A Pagan Glossary of Terms Part 2

Useful Words and Phrases for the Interdimensional Traveler
Copyright © 1971, 2005 c.e., Isaac Bonewits
PART 2

Magic Circle:
A mandala-mudra-mantra combination used around an area where all or part of a ritual is to take place, so that an individual or group can more easily control the energies generated.

Magician:
(1) As a general term, anyone who does any sort of magic at all. (2) More specifically, someone who uses mostly active talents and rites for mostly thaumaturgical purposes.

Magician, Goetic:
A magician and psychic who frequently “summons up” various nonhuman entities (good, bad or ugly) in order to gain both occult and mundane knowledge, which is then used for thaumaturgical, theurgical and nonmagical purposes.

Magister:
Master, teacher or magician.

Magnetic Control:
An APK talent involving the control of magnetic, diamagnetic and paramagnetic lines of force and other magnetic phenomena.

Magos:
Greek word for “magi.”

Magus:
Originally, the singular form of “magi.” Later, a powerful magician.

Mahayana (or “Greater Vehicle”) Buddhism
A later, “heterodox” version of Buddhism which incorporates many Paleopagan deities from throughout Asia as Buddhas or Saints.

Mana:
Polynesian word for psychic energy.

Mandala:
Sights (especially drawings, paintings and carvings) used primarily as associational and/or trance inducing devices.

Mantic Arts:
The various methods of divination.

Mantis:
A diviner or seer.

Mantra:
Sounds used primarily as associational and/or trance inducing devices.

Mass:
The property of a body that is a measure of its inertia, that causes it to have weight (in a gravitational field), and that is a measure of the amount of material it contains.

Mass Control:
An APK talent for increasing or decreasing the mass of an object or being.

Maya:
(1) Sanscrit for “illusion.” (2) A tribe of Central American Indians.

Mayin:
One who controls the worlds of illusion, a magician or mystic.

Mechanistic:
A word used (usually as an insult) to refer to those who prefer to analyze even supposedly nonphysical phenomena in terms of physical or mechanical patterns of behavior.

Medicine Person:
A tribal official who combines the modes of magician, psychic and cleric, using her or his talents for personal and tribal benefit; especially in such matters as healing, hunting, fertility, weather and war magic.

Medium:
A psychic (and frequently cleric as well) who specializes in being possessed by or otherwise communicating with, various spirits especially those of dead humans; someone who knows how to plug-in to the metapatterns of the recently dead, or can arrange such plug-ins for others. See Necromancer.

Mental Projection:
An OOBE or psi talent that may involve traveling GESP without the image of an “astral body” being brought along.

Mesmerism:
From Franz Mesmer, a form of telepathic sending in which the data sent consists of suggestions backed by the insistent power of the sender.

Mesopaganism or Meso-Paganism:
A general term for a variety of movements both organized and nonorganized, started as attempts to recreate, revive or continue what their founders thought were the best aspects of the Paleopagan ways of their ancestors (or predecessors), but which were heavily influenced (accidentally, deliberately and/or involuntarily) by concepts and practices from the monotheistic, dualistic, or nontheistic worldviews of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, or early Buddhism. Examples of Mesopagan belief systems would include Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Spiritualism, etc., as well as those forms of Druidism influenced by those movements, the many Afro-Diasporatic faiths (such as Voudoun, Santeria, Candomble, etc.), Sikhism, several sects of Hinduism that have been influenced by Islam and Christianity, Mahayana Buddhism, Aleister Crowley’s religion/philosophy of Thelema, Odinism (most Norse Paganism), most “Family Traditions” of Witchcraft (those that aren’t completely fake), and most orthodox (aka “British Traditionalist”) denominations of Wicca. Some Mesopagan belief systems may be racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. There are at least a billion Mesopagans living and worshiping their deities today. See Paleopaganism and Neopaganism.

Metabolism:
The sum or gestalt of the processes going on inside your body.

Metamorphosis:
Change, especially of the outward appearance. See Werewolf, or your local politicians.

Metapattern:
As used in this text, the sum and gestalt of all the interlocking patterns that make up an individual, including the body (or bodies), the various levels of mind or awareness, the psychic and artistic abilities, memory and intellectual capacities, and perhaps whatever it is that is usually called “the soul.”

Metaphysics:
Philosophy of the relations between “underlying reality” and its manifestations.

Miracle:
A paranormal act or occurrence done by or for someone who belongs to a religion that you approve of, usually credited to divine intervention.

Miracle, Counterfeit:
A paranormal act or occurrence done by or for someone who belongs to a religion that you do not approve of; usually credited to demonic intervention.

Monotheism:
A style of religion in which the theologians (or thealogians) claim that there is only one deity (theirs of course) and that all other spirits claiming (or claimed) to be deities are “actually” demons in disguise. If other deities have cults that can be made to support the One Deity, they are kept on as “angels” or “saints.” See Hyperapotheosis.

Moon Sign:
In astrology, the zodiacal sign that the moon appeared to be in at the time and location for which the chart is cast.

Motif:
A common pattern running through stories, folktales or myths.

Motion:
The act or process of a body passing from one place or position to another. Completely relative.

Mudra:
Physical gestures, positions or postures (including dance movements) used primarily as associational and/or trance inducing devices.

Mundane:
Worldly, ordinary, common, simple; pertaining to “the earth plane.”

Mysteries:
Secret rituals usually involving the display of sacred mandalas and other objects to, and the performance of various mudras with and in front of, and the chanting of mantras and dharanis in the hearing of, properly initiated worshipers, for theurgical purposes in this life and the next.

Mystery Cult:
A group of people who get together regularly to perform sacred mysteries and to study their meanings.

