Week 19 – Glossary of Terms
Vortex – Nexus point occurring naturally in the earth’s energy, or specially created through magickal means.
Stone’s Spirit – All things are a manifestation of the Goddess/Deity which has taken shape through seven planes of existence. Stone’s higher self is a clearer expression of its soul and of its ultimate expression of Spirit. Remember to connect to its higher self when connecting with stones.
Talisman – When a natural object is used in its natural state or with minor augmentation with the intention of producing a metaphysical effect for the user.
Amulet – Magickal charm made for a specific purpose, generally not in its natural form.
Week 17 – Glossary of Terms
Channeling – Messages are information are imparted to a person via energy transfer from spirit guides, ancestors, or deity.
Energy Transfer – Transfer of energy from one person or thing to another. Energy can be transfered between any two things because energy makes up everything.
Plexus (Plexi) – Latin term used in Hindu for chakra.
Meridian – Pathways that energy follows as it flows between chakras.
Circuit – Pathways that energy travels in the body. Follows the circuit moving along the meridians between chakras.
Solar Circuit – Based in the solar chakra, energy system keeps the energy systems of the body going. Inexhaustible, automatic, and the energy of the soul.
Lunar Circuit – Based in the root chakra, used to perform high level magick, only developed through training and practice.
Stellar Circuit – Used to receive energy into the body, based in the crown chakra
Kundalini – Energy used in the lunar circuit.
Aura – Halo of energy which surrounds the body. Part of the soul’s energy.
Transmuting – Change from one state (raise the energy of vibration to a purer form) to another.
Wheel of Fate – Fate or Karma portrayed as wheel, rota fortuna, or Wheel of Fortune. Represents the eternal cycle of existence.
Week 15 – Glossary of Terms
Allegory – Use of symbols to convey a more complex, abstract information
Superstitions – Practices based upon fear of consequences which in reality do not come about. “Step on a crack, break your mother’s back.”
Devotee – Person who is particularly attached or devoted to a particular thing – spirit, temple, location, etc.
Tarot Cards – System of divination based upon a series of allegorical images on cards
Tea Leaves – Interpreted the residue and placement of tea leaves at the bottom of the cup. Can also be done with coffee grounds.
Rune Stones – Based upon a series of stones inscribed with the letters of the ancient Germanic Futhark (Norse) alphabet. Magical symbols that are used to communicate ideas or messages. Refers specifically to a simple line symbol which are/were letters of the alphabet. Theban Runes (Witch’s Runes) is the witch’s alphabet.
Sigils – Magickal symbol representing a deity, spirit, or concept in picture form, abstract and easy to draw. Widely used in high magic. High magic is hermetic and comes from the Kaballah.
Intent – Do magick by consciously focusing energy that we intentionally set. Intent is the goal or purpose.
Sympathetic Magick – Use of items that have similar qualities that are used to magically affect one another. Growing plants are green; thus, green equals growth, and burning a green candle can be used for growth. Fire equals change and transformation; thus, burning a charm can represent change and transformation.
Week 13 – Glossary of Terms
Sacred Space – Space that is used for magickal work or worship. Purpose is to change the vibration of energy. Not the physical place that becomes sacred, but rather the special nature of energy raised by cleansing that creates the sacred space.
Negative Energy – “Negative” energy is energy that detracts from the work that you’re doing or the quality of energy. This is not the same as “evil.” This is unfocused energy. Undirected or polluted with various emotional charges that tend to hamper the free flow of consciously directed energy. Cleanse the area of negative energy for the area in which you’ll be practicing or in your home. Cleanse an area or home with white sage. Cleanse weekly.
Circle Dance – Ancient form of spiritual expression. Joining hands in a circle to raise and transfer energy. Christians called this “caroling.” An unbroken circuit to build energy. The leader of the dance then throws their hands up to indicate that it’s time to focus the energy into the cone of power and release it.
Ceremonial Magick – Tradition followed by Pagans and Judeo-Christians derived from Hermeticism and Alchemical thought. Precise and dogmatic with a strong emphasis on specific words, actions, and tools. We do not follow this dogma or precision because we create our own practices. Deals with groups of creatures that the magician controls. Wizardry is a form of ceremonial magick.
Androgynous – Characteristics of both sexes. Spirit and matter represent both energies of male and female. Many deities are androgynous including Ishtar. The Goddess before breaking off a piece of her to make the God was androgynous.
Universal Deity – The One Power which encompasses all regional aspects (personal) of deity. The infinite power is Universal Deity.
Personal Deity – Individual aspects of deity portrayed in human terms.
Seven Great Powers – Seven basic archetypes that personal deities tend to correspond.
Pantheon – Grouping of deity associated with specific time or culture. Examples: Egyptian, Roman, Greek, etc.
