Glossary of Witchy Terms | Foxglove Academy

Glossary

OF WITCHY TERMS FOR BEGINNER

It's important to understand the subjects & terms used in your topics of study. Below is a list of commonly misunderstood words & their meanings. To learn more on a subject click the "View More" button.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

A

Affirmation

An Affirmation is a sentence repeated silently to oneself to remain one of the spiritual path.

Akashic Record

The Akashic record is an area of the astral plane that contains a record of everything that has ever happened on earth.

Alchemy

Alchemy is a process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way

Altar

An Altar is a sacred space used to hold all your tools, decorations, & offerings. It is used to help you focus & set your intention for rituals, ceremonies & spellcasting.

Amulet

An Amulet is a charm worn to protect or aid the wearer, it is often inscribed with a magic incantation or sigil.

Apparition

An Apparition is the appearance of a ghostly figure.

Astra Projection

Astral Projection is the practice or ability of releasing one's spirit from its physical body during trancelike states, so that it may travel through to other realities.

Astrology

Astrology is the study of how celestial bodies affect the natural world & human affairs

Athame

An athame is a double edged ritual dagger, traditionally with a black hilt. It can be used to direct energy & manipulate power, along with casting circles of protection, banishing negative energy & consecrating objects.

Augury

Augury is a method of divination preformed by the interpretation of signs & omens.

Aura

The Aura is the layers of subtle energy that surrounds each living being. In humans it consists of 7 layers, also known as a rainbow of light.

Contributors

Silver Foxglove

Forest Witch

B

Banishing

Banishing refers to dispelling, to driving out or removing unwanted energy or being from a space or from an individual.

Besom

A Besom is a broom used to cleanse & consecrate magical & sacred spaces. Besoms are also used for purifying rituals & celebrations by symbolically sweeping away energy & psychic attacks.

Book of Shadows

A Book of Shadows is a journal used to record & take notes on spells.

C

Cartomancy

Cartomancy is the use of cards in divination.

Cauldron

A Cauldron is a pot or vessel that can have many functions. It is often used in making potions, small fires & burning incense, dried herbs or resins. It can also be used in divination (scrying).

Celtic

The term Celtic refers to a group of Indo-European languages usually subdivided into Brythonic and Goidelic & now largely confined to Brittany, Wales, Ireland, & the Scottish Highlands

Censer

A Censer is a container used to burn incense, herbs & resins.

Ceromancy

Ceromancy is a form of divination in which wax is dripped into a bowl of water & the shapes it creates is interpreted.

Chakra

A Chakra is a spiral energy point within the aura and/or physical body.

Chalice

A Chalice is a cup of vessel used in rituals & ceremonies. It is often used to hold ceremonial drinks or salt water.

Channeling

Channeling is the ability to receive messages from spiritual beings.

Charging

Charging is to imbue an object (ei. Crystal) with magical energy and/or intention.

Christianity

Christianity is the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture.

Ch’i

Ch’i also spelled Qi, is a Chinese word that refers to the energetic substance that flows from the environment into the body. It is considered the same as Prana & Ki.

Clairaudience

Clairaudience is the ability to hear voices & other noises, either externally or within the mind.

Claircognizant

Claircognizant is the ability to know things without having been told

Clairsentience

Clairsentience is the ability to tune into another person’s emotional or physical sensation or into atmospheres.

Clairvoyance

Clairvoyance is the ability to see spirit forms, either as a materialization or in the mind’s eye.

Collective Unconscious

The Collective Unconscious is a term that describes a deep level of psyche that is shared by everyone.

Coven

A Coven is a group of witches who share spells, rituals & unite to preform communal magick.

Crystals

Crystals are precious or semi-precious stones that have powerful energetic properties. They grow according to sacred geometry & resonate at specific frequencies.

Curse

A Curse is a magical spell whose intention is for harm or injury to come upon a specific person place or group.

D

Demonology

Demonology is the study of demons or evil spirits.

Divination

Divination is the practice of exploring & discovering hidden significance or the cause of events in one's life, or to foretell the future by using magickal methods. Fortune telling of one form or another has been used in all civilizations, both modern & ancient.

Dowsing

Dowsing is a form of divination using a pendulum.

Druid

A Druid is an ancient Celtic priest often depicted as magicians & wizards

E

E. S. P.

E. S. P. stands for Extrasensory Perception. This is the ability to perceive something without using any of the classic 5 senses.

Ectoplasm

Ectoplasm is a silky substance secreted from the body of mediums while in trance

Evocation

Evocation refers to the act of summoning.

Exorcism

An Exorcism is a ritual to expel an evil spirit by adjuration from a person, place or object

F

Familiar

Familiar is a spirit (often in animal form) sent to a witch as a companion that supports her/him with magickal works

Feng Shui

Feng Shui is a Chinese geomantic practice in which a structure or site is configured so as to harmonize with the spiritual forces that inhabit it. It also refers to the specific placement, orientation or arrangement of objects in a home.

Fortune-Teller

Fortune-Teller is someone that professes to prophesize future events

G

Geomancy

Geomancy is the divination by means of figures, lines or geographic features.

Ghost

A Ghost is a spirit form that regularly haunts a particular place, often the spirits of people who are unaware they have died.

Grimoire

A Grimoire is a manual containing magickal research and practices.

Grounding

Grounding is the practice of drawing upon or anchoring with the energy of the Earth.

H

Hermetic

Hermetic refers to the mystical & alchemical writings or teachings arising in the first three centuries AD & attributed to Hermes Trismegistus

Hierophant

Hierophant is a priest in ancient Greece.

Handfasting

Handfasting is an ancient pagan wedding ceremony, using cords or ribbons binding the hands together.

I

I Ching

The I Ching is an ancient Chinese method of divination. It is also considered a form of philosophy.

Incantation

An Incantation is a rhyming spell, usually spoken repeatedly during a spell or ritual.

Initiation

An Initiation is a rite, ceremony, ordeal, or instruction with which one is made a member of a sect or society.

Inscribing

Inscribing is the act of carving into a candle with a pin or knife.

Invocation

Invocation refers to the act or process of petitioning for help or support through a spell or prayer.

J

K

Kabbalah

Kabbalah is the system of Jewish theosophy & mysticism marked by belief in creation through emanation and a cipher method of interpreting Scripture

Karma

Karma is known as the law of cause and effect. It is the total effect of a person’s actions during their existence, it is regarded as determining the fate or destiny of that person.

Ki is a Japanese term that refers to life-force energy. It is considered the same as Prana & Ch’i or Qi

L

M

Magick

Magick, not to be confused with stage "magic." It is art of utilizing natural forces around us to bring about change. It is neutral, neither good, nor evil.

Mantra

A Mantra is a mystical syllable (ei. OM) or chant. It is an incantation or prayer repeated many times.

Meditation

Meditation is a form of contemplation or thought control in which the mind is directed inwards

Medium

A Medium is also known as a sensitive, is someone who is capable of communicating with the dead

Meridian

A Meridian is one of the narrow channels within the body which transmits energy (or Ch’i). They are used in acupuncture.

Mojo

Mojo refers to ones magical power.

Mudra

A Mudra is a symbolic hand gesture used in Hindu dance and meditation.

Mysticism

Mysticism is the belief that direct knowledge of God or spiritual truth, can be attained through subjective experience.

View Glossary N-Z