Mystery School:
In theory, a group of magicians and/or mystics who have gathered together to share their wisdom and secrets with each other and with new seekers. In practice, usually a group of would-be “enlightened masters” who are primarily interested in impressing each other and in fleecing the gullible. After all, “there’s a seeker born every minute!”

Mystic:
(1) One who practices mysticism. (2) A person who uses mostly passive talents and rites for mostly theurgical purposes.

Mysticism:
(1) The doctrine or belief that direct knowledge of the God(s), o spiritual truth, of ultimate reality, or of comparable matters is attainable through immediate intuition, insight or illumination and in a way differing from ordinary sense perception or conscious thought. (2) The concepts and theories behind the theurgical approach to occultism.

Myth:
(1) Technically, a traditional story with its emphasis upon the actions of deities; (2) commonly, a false or simplistic belief.

Mythology:
The study of myths, and thus a field overlapping folklore; sometimes used to refer to a specific body of myths pertaining to a given culture or motif. The study of someone else’s religious stories.

Mythos:
A system of myths within a society or culture.

Names, Law of:
“Knowing the complete and true name of an object, being or process gives one complete control over it.”

Necromancer:
(1) A magician and psychic who specializes in “summoning” the spirits of dead persons, usually without possession, in order to gain both occult and mundane knowledge, which is then used for thaumaturgical, theurgical and nonmagical purposes. (2) Generally, anyone who does any form of divination involving the dead. See Medium.

Negapsi or Reversing:
An antipsi ability to reverse all or part of the information content of a psi broadcast or field.

Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism:
A general term for a variety of movements both organized and (usually) nonorganized, started since 1960 c.e. or so (though they had literary roots going back to the mid-1800’s), as attempts to recreate, revive or continue what their founders thought were the best aspects of the Paleopagan ways of their ancestors (or predecessors), blended with modern humanistic, pluralist and inclusionary ideals, while consciously striving to eliminate as much as possible of the traditional Western monotheism, dualism, and puritanism. The core Neopagan beliefs include a multiplicity of deities of all genders, a perception of those deities as both immanent and transcendent, a commitment to environmental awareness, and a willingness to perform magical as well as spiritual rituals to help both ourselves and others. Examples of Neopaganism would include the Church of All Worlds, most heterodox Wiccan traditions, Druidism as practiced by Ár nDraíocht Féin and the Henge of Keltria, some Norse Paganism, and some modern forms of Buddhism whose members refer to themselves as “Buddheo-Pagans.” Neopagan belief systems are not racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. There are hundreds of thousands of Neopagans living and worshiping their deities today. As “Neo-Paganism,” this term was popularized in the 1960’s and 1970’s by Oberon Zell, a founder of the Church of All Worlds.

Neotarot Cards:
A collection of divination cards designed to be used in the same general ways as regular Tarot Cards, but which have different (non-Tarot) archetypal images as their main contents. Examples would include “Morgan’s Tarot,” “The Illuminated Tarot,” etc.

Nervous System:
The bodily system made up of nerves, senses, and brain, including all connectors such as the spinal cord.

Numerology:
Divination by means of numbers and numerical “values” of letters.

Objective:
“Reality” as it supposedly is “in itself,” instead of as it may be perceived.

Observation:
A part of the scientific method that involves a careful cataloging of perceptions involving any particular phenomenon.

Obsession:
Being besieged or impelled by an outside force (often perceived as demonic) to entertain thoughts or perform actions of an unpleasant, malign, pathological or unprofitable nature; thus causing anxiety and fear to be experienced by the person involved and/or observers. See Possession.

Occam’s Razor:
A philosophical axiom credited to William of Occam: “Entities should not be multiplied without reason.” Or as I put it, “Don’t complicate theories unnecessarily, but beware of being simplistic.”

Occult:
That which is hidden or known only to a few.

Occultism:
The study and or practice of that which is occult, especially (in this century) in reference to the powers of the mind.

Onieromancy:
Divination by means of dream interpretations.

OOBE:
See Out of the Body Experience.

Oui-Ja Board:
A flat board with letters, numbers and/or words upon it, used with a planchette or pendulum for divination.

Out of the Body Experience:
A perception of one’s consciousness as being outside of one’s physical body and usually as movable. See Astral Projection and Mental Projection.

Pagan, Paganism:
Originally from the Latin “paganus,” meaning “villager,” “country dweller,” or “hick.” The Roman army used it to refer to civilians. Early Roman Christians used “pagan” to refer to everyone who preferred to worship pre-Christian divinities and who were unwilling to enroll in “the Army of the Lord.” Eventually, “pagan” became simply an insult, with the connotation of “a false religion and its followers.” By the beginning of the twentieth century, the word’s primary meanings became a blend of “atheist,” “agnostic,” “hedonist,” “religionless,” etc., (when referring to an educated, white, male, heterosexual, non-Celtic European) and “ignorant savage and/or pervert” (when referring to everyone else on the planet). “Paganism” is now a general term for polytheistic, nature-centered religions, old and new, with “Pagan” used as the adjective as well as the membership term. It should always be capitalized just as other religious noun/adjective combinations are, such as “Buddhist,” “Hindu,” “Christian,” etc. See Paleopaganism, Mesopaganism, Neopaganism.

Paleopaganism or Paleo-Paganism:
A general term for the original polytheistic, nature-centered faiths of tribal Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania and Australia, when they were (or in some rare cases, still are) practiced as intact belief systems. Of the so-called “Great Religions of the World,” Hinduism (prior to the influx of Islam into India), Taoism and Shinto, for example, fall under this category, though many members of these faiths might be reluctant to use the term. Some Paleopagan belief systems may be racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. There are billions of Paleopagans living and worshiping their deities today. See Mesopaganism and Neopaganism.

