Pagan Dictionary

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RADIESTHESIA: Divination interpreting the movements of pendulum, often used in dowsing. Different forms of radiesthesia include:

Cleidomancy (using a key);
Coscinomancy (using a sieve);
Dactylomancy (using a ring);
Also known as Pallomancy.
RAGNAR’S DAY: Norse holiday commemorating Viking Ragnar Lodbrok’s sacking of Paris in 845 CE. Celebrated on March 28.

RAHAT: 

An individual who through serious study and accomplishments is considered highly proficient in a particular magickal system. A Master;
An individual with an earnest desire to better the world who, through arduous self-denial and self-development, has attained knowledge and powers that befit them to assist in the ruling of the world;
Also known as Abdal, Adept, Rishi, Mahatma.
REBIS: In alchemy, the term represents Sulfur and Mercury after their Conjunction. Also known as Hermaphrodite.

RECEPTIVE ENERGY: Magnetic, soothing, attracting energy often used for meditation, promoting love, calm and quiet. See also: Projective Energy.

RECEPTIVE HAND, The: The non-dominant hand, the hand not used for most manual tasks. This is the hand through which energy is received into the body. See also: Projective Hand.

REDE: A tenet, rule, doctrine, or law.

REINCARNATION: The rebirth of the soul into physical form after death.

RESGUARDO: Santeria charms or talismans kept for good luck or to ward of evil. Akin to the Medicine Bags in Native American tradition or the Resquardo (gris-gris) in Voudoun tradition, they are small cloth bags filled with herbs, oils, stones, and/or other personal items gathered under the direction of a particular god and designed to protect the owner.

RESQUARDO: Vodoun charms or talismans kept for good luck or to ward of evil. They are small cloth bags filled with herbs, oils, stones, small bones, hair and nail clippings, pieces of cloth soiled with perspiration and/or other personal items gathered under the direction of a particular god and designed to protect the owner. Akin to a Medicine Bag. Also known as Resquardos. Akin to the Santeria Resguardo and the Native American Medicine Bag. Also known as Gris-Gris.

RETORT: A spherical container, usually made of glass, with a long neck or spout. It is used in alchemy to distill or decompose solutions by the action of heat or acids.

RHABDOMANCY: Divination using a stick, wand or divining rod. Rhabdomancy is often used in dowsing.

RHAPSODOMANCY: Divination by interpreting randomly chosen passages in a book of Poetry. The most common form is opening a book to a random page to answer a question. The variant of using any book is called bibliomancy or stichomancy and using books by Virgil and Homer is called stoichemancy.

RIGHT-HAND PATH: A term used to identify some traditions where Magick is never used for destructive purposes. Also known as White Magick, Path of Light.

RISHI:

An individual who through serious study and accomplishments is considered highly proficient in a particular magickal system. A Master.
An individual with an earnest desire to better the world who, through arduous self-denial and self-development, has attained knowledge and powers that befit them to assist in the ruling of the world.
Also known as Abdal, Adept, Rahat, Mahatma.
RITE:

A religious or solemn observance or act, or group of the same;
The activities associated with the observance.
RITE OF DEATH, RITE OF PASSING: The rite to observe the physical death of a pagan. The rite celebrates death as a rebirth and the ritual varies in each path. Also known as Crossing the Bridge, Passing Rite.

RITE OF RELEASE: A rite originally composed by Ed Fitch as a Pagan Way ritual, in which the soul of an animal is helped across to the threshold of death. Fitch was inspired to write the Rite of Release to help animals that had been killed in highway accidents and whose bewildered souls remained by their corpses.

RITUAL: A focused mental/physical ceremony to either honor or thank one's chosen pantheon, or to perform a specific magickal working or act. A Rite.

RITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS: A specific, alternate state of awareness necessary to the successful practice of magick. Achieved through the use of visualization and ritual.

RITUALE ROMANUM, The: The Catholic priest’s service manual, containing the only formal exorcism rites sanctioned by an established Christian Church. It was written in 1614 CE by Pope Paul V, and remained unchanged until 1952 CE when two small revisions were made in the language.

RITUAL MAGICK: Magick that calls upon the aid of beneficent spirits and is akin to religion. Ritual Magick is based upon a blend of doctrines of Plato and other Greek philosophers, Oriental mysticism, Judaism and Christianity and currently is divided into three forms : Enochian, Thelemic and Eclectic. Enochian Magick originated with John Dee and Edward Kelly in the 16th century and communication with spirits involved the Nineteen Calls (or Keys): incantations in the Enchonian language, a complex language of unknown origin. This system of Magick was revived by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and studied at length by Aleister Crowley. In turn, Crowley developed the Thelemic Magick system from his studies and Ritual Magickians have since expanded to develop Eclectic Magick systems based on a variety of different systems, inclusive of Alchemy, Egyptology, Kabbalistic doctrines, Chaos Magick etc.. Ritual Magick requires a rigorous discipline and has an intellectual appeal, the mage derives power from God (the Judeo-Christian God) through the successful control of spirits, usually demons, which are believed easier to control than angels. Demons may be good, evil, or neutral. In its highest sense, Ritual Magick is a transcendental experience that takes the mage into mystical realms and into communication with the Higher Self. Also known as Ceremonial Magick, High Magick, Theurgic Magick, Theurgy. 

ROADOMANCY: Divination by interpreting the stars.

ROOT DOCTOR: A Traditional healer or priest to African tribal members, believers in Hoodoo, Vodoun, Santería, or Macumba, or those who seek the healing power of herbs from them. Also known as Conjure Man, Jujuman, Leaf Doctor, Witch Doctor. See also: Traditional Healer.

ROOTWORK: An American magickal system drawn from African magickal practice, Native American botanical healing knowledge and European folklore. It is often confused with Voodoo and it's practitioners are called Hoodoo, Hoodoo Doctors, Hoodoo Men/Women, Conjure Men/Women Conjurers, Root Doctors or Root Workers. Also known as Hoodoo

RUNES (Old Norse, Old English, Gaelic, "run, secret, mystery"):

The ancient Teutonic alphabet, which developed into various forms, including an Old English form introduced in England by the Angles and Saxons. See also: Futhark; 
The symbols of the Teutonic alphabet used for divination. Runes are sometimes used to describe any set of symbols that are used for divination or magickal work; 
In Wicca, a rune is a chant, charm, or spell.



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