Patron Deity – Particular goddess/god that one feels at home with. Oftentimes people have more than one, but one will often dominate.
Week 10 – Glossary of Terms
Magick – manipulation of energy
Higher Self – portion of one’s being that is in connection with the divine. By attuning to the higher self, we move in concert with the part of us which is divine. We have access to its knowledge and powers.
Shifting Consciousness – the process through which we rise through our normal thinking level to connect with our higher self. Magick is practiced as a conscious act by connecting to our higher self.
Keys – Something used to help cause a shift to a higher consciousness. Example: incense, candle.
“Do as you will, but harm none.” – One of the steadfast tenets. Self is included in not being harmed.
“Never manipulate freewill.” – Second tenet. Binding someone’s actions can be done (not without karmic justice) when all earthly attempts have been made.
Karma – Justice. Good begets good; bad begets bad.
Law of Three – Belief that what you do comes back threefold.
Psychism – Art of using the powers of the soul passively to receive information through the higher self. Magick is actively using the powers of the soul.
Grounding – Clearing and releasing excess energy to focus on the here and now always after magickal or psychic work. Connecting to the energy of the earth. Grounding can be done for other times when you need to clear and release energy.
Psychic Vampire – Someone who pulls energy from others.
Psychic Shielding – Done to strengthen one’s aura to keep out negative or extraneous or unwanted energies or psychic energies
Aura – Field of spiritual energy around the body. The size, shape, and colors can tell a lot about one’s current conditions. The color of aura will change as you move.
Visualization – Art of imagining something very strongly. Focus your mind and emotion to shape that which is visualized into reality. Need to be able to see something for the magick to work.
Releasing – allowing excess energy to flow out of you so that it can be grounded. Returned to Mother Earth so that it can be reused in other ways. It can also be things that you want to get rid of in your life. It can be transformed into something else.
Veil – The inability of the ordinary (conscious) mind to easily access the power and memories of the soul. If you have a “thin” veil, you can access every life you’ve ever lived and their experiences.
Magickal Circle – Common feature of most magickal traditions. Energy construct which serves to amplify energy, confine, and thus intensify it. Creates a temple into which the divine may enter. A space that is not a space in a time that is not in a time. No longer on the physical plane of existence.
Sacred Space – Used for magickal work or worship. An altar can be a sacred space once consecrated and cleansed.
Negative Energy – Unfocused energy. Has nothing to do with good or evil. Undirected or polluted with various charges. Tend to hamper the free flow of consciously directed energy. Cleansing means pushing out negative energy from that area.
Energy Construct – Energy is the basic substance of which the universe is made. It responds to thought and emotion, which gives it shape and form. In magick, we use thought and energy to create. Energy constructs are basically batteries, or a repository from which additional resources may be used as needed. It can be something as simple as an energy vortex, which increases the amount of energy for use. The magickal circle is a “battery” or an energy vortex (released and directed energy) or an energy construct.
Fingers – Index finger is the Goddess. Middle finger is the God finger.
Asperge – To asperge something is to sprinkle it with blessed water for the purpose of blessing, consecrating.
Dismiss – To release energy construct or energy deity that has been invoked.
Great Rite – Physical representation of the union of the Goddess and God – athame (or God finger) into the chalice. Physical union of the priestess and priest in some traditions.
Week 9 – Glossary of Terms
Airts – Scottish for the four winds.
Magick Circle – Used to create sacred space in which to perform ritual, work magick, or commune with our higher selves. Microcosmic re-inaction to our creation, has ties to all of existence. Primarily used for protection, serves to strengthen magickal power.
Guardians – Personified powers of the four airts and all they represent.
Directions – Representing the earth by four directions. Four is the number of manifestation because of the four elements that compose it. Represented by an equal armed cross.
Elements – Four elements are the building blocks of all creation contained in varying degrees in all things. Air, fire, water, and earth. Not the physical substances, but the qualities that are meant by the four elements. Fifth element is spirit in many cultures and traditions, but can be listed separately.
Deosil – Clockwise motion, same as the apparent motion as the sun. AKA “sunward motion.” Motion that raises energy that we wish to bring about. Most motion in a magick circle is Deosil. AKA southward.
Tuathail – Counterclockwise motion, opposite the apparent motion of the sun. Used for cleansing and purifying. Used to take down the magick circle. AKA northward.
Correspondences – Teaching system that uses sympathy. Items that use similar qualities are associated with each other.
Athame – Ancient tool of magick used for many purposes including casting a circle or incorporating materials. First of the four sacred tools.
Chalice – sacred cup in ritual. Cognate to the Holy Grail.
Pentacle – 5 pointed star in a circle. Principle symbol of the pagan religion. Represents the five elements: air, fire, water, earth, and spirit.