Palmistry:
Divination by means of the folds and other features of the hands.

Pantheon:
The organization of deities and lesser spirits in any given religion.

Para-anthropology:
The study of paranormal phenomena in tribal, traditional and/or nonliterate cultures.

Paranoia:
Slang term taken from psychology, used to refer to general terror or anxiety, usually with associated feelings of persecution.

Paranormal:
Unusual or “supernatural.”

Paraphysics:
(1) The physics of paranormal phenomena. (2) The study of PK.

Parapsychology:
(1) The general and interdisciplinary study of paranormal phenomena. (2) The study of that which is “beyond” the field of “normal” psychology. (3) The scientific branch of occultism.

Passive Ritual:
One in which those persons raising and focusing the psychic energies are the main targets intended to be changed.

Passive Talent:
A psychic talent that involves the reception of energy or data by the agent from the target.

Path:
A method, system or approach to magical or mystical knowledge.

Path, The:
The One-True-Right-And-Only-Way followed by the user of the term.

Pendulum:
Any small object on a string or chain, the movements of which can be used for divination. See Rhabdomancy.

Pentalpha:
A five pointed star made by interweaving five letter A’s.

Pentacle:
Originally a talisman of a five pointed star, now used as a general term for talismans in general. When made of clay, glass, metal or wood, often used in western occultism as a symbol of the “element” of Earth.

Pentagram:
Another word for a five pointed star, used as a symbol for the occult in general and Neopagan and Feminist Witchcraft in particular.

Perception:
The process of classifying sensations.

Personal Universes, Law of:
“Every sentient being lives in and quite possibly creates a unique universe which can never be 100% identical to that lived in by another.” See Hixson’s Law and Infinite Universes, Law of.

Personification, Law of:
“Any phenomenon may be considered to be alive and to have a personality, and may be effectively dealt with as such."

Perversity, Law of:
“If anything can go wrong, it will — and in the most annoying manner possible.” Also known as “Murphy’s Law.”

Perversion:
(1) A variation in a process that effectively negates or contradicts what the user of this term considers to be the original purpose of the process. (2) Using the entire chicken.

Phrenology:
Divination by means of the features of the head (exterior).

Physiology:
The study of the living body.

PK:
See Psychokinesis.

Placebo Effect:
(1) Term used to refer to the process by which the belief of a target may cause results (physical or psychic) to occur with no known effort being made by the supposed agent. (2) The most powerful, cheapest, and therefore least researched method of healing.

Placebo Spell:
Obviously, a spell that works by the placebo effect.

Planchette:
A triangular object with short legs used as a divination tool, usually by moving it over a Oui-Ja Board.

Plant-Psi or Plantpsi:
A little-used term for psychic phenomena involving the interaction of plants with humans, each other and the environment.

Plug-in:
To “close a circuit” or otherwise make a connection with a part of the Switchboard or a smaller group mind.

Poet:
(1) One who fashions words artistically. (2) One who can control the power of words and is thus a magician. (3) To the ancient Greeks, one who is a specialist in retrocognition.

Polarism:
A religious doctrine that states that all the spiritual forces of the universe(s) are split into Guys and Gals, (good, weird, horny, scary, whimsical, etc.) who are eternally in bed with each other.

Polarity, Law of:
“Any pattern of data can be split into (at least) two patterns with ‘opposing’ characteristics, and each will contain the essence of the other within itself.”

Poltergeist:
From the German, meaning “noisy spirit;” an old term for RSPK, resulting from a personification of the phenomena.

Polytheism:
A style of religion in which the polytheologians claim that there are many deities, of varying power, and many lesser spirits as well, all of whom are considered to be “real” and to be worthy of respect and/or worship.

Polytheology:
Intellectual speculations concerning the natures of the Gods and Goddesses and Their relations to the world in general and humans in particular; etc., etc., etc.: see Thealogy, Theology. I’m now using this term instead of Theoilogy.

Possession:
The process or experience of having another being (divine, demonic or other) inside of one’s own body, usually as the result of a conscious or unconscious invocation. See Obsession.

Pragmatism, Law of:
“If a pattern of belief or behavior enables a being to survive and to accomplish chosen goals, then that belief or behavior is ‘true,’ ‘realistic,’ and/or ‘sensible’.”

Precognition:
Hypercognition done about future phenomena.

Priest or Priestess:
A cleric who is an official representative of a given religion, sect or cult, and who is responsible for leading other people in rituals.

Prophet:
(1) A person (usually a cleric) who “speaks out for” a deity or other powerful spirit, usually about future events. (2) A diviner of the future.

Prop:
Tools, physical emblems and other objects used primarily as associational and/or trance inducing devices.

Psi:
Short for “psychic.”

Psi Corps:
Organizations set up by governments in order to use psychic talents for the benefit of the governments involved, especially in matters of espionage, sabotage and assassination.

Psionics:
A scientistic way to get around using the dirty word “magic;” probably coined by John Campbell, the word is usually used to refer to technologically oriented parapsychology.

Pseudo:
Fake, deceptive, erroneous or otherwise “unreal.”

Psychic:
As used in this text, a word referring to rare or seldom-used powers of the (usually) human mind, which are capable of causing effects that appear to contradict the mainstream worldview of western science and philosophy.

Psychic, A:
Anyone who uses mostly passive talents and rites for mostly thaumaturgical purposes.

Psychoenergetics:
A fashionable term for parapsychology in Russia.

Psychokinesis or PK:
A categorical term for those psi talents that involve the movement of matter and energy through space-time.

Psychokinesis Proper:
A specific term for the psychically induced movement of objects (including the physical bodies of beings) through normal space-time.

