days; Pagan holidays. These eight days are Imbolc (February), Spring Equinox (March), Beltane (May, Summer Solstice (June), Lughnasadh (August), Autumn Equinox (September), Samhain (October), and Winter Solstice (December)

Initiation; the formal ceremony performed when someone joins a Wiccan group, Self-initiations can be performed by solitary Witches, as an inner sign of total dedication to the Wiccan religion.
Invocation; the part of a ritual in which higher power and/or deities are invited into a consecrated circle.

Karma; the law of cause and effect.

Knots; part of binding and releasing spells

Lady, The; the Goddess

Lord, The; the God

Magic; the drawing down of energy from another realm and using that energy to create and shape a desired result. The Witch must create the result on the Inner Planes in order for it to follow universal laws and manifest on the physical plane. The results are rarely instantaneous.

Magic circle; a circular space consecrated by a Witch or magical group, in which rituals and magic are performed.

Magus; a title sometimes applied to Witches of the Second or Third Degree. It is more frequently used to denote an adept of ceremonial magic.

Moon, Full; the phase of the Moon in which all of its light is revealed. The period leading up to it is called the Waxing Moon. Witches frequently meet on a Full Moon for rituals and to use this power for magic.

Moon, New; the phase of the Moon when all of its light is obscured. The period leading up to it is called the Waning Moon. Some Witches hold rituals during this time and do magic to eliminate illnesses or life problems.

Pantheon; traditional groups of deities. Each pantheon is connected with an ancient culture and tradition.

Pentacle; a disk or plate of metal, ceramic, or wood on which is engraved or painted a five-pointed star; this is placed on a Witch’s altar. It is representative of the Earth Element.

Pentagram; a five-pointed star with one point upright. A symbol long used in connection with the Goddess. It is rarely used inverted by Pagans or Witches, and then only as a sign of Second Degree Witch initiation.

Polytheism; the belief in more than one deity.

Priest; a man dedicated to a certain deity or deities, who officiates at Wiccan and/or Pagan rituals.

Priestess; a woman dedicated to a certain deity or deities, who officiates at Wiccan and/or Pagan rituals.

Rites of passage; rituals and celebrations done for birth, death, marriage, divorce, puberty, and entering elderhood.

Ritual; any routinely repeated action. In spiritual areas, ritual means to enact a certain set of actions in order to achieve a transformation of consciousness.

Sabbat; the eight holy days sacred to Wiccans. Witches call Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain the
Greater Sabbats, and the Solstices and Equinoxes the Lesser Sabbats.

Skyclad; nude or naked during ritual. A practice most often found in groups that follow the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions.

Solitary; Witches who practice by themselves and do not belong to a group.

Spell; certain actions and words that make magic.

Threefold Law; an ethic more than a law, this is connected with karma. It is said that whatever you send out by deed or directed thought will return to you in triple strength. However ethically appropriate this “law” is, it was likely a creation of Gardner.

Watchtowers; a term sometimes used to describe the four directions in a magical circle.

Wiccan Rede, The; the oft-quoted phrase “Do what you will if it harm none.” This phrase doesn’t appear until Gardner’s time and may have been invented by him.

Wiccaning; similar to a christening, but is a ritual for Wiccan children when they are formally presented to the Lord and the Lady.

Widdershins; counterclockwise, or against the sun, movement. It is derived from the High German word

Widersinnes. The Gaelic version is Tuathal.

Witch balls; the name applied to reflecting glass balls that are hung in windows to send back negative vibrations. The Victorians used such reflecting spheres in gardens.

Witch Queen; in the more traditional covens, this describes a High Priestess who has had at least two new covens hive off of hers.

Witch’s hat; the traditional black hat has a tall, cone-shaped crown with a wide brim. This image of the Witch arose during the Burning Times, along with the black dress and cape, warts, and ugly features.

Witchcraft; also called Wicca and the Craft. The Old English word meant ‘wise-craft’. A nature religion that honors the Great Goddess and Her consort.

Witching hour; traditionally, this is midnight.

Credit: Robin S Baker