Witchcraft glossary: terms every beginner should know

This glossary gives short, plain definitions of the words you will meet most often in witchcraft, from altar to Yule. I wrote it for beginners, so each entry says what the word means, how it is used today and, where it matters, how to stay safe. Where a page on this site goes deeper, the entry links to it.

Pronunciations are common English reading aids; Irish, Scottish Gaelic and local pronunciations differ. Sabbat dates are for the Northern Hemisphere. Many Southern Hemisphere practitioners shift each festival by six months, and others keep the Northern dates. A definition is never a guarantee of a result.

Jump to a letter: A · B · C · D · E · G · H · I · K · L · M · O · P · R · S · T · W · Y

A

Altar

A dedicated surface for practice: tools, symbols, and attention. It can be a shelf, tray, or box; it does not have to look “witchy.” Read more: Altar.

Athame

A ritual knife used in many Wicca-influenced paths to mark space, not usually to cut food or herbs. Store any edge safely; check local knife laws.

B

Banishing

Folk language for ending a working, clearing a mood from a space, or deciding something is over. It is not a clinical cleanse and does not replace getting help when fear or checking takes over.

Bell

A sound marker for openings, closings, or a pause. Beginner use: one clear ring before and after a short practice. Safety: mind volume in apartments and shared walls.

Beltane

Say: BEL-tayn. A fire and summer-start sabbat, around May 1. Read more: Beltane.

Besom

A ritual broom used to sweep a space symbolically. A household broom used as a gesture is enough.

Binding

Folk term for a working meant to restrain a person or situation. Binding aimed at another person’s will is advanced, contested, and easy to misuse as control; I do not teach it to beginners.

Boline

A practical knife in some traditions for cutting herbs, cord, or wax. Kitchen scissors often cover beginner needs.

Book of Shadows

A personal practice journal: what you tried and what happened. Keep it private if outing is unsafe. Historical grimoires are older books of spells and ritual, not the same thing. Read more: Book of Shadows.

C

Cauldron

A heat-safe pot for ash, a small dish fire, or symbolic brew work. Beginner use: a small cast-iron cauldron or another fireproof vessel on a nonflammable surface. Safety: Follow basic fire safety; never set a burning cauldron or dish fire on wood, cloth, or unfinished furniture; put sand or a fireproof trivet under the vessel; never leave flame unattended; cool fully before moving. Outdoors: no fire in dry brush; obey burn bans.

Centering

Gathering scattered attention into one place you can return to, often the torso. Related to grounding but not identical. Read more: Centering.

Chakra

A map of energy centers from yoga and related South Asian traditions, later borrowed into some Western occult books. This site treats it as optional symbolism, not anatomy.

Chalice

A cup for water or a shared drink in ritual. Beginner use: any clean, food-safe cup you already own. Safety: use materials safe for drinking (glass, ceramic, stainless steel, or other food-safe ware). Do not drink from lead crystal or from pewter that may contain lead; keep those as display-only if you own them. Empty water before it grows mold.

Circle

A marked boundary for ritual, made by walking, pointing, sound, or imagination. It is a focus aid, not a force field.

Cleansing

Symbolic reset of a space or object (smoke, sound, wipe, or intention). Prefer non-smoke methods around birds, cats, and asthma. Smoke cleansing is not the same as smudging (see Smudging).

Closed practice

A tradition, ceremony, or tool that belongs to a specific community and is taught only by invitation or initiation. Learn from those who keep it, or leave it alone.

Correspondences

Optional symbolic links (color, day, planet, element) used to design ritual. They are teaching maps, not physics. Read more: Correspondences.

Coven

A small working group. Many witches practice alone (solitary). Group ethics and consent matter in any coven.

Crystal ball or scrying mirror

Focus surfaces for quiet looking. Beginner use: a dark bowl of water, a black phone screen (off), or a small mirror. Safety: clear spheres and glass can focus sunlight and start fires; store out of direct sun near fabric.

D

Dark moon

The quiet days just before the next new moon, when the moon looks dark; some calendars call late waning the “balsamic” moon. A calendar label, not a separate astronomical phase. Read more: Dark moon.

Divination

Using cards, runes, scrying, or similar symbols to reflect on a question. It does not replace medical, legal, or consent decisions. Read more: Divination.

E

Elements

In much Western craft: earth, air, fire, and water (sometimes spirit, also called aether). Direction layouts vary; many Southern Hemisphere layouts swap fire and earth. Read more: Elements.