Psychology:
Divination by means of the features of the head (interior).

Psycholuminescence:
See Light Control.

Psychometry:
(1) The science of statistical measurements in the field of psychology. (2) An undefeatable term for a psychic talent involving the reception of data “from” objects or surroundings about events and/or persons connected to those objects or surroundings; quite possibly the ability to use objects or places as contagion links for telepathic reception, the clair senses, and/or retrocognition.

Psychopyresis:
See Heat Control.

Psychotronics:
Another new way to avoid saying “magic;” the popular term in Eastern Europe.

Radiation Control:
An APK talent for speeding up and slowing down the decay rates of radioactive materials.

Radio Waves:
Waves on the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared radiation (less than 1 cm from crest to crest) and those called “Very Low Frequency” (over 10,000 km); only a tiny portion of this wavespread is used for common radio and television broadcasting.

Reality:
(1) The result of consensus opinion. (2) That which is most comfortable and convenient to believe. (3) My universe.

Reality, Levels of:
The concept (resulting from the Law of True Falsehoods) that a given idea may be “true” in some situations and “false” in others, depending upon the aspects, sections, areas or other subsets of the personal or consensus universes involved; such subsets may be considered “levels” of reality.

Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis or RSPK:
Term coined by William Roll. Refers to the unconscious use of PK and APK talents (usually by adolescents) as a release for frustration and means of obtaining attention.

Reddopsi or Returning:
An antipsi talent for reversing the force vectors of incoming psi broadcasts, thus returning them to their senders. Probably a variation of deflection.

Reincarnation:
A belief concerning the supposed process by which souls reinhabit body after body, life after life. The mathematics are implausible and most of the evidence has other possible explanations.

Religion:
(1) The body of institutionalized expressions of sacred beliefs, observances and practices found within a given cultural context. (2) A magical system combined with a philosophical and ethical system, usually oriented towards “supernatural” beings. (3) A psychic structure composed of the shared beliefs, experiences and related habits of all members (not just the theologians) of any group calling itself “a religion.”

Remote Viewing:
The currently fashionable term being used by parapsychologists in the U.S.A. to refer to clairvoyance, presumably because it sounds “more scientific.” So far, no one has said anything about “remote hearing,” “remote smelling,” etc.

Repeatability:
The ability of a phenomenon to be repeated at will, especially as the result of a scientific experiment; one of the major dogmas of scientism is that an unrepeatable experiment is not a valid one.

Retrocognition:
Hypercognition done about past phenomena.

Rhabdomancy:
Divination by means of wands, sticks, rods and pendulums, usually when searching for water, minerals or other valuable items. Sometimes called “dowsing” or “water witching.”

Right Hand Path:
(1) The people we like who are doing magic. (2) Occultists who spend their time being constructive, manipulative and “good.”

Rising Sign:
In Astrology, the zodiacal sign that was coming over the eastern horizon at the time and location for which the chart is cast.

Ritual:
Any ordered sequence of events, actions and/or directed thoughts, especially one that is repeated in the “same” manner each time, that is designed to produce a predictable altered state of consciousness within which certain magical or religious (or artistic or scientific?) results may be obtained.

Ritual Cannibalism:
The eating of all or part of the physical or symbolic body of a given person or personified entity in hopes of gaining one or more of their desirable attributes.

Ritualism:
Devotion to the use of rituals and ceremonies above and beyond the call of sanity; often, an uncritical acceptance of rituals constructed in the past.

Role Playing:
(1) A flavor of “modern” psychology, discovered by Aeschylus and Shakespeare, saying that we all wear masks and play various roles as conditions seem to require, even when alone. (2) A type of game in which the participants cooperate in the creation of a living fantasy novel.

Runes:
Letters in the old Celtic, Teutonic and Scandinavian alphabets; the word is based on roots meaning “secret” or “occult.” If you try to practice any form of magic within these cultural contexts, especially for deceptive purposes, then your career will lie in runes.

Samhain:
Celtic fire festival beginning the winter half of the year and being the Day Between Years; starts at sunset on November 7th and is also known as La Samhna, Nos Galen-gaeof, All Hallow’s Eve and Halloween. Celebrated by most Neopagans as a major religious holiday.

Satan:
See Devil, The.

Satya-vacana:
In Tantra, the solemn uttering of a Great Truth, used as a mantra for magical or religious effects such as exorcisms.

Schemhampheres:
One of several spellings of a word from Christian Cabala, meaning “the expository” or “the 72 Names of God and His Angels;” originally the title of a collection of magical names, now used as a magical word itself.

Science:
Accumulated and accepted knowledge that has been systematized and formulated with reference to the discovery of general truths or the operation of general laws; knowledge classified and made available in work, life or the search for truth; comprehensive, profound or philosophical knowledge, especially knowledge obtained and tested through the use of the scientific method.

Scientific Method:
The principles and procedures used in the systematic pursuit of intersubjectively (consensus reality) accessible knowledge and involving as necessary conditions the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and if possible experiment, the formulation of hypotheses, and the testing and confirmation of the hypotheses formulated.

Seer:
One who can see the hidden, a diviner.

Self-Knowledge, Law of:
“The most important kind of knowledge is about oneself; a magician must be familiar with her or his own strengths and weaknesses.”

Sensation:
The noticing of a change in the internal or external environment; the activity of a sense before classification.

Sense:
A mechanism that notices or causes sensation.

Shaman:
A medicine person and medium who frequently uses astral and/or mental projection to fly into “the spirit world,” in order to represent his or her tribe to the spirits there and who is often possessed by them as well.

Shield:
An area around a being or object within which one or more forms of (usually) antipsi energies are operating in order to defend the being or object from unwanted psychic intrusions; the process of setting up and maintaining such an antipsi field.

Sign:
A pattern of sensory stimuli which is intended to communicate data.

Signs of the Zodiac:
In astrology, twelve approximately equal segments of the Ecliptic (the belt of sky through which the planets appear to move “around the Earth”); in many systems of astrology, these no longer occupy the same space as the constellations for which they were originally named.

Silver Cord:
Supposed umbilical cord connecting an astral projector to her or his body.

Silver Dagger:
A traditional weapon for destroying various monsters.

Similarity, Law of:
“Effects are liable to have one or more outward physical or inward mental appearances similar to one or more of said appearances of their causes.”

Sorcerer or Sorceress:
Indiscriminate terms for those who use (or are suspected of using) magic, especially when acting as independent agents and/or using their magic for “evil” purposes.

Sortilege:
Divination by means of sticks, coins, bones, dice, lots, beans, yarrow stalks, stones or any other small objects.

Space:
A three-dimensional something that extends without bounds in all directions (this week) and is the field of physical objects and events and their order and relationships.

Space-Time or Space-Time Continuum:
The four-dimensional system consisting of three coordinate axes for spacial location and one axis for temporal location, upon which any physical event may be determined by citing its four coordinates; also, the four dimensional space formed by these four axes.

Spell:
(1) A magical act designed with an emphasis upon the use of mantras and the literal spelling of words. (2) Any magical ritual.

Spiritualism:
A religion based upon the belief in life after death and the experiences of various mediums over the last hundred years; organized primarily to provide legal protection for the mediums and their followers.

Splodging or Yelling:
An antipsi talent for the generation of specific psi broadcasts (usually of emotions) so strong that all other psi signals in range are drowned out or disrupted, with the information content of those signals collapsing first; may be a form of reversed empathy or of single-content telepathic sending.

Sprites:
Disembodied spirits, elves, fairies or daemons; often the term used for the Air elemental known as “sylphs,” or as the name of the elementals of Spirit.

Statistics, Three Magical Laws of:
“Once is dumb luck, twice is coincidence and three times is Somebody Trying to Tell You Something.”

Stimuli:
Those things that arouse sensations; energy fluctuations.

Subject:
In science, someone or something being observed and/or experimented upon.

Subjective:
“Reality” as it is perceived, instead of as it may be “in itself.”

Sun Sign:
In astrology, the zodiacal sign that the sun appeared to be in at the time and location for which the chart is cast. In isolation, the sun sign reveals very little data.

Supernatural:
Rare, unusual, beyond the common, extraordinary, unexplainable at the time, paranormal; usually input as “religious” phenomena.

Superstitions:
(1) Fixed irrational notions held stubbornly in the face of evidence to the contrary; beliefs, practices, concepts or acts resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, morbid scrupulosity, erroneous concepts of causality, etc., as in the words and actions of many critics of parapsychology and the occult. (2) “A belief not founded in any coherent worldview” (J. B. Russell). (3) Someone else’s religious or philosophical beliefs.

Supplication:
The normal form of prayer, that is to say, begging; occasionally, asking an entity to give you her or his attention for a moment.

Survival Phenomena:
Paranormal phenomena that appear to bear relevance to the questions of survival after physical death; at one time the main area of study in parapsychology when it was still being called “psychic research.”

Suspension of Disbelief:
Temporary curtailment of critical faculties for a specific time and specific purpose, it is absolutely necessary during the performance of a ritual. Before and after the ritual, however, the participants can and should criticize all that they can.

Sutra:
Book or traditional collection of sayings.

Switchboard, The:
A theory of the author’s concerning a postulated network of interlocking metapatterns of everyone who has ever lived or who is living now, expressed as constantly changing and infinitely subtle modifications of current telepathic transmissions and receptions. Many phenomena interpreted as “spirits” may actually be “circuits” within this Switchboard, as may be many other “archetypes” of the “collective unconscious.” See Akasic Records, Archetype, Circuit, and Unconscious, Collective.

Sword:
An archaic weapon used in western occultism as a symbol of the “element” of Air, as well as for fighting psychic battles, concentrating and directing energies, and for severing psychic links or bonds.

Symbol:
A sign plus an associated concept.

Synchronicity, Law of:
“Two or more events happening at the ‘same’ time are likely to have more associations in common than the merely temporal.”

Synthesis, Law of:
“The synthesis of two or more ‘opposing’ patterns of data will produce a new pattern that will be ‘truer’ than either of the first ones were.”

Table Tipping:
The use of tables for dactylomancy.

Talent:
As used in this text, an ability to use psychic energies in one or more forms, including ESP, Hypercognition, PK and the Antipsi powers. Talents may be active, passive or both.

Talisman:
A psychically charged mandala carried about (or placed in a special spot), expected to work via contagion.

Talmud, Babylonian and Palestinian:
Records of the processes by which Hebrew scholars debated and developed their laws and rulings.

Tantra:
Indian systems of theurgical concepts and magical training methods, easily adaptable for thaumaturgic purposes.

Tantrism:
The religious window dressing added to Tantra.

Tapping:
The absorption of psychic energy from the ether or from groups or individuals who are willing (such as congregations of worshipers or various deities). See Absorption and Vampire, Psychic.

Target:
The person, object or process one wishes to effect in order to accomplish one’s goal.

Tarot Cards:
Ancestors of modern playing cards, originally designed for divination use and now used for meditational and magical focusing as well.

Technology:
The study of applying scientific, artistic, psychic or other knowledge to practical ends; the use of methods, skills, crafts, arts, sciences, knowledge and beliefs to provide the material needs of a people.

