A Ritual to Stop Nightmares

This is a very simple ritual, and is easy for everyone to perform. It should work for people who have repeating nightmares (children as well. A friend of mine reported it helped him with insomnia.

You need:one white candle (not big)
one white or silver ribbon (it should be long enough to fit your wrist)
any piece of silver, such as an object made of silver that you don't constantly wear on yourself or sleep with. It can be a ring you don't wear, or a silver cup, even a silver spoon.
Sit in the dark in your bedroom. Put the ribbon around the candle, light the candle and put it some place opposite to your face. Watch the flame burning for couple of minutes and relax. Now close your eyes and imagine beautiful scenes which are, in your mind, related to emotions of happiness and peace. It could be anything. (It's quite an individual thing.) Meditate for as long as you wish. When you feel relaxed and able to focus on one single thing, approach the window, holding the burning candle in your hands and looking at the Moon. If you can't see it from your window, or any other window at your place, or not even from the yard, just keep on standing there and then just look at the Sky. Say these words:
The Moon is my friend
who's listening to me,
and bringing the beauty
into my dreams.
The stars are here
forever to shine,
bringing serenity
and peace of mind.
When I close my eyes
they won't be gone,
keeping me safe
till the dawn.
You can repeat these words for as many times you want, if you feel you need to.
After this, extinguish the flame (if the candle hasn't burned down). Take off the ribbon and put it around your wrist before going to bed. Leave the candle and a piece of silver on your window until the next morning. In the morning, remove both of them, and the silver ribbon from your wrist. You can repeat this ritual 1-3 times a week, always using a new candle and a new ribbon. However, collect the ribbons. When you feel your nightmares are gone and you got rid of them, you can still go ahead and do this little ritual once a week. It can be done on any night of the week.

Fortune Telling: Gypsy Fortune Telling

This is the way Gypsy Tarot with normal playing Cards. This is how it was done in years past.

[Normal Playing Card Tarot]

Need:

* Playing Cards

[Hearts]

Ace: Love, Beginnings, happiness, Friendship
King: Fair-haired Man, Affectionate and Generous, but impetuous
Queen: Fair-haired Woman, trustworthy
Jack: Fair-haired young person, Good Friend
10: Good fortune, Happiness
9: Desires come true
8: Invitation, but also partings
7: Someone unreliable
6: Unexpected good fortune, Generosity
5: Jealousy, Indecision
4: Changes, Possible travel overtime Postponement
3: Need for caution
2: Friendship, Success

[Clubs]

Ace: Harmony, Property, Achievement, Love
King: Dark-haired man, Honest, Open
Queen: Dark-haired woman, Strong, Helpful, Attractive
Jack: Reliable Friend
10: Money from unexpected Source, Good Luck, or a Gift
9: A new romance
8: Opposition, Danger of Recklessness
7: Prosperity, though a danger of romantic interference
6: business success
5: Help from friend or spouse
4: Bad change of fortune
3: Good Marriage or Alliance
2: Disappointment and Opposition

[Diamonds]

Ace: Money, A Ring
King: Fair-haired man, Stubborn and Powerful
Queen: Fair-haired woman, Flirtatious, Sophisticated, Witty
Jack: A relative, someone not quite reliable
10: Journey, Changes usually bring wealth
9: Opportunities and Surprises, usually financial
8: Late Marriage or New relationship, Unexpected Money
7: A Gift
6: A reconciliation, A warning against second marriage
5: Successful meeting, particularly in business
4: An inheritance, An change for the better
3: Legal or Domestic Battles
2: A Love Affair becomes more important

[Spades]

Ace: Conflict Love Affair
King: Dark-haired man, Ambitious, usually Successful
Queen: Dark-haired woman, Seductive or unscrupulous
Jack: Dark-haired young man, Well meaning person
10: Worry
9: Bad Luck, Can mean delay or quarrels
8: Disappointment and Opposition
7: A warning against possible loss of friendship
6: On improvement in person's life
5: Anxiety, Setbacks, Interference
4: Jealousy, Business Troubles
3: Partings, possibly due to faithlessness
2: Scandal, Gossip, Danger of deceit

(Please charge your Tarot Playing Cards with your own energy before use. You may use any normal playing cards.)

Fortune Telling: Making your Own Runes

Here you will find step by step in making your set of runes! May the God and Goddess guide and bless you.