Boleen – Magickal tool, seldom used, magickal knife curved like the crescent moon. Bow of the moon is on the right. Used to harvest herbs, marking candles, marking wood. A working tool because of this. It is not a sacred tool like the athame.
Mortar and Pestle – Implements to grind plants into powder like material. Made of any material including wood, thick glass, brass, sandstone, marble, etc. Preferred to be cast iron because the ingredients can remain even after being washed which can affect future spells.
Wand – Staff used in pagan rituals related to the focusing of energy. A sacred ritual tool. Made of willow traditionally.
Week 6 – Glossary Terms
Spirit Guides – Every person has spirit guides in our lives helping with major life lessons. Advise us only if we know how to listen to them. Drawn from among spirits who we’ve known in this or a previous life. Spirit guides are different from life guides. Spirit guides can be people we’ve known. Life guides are not known from this lifetime, but may have been from other lifetimes. It’s not necessary to know the talents or qualities of any spirit guide. There are many different kinds (healers, teachers, etc.). It is important to listen when they speak, though. You can meet them by going through meditation or by being sensitive to the feelings of the body that is manifested by the soular body. If it’s something that you should do, you will get a slight feeling of euphoria. In contrast, there will be feelings in the gut. Listen to those feelings.
Geomancy – Art of reading the earth’s energy and aligning ourselves and our work to take best advantage of it. By aligning to this, we add to the effectiveness of our work. Different variations. Deals with earth’s vortices and lei lines delineating the energetic characters of energy in the earth. As you become attuned with chakras, you will be able to feel the energies of the earth. You can also use chakras for whatever it is that you’re doing. Used to determine the proper alignment for buildings. The Egyptian Pyramids, Stonehenge are set up with these energies from the earth.
Deosil – Indicates a clockwise movement. Means “southwards” coming from “deas” or south. Represents spiritual energy into physical manifestation.
Tuathail – Indicates counter-clockwise movement. Means “northward” coming “tuath” or north. From Garnerian “widdershins”.
Altar Table – Surface on which an altar is setup. Can be on the ground or anywhere else. Wood is preferred. Metal is generally not preferred because of the conductivity.
Altar Cloth – for decoration. Originated when it was made by hand and a status symbol or sign of an important occasion. Not necessary if it is on a table that is used only for that purpose.
Elements – Basic building blocks of creation. Different cultures have differences. Air, fire, water, and earth in Paganism. Spirit is not an element. Air = inspiration, fire = action, water = reaction, earth = integration. Some traditions put spirit as the fifth element with all other elements being as the manifestation. Elements guard the temple. Spirit doesn’t guard the temple.
Magickal Tools – Four sacred: athame, chalice, wand, and pentacle.
Intent – Focusing energy through thought and emotion creates magick. Intent is formed by that thought and emotion. Intent is the goal or purpose. Important to be clear in the intent. Concentrating on intent means that you are imprinting the energy that goes into spellwork so that it shapes itself into what you want to happen.
Ancestors – Spirits of people who have helped to shape us into who we are. Commonly it is deceased family members. However they can be people who have not been connected by blood. For example, the witches burned at the stake are our ancestors. Some believe that magick levels is contingent upon bloodlines. This is an egocentric
Incense – aromatic substance used to incense the air.
Thurible – incense holder suspended on a chain.
Libations – Drink offering made to deity or spirit.
Offering – gift offered to a deity or spirit. Many different terms. Example: Votive offering for making a vow. Symbolic in nature in act of respect and honor, strengthening the bond between deity and offerer. Rather than feeding or sustaining the spirit, it is just in honor.
Sympathetic Magic – based on the idea of sympathy. The items that have similar qualities can be used to represent each other and affect each other. Example: Plants are green. Green candles bring prosperity. Fire transforms food. Burning a magickal charm can bring transformation. These are keys used to focus our intent and energy. That energy and intent is the real magick or change.
Younger Self – Part of the self which is creative, spontaneous, nonjudgmental. Visualized as the child version of the adult. Place of innocence which all things are possible. Many have cut themselves off sometimes because of trauma. Need to give love and nurturing before younger self is fully active. Indicates enthusiasm and connecting with younger self aids in magick.
Omens – Messages from spirit delivered in symbolic terms. Used in all cultures and times. Personal in nature, not universal. Culture creates symbols, and spirit uses those symbols. Example: Black cat warns of need to seek inner guidance. Omens are based on the idea that there is not chance, but only the will of spirit. Superstition is that which causes fear and is something which is created in the mind of the individual. It is not a message from spirit because those messages are not based in fear.
