ALTAR:  Any table or structure on which, during rituals and spellcastings, candles and incense are burned, tools of magick are kept, and offerings of any kind are made to the Goddess and/or the Horned God.

AMULET:   A consecrated object (usually a small, colored stone, or a piece of metal inscribed with runes or other magickal symbols) that possesses the power to draw love or good luck, among other things. Amultes are also use to protect against threatening influences, evil, and misfortune

ATHAME:   A ritual knife with a double-edged blade, used by Witches (and other practitioners of the magickal arts) to cast magick circles and to store and direct energy during rituals.

BELL:    Is just that, a bell. Bells have been used by nearly all cultures throughout history as migickal talismans, fertility charms, summons to a deity, and as instruments for sacred music and religious rituals of widely varying beliefs. Many modern-day Witches use a consecrated bell as an altar tool to signal the beginning and/or close of a ritual or Sabbat.

BESOM:    A straw broom used by Witches in certain Wiccan ceremonies such as Handfasting and the Sabbat of Candlemas. Although the broom has always been associated with Witches, it was never actually used for flying. Instead, Witches practicing sympathetic magick (which works on the basic principle that like produces like) would straddle a broom and jump up and down in order to show the crops how high to grow.

BEWITCHMENT:    The act of gaining power over another person by means of white or black magick; the act of casting a spell over a man, woman, child, or animal.

BINDING:    A magickal spell, often involving the tying of knots on a cord, and performed to control the actions of another or to render a sorcerer or sorceress magickally powerless. Binding are used by some Wiccans, usually for the purpose of preventing evil, negativity, or disaster of some kind from occurring, and also to put an end to the harm caused by gossip, troublemakers, and those who commit crimes.

BOOK OF SHADOWS:    A secret diary of magickal spells and potions recipes kept by an indivual Witch or a coven. In certain Wiccan traditions, a Witche's Book Of Shadows (BOS) must be burned in the event of his or her death in order to protect the secrets of the Craft.

CANDLE MAGICK:    A form of sympathetic magick that uses colored candles to represent the people and things at which its spells are directed. Each color symbolizes a different attribute, influence, and emotion. There are also different astral colors for each of the twelve signs of the zodiac.

CAULDRON:    A small black, cast-iron pot used by Witches that symbolically combines the influences of the four ancient elements, represents the womb of the Goddess, and is used for various purposes, including brewing potions, burning incense, and holding charcoal or herbs.

CHALICE:    A sacred cup or goblet used by Witches to hold consecrated water or wine, and to symbolize the ancient element of Water.

CHARM:    A highly magickal object that works like and amulet or talisman; a magickal song or incantation which is often chanted over an amulet or talisman to consecrate it and charge it with magickal energy.

CONSECRATION:    The act, process, or ceremony of making something sacred; the ritual use of water and salt to exorcize negative energies and/or evil influences from ritual tools, circles, and so forth.

COUNTERSPELL:    A powerful magickal spell or incantation that nutralizes or reverses the effects of another spell or charm

COVEN:    A group of Witches, traditionally thirteen in number, who gather together to work magick and preform ceremonies at Sabbats and Esbats. A CONVENER is a man or woman who is a member of a coven, and a COVENSTEAD is the place where the coven holds its regular meetings.

COWAN:    Among Witches, a person who is not a Witch.

THE CRAFT:    Witchcraft, WICCA, the Old Religion, the practice of folk magick.

DEOSIL:    A word used by Wiccans to mean clockwise. In spells and rituals, deosil movement symbolizes life and positive energy.

DIANIC:    A Wiccan tradition or type of coven that worships only the Goddess or accords the Horned God secondary status to the Goddess. Although some of the covens of the Dianic tradition include both female and male members, many of them exclude men, and some are lesbian-oriented.

DIVINATION:    The occult science, art, and practice of discovering the unknown and fortelling events of the future by interpreting omens or by various methods such as Tarot, dice, crystal balls, Ouija boards, astrology, and so forth.

ELEMENTALS:    Spirit-creatures that personify the qualities of the four ancient elements. Salamanders are the elemental spirits of Fire; Undines are the elemental spirits of Water; Sylphs are the elemental spirits of Air; and Gnomes are the elemental spirits of Earth.

ELEMENTAL SIGNS:    The signs of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Fire is the symbol of energy, indivuality, and identity; Water is the symbol of life, love, and spirit. Air is the symbol of mind; and Earth is the symbol of strength and fertility.

ENCHANTMENT:    Another word for magick; the act of bewitching or casting a spell.

ESBAT:    A regular meeting of a coven that is held during the full moon at least 13 times a year. At the esbat, coven members exchange ideas, discuss problems, perform special rites, work magick and healing, and give thanks and/or request help from the Goddess and the Horned God.

FAMILIAR:    A Witch's pet. In medeval Witchcraft and folklore, the familiar was an attendant spirit that appeared in the form of a cat, lizard, hare, toad, or other small animal to aid a Witch in the practice of magick.

THE GODDESS:    The female aspect of the Divine; the consort of the Horned God (the male aspect of the Divine); and the main deity honored and invoked by many Wiccans. Worship of the Goddess has been tracked backas far as primitive times and She has been known by thousands of names throughout various cultures, past and present, from around the world.

HANDFASTING:    A Wiccan betrothal ceremony in which the hands of the bride and groom are tied together with a consecrated knotted cord to signify that they have been joined together in matrimonial union. A handfasting may be performed as either a legally binding wedding or as a nonlegally binding spiritual commitment rite.

HANDPARTING:    A Wiccan ceremony that dissolves the marriage partnership of a man and a woman who are nonlegally married to each other.

HORNED GOD:    The consort of the Goddess and the symbol of male sexuality. The Horned God in many Wiccan traditions is usually identified with the Greek nature-god Pan, or Cernunnos, the Celtic lord of wild animals.

KARMA:    The law of cause-and-effect that applies to all of our actions and their consequences in this life or in future incarnations.

LIBATION:    Water or wine which is ritually poured on an altar, on the ground, or on a sacred fire as an offering to the Goddess, the Horned God, or other deity.

LOVE MAGICK:    Any form of magick which is performed by a Witch or other practitioner or magick during the proper phase of the moon to eith attract, strengthen, or restore love.

LOVE POTION:    An herbal aphrodisiac in magical spells with incantations to arouse love or sexual passion; a philtre.

MAGICK:    The art, science, and practice of producing "supernatural" effects, causing change to occur in conformity, and controlling events in Nature with will. As a tool of Witchcraft, the old spelling of the word with a final "K" is used to distinguish it from the magic of conjuring and illusion which has nothing to do with ceremonial working or the magickal states of consciousness produced by ritual.

MOJO BAG:    A small leather or flannel bag filled with a variety of magickal items such as herbs, stones, feathers, bones, and so forth, and carried or worn as a charm to attract or dispel certain influences.

MOON:    In Witchcraft and Wicca, the sacred symbol of the Goddess and also a symbol of magick, fertility, and the secret powers of Nature.

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