1. Basically, you'll need a 1" diameter fruit tree branch. Apple works well, yew and pine, too, and I've seen nice cedar, redwood and olive wood sets. It does have to be a fruit-bearing tree according to my reading and personal gnosis on the issue and harvested just before the tree comes into fruit (at the blossom stage) - you need that fruit-bearing power in the runes to lend to the overall power of the runic symbols. I have been taught by the Gods I work with that to have a "dead" branch (harvested fallen, non-fruit bearing or having already fruited) makes 'dead' runes. Others may have different feelings about this.
Most trees are "fruit-bearing", save some species in which the male and female are separate. In that case, use wood from the female tree. If you are a city-dweller, use a purchased hardwood dowel or precut wooden buttons from a woodworking shop. Thin wooden blanks can also be found in hobby shops.]
2. You will need a knife, X-actor Blade or a burin (ice pick-like scribing tool), an ice pick or sharpened screwdriver, a 1/8" wood carving chisel or veneers, or a Dremel tool fitted with a narrow bit. This instrument is for inscribing ("risting ") the runes onto the wood and can be consecrated (preferred) or not (acceptable). Less acceptable is a wood burning tool with a narrow gauge bit. This tends to produce undesirable results when you come to stain your runes and the resultant smoke can be difficult to deal with for those sensitive to it. Putting the wood of your runes to fire additionally puts a slightly destructive energy (the fire eating the wood and leaving behind the charring) into the runes that is not found with the clean lines of the knife blade.
Wood burning is much easier than carving. Scrape out the char before painting. On the other hand, if you carve, you are almost guaranteed to have blood handy...]
3. Your own blood: if you're a woman in childbearing years, you have a readily available supply. If not, I suggest asking for a vial "to take home" (make up what excuse you will) the next time you donate or give blood for tests. You'd be surprised at the people who will accommodate such a request. Otherwise, get ready to prick your finger many times to stain your runes; or get a friend with a medical kit and training to take a vial. If you have access, you'll need the vial with the lavender top. This contains heparin; an anti-clotting agent. You really do need this as the blood begins to clot almost as soon as it leaves your body, rendering it unusable. I would recommend two full lavender-topped tubes be drawn; freeze as immediately as you can until you are actually ready to stain your runes. A way of fudging on the blood is to prick a finger and squeeze a drop into a tablespoon or so of red paint or stain. Some authors advocate the use of other bodily fluids; saliva, semen, urine and sweat, but blood is the most traditional of these as the "fluid of life". It is up to you which you feel best suits your purpose for the bodily fluid you do use makes the runes uniquely "yours". If another person picks up your runes, they cannot leave their psychic mark on them because your blood remains to cancel out other influences.
red ochre powder mixed with linseed oil or red acrylic paint are both good for reddening the runes. Put a few drops of blood into the ochre mixture or paint.]
4. Other materials: sandpaper, a saw to form the rune disks or shapes, varnish, tung, linseed, olive or lemon oil to seal the runes once rist and stained. A sturdy pouch is of paramount importance to contain the finished work and can be made of leather or any heavy material.
That's basically the materials. The formation of the runes and rituals surrounding it differ from person to person. Below is a representative sample which you are invited to use as is or change to suit your particular working style.
1. Prior to the ritual, lightly pencil the runes onto the different disks, laying the symbols against the grain . Softly chant the name of each rune as you draw it. Draw all the component parts of the staves downward, to draw energies into the rune symbol. Cut two or three extra disks to cover cracked runes and missteps of your cutting tools, etc.
2. Set aside a sacred space in whatever way you feel comfortable; ideally in the workshop area of your harrow (altar). It is highly appropriate to do the Hammarsettning, or Hammer Ritual in the cardinal four directions as well as Above, Below and Center.
3. Invite into your space the Gods and Goddesses of the runes: Odin, Balder, Freya and Freyr, the Norns, etcetera. If you have a particular affinity for any one God/dess, invite that Deity also to witness and lend their energies to the proceedings. Invite also your lineal ancestors, especially those who worked magick in their own lives, your power animal allies, local land spirits or any other wights you may wish to have present. Pour a tot of milk, apple juice or wine in offering to the Gods and ask them to guide your hands and lend you their powers in the work you are to do.
4. Place your cut disks or tablets on the workbench or other safe space, with the Fehu disk in a clamp. Lay a white cloth napkin or other clean white cloth in front of your workspace to place the finished runes on.
5. Draw the sign of the hammer over the disk to sain it and placing your lips close enough to vibrate the wood, "galdor " the rune (intone the rune sound) strongly into the disk while holding a strong visualization of the one thing that means "Fehu" to you. This could be one of the traditional meanings, such as "money" or "cattle" or something that is extremely intimate and personal only to you. Whatever it is, hold the visualization strongly and begin to carve, Dremel or burn the rune into the wood.
6. When you are finished with the first rune, take it out of the clamp, put it on the white cloth in front of your workspace and clamp the second rune in. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have all twenty-four Runes done. Ideally, you should try to do this all in one session. If this is impossible, do three separate workings, each encompassing one of the three ttir (rows of eight Runes) until you are done.
7. When you have all of the Runes done, assemble them in order on the white cloth. Fix your gaze intently upon each one in turn, again galdoring intensely the vibration of each Rune into the wooden disks. When you have galdored the last rune, galdor the Ansuz-Laguz-Uruz formula "Ahhhluuu!" (meaning "It is sealed"/"So mote it be") over the rune set.
8. Ground the sacred space (and yourself), thank the Gods, and dismiss any minor wights you might have called.
This is a ritual which takes place in two parts. In the first part, you are erecting sacred space for blooding or painting the rune staves. After a period of time waiting for them to dry, you will come into sacred space again to seal and do the final consecration of the runes.
1. Again, set aside sacred space in whatever way you feel comfortable using the Hammarsettning to stain and seal the space.
2. Invite into your space the Gods and Goddesses of the Runes, your lineal ancestors and any other wights you may wish to have present. Dedicate the space and the time to the consecration of your rune set. Lay your runes on a cloth that you don't mind getting soiled with your own blood or ink. (This cloth will later be ritually burned) Pour a tot of milk, apple juice or wine in offering to the Gods and ask them to lend you their powers of purification for the consecration to follow.
3. Wash your runes lightly in clean, consecrated water. The Icelandic spring water or Glacier water that is currently on the market is perfect for this application. The purer, the better. Don't soak them as you want them to absorb the pain or blood later in the process. Light a recel or smudging blend made of purifying herbs like oakmoss, cedar, Thor's beard (house leek), vervain, clary sage and perhaps a smidgen of amber perfume resin. (Refer to the "Nine Worts Galdor" in the Lacnunga for ritually appropriate herbs.) Dedicate the recel to the Purifying forces and pass each rune through the smoke, saying a formula like "By Oak and Sage, by Fire, Water, Air and Earth, in the name of Odin, purified be this Rune, clear be its purpose and great be its Power. Ahhhluuu! " Then intone the name of each Rune and blow the vibrations into the disk. Repeat with all twenty-four runes and return them to the cloth.
4. For a Man or Non-Menstruating Woman: Have an altar space set aside upon which is your bottled blood (several drops from pricking your finger, in a quantity of red ochre acrylic paint or red India ink is just fine as is a whole lavender-topped tube from a professionally done venipuncture), the completed Runeset and a quill, or small brush.
For Menstruating Women: If you intend to insert the Runes vaginally (the most effective way, in my experience), conduct the ritual nude, or have no underclothes on and wear a loose skirt which you are easily able to raise and lower during the ritual. Have tissues and a sanitary napkin available and sit on a folded towel to contain any spills. Have on your altar a small brush and bowl next to the Runeset. If you are able to extract any of your blood (this is most easily done with the fingers) and prefer not to insert the Runes, put the blood into the bowl and mix it with red ochre acrylic paint or red India ink. You will need enough to color the staves of all twenty-four Runes.
5. For a Man or Non-Menstruating Woman: Take up each Rune disk and paint each component part of the stave downwards, drawing the power of the energies you are raising into the rune. Chant three times "Fehu, Fehu, Fehu!" while you are painting, or as many times as it takes you to feel that the energies are present in the rune. After which you seal the energies into the Rune by again vibrating "ALU!" into the wood. You have repeated this process four times before and will repeat it once more before your set is consecrated, for a total of six times. The repetition is necessary as it gets the energies well worked into the physical structure of the wood and carved staves. Repeat with each rune until all twenty-four are stained. Take down the sacred space and wait for your Runes to dry.
For Menstruating Women: Obviously, inserting the Runes vaginally colors them all over. Women who do this must be totally comfortable with touching themselves intimately. This method is usually preferred by more serious magickal workers and "galdarkonas" (literally: magick-wives) but is not necessary to consecrate your Runes for everyday use. If you prefer to paint on your own blood with a paintbrush, follow the directions above. I prefer to insert the Runes a pair at a time in order in twelve separate sessions. Sometimes you will not be able to complete this at one sitting due to the availability of your blood and the thirstiness of the wood. As you insert each pair of Runes, galdor three times the name of each Rune or as many times as it takes you to feel that the energies are present in the rune. Seal the energies into each Rune by vibrating "ALU!" into it internally. Remove the pair of Runes from your vagina and set the wet Runes on the stainable cloth to dry. Repeat in pairs until all twenty-four are stained. Take down the sacred space and wait for your Runes to dry.,/p>
6. Until your Runes are dry, keep in a dust free environment. Pets will be attracted to the blood as will ants; keep the drying Runes in an inaccessible place, under a bowl, large strainer or other cover that will not touch their surface. When the Runes are dry, erect the sacred space once more and seal the paint or blood in by rubbing the wood with a quarter cup of olive oil with ten drops of lemon oil in it. You can further this recipe by adding a teaspoon of melted beeswax and beating until incorporated. This is a basic old furniture polish recipe and works well to seal handmade wood products. Furthermore, add a few drops of the oils of the plants that are known to provoke visions such as mugwort, vervain, viper's bugloss, buckthorn, house leek, parsley root, sage and others. Add these oils to the olive oil base prior to adding the beeswax and stir (don't shake) them into the mix. I have a lovely polish made with the addition of amber perfume resin and a bit of a melted brown crayon which added a slight, lovely walnut color to the wood. Work the polish into the wood of each rune with a cloth. As you do so, mentally galdor each rune and think about its meaning as you rub. The finished runes should have no trace of polish on their surfaces, but should be buffed to a satin finish.
7. After sealing, hold each Rune over your heart and vibrate the sound of each through your heart chakra and into the individual Rune. Finish with "ALU ". When you have done this with all of your runes, they are ready to use. Dedicate them to the main purpose you wish to use them for e.g.: "By Iaer and Urdh, I dedicate these Runes to acts of Healing and Divination!" or "By Odin and Freya, I dedicate these Runes to the learning of Deep Magick!". Whatever God/desses you invoke will be sealed to the Runes for their lifetime, so make sure you know what you want before you speak. Spend some time thinking about it before you dedicate the set. Go and do your first Rune reading for yourself; your Runes are now irrevocably and personally sealed to you and their energies will never run higher - you have earned the right of first usage.
Now, take your brand spanking new Runeset out for a test drive. Your first Divination should be for yourself, for your Runes will be glowing with the energies of your own Wyrd. For your first reading, concentrate on a general portrayal of your own life to present, then on the present itself, then on the future. These would ideally be done as three separate readings, completed in one sitting. Don't forget to record your experiences. .