Telekinesis:
Synonym for “psychokinesis.”

Telepathy:
A type of ESP involving the communication of data from one mind to another without the use of the normal sensory channels. Note that telepathic sending and reception may be two different talents.

Teleportation:
A PK talent involving the seemingly instantaneous movement of a person or other being from one location in space-time to another, apparently without going through the normal space-time in between. See Aportation.

Temperature or Thermal Control:
An APK talent for altering the speed of atoms and molecules, so as to change the temperature of an object of being; see its two main subsets: Heat Control and Cold Control.

Thaumaturgy:
The use of magic for nonreligious purposes; the art and science of “wonder working;” using magic to actually change things on the Earth Plane.

Thaumaturgical Design:
Experimental design for magic.

Thealogy:
Intellectual speculations concerning the nature of the Goddess and Her relations to the world in general and humans in particular; rational explanations of religious doctrines, practices and beliefs, which may or may not bear any connection to any religion as actually conceived and practiced by the majority of its members.

Theoilogy:
A term I am no longer using for polytheistic theology or Polytheology, since I got tired of telling people it wasn’t a typo.

Theology:
Intellectual speculations concerning the nature of the God and His relations to the world in general and humans in particular; etc., etc., etc.: see Thealogy.

Theory:
(1) A belief, policy or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action. (2) An ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles or circumstances. (3) The body of generalizations and principles developed in association with practice in a field of activity. (4) A judgment, conception, proposition or formula formed by speculation or deduction, or by abstraction and generalization from facts. (5) A working hypothesis given probability by experimental evidence or by factual or conceptual analysis but not conclusively established or accepted as a law.

Theurgy:
The use of magic for religious and/or psychotherapeutic purposes, in order to attain “salvation” or “personal evolution.”

Three M’s:
Mantra, mandala and mudra; the prime associational and trance inducing devices.

Time:
A function of the ways in which humans perceive their universes, as being composed of phenomena that occur “before,” “during” or “after” each other.

Torah, The:
The first five books of the Bible.

Tradition or Trad:
A term used by Neopagan and other Witches to refer to the exact distinctions between each body of organized sectarian beliefs and practices, thus some groups refer to themselves as Manx Traditional Witchcraft, Scottish Trad, English Traditional, Continental, German, etc. The assumption or claim is usually that each “tradition” represents several centuries’ worth of an organized system of witchcraft, though in point of fact the overwhelming majority of trads can be easily proven to be less than thirty years old. The term, however, seems to be evolving to mean just a sect or flavor of modern Paganism, with no implied claims of antiquity.

Trance:
An altered state of consciousness (at least for most people) which is characterized by disassociation and withdrawal from the mundane environment.

Transmutation:
An APK talent for changing the atomic structure of matter, so as to alter its elemental or molecular nature.

Treatise:
A writing that treats a subject; specifically, one that provides in a systematic manner and for an expository or argumentative purpose a methodical discussion of the facts and principles involved and conclusions reached.

Tribal Magical Systems:
All systems of magic and mysticism practiced by peoples living in tribal cultures at any time in the past or present, anywhere in the world. True:
That which is probable, pleasant or convenient to believe.

True Falsehoods, Law of:
“It is possible for a concept or act to violate the truth patterns of a given personal universe (including a single person’s part of a consensus reality) and yet to still be ‘true,’ provided that it ‘works’ in a specific situation.” See Pragmatism, Law of and Reality, Levels of.

Unconscious, Collective:
A theoretical construct of C. G. Jung, who believed that all human beings have access to the collected mental experience of all their ancestors and that, in essence, these memories (usually in highly symbolic forms) are carried genetically from one generation to the next; sometimes called “racial” unconscious, though whether the species as a whole or specific gene pools are referred to is unclear.

Unity, Law of:
“Every phenomenon in existence at any point in space or time is linked, directly or indirectly, to every other one.”

Universals, Cultural:
Patterns of belief or behavior that show up in all or a majority of human cultures, that are related to specific topics.

Universe:
The total gestalt of all data patterns one may have about that which seems to be oneself and that which seems to be not-oneself; depending upon whether or not one believes in an objective reality, the universe can be considered to be a part of one’s metapattern or vice versa.

Vampire:
A person who has supposedly risen from the dead and who survives through a process of inducing willing or unwilling blood donations.

Vampire, Psychic:
A person or institution practicing the absorption of psychic energy to the point of actually damaging the people they attack. See Absorption and Tapping.

Variable:
A factor, as in an equation or experiment, that changes from situation to situation and thus affects the outcome.

Varna:
In Tantra, the principle that sound is eternal and that every letter of the alphabet is a deity.

Vodun or Voudoun:
(1) A West African word meaning “deity” or “power.” (2) General term for a variety of eclectic religions and associated magical systems practiced throughout the Americas, consisting of mixtures of various African tribal beliefs with various Native American tribal beliefs, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, Spiritualism, Theosophy and other systems (including Hinduism, Islam, Neopagan Witchcraft and anything else that seems useful). Different names include Candomble, Macumba, Santeria, Hoodoo, Voodoo and many others. (3) In the United States and Canada, systems of thaumaturgic magic and religion practiced by people who are usually poor, uneducated and nonwhite. Therefore, see Black Magic.

Vortex Field:
An energy field causing rapid circular movement around an axis.

Wand:
A short stick of wood or metal, used ritually in western occultism as a symbol (usually) of the “element” of Fire, as well as for concentrating and directing energies.

Warlock:
(1) One who bends (or bends with) words, a magician and/or liar. (2) Used by some to refer to male witches.

Water:
One of the main “elements” in occultism; associated in the West with emotions, intuition, blue, green, silver, cups, bowls, wisdom, passivity, cleansing, passive psychic arts, cold, dampness, etc.

