Wiccan, Witchcraft & Pagan Definitions 4

Q-Y

Quabala: See Kabbala

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.

Rede: The Basic tenet of witchcraft. "An it harm none, do what thou will.

Reincarnation: The process of repeated incarnations in human form to allow evolution of the sexless, ageless soul.

Ritual Ceremony: A specific form of movement, a manipulation of objects or inner processes designed to produce desired effects. In religion ritual is geared toward union with the Divine. In magickal works it produces a specific state of consciousness that allows the magician to move energy toward needed goals.

Ritual Consciousness: A specific, alternate state of awareness necessary to the successful practice of magick. This state is achieved through the use of visualization and ritual. The conscious mind becomes attuned with the psychic mind, a state in which the magician senses energies, gives them purpose, and releases them toward a specific goal. It is a heightening of senses, an expanded awareness of the nonphysical world, a linking with nature and with Deity.

Ritual Tools: General name for magickal tools used by a witch or magician. They vary by tradition and usually represent one of the elements.

Runes: A set of symbols used both in divination and magickal work. There are several types will different origins- Scandinavian, Norse, Germanic.

Sabbat: A witch's festival.
Scourge: Small device made from leather or hemp which resembles a whip and is used in flagellation rites within some traditions.

Scrying: A method of divination. To gaze at or into an object (a quartz crystal sphere, a pool of water, reflections, a candle flame) to still the conscious mind in order to contact the psychic mind. Scrying allows the scryer to become aware of events prior to their actual occurrence, as well as to perceive past or present events through other than the five senses.

Shaman: A man or woman who has obtained knowledge of the subtler dimensions of the Earth, usually through periods of alternate states of consciousness. Various types of ritual allow the shaman to pierce the veil of the physical world and to experience the realm of energies. This knowledge lends the shaman the power to change his or her world through magick.

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

Shillelagh: Magickal tool corresponding to the staff in other traditions. Usually made from blackthorn wood.

Sigil: Magically oriented seal, sign, glyph, or other device used in a magickal working. Ones you create yourself are the most effective. Sigils can be used on letters, packages, clothing, etc.

Simple Feast: A ritual meal shared with the Goddess and God.
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. Considered deeply spiritual, NOT sexual.

Solitary: Pagan who works and worships alone.

Spell: A magickal ritual, usually non-religious in nature and often accompanied by spoken words. It should be clear, concise, focused and emotional. Need must be present.

Spiral: Symbol of coming into being.

Staff: Ritual tool which corresponds to the wand or athame.

Stang: Ritual tool from Pagan Rome which resembles a two-pronged trident. Often used in place of the wand or circle.

Subconscious Mind: Part of the mind which functions below the levers 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 Pagan Land of the Dead.

Sympathetic Magick: Concept of likes attract. Most common way spells are worked.

Talisman: An object charged with personal power to attract a specific force or energy to its bearer.

Tarot Cards: Set of 78 cards which feature pictures and symbols used to conned the diviner with the collective unconscious.

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

Threefold Law: Karmic principle that energy that is released is returned three times over.

Tradition: Branch of paganism followed by any individual Pagan or coven.

Trilithon: A stone arch made from two upright slabs with one lying atop these. They are featured in Stonehenge.

Triple Goddess: One Goddess in all of her three aspects: Maiden, Mother, Crone.

Virgin: Youngest aspect of the Triple Goddess. Also know as the Maiden. Represented by the waxing moon, colors white and blue. Her Sabbats are Imbolc and Ostara.

Vision Quest: Using astral projection, bi-location, or dream time to accomplish a specific goal. Also called path working.

Visualization: The process of forming mental images. Magickal visualization consists of forming images of needed goals during ritual. It is also used to direct personal power and natural energies for various purposes during magick, including charging and forming of the magick circle.

Wand: Ritual tool brought to the craft from ritual magick.

Warlock: Antiquated term misused in reference to a male Witch. It means oath-breaker or Liar. Most Pagans, Witch's find the term offensive.

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 modern Pagan religion with spiritual roots in the earliest expressions of reverence for nature. Some major identifying motifs are: reverence for both the Goddess and God; acceptance of reincarnation and magick; ritual observance of astronomical and agricultural phenomena; and the use of magickal circles for ritual purposes.

Wicce: Synonymous with Wicca. In some circles, Wicce is used for women and Wicca is used for men.

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

Witch: A practitioner of folk magick, particularly that kind relating to herbs, stones, colors, wells, rivers, etc. It is used by some Wiccans to describe themselves. This term has nothing to do with Satanism.

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. This belief system also has nothing to do with Satanism.

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

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