Astral Projection: Astral Projection Exercises

Astral Projection and Dreams...

When we dream, we have out-of-body experiences on the astral plane. Conscious astral projection involves getting into a meditative state, moving your astral body out of your physical body, and traveling around on the astral plane.

Astral Body

Between you as spirit and your physical body there is an intermediate body known as your astral body. It is lighter and more changeable than your physical body. But the astral body has more shape and density than pure spirit. Your astral body may often be recognizable as your human form, but it can also change appearance, shift shapes, and do fun things like moving through walls.

Astral Plane

The world between the physical and spiritual world is known as the astral plane, or the astral. While it is commonly referred to in the singular as the astral plane, there are actually many different levels of the astral, or astral planes. We move through these astral planes in our dreams.

Astral Travel

The astral world is much more fluid than the physical world. Astral travel is not bound by the limitations of time and space. You can visit different dimensions and travel to past or future experiences on the astral. For many people, it is also easier to connect with deceased loved ones on the astral.

Astral planes vary from the ordinary, to the phantasmagorical, to the divine. Defying easy definition, the astral planes intersect with both physical reality and the symbolic realms of the dream world. Astral travel can take you to dimensions beyond your imagination.

Astral Dream Experiences

Your astral body plays a key role in creating new developments which have not yet manifested in your physical life. The astral is like a giant laboratory in which you experiment with your life and your creations.

The astral can also offer great insight, as it allows you to come at things from a different angle. Astral dream experiences allow you to see things from a different perspective than your normal awareness. As a result, astral dreams can be especially useful for working on situations that--for one reason or another--may be difficult to face directly in daily life.

Astral Projection Meditation

Astral projection typically involves getting into a meditative state so you can consciously move your astral body out of your physical body. With practice, astral projection allows you to develop greater awareness of out-of-body and astral experiences.

These are simple directions for an astral meditation that is suitable for beginners...

ASTRAL PROJECTION EXERCISE:

Preparing the Space, Preparing Yourself...

Find a quiet, comfortable place for yourself--where you will not be disturbed. Create a relaxing atmosphere. You may want to light a candle, burn incense, or play some quiet, soothing music in the background. Begin to relax in general. Take some deep breaths and perhaps do some light stretching. Sit upright in a comfortable position with an open posture.

Part I: Aura Meditation

Get yourself centered and grounded by doing the Aura Meditation in How to Meditate. You will also need to repeat this after your astral projection meditation.

Notice how you experience yourself before doing the Astral Projection exercise. Then close your eyes and focus your attention inward...

Part II: Astral Projection Meditation...

Be aware of your body. Notice how you experience the density of your physical body. Then be aware of your aura about an arm's length all the way around your body. Notice how you experience the lightness of your spiritual energy. Then start to open up your awareness of an intermediate body between your physical body and you as spirit. Notice how you experience the vibration of your astral body.

Allow yourself to shift your awareness to your astral body. Be present in your astral body.

Float your astral body up to a corner of the room. Be present in your astral body in that upper corner of the room. From that upper corner of the room, be aware of your physical body down below you, sitting in the chair. Notice how you experience your physical body down below you.

Then float your astral body up through the ceiling and be on the roof of your building. Be aware of your astral body standing on the roof of your building. On the roof, move around a bit in your astral body. Notice how you experience being in your astral body. Be aware of the world around from the roof of your building. Notice how you experience the world from your astral body.

Then bring your astral body down through the roof and be in an upper corner of the room again. From the upper corner of the room, notice your physical body sitting in the chair below you.