Water Witching:
Rhabdomancy when done for finding water.

Web, The:
(1) The total pattern formed by all the interactions of all matter and all energy. (2) The current best example of the Law of Infinite Data.

Weight:
The effect of gravity upon mass.

Weight Control:
Mass control and/or gravity control when done in a gravity well (on the surface of a planet, for example).

Werewolf:
Someone who can supposedly change their body into that of a wolf’s, as a result of deliberate intent or unfortunate curse.

White Magic:
A racist, sexist, creedist and classist term used to refer to magic being done for “good” purposes or by people of whom the user of the term approves.

Wic-:
An Old English root meaning (1) to bend, turn or twist, and (2) to practice magic. No significant connection to “wisdom.”

Wicca and Wicce:
The male and female terms, respectively, in Old English that eventually became “witch” in Modern English.

Wiccan:
(1) The original plural form for “wicca/wicce” or “witch.” (2) An adjective used to describe their religion by the followers of Neopagan Witchcraft.

Wiccian or Wigle:
The Old English words for the activities of a “wicca/wicce.”

Window Dressing:
The scenery and passive props used to provoke and reinforce specific moods and associations.

Witch:
Anyone who calls themself a “witch” or is called such by others; an utterly useless term without a qualifying adjective in front of it. The only thing the definitions of “witch” have in common is the idea of magic or other techniques of change being practiced.

Witchcraft:
From “wiccecraeft,” the craft of being a witch. Notice that “craft” has no specifically religious connotation.

Witchcraft, Alexandrian:
A variety of Gardnerian Witchcraft founded by British magician Alex Sanders.

Witchcraft, Anthropologic:
Anything called “witchcraft” by an anthropologist, usually referring to (a) the practices of independent (real or supposed) magic users who are suspected of at least sometimes using their magic outside of their society’s accepted cultural norms, and/or (b) a perceived state, often involuntary, of being a monster who can curse people with the “evil eye.” Definition (a) is what the word “wicce” probably originally referred to, annoying as that may be to modern Wiccans.


Witchcraft, Classic:
The practices of the persons often called “witches” (if seldom to their faces) in pre-medieval Europe, to wit: midwifery; healing with magic, herbs and other folk remedies; providing abortions, love potions and poisons; divination; casting curses and blessings, etc. A Classic Witch’s religion may well have been irrelevant to his or her techniques. After the monotheistic conquests, most survivors were — at least officially — Christians (or Moslems in Spain and Portugal). Some may have retained a certain amount of pre-Christian/Islamic magical and religious tradition. Classic Witches have continued to exist to this very day, in ever dwindling numbers, mostly in the remotest villages and among the Romany or other Traveling Peoples.


Witchcraft, Dianic:
(1) A postulated medieval cult of Diana and/or Dianus worshipers.
(2) Term used by some henotheistic Neopagan Witches to refer to their concentration on the Goddess.
(3) Term used by some Feminist separatist Witches to describe their practices and beliefs.


Witchcraft, Ethnic:
The practices of various non-English-speaking people who use magic, religion and alternative healing methods in their own communities, and who are called “witches” by English speakers who don’t know any better.


Witchcraft, Familial or “Fam-Trad:”
The practices and beliefs of those who claim to belong to (or have been taught by members of) families that supposedly have been underground Paleopagans for several centuries in Europe and/or the Americas, using their wealth and power to stay alive and secret. Even if they existed, none of them could have a pure religious or magical tradition by now; instead, they would have fragments of Paleopagan customs mixed with Christianity or Islam as well as every new occult wave that hit the West. 99.9% of all the people I have ever met who claimed to be Fam-Trad Witches were lying, or had been lied to by their teachers. Also sometimes called “Hereditary Witchcraft” or even “Genetic Witchcraft” by those who think they must claim a witch as an ancestor in order to be a witch today.


Witchcraft, Fairy or Faery or Faerie Trad:
(1) Any of several traditions of Mesopagan and/or Neopagan Witchcraft started by the blind poet and scoundrel guru Victor Anderson since the 1970s, mixing British and Celtic folklore about the fairies, Gardnerianism, Voodoo, Hawaiian Huna (itself a Mesopagan invention of Max Freedom Long), Tantra, Gypsy magic, Native American beliefs, and anything else he was thinking about at the time he was training the founders of each trad. (2) Varieties of Neopagan Witchcraft focused around homosexual or bisexual images and magical techniques rather than the heterosexual (and often homophobic) ones used in most Wiccan traditions. (3) Other sects of Neopagan Witchcraft focused around real or made-up fairy lore, often taken from romantic poems, plays, and novels about the fairies. In most of these traditions, there is usually an assumption that the ancient associations between fairies and witches were true, and that the fairies were originally the Paleopagan nature spirits and/or deities.


Witchcraft, Feminist:
Several new monotheistic religions started since the early 1970s by women in the feminist community who belonged to the women’s spirituality movement and/or who had contact with Neopagan Witches. It is partially an outgrowth of Neopagan Witchcraft, with male deities booted unceremoniously(!) out of the religion entirely, and partially a conglomeration of independent and eclectic do-it-yourself covens of spiritually-inclined feminists. The religions usually involve worshiping only the syncretic Goddess and using Her as a source of inspiration, magical power and psychological growth. Their scholarship is generally abysmal and men are usually not allowed to join or participate.


Witchcraft, Gardnerian:
The originally Mesopagan source of what has now become Neopagan Witchcraft, founded by Gerald Gardner and friends in the late 1940s and 1950s, based upon his alleged contacts with British Fam-Trads. After he finished inventing, expanding and/or reconstructing the rites, laws and other materials, copies were stolen by numerous others who then claimed Fam-Trad status and started new religions of their own. (See Ronald Hutton’s Triumph of the Moon for all the messy details.) Though Gardnerians are sometimes called “the scourge of the Craft,” together with the Alexandrians and members of some other British Traditions, they may be considered simply the orthodox branch of Neopagan Witchcraft.


Witchcraft, Genetic:
See Witchcraft, Familial and Grandmotherly.

Witchcraft, Gothic:
A postulated cult of devil worshipers invented by the medieval Church, used as the excuse for raping, torturing and killing scores of thousands of women, children and men. The cult was said to consist of people who worshiped the Christian Devil in exchange for magical powers then used to benefit themselves and harm others. Also called “Diabolic Witchcraft” and “Satanic Witchcraft.” I coined this term many years ago, before the rise of the “Goth” subculture of the 1980s.

Witchcraft, Grandmotherly:
Refers to the habit common among modern Witches of claiming to have been initiated at an early age by a mother or grandmother who belonged to a Fam-Trad but who is conveniently dead, doesn’t speak English, and/or is otherwise unavailable for questioning.

Witchcraft, Hereditary:
See Witchcraft, Familial and Grandmotherly.

Witchcraft, Immigrant or “Imm-Trad:”
Refers to the customs and beliefs of Mesopagan peasants and supposed Fam-Trad members who immigrated to the Americas and mingled their magical and religious customs with each other, the Native Americans, enslaved Blacks, and the previous immigrants, helping to produce the dozens of kinds of Voodoo and Hoodoo,along with Pennsylvania “hex” magic and Appalachian magical lore.

Witchcraft, Neoclassic:
The current practices of those who are consciously or unconsciously duplicating some or many of the activities of the Classic Witches and who call themselves (or are called by others) witches.

Witchcraft, Neogothic:
The beliefs and practices of modern Satanists, most of whom work very hard to be everything that the medieval Church and current Fundamentalists say they should be. Some of them perform Black Masses, commit blasphemy and sacrilege, hold (or long to hold) orgies, etc. There is some small overlap with the Goth subculture of the 1980s.

Witchcraft, Neopagan:
Several new duotheistic religions founded since the 1960s, most of which are variations of Gardnerian Witchcraft but some of which are independent inventions and/or reconstructions based on real or supposed Family Traditions, Immigrant Traditions, literary creations, etc. — just like Gardner’s! Most groups who call what they do “Wicca” are Neopagan Witches.

Witchcraft, Neoshamanic:
(1) The beliefs and practices of those modern persons who are attempting to rediscover, duplicate and/or expand upon the practices of the original (postulated) Shamanic Witches.
(2) Neopagan Witchcraft with feathers, drums, crystals, and other New Age additions of a vaguely Shamanic flavor. Most use drums and chanting rather than drugs to achieve their desired trance states.

Witchcraft, Shamanic:
(1) Originally, the beliefs and practices of members of postulated independent belladonna/Moon Goddess cults throughout pre-medieval Europe, remnants of which might have survived into the Middle Ages.
(2) Currently, Neoshamanic Witchcraft done by those who do not use the Neo- prefix.

Witchcraft, Traditional:
See Tradition and Witchcraft, Familial.

Witch Cult of Western Europe:
A European-wide cult of underground Pagans postulated, in a book of that name, by Margaret Murray as having been the actual cause or spark of the medieval persecutions, but which is not believed in by most of the historians, linguists, folklorists or anthropologists who have examined her arguments. Also known as the “Unitarian Universalist White Witch Cult of Western Theosophical Brittany.”

Witchdoctor:
A medicine person or shaman who hunts down and fights “evil” Anthropologic Witches.

Witchfinder:
A cleric or other person who seeks out and tortures alleged Gothic Witches.

Witchmark:
Blemish supposedly placed upon a Gothic Witch by The Devil as a sort of membership card or identification device.

Wizard:
From the Old English “wys-ard,” meaning “wise one.” Originally may have referred to anyone whose wisdom was respected; later came to mean a male witch; now used to mean a powerful and wise magician.

Words of Power, Law of:
“There exist certain words that are able to alter the internal and external realities of those uttering them, and their power may rest in the very sounds of the words as much as in their meanings.”

Xenophobia:
A morbid fear of that which is new, different or strange; common among professional debunkers of minority belief systems and other fundamentalists.

Yantra:
A Tantric diagram or chart.

Yin-Yang:
Chinese symbol for the Laws of Polarity and Synthesis.

Yoga:
Literally means “yoke” or discipline. With no qualifying adjective, usually refers to Hatha Yoga (discipline of the body).

Yule:
The feast of the Winter Solstice, Birth of the Sun, etc.

Zener Cards:
Cards used in most of the early ESP experiments, developed in the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University.

Zombie:
(1) Someone supposedly raised from the dead by a Vodun magician, possibly never really dead at all but rather drugged, who is used as a slave. (2) Someone who has joined a repressive “cult” movement, lost their own personality and other intellectual faculties, and is used as a slave. Easily identified by the characteristic “glazed eye” look and inability to continue their conversation if interrupted several times in mid-partyline.

Note:

Depending upon the currently fashionable trends in physics, biology, history, anthropology, psychology and cybernetics at the time of observation, a few of the Laws of Magic, some of the various modes of practicing magic, and many of the psi and antipsi powers may be easily considered to be identical to each other, and/or to include each other, and/or to be culturally and politically threatening to the insecure (and therefore as phenomena the existence of which is to be denied and eradicated as quickly as possible). Research is progressing (and academic fashions are shifting) at an incredible pace, so if you don’t like the latest explanations — wait a minute.