Week 4 – Glossary of Terms
Vortices – Energy centers or chakras of the earth. The earth’s energy is stronger and more easily interacted with at these points. Receive and send energy. Used as worship centers just as the chakra points are connected with meridians that transport energy between them, vortices have ley lines between them.
“As above, so below” – Attributed to Egyptian Hermes, Trismagistus whose emerald tablet are the tradition of hermetic teaching. All of creation, grand or small. All forms of divination are present at all levels.
Involution – “God fell into matter.” Slows down energy, physicalizing it. Gives an impression of the Goddess. All things must adopt a highly personal view before widening their view. Going inside, narrowing one’s view to the extremely personal level.
Evolution – Coming out from the separate and personal toward the unified and divine. Evolution increases the vibration and lightens the density. Becoming progressively less physical. Returning to the Goddess and to the perspective of universality. When the involutionary process has reached its end, the next step is evolution as in the sacred labyrinth.
Dark Half – Process of involution, looking inward. Things narrow, appear to become constrained. Night, dark half, waning moon.
Light Half – Process of evolution, looking outward. Things widen. Day, light half, waxing moon.
Wheel of the Year – Yearly cycle of the seasons and the festivals. Personal, seasonal, and divine level.
Sabbat – Major pagan festival. 4 grand (feminine): Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasaddh. 4 lesser (masculine): Ostara, Litha, Mabon, Yule and are reflections of the solar positions. All of the female holidays are on the first of the month. All male sabbats are between 20-22nd of the month.
Esbat – Monthly ceremony tied to the cycle of the moon. 13 full moon esbats in a year. Commonly held at the new or full moon and also dark moon.
Week 2 – Glossary of Terms
Patron – A patron deity is the particular goddess or god that one feels at home with. We are the devotee to the deity.
Universal deity – The different faces of deity are ways of understanding deity. All of the faces of deity reflect the same universal power.
Vangelo Delle Streghe – Aradian (Italian Witchcraft) scripture containing the creation story. It also contains the charge of the goddess and other Italian myths published by Charles Leland in 1899. Leland studied Withcraft extensively.
Aradian – Italian tradition, Italian Witchcraft.
Allegory – The supreme achievement of pagan religion. The art of using easily understandable symbols to describe difficult or abstract concepts. Allegory allows us to speak of energy as light, free ourselves for literal and opens the door to abstract thinking.
Chaos – Primordial Deity. The God/Goddess before Creation. The original state that contains all life in an undifferentiated state. Contains female/male, spiritual/physical, dark/light. It is the starting point and the endpoint of Creation. It is the wholeness of Deity. From which we come and will ultimately return. Chaos came before Primeval Deity. Self-awareness emerges forming Primeval Deity.
Primeval Deity – The God/Goddess before Creation being both feminine and masculine, spiritual and physical, resolving all opposites and polarities and containing in itself all things. It is both the origin and destination of existence. Most often represented as the Crone.
Crone – The Goddess in her aged form and represented by the waning moon. Rules over wisdom, understanding, magick, learning. People who do not possess wisdom and fear, mock the Crone (especially during Halloween as the old witch).
Hecate – Great Crone Goddess of Ancient Greece. Patroness of magick and wisdom. Goddess of uncertain provenance. She has perception outside of the classical Greek pantheon. Also known as being from the Mycenaean which precedes the classical cultures. Each culture has a form of Hecate. She is the patroness of European Witchcraft.
Vibration – The rate at which energy moves. It’s also to believed to become slower or denser the farther down the seven planes.
Destiny – The lessons that are afforded in life, the chances for growth and the advancements put in our path. What we do with these is up to us. The lessons are chosen and agreed to prior to birth or incarnation. They have the purpose of trying to stimulate the growth of the soul. Consequently it’s said that life gives us opportunities, but we have freewill and can make our own choices around them.
Veil – Most people perceive the “lower” being easily (Planes 1-3). The higher aspects of being from we derive clairvoyance, telepathy, telekinetic, etc. most people need a lot of work. However those that are “born old” have a thin veil between the lower and higher selves. “Born old” people having a thin veil between the conscious self and the powers of the soul. Thus, they can access the “higher self” easily.
Lower Self – That part of ourselves of which we are generally easily aware including the physical, emotional, and mental (Planes 1-3)
Chakras – The energy centers of the body. There are thousands, but there are seven major chakras
- 1st chakra – Root chakra – (in prostate in males, periurethra in females – base of spine); physical plane
- 2nd chakra – Naval chakra – (testes and ovaries); emotional plane
- 3rd chakra – Solar chakra – Mental plane
- 4th chakra – Heart chakra – Astral plane
- 5th chakra – Throat chakra – Soular plane
- 6th chakra – Third eye chakra – (pineal gland) monadic plane
- 7th chakra – Crown chakra – Divine plane
Merlin's Path 