Esbat

A moon meeting or moon rite in some Wiccan lines, often at full moon. Optional: you can work with the moon phases without a coven. Read more: Esbat.

G

Grounding

Settling attention in the body and in contact with the ground or floor, often at the start and end of practice. Ordinary rest and food count. Read more: Grounding.

H

Hex

Folk word for harmful magic aimed at someone. This site does not teach harm.

I

Ideomotor effect

Tiny muscle movements you make without deciding to, prompted by what you expect or hope; described by William Benjamin Carpenter in 1852. It is why a pendulum can mirror what you already lean toward. Useful for noticing your own leanings; not proof of spirits.

Imbolc

Say: IM-bulk (or IM-olk). An early-spring sabbat, around February 1 or 2; in Ireland also St. Brigid’s Day. Read more: Imbolc.

Initiation

Formal entry into a lineage or coven in some paths. This site does not require it. Closed initiatory lineages need invitation and proper training; a private dedication of your own space is a different thing.

K

Kitchen witch

A practitioner who folds intention into cooking and household work. Food safety rules still come first. Read more: Kitchen witch.

L

Litha

Say: LEE-tha (or LITH-ah). Summer solstice sabbat, around June 21. The name comes from Bede’s list of Anglo-Saxon months; many say Midsummer. Read more: Litha.

Lughnasadh or Lammas

Say: LOO-nuh-suh (Lughnasadh); LAM-us (Lammas). Early-harvest sabbat, around August 1; names and customs vary. Read more: Lughnasadh or Lammas.

M

Mabon

Say: MAY-bon (or MAH-bon). Fall equinox sabbat, around September 22 or 23. The name was chosen by Aidan Kelly in 1974; many say Harvest Home. Read more: Mabon.

Meditation

Quiet attention practice. Optional alongside grounding; not a cure for mental health conditions.

Moon water

Water left out under the moon as a symbolic focus. It is not a drink, a cooking ingredient, or medicine.

Mortar and pestle

A bowl and grinder for crushing dry culinary herbs for charm bags or kitchen work. Beginner use: only food-grade herbs you tolerate. Safety: wash after kitchen use; never crush unknown wild plants; keep powders away from pets.

O

Offering

Food, drink, flowers, or thanks left in relationship work. Keep pet-safe; remove before spoilage.

Offering bowl

A dish for food, drink, or flowers offered in relationship work. Beginner use: a small bowl you empty on a schedule. Safety: no chocolate, grapes or raisins, onion or garlic, alcohol, or sugar-free sweets with xylitol where pets can reach; remove food before it spoils, and do not leave offerings outdoors or in corners where they attract pests or wildlife.

Ostara

Say: oh-STAR-ah. Spring equinox sabbat, around March 20 or 21. Read more: Ostara.

P

Pentacle

A disk or plate, often bearing a pentagram, used as an earth token or a resting place for small items in some systems.

Pentagram

A five-pointed star drawn in one continuous line. In much Western craft the points stand for the elements, with spirit at the top. A pentacle is a disk or plate that often bears one.

Potion

In folklore, a prepared drink or wash. This site sticks to ordinary food and tea safety; it does not teach magical dosing.

Psychic

Everyday language for strong intuition or claimed extrasensory skill. I treat intuition as practiced noticing, not a medical status.

R

Rede (Wiccan Rede)

A short ethics verse in modern Wicca, often quoted as “An it harm none, do what ye will.” Doreen Valiente used that eight-word form publicly in 1964, building on harm-none language from Gerald Gardner’s circle. It is one framework among many; this site works from consent and ordinary ethics rather than treating the Rede as universal law. Read more: Rede (Wiccan Rede).

Ritual

A repeated set of actions that mark intention. Can be thirty seconds or longer; tools are optional.

Ritual cord

Cord for knot work or measuring a circle in some traditions. Beginner use: any clean natural-fiber string. Safety: do not leave long cords where pets or children can tangle.

Ritual robe

Dedicated clothing that marks practice time. Beginner use: optional; clean everyday clothes reserved for ritual are enough. Safety: keep loose sleeves away from flame.

S

Sabbat

One of the seasonal festivals on the modern Wheel of the Year. The eight-sabbat Wheel is a modern synthesis, not an unbroken ancient calendar.

Samhain

Say: SOW-in. Gaelic festival of summer’s end and the start of winter, around October 31; ancestor remembrance is a common modern theme. Calling it a “thin time” is poetic image, not a measurable fact. Read more: Samhain.

Scrying

Quiet looking into a dark surface, water, or flame for images or thoughts. Practice, not a guