ARADIA:

1) was the Goddess daughter of Diana, & the Goddess of choice of Italian (STREGA) traditions.

2) A book by Charles Leland, purporting to be an actual “book of Shadows of an Italian Witch. Commonly used in many Wiccan traditions today.

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ALBION - An lold Greco-Celtic name for Britain, one which is still used poetically today. It is believed to be derived from the Latin word albus meaning "white" and reffering to the famous cliffs of Dover.

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ALCHEMY:

1) Science of transmuting metals.

2)transmutation of Inner Self to a higher more Spiritual plane.

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ALLAH: 'God' in Islamic theology; originally 'Al-Lat', the Moon.

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ALRAUN: a talismanic image made of rowan wood.

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ALTAR: a table or sometimes any flat surface used to hold the symbols and tools during the performance of religious and magickal rituals. Sometimes the altar is round to Symbolize the Goddess, or square to represent the Elements. Best made of wood, and facing North East toward the rising of both Sun and Moon.  Druid Altar is a flat stone laying across two upright stones.  A Ceremonial Altar is wood and is constructed of two or three cubes stacked.   Traditionally, the left 1, 3 is reserved for the Goddess, the center for both Dieties, and the right 1, 3, for the God.

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AMULET: a magically empowered object that deflects (sends away) specific, usually negative, energies. Generally, a protective object. See Talisman.

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ABERFFRAW- The ancient royal seat of Wales on the isle of Ynys Mon (Anglesey). Today, some Celtic witches like to ust the name as a synonym fot the Other-world.

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ABORTIFACIENT- Herb which brings on an abortion. Usually must be taken in very large, nearly toxic doses.   WARNING.  Aborifacient herbs are dangerous to be taken without a physician's advice.n called Avalon in England.

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ACOLYTE: 

1) a beginner or "novice" as used in many magickal orders.

2) sometimes used to denote the lowest rank in the group. See POND SCUM.  

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ADBERTOS - Literally means "sacrifice" and was part of the Celtic religious and community world-view. Rather than the negative connotation given to its English counterpart, adbertos was a positive idea denoting the giving to others, to the clan, and to the larger community as well as the deities. The Celts saw the giving or receiving of sacrifice as being inherent in every living moment. This is a very old word which came to the British Isles and Brittany from Celtic Gual.

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ADEPT: 

1) a master of the magickal arts. A skilled occult practitioner.

2) One who has reached true enlightenment. In some Craft traditions, it designates a particular stage of initiation.

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AFFIRMATIONS:

1)  a belief that repetitive "Positive Assertive Thoughts" will influence people & reality.

2) Also known as "Power of Positive Thinking."

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AILEACH - A ruined fortress in Ulster which is said to have been built by the Tuatha De Danann.

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AKASHA:

1) the omnipresent fifth occult element and omnipresent spiritual power that permeates the universe. It is the energy out of which the Elements formed and which embraces the other four- earth, air, fire, and water; and from which they stem. This is the realm of pattern" or causality, from which the realm the normally thought of "five senses manifests. Some define it is the "other" of the "two worlds" that the witch or magician walks between.- the spiritual ether (or Aether)  

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ALBA - A name for the land which is now known as Scotland.

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ASTRAL: 

1) a realm of existence parallel to physical reality but slightly apart from it. In this realm, both time and space may be traversed by the nonmaterial body. A wide variety of entities inhabit the astral; elementals, phantasms, ghosts and the conscious or dreaming presences of living individuals.

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ASTROLOGY:

1) the belief that the relative positions of planets, planetoids and stars, can influence events & behavior surrounding us. 

2) the method used in calculating these related happenings.  ASTRONOMY is the hard science.

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ATHAME: "a-THAY-me" the Witch's traditional magical tool, the consecrated, black-handled dagger. It is never used to cut, but can be used to defend; a personal knife, usually made of steel and is double bladed or edged; with a black handle. Double edged to Symbolize that power works both ways: healing & harming, creation & destruction; light & dark. Both sides necessary & both sides needing to be controlled. The black absorbs power. The owner often engraves magick symbols into the metal. A magickal tool associated with change makes it the symbol of the Element - Fire, and its phallic nature links it to the God.   It's direction is the South.

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AURA: the colored, low level energy field that surrounds living tissue.

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BARROW: an elvin or Celtic burial mound often used by covens for Sabbats.

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BAUCHAN: (Buckwan) A less friendly type of brownie. One of the few types who will not leave when seen by the human residents of his home. They mostly stay around just to play tricks, but can be very helpful when the proper mood strikes (i.e. - Callum mor Macintosh had a love, hate relationship with his Baucan companion. The love side must have been stronger because when Callum moved to the states his Bauchan came before him & cleared his plot of land for him.)

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