Float your astral body above your physical body. Notice what it's like to be above your physical body. Then gently lower yourself down into your physical body. First be aware of being in your astral body in your physical body. Then allow yourself to shift your awareness to your physical body itself. Allow yourself to come back fully into your physical body.

Part III: Repeat the Aura Meditation

Get yourself centered and grounded by doing the Aura Meditation in How to Meditate. Draw all of your energy back from above you. Feel your feet on the floor. Feel your legs, torso, arms, neck and head. Be aware of your aura an arm's length around your body. Notice what it's like to be grounded back in your body.

When you feel ready, take a few deep breaths, gently open your eyes, and slowly begin to move. Notice how you experience yourself after doing the Astral Projection exercise. Give yourself some time to integrate this experience and enjoy being relaxed before moving on to other activities. (Especially after you first start practicing this meditation--you may want to journal your experience, have a cup of tea, or go for a quiet walk.)

If you practice astral meditation on a regular basis, it will become easier to do and your out-of-body experiences will gradually become clearer.

Meditation: Meditation: Void

A step by step void mediation

Sit comfortably, relaxing the body as much as possible without slumping or allowing the spine to curve. Help loosen tight muscles by doing the following exercises:1: Allow the head to fall forward on the chest. Breathe deeply in and out three times. Return to the upright position.
2: Allow the head to tip fully backwards. Breathe deeply in and out three times. Return to the upright position.
3: Tip the head as far as possible to the left. Breathe deeply in and out three times. Return to the upright position.
4: Tip the head as far as possible to the right. Breathe deeply in and out three times. Return to the upright position.
5: Allow the head to fall forwards, then move it in a circle, counterclockwise, three times.
6: Repeat the last exercise, moving the head clockwise three times. Return to the upright position.
7: Breathe in, through the nose, with a number of short, sharp intakes until the lungs are full. Hold it a moment, then suddenly exhale through mouth with a "Hah!" sound. Do this three times.
8: Breathe in slowly and fully, through the right nostril (hold the left one closed if necessary), feeling the stomach balloon out as you do so. Hold it a moment, then exhale slowly through the mouth, flattening the stomach as you do so. This exercise moves all the stale air from the bottom of the lungs. Do this three times.
9: Repeat the last exercise, this time breathing in through the left nostril and out through the right nostril. Do this three times.
Now, with your body relaxing and breathing normally but deeply, concentrate your thoughts until you can imagine your whole body encased in a globe of white light. Feel the luminous energy charging your whole body.
Now focus your attention on your toes. Command them to relax. Let the tension and tiredness melt away from them. Repeat the process with the balls of the feet, the arches, the heels, the ankles and so on. Completely relax the entire body, section by section. Calves, knees, thighs, groin, buttocks, spine, stomach and chest cavity, shoulders, upper and lower arms, wrists, hands, neck, throat, chin, jaw (let the jaw sag and hang slightly open if you feel a tendency for it to do so), eyes, cranial area and scalp.
Relax every muscle, vein, nerve and fiber as you move up your body. Finish your relaxation technique at the forehead.
Then you need only to focus inward to your third eye. With your attention focused at the third eye, let your eyes roll up, if you can. Go deeper and ever deeper into the third eye. Abandon the unreal material world; the ego self. It is only when the materialistic ego self is transcended that you can find the door to the inner kingdom and your higher self.
Give yourself to it... yield to the magnetic pull from above. You don't need to pray or visualize to make anything happen. Just relax and let yourself flow inward and upward toward the higher power. Whatever sensation, inner light or sound, comes your way, move into it and through to the source from which it comes.
Don't become fascinated or frightened by the phenomena. Don't become deluded into thinking you are "becoming psychic". Whatever you see, give yourself to it and move ever upward, ever inward, into and through.
You may have a difficult time keeping the conscious mind still at first. Your consciousness is like a spoiled child, constantly demanding attention. Once it begins to become disciplined you will begin to notice positive results.
You may not have dramatic, earth-shaking experiences, but you will begin to notice a deepening of intuition. You will begin to "know" things that you have not known before. This is proof that your meditation is working and the power of the Kundalini is waking.
When you first begin to meditate you will find it difficult to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. Your mind wants to wander, your body wants to fidget and may even develop a great itch demanding to be scratched!
It will take a little time but you will discover that you are the master of your body and mind. Ignore the itch. Tell your conscious mind to sit down and shut up! YOU are very busy with more important business. The itch will go away and your conscious mind will become disciplined to sit quietly aside as you attune to your higher nature
... IF YOU REMAIN PERSISTENT.
Remember, you let your mind and your emotions run your affairs all of your life. Now your mind and emotions must learn that they work for you. It may take a few lessons, but they will learn. Stay with it. You are embarking on the greatest voyage of your life.
...................................................................
ENDING YOUR MEDITATION PERIOD
For your physical well-being it is important that you end each meditation period with a re-awakening of the physical and conscious selves.
This should be done in the reverse order to the method for relaxation. As your consciousness begins to pull away from the third eye, direct it to expand up the forehead to the top of the head. Then, step by step, proceed down through the body: cranial area, eyes, back of the head, face, jaw, tongue, neck, throat, etc..
Command each in succession to awaken refreshed, vibrant and healthy. Shoulders, upper and lower arms, wrists, hands, upper back, chest, chest cavity, stomach, sides, lower back, groin, awaken refreshed, relaxed and vibrant with life. Buttocks, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, heels, arches, balls of the feet, toes.
Go through all parts of the body. Command each and every muscle, vein, fiber and nerve to awaken healthy, refreshed and vibrant.
You will be pleasantly surprised at how much better you will begin to feel after your meditation. You will feel an immediate inner satisfaction and a tremendous peace of mind.
Through meditation you will discover that not only is your spiritual consciousness awakening, but you are also revitalizing the physical self, as you begin to tap the great cosmic forces that are your birthright.

Meditation: Chakra Meditation

Use this type of meditation whenever you need to "recharge" and when beginning astral projection practice and sometimes when beginning psychic readings. More commonly you can use a grounding meditation when performing readings. Both are effective and powerful.

Lie or sit in a relaxed and comfortable position, as you would for any meditation. Your spine should be straight and your head in alignment with your body. This meditation is in script mode, should one want to tape it and listen to it while performing the meditation. It is preferable to learn about energy and the methods of balancing, cleansing and charging the chakras and allow one's own inner voice to lead the meditation. The following is just one way of performing this balancing. Allow your meditations to evolve and to reflect your individual values and beliefs. If taped, a slow, deliberate pace should be used with a mild voice and the appropriate pauses. The body should already be relaxed and the mind tranquil when beginning this meditation. Eyes are closed.Now that you are relaxed and feeling very much at peace, take a moment to ground yourself here in this moment, in this body, in this place, in this time......Take some deep breaths....In.... and out....In....and out....Follow the breath as it flows toward your nostrils, as it enters your nose, as it fills your lungs and then as it is expelled. That's it, just relax into this quiet moment. Breathe in...follow your breath... and out. In....and out.
Feel where your body meets the (chair/bed/floor). Become aware of your body from head to toe, of your weight, of the heaviness of your limbs. Now focus on the area at the base of the spine, the area between your legs. This is the root chakra. It's energy is red, and it governs your physical body, your physical health and vitality. In your mind, study the appearance of this chakra...note it's color and vitality. Mentally envision the chakra and note any symbolic symptons of dis/ease. Have you been caring well for your body? If your chakra is dusty, dirty, torn, or otherwise less than a perfectly brilliant red whirling vortex, imagine your hands (or those of a guide) working on the chakra.
If it is dirty, clean away the dirt and throw it into an imaginary pail with a lid. Allow those hands to repair any imperfections, and when the chakra is clean, mentally take the pail and hurl it into the sun. Watch it as it travels through space and then bursts into a zillion bits of energy upon solar contact. Allow the sun to recycle this energy back into the universe.
Now turn your attention back to the root chakra. It is a clean and red. You are surrounded by infinite root energy. Imagine the room glowing red with this energy, feel it's strength and power. See red swirls of energy flowing to your root chakra. You can feel this as a tingling as the energy fills your root chakra. As the energy swirls in your chakra grows large and deep red and strong. Allow the energy to fill your chakra until it is so vital that it extends several feet out from your body. In your mind you can see your root chakra, a brilliant red swirling vortex of physical energy.
Now turn your focus up to your abdomen, to the area of the "womb." (Or where the womb would be if you're a man). This is the orange chakra, that which controls clear thinking and creativity. Take a moment to observe the chakra. Note it's color, it's vitality. Is it clean and strong? Or is there work to be done here? Allow those invisible hands to cleanse the chakra, to repair or heal it. Discard any imperfections in the pail, and send the pail to the sun to recycle the energy. Now focus on the orange chakra again. It is now clean and whole, and a bright orange. Call out to the universe for orange creative energy and feel the space around you begin to glow orange. With a tingle you feel the energy begin to swirl into your chakra, charging it with vitality, with creativity, with clear-thought. Watch as your orange chakra grows and whirls, until it extends out from your body for several feet, just as the red root chakra is still whirling and strong.
Now, turn from the red chakra, up through the orange chakra, to the solar plexus. This is the heart of the yellow chakra, that which governs will and ambition. Take a few moments to examine this chakra. Note it's color and appearance. Have you been lazy of late, or perhaps too driven? Examine your will through this chakra. Allow the invisible hands to cleanse the chakra and heal it, discarding any imperfections or impurities in the pail. Send the pail to the sun for recycling.
Now return your attention to the yellow chakra, that of will. It is now clean and a bright yellow. 'Universe, send me yellow energy, will energy, energy to achieve my goals, to work for that which I value and desire.' Feel the yellow energy surrounding your body, and with a tingle feel the energy swirl into your solar plexus. In your mind you can see your red/root chakra glowing, whirling, your orange/womb chakra pulsing brilliantly, and your yellow/solar plexus chakra glowing strongly, extending several feet out from your body.
Now turn your attention to the middle of your chest, to the heart chakra, the green chakra. You may feel an instant wave of emotion. This chakra governs your feelings, your emotional connections to others and to the universe, to life itself. Examine this chakra. Note it's color, vitality, any impurities. Gently allow those invisible hands to cleanse and purify the chakra. Reflect a moment on how you've been feeling emotionally lately. Are there bindings holding in pain? Or is the chakra tight and hard with anger? Release any tensions, imperfections or impurities to the pail. Send them to the sun for recyclying. They are still yours if you choose to hold them, but for now, release any pain or anger.
Now focus back on the heart chakra. It is clean and a beautiful green color. It whirls strongly and evenly. 'Universe, send me green energy for my heart! Open my heart to the world, to all beings big and small, with compassion for our shared experiences and journey. Fill my heart with love energy, that I may in turn give love to others.' Feel the green energy whirling into your heart. Watch the chakra grow and glow and spin with this new energy. From the red chakra through the orange chakra through the yellow chakra through the green chakra, your chakras are cleansed and charged and huge with energy.
Now focus on the throat, center of the blue chakra which governs communication and personal magnetism. Examine the chakra, noting the color and any imperfections... Perhaps you haven't been honoring your own beliefs and speaking out when you should. Or perhaps you've been talking over others, or not listening well. Perhaps you've been feeling shy and afraid to extend your energy in communication. Allow the hands to heal and cleanse the chakra and when finished, send the impurities to the sun for recycling. Now the chakra is clean and strong and bright blue. Feel the air fill with blue universal energy. Feel the throat open as this energy swirls into the throat chakra. This energy charges your aura with magnetism, drawing others to you. Feel your throat open with this swirling, strong blue energy.
Now focus on the middle of your forehead, the third eye. This chakra is indigo and governs psychic vision and intuition. Examine the chakra for imperfections. Perhaps it is locked up due to fear. Perhaps it no longer spins out of neglect/stagnation. Allow the hands to cleanse the chakra, to heal any imperfections and recycle them in the sun. Now look at the chakra. It is a beautiful deep indigo, clean and whirling. There is psychic energy available to you beyond measure. Feel it charge the air, swirl in and around and fill your third eye chakra with deep, vital indigo energy. Feel the third eye open, and note any mental visions as this occurs. Now is a good time to pray for increased psychic power. Note the red/root chakra, the orange/womb chakra, bright, strong, big! Move your attention up to the yellow/solar plexus chakra, to the green/heart chakra, open and brilliant, to the blue/throat chakra and the indigo/third eye chakra. Your chakras are huge, whirling, and fully charged.
Now focus your attention at the crown of your head. This chakra is violet near the body, fading to white further away. This chakra governs your connection to the universe/God/Goddess/The Creator, etc... This chakra is like an umbilical cord to "home." Reflect on your spirituality of late, examine the chakra and allow any healing needed. In my experience this chakra generally needs much less work than the others. Allow the hands to heal, to cleanse, and recycle the discarded energy in the sun. Now examine the chakra. It is brilliantly violet, glowing white around the outside. Mentally reach out to that which you consider your "source..." to "God" or the Universe. Feel the response, the energy flowing back to you. Pray for the peace and joy of a strong crown chakra connection. Feel the violet energy flowing in, a loving embrace of your whole self, of your soul. See the crown chakra grow enormous, and the white energy surround your body.
All your chakras are now clean, charged and in balance. From the red/root chakra, to the orange/womb chakra, to the yellow/solar plexus chakra, to the green/heart chakra, to the blue/throat chakra, to the deep purple/third eye to the violet/crown, your chakras are spinning and whirling, full of energy and vitality. See the white energy that extends up and out from the crown chakra enveloping your whole body in a egg of white energy. You are completely refreshed, calm, and peaceful. Your energy is balanced. You are full of vitality.

Wicca: Witches dictionary S-Y

This is the last installment of our Witches Dictionary. Be sure to copy it for your BOS.

Sabbat: A witch's festival.

Scourge: A small device made from leather or hemp which resembles a whip that is used in flagellation rites within some traditions.

Scrying: A method of divination. The gazing at or into an object (a quartz crystal sphere, a pool of water, reflections, a candle flame, crystal ball, mirror) 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 person (man or woman) who has obtained the knowledge of the more subtile dimensions of the Earth. This is commonly done through periods of alternate states of consciousness. Various types of rituals 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, and also sometimes religious.

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

Sigil: A magically oriented seal, sign, glyph, or other device used in a magickal working. Those you create yourself are the most effective. Sigils can be used on letters, packages, clothing, etc. Use your imagination.

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 Practitioner: Pagan or Witch who works and worships alone.

Spell: A magickal ritual, usually non-religious in nature but not always so, and most often accompanied by spoken words. It should be clear, concise, focused and emotional. Need must be present.

Spiral: A symbol to reperesent coming into being.

Staff: A ritual tool which corresponds to the wand or athame.

Stang: A ritual tool from Pagan Rome which resembles a two-pronged trident. Most often used in place of the wand or circle.

Subconscious Mind: A part of the mind which functions below the levels 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: The concept of likes attract. The most common way spells are worked.

Talisman: An object charged with personal power to attract a specific force or energy to its bearer. These can be very powerful.

Tarot Cards: A set of 78 cards which feature pictures and symbols used to connect the diviner with the collective unconscious.

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

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

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

Trilithon: A stone arch made from two upright slabs with one lying atop these. This is what is found at Stonehenge.

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

Virgin: The youngest aspect of the Triple Goddess. She is also know as the Maiden. Represented by the waxing moon, her 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 rituals. It is also used to direct personal power and natural energies for various purposes during magick, including the charging and forming of the magick circle.

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

Warlock: An antiquated term misused in reference to a male Witch. It means oath-breaker or Liar. Most Pagans and Witch's find the term offensive. Speaking with someone who uses the term gives you clear insight as to their knowledge....or lack thereof.

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: The oldest known religion. The term meaning WISE ONE. 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: The 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.

Wicca: Witches dictionary H-R

Here is your next installment. Please be sure to copy them into a spreadsheet for your records.

Hand Fasting: A Pagan wedding.

Herbalism: Art of using herbs to facilitate human needs both magickally and medicinally.

Higher Self: That part of us which connects our corporeal minds to the Collective Unconscious and with the divine knowledge of the universe.

Hiving Off: This term is used for a small coven which splits off from a larger one. Sometimes this is done to keep the gatherings of a manageable size, other times covens split over philosophical differences.

Horned God: One of the most prevalent God-images in Paganism. NOT Satan or the Devil!

Initiation: A process whereby an individual is introduced or admitted into a coven. Usually a ritual occasion. Not to be confused with dedication.

Incense: Ritual burning of herbs, oils, or other aromatic items to scent the air during acts of magick and ritual, and to better help the witch attune to the goal of the working.

Invocation: To bring something in from without.

Jew-itch: Name coined by some Pagans of Jewish origin who are actively seeking out the pagan roots of their birth religion.

Karma: The belief that one's thoughts and deeds can either be counted against them or added to their spiritual path across several life times.

Kabbala: Mystical teaching from the Jewish-Gnostic tradition. Ceremonial Magick and the Alexandrian traditions are based in these teachings. Also, Qabala.

Labrys: A double-headed ax which symbolizes the Goddess in Her Lunar aspect. Has roots in ancient Crete.

Left-Hand Path: Refers to the practice of using magick to control others, to change the will of others, for personal gain. Generally frowned upon by true Wiccans and Witch's. Dark Magick.

Libation: Ritually given portion of food or drink to a deity, nature spirit, or ghost.

Macrocosm: The world around us.

Magick: The projection of natural energies (such as personal power) to being about needed change. Energy exists in all things: us, plants, stones, colors, sounds, movements, words. Magick is the process of raising this energy, giving it purpose, and releasing it. Magick is a natural, not supernatural, practice, but is little understood. Magick is neither black nor white. It simply is. What the magician decides to do with the magick is another matter.

Magick Circle: A sphere constructed of personal power in which rituals are usually performed. Within it the witch is protected from outside forces. The sphere extends both above and below the surface of the ground.

Magickal System: The basic set of guidelines relating to the worship of specific Gods and Goddesses or cultural traditions.

Male Mysteries: Pagan study which attempts to reclaim the power and mystery of the old Gods for today's Pagan males.

Matrifocal: Term used to denote pre-patriarchal life when family clans centered around and lived near or on clan matriarch.

May Pole: Sexual symbol of Beltane representing the phallus.

Meditation: Reflection, contemplation- turning inward toward the self, or outward toward Deity or nature. A quiet time in which the practitioner may either dwell upon particular thoughts or symbols, or allow them to come unbidden.

Megalith: A huge stone monument or structure. Stonehenge is the best-known example of a megalith.

Menhir: A huge stone probably erected by early peoples for religious, spiritual, or magickal reasons.

Microcosm: The world within us.

Monotheism: Belief in one supreme deity who has no other forms and/of displays no other aspects.

Mother: The aspect of the Goddess representing motherhood, mid-life, and fertility. She is represented by the full moon, the egg, the colors red and green. Her Sabbats are Midsummer and Lughnasadh.

Myth: Cycles Body of lore about any land or people that makes up their mythology.

New Age: The mixing of metaphysical practices with a structured religion.

New Religion: Pagan term used in reference to Christianity.

Nursery Rhyme: Cute doggerel or poems supposedly written for the amusement of children. Much Pagan lore was hidden in these ditties during the years of witch persecutions.

Occult: Literal meaning is ''hidden'' and is broadly applied to a wide range of metaphysical topics which lie outside the accepted realm of mainstream theologies.

Occultist: One who practices and or studies a variety of occult subjects.

Ogham: Celtic equivalent of the Teutonic runes. The ancient alphabet of the Celtic people.

Old Ones: The A term which refers to all aspects of the Goddess and God.

Old Religion: A name for Paganism as it pre-dates Christianity by at least 20,000 years.

Pagan/Neo-Pagan: General term for followers of Wicca and other magickal, shamanistic, and polytheistic Earth-based religions. Also used to refer to pre-Christian religious and magickal systems.

Paganing: When a baby is presented in circle to the Goddess and God, and given a craft name which s/he will keep until about 13 and can choose their own at their Coming of Age celebration.

Pantheon: A collection or group of Gods and Goddesses in a particular religious or mythical structure.

Pantheism: Belief in many deities who are really one because they are all merely aspects of the single creative life source. Paganism is pantheistic.

Passion Over Ritual: Ritual observed when a loved one has dies.

Past-Life Regression: Act of using meditation or guided meditation to pass through the veil of linear time and perceive experiences encountered in a previous existence.

Path Working: Using astral projection, bi-location, or dream time to accomplish a specific goal. Also called vision questing.

Patriarchal: Term used to apply to the world since the matrifocal clans that worshipped Goddesses were supplanted by codified religions that honor all-male deity(s).

Pendulum: A divinatory device consisting of a string attached to a heavy object, such as a quartz crystal, root, or ring. The free end of the string is held in the hand, the elbows steadied against a flat surface, and a question is asked. The movement of the heavy object's swings determines the answer. It is a tool which contacts the psychic mind.

Pentacle: A circle surrounding a five-pointed, upright star (pentagram). Worn as a symbol of a witch's beliefs. Many witches consider wearing it inverted to be blasphemy of their faith and is commonly associated with Satanism.

Pentagram: The basic interlaces five-pointed star, visualized with one point up. It represents the five elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. It is a symbol of power and protection.

Personal Power: The energy which sustains our bodies. It originates within the Goddess and God. We first absorb it from our biological mother within the womb, and later from food, water, the Moon and Sun, and other natural objects.

Polarity: The concept of equal, opposite energies. The Eastern Yin Yang is a perfect example. Yin is cold; yang is hot. Other examples: Goddess/God, night/day, Moon/Sun, birth/death, dark/light, psychic mind/unconscious mind. Universal balance.

Polytheism: Belief in the existence of many unrelated deities each with their own dominion and interests who have no spiritual or familial relationships to one another.

Poppets: Anthropomorphic dolls used to represent certain human beings in magick spells.

Projective Hand: The hand thought to be the point through which personal power is sent from the body. Normally the hand used for manual activities such as writing, dialing the phone, etc. It is also the hand in which tools such as the athame and wand are held.

Psychic Mind: The subconscious, or unconscious mind, in which we receive psychic impressions. It is at work when we sleep, dream, and meditate. It is our direct link with the Divine, and with the larger, nonphysical world around us.

Psychism: The act of being consciously psychic, in which the psychic mind and conscious mind are linked and working in harmony. Also known as psychic awareness.

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.

Wicca: Witches dictionary D-G

Here is the next installment for your records...

Days of Power: See Sabbat. They can also be days triggered by astrological occurrences - your birthday, a woman's menstrual cycle, your dedication/initiation anniversary.

Dedication: The process where an individual accepts the Craft as their path and vows to study and learn all that is necessary to reach adept ship. It is a conscious preparation to accept something new into your life and stick with it, regardless of the highs and lows that may follow.

Deosil: Clockwise, the direction in which the shadow on a sundial moves as the Sun ''moves'' across the sky. Deosil is symbolic of life, positive magick, positive energies.

Dirk: Ritual knife of the Scottish tradition.

Divination: The magickal art of using tools and symbols to gather information from the Collective Unconsciousness. This can be on people, places, things and events past, present, and future.

Divine Power: The unmanifested, pure energy that exists within the Goddess and God. The life force, the ultimate source of all things.

Dowsing: The divinatory art of using a pendulum or stick to find the actual location of a person, place, thing, or element.

Drawing Down the Moon: A ritual performed during the Full Moon by witches to empower themselves and unite their essence with a particular deity, usually the Goddess.

Drawing Down the Sun: Lesser-known and lesser-used companion ritual to Drawing Down the Moon in which the essence of the Sun God is drawn into the body of a male witch.

Duality: The opposite of polarity. When used as a religious term, it separates two opposites such as good and evil and places those characteristics into two completely separate God-forms.

Earth Magick: The energy that exists within stones, herbs, flames, wind, and other natural objects.

Earth Plane: Metaphor for your normal waking consciousness, or for the everyday, solid world we live in.

Elements: Usually: Earth, air, fire, water. The building blocks of the universe. Everything that exists contains one or more of these energies. Some include a fifth element- spirit or Akasha.

Elementals: Archetypical spirit beings associated with one of the four elements. Elementals are sometimes called Faeries.

Eleven: Secretive tradition of the craft which works closely with elemental beings.

Enchantment: A magickal object that must be kept absolutely secret and hidden from all human eyes and affects a hidden aura. They must be charmed first. Gems and magickal writing are good items to use.

Eostre's Eggs: Colored, decorated eggs of Ostara; named for the Teutonic Goddess Eostre.

Esbat: A ritual usually occurring on the Full Moon and dedicated to the Goddess in her lunar aspect.

Evocation: To call something out from within.

Faerie: See Elemental

Faerie Burgh: Mound of earth which covers a faerie colony's underground home.

Familiar: An animal that has a spiritual bone with a witch; many times a family witch. Familiars can also be entities that dwell on the astral plane.

Fascination: A mental effort to control another animal or person's mind. Also known as ''mind-bending''. Often considered unethical.

Folklore: Traditional sayings, cures, faerie tales, and folk wisdom of a particular locale which is separate from their mythology.

Folk Magick: The Practice of projecting personal power, as well as the energies within natural objects such as herbs, and crystals, to bring about needed changes.

Gaea/Gaia: Mother Earth.

God: Masculine aspect of deity.

Goddess: Feminine aspect of deity.

Grain Dolly: Figure usually woven at Imbolc from dried sheaves of grain collected at the previous harvest. The dolly is traditionally burned at Yule and a new one made the following Imbolc.

Great Rite: Symbolic sexual union (also sacred marriage) of the Goddess and God that is enacted at Beltane in many traditions, and other Sabbats in other traditions. It symbolizes the primal act of creation from which all life comes.

Green Man: Another name for the God.

Grimorie: A magickal workbook containing ritual information, formulae, magickal properties of natural objects and preparation of ritual equipment. Often used interchangeably with Book of Shadows.

Grounding: To disperse excess energy generated during magickal work by sending it into the earth. It also means the process of centering one's self in the physical world both before and after any ritual or astral experience.

Grove: Synonymous with coven.

Guardians: Ceremonial magicians use the Guardians of the Watchtowers or Four Quarters. Some witches use them, too.

Wicca: Witches dictionary A-C

Akasha Spirit: The fifth element, the omnipresent spiritual power that permeates the universe.

Alchemy: A branch of High Magick developed in the Middle Ages which sought to magickally and/or chemically turn base metals into gold.

Altar: A special, flat surface set aside exclusively for magickal workings or religious acknowledgment.

Amulet: A magically charged object which deflects specific, usually negative energies. A protective object.

Ankh: An Egyptian hieroglyphic widely used as a symbol of life, love, and reincarnation. It is a cross with a looped top.

Arcana: The two halves of a tarot deck. The Major Arcana consists of 22 trumps, the Minor Arcana consists of 56 suit cards (sometimes called the lesser or lower Arcana).

Aspect: The particular principle or part of the Creative Life Force being worked with or acknowledged at any one time.

Asperger: A bundle of fresh herbs or a perforated object used to sprinkle water during or preceding ritual, for purification purposes.

Astral Plane: A place which is generally conceptualized as an invisible parallel world which remains unseen from our own solid world of form.

Astral Travel/Projection: The process of separating your astral body from your physical one to accomplish travel in the astral plane or dream time.

Astrology: The study of and belief in the effects the movements and placements of planets and other heavenly bodies have on the lives and behavior of human beings.

Athame: A cleansed and consecrated ritual blade. Usually double edged, and black handled. It is never used to cut anything on the physical plane. Pronounced several ways: Ah-THAM-ee ATH-ah-may ah-THAW-may.

Aura: The life-energy field which surrounds all living things.

Automatic Writing: Form of divination where the channeler uses a pen, paper and an altered state of consciousness to receive messages.

Balefire: A fire lit for magickal purposes, usually outdoors. They are traditional on Yule, Beltane, and Midsummer.

Bane: That which destroys life, which is poisonous, destructive, dangerous.

Banish: To magickally end something or exorcise unwanted entities. To rid the presence of.

B.C.E.: Before Common Era. Synonymous with B.C. without religious bias.

Bells: Often used as ritual tools. They can be used to invoke directional energies, to ring in the sunrise on a Sabbat, or to frighten away faeries and baneful spirits.

Besom: A witch's broom.

Bi-Location: A type of astral projection during which you maintain awareness of your present surroundings.

Bind: To magickally restrain something or someone.

Blood of the Moon: A woman's menstrual cycle. Should this cycle occur over a Full Moon or New Moon, she is far more powerful than during any other time of the month, as long as she acknowledges this strength within herself.

Book of Shadows: A witch's book of spells, rituals, magickal lore. Much akin to a magickal cookbook. Also known as a BOS.

Boline: A white-handled knife, used in magick and ritual for purposes such as cutting herbs or piercing a pomegranate.

Burning Times: Reference to a historical time from around 1000 C.E. through the 17th century when it is said that up to nine million people were tortured and burned by church and public officials on the assumption that they were the Christian version of Witches. This turned into an extremely profitable venture, as all land and property was seized from the accused individual and portions given to the accuser (in reward fashion) and the remainder seized by the church officials. Historians indicate that the majority of people tortured and murdered were woman and children.

Call: Invoking Divine forces.

Cauldron: Linked to witchcraft in the popular mind, this symbolizes the Goddess, the waters of rebirth.

C.E.: Common Era. Synonymous with A.D. but without religious bias.

Censer: A heat-proof container in which incense is burned. It is associated with the element air.

Ceremonial Magick: A highly codified magickal tradition based upon Kabbala, the Jewish-Gnostic mystical teachings.

Chakras: Seven major energy vortexes found in the human body. Each is usually associated with a color. They are: crown - white; third-eye - purple; throat - blue; chest - pink or green; navel - yellow; abdomen - orange; groin - red. Smaller vortexes are located in the hands and feet as well.

Chalice: A ritual tool. It represents the female principals of creation.

Channeling: A New Age practice wherein you allow a discarnate entity to ''borrow'' your body to speak to others either through automatic writing or verbally.

Chaplet: A crown for the head usually made of flowers and worn at Beltane.

Charge: The Originally written in modern form by Doreen Valiente, it is a story of the message from Goddess to Her children.

Charging: To infuse an object with your personal power.

Charms: Either an amulet or talisman that has been charmed by saying an incantation over it and instilling it with energy for a specific task.

Circle: Sacred space wherein all magick is to be worked and all ritual contained. It both holds ritual energy until the witch is ready to release it, and provides protection for the witch.

Cleansing: Removing negative energies from an object or space.

Collective Unconsciousness: Term used to describe the sentient connection of all living things, past and present. See also Akashic Records.

Coming of Age Ritual: At age 13 for boys, and at the time of a girl's first menses, Pagan children are seen as spiritual adults. The ritual celebrates their new maturity. Generally this is the age when they are permitted membership in covens.

Cone of Power: Psychic energy raised and focused by either an individual or group mind (coven) to achieve a definite purpose.

Conscious Mind: The analytical, materially-based, rational half of our consciousness. The part of our mind that is at work while we balance our checkbooks, theorize, communicate, and perform other acts related to the physical world.

Consecration: The act of blessing an object or place by instilling it with positive energy.

Coven: A group of thirteen or fewer witches that work together in an organized fashion for positive magickal endeavors or to perform religious ceremonies.

Covenstead: The meeting place of witches, often a fixed building or place where the witch can feel safe and at home.

Craft: Witchcraft

Crone: Aspect of the Goddess represented by the old woman. Symbolized by the waning moon, the carrion crow, the cauldron, the color black. Her Sabbats are Mabon and Samhain.