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in perfect Love, in perfect Trust, Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An ye harm none, do as ye will. What ye send out comes back to thee, So ever mind the rule of three. Follow this with mind and heart, and Merry ye Meet, and Merry ye Part. |
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in perfect Love, in perfect Trust, Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An ye harm none, do as ye will. What ye send out comes back to thee, So ever mind the rule of three. Follow this with mind and heart, and Merry ye Meet, and Merry ye Part. |
Church, n. 1) From Old Gaelic, a ceremonial circle often marked with stones. 2) A place where people meet to celebrate and practice their religion. 3) A body of people who meet together to celebrate and practice a common religion.
Circle, n. 1) A place where people meet to celebrate and practice the Wiccan religion. 2) A body of people who meet together to celebrate and practice the Wiccan religion. 3) A coven of the Wiccan religion. 4) A magickal enclosure surrounding the participants in a Wiccan rite.
Coven, n. 1) A group of Wiccan clergy (Witches) who share a common practice or tradition of the Wiccan religion, and meet regularly to celebrate and practice together. 2) A church or circle of the Wiccan religion.
Cowan, n. A person outside the Craft.
Craft, The n. 1) Witchcraft, or the Old Religion, also sometimes called Wicca. 2) The trade or practice of the traditional skills and abilities of a Priest or Priestess of Wicca. Also called Witchcraft. From Old English wicca craeft, the trade of craft of being wise. In historic times the Old Religion had no name and needed none. It was simply the traditional folk religion of the people in many villages.
Esbat, n. A Wiccan ritual held on a full or new moon.
Magick, n. 1) The art that controls natural events. 2) The use of natural forces to cause naturally occurring changes to end in results that conform to one's will or desire. Note: Modern Wiccans often use the spelling with the 'k' ending to distinguish true magick from stage illusions. Witches do not recognize adjective differences such as "black magick" or "white magick." Like electricity and other natural forces, magick can be used for ethical or unethical purposes.
Mystery, n. 1) Something that is not fully understood or that baffles or eludes the understanding; an enigma. 2) A religious truth that is incomprehensible to reason and knowable only through divine revelation.
Pagan, n. 1) A follower of any of several pre-Roman and pre-christian nature religions of Western Europe. 2) A follower of any traditional nature-based religion of indigenous peoples from any part of the world. adj. Of or pertaining to a pagan religion. From Latin paganus, a country dweller or peasant farmer. Originally used as a derogatory term by Roman invaders to describe peasants who didn't accept the "modern" Roman pantheon, similar to "hick" or "bumpkin". Later, used by Roman christians to describe country peasants who didn't convert to their religion. Also possibly derived from Greek pagos, spring.
Sabbat, n. 1) One of 8 quarter or cross quarter holidays in the Wiccan calendar. 2) A Wiccan ritual to celebrate one of the quarter or cross quarter holidays.
Warlock, n. 1) A defamatory term applied to male members of the Old Religion as part of a propaganda campaign during the Inquisition. Never used by Witches. From Old English warlogha an oath breaker or liar.
Wicca, n. 1) An Initiatory, oathbound, magick-using, pagan mystery religion. 2) British Traditional Witchcraft. 3) One of several pre-christian nature religions of Europe, also called the Old Religion, the Craft, or Witchcraft. From Old English wicca (masculine) or wicce (feminine). Also related to wizard or wise. Wicca is used in definitions in many dictionaries but is not itself defined.
Note: A thousand years ago Old English words had masculine and feminine forms. "Wicca" was masculine and "Wicce" was feminine. That changed several centuries ago. Unlike French, Spanish and other modern languages, English has not had gendered nouns for several centuries. In Modern English, "Wicca" has no gender and is inclusive.
Pronunciation: In Old English a "c" preceding a front vowel "e" or "i" was pronounced "ch," so the Old English feminine form, "Wicce," was pronounced "wich-e." A "c" preceding a back vowel "a," was pronounced hard as "k." In Old English "Wicca" was pronounced "wik-ka." In current usage "wicce" has morphed into "witch," and "Wicca" is pronounced "wik-ka."
Sources: You may read something else in some current publications. This information is from a respected Ph.D. English Professor, medievalist, and teacher of Old English.
Capitalization: Wicca and Witch are properly capitalized when used as the name of our religion or a member of our religions, it's a proper noun. Capitalization is similar to "Christianity" and "Christian."
The Wicca, n. Collectively, all those who follow the religion of Wicca.
Wiccan, n. A person who practices the religion of Wicca. adj. Of or pertaining to the religion of Wicca. From Old English wicca (masculine) or wicce (feminine).
Witch, n. A properly trained and initiated Priest or Priestess of The Old Religion. From Old English wit or wic which means witty, wise or intelligent, or alternatively to bend or to shape, and related to wit, wicked, wicker, wizard.
Witchcraft, n. 1) The Old Religion, also called Wicca, or The Craft. 2) The practice of the traditional skills, arts, expertise and abilities of a Priest or Priestess of the Old Religion. From Old English wicca craeft, the trade or craft of being wise.
Wizard, n. 1) A male Witch, sorcerer, or magician, 2) A wise man or sage, 3) A skillful or clever person. From Middle English wysard, from wys or wis, wise or smart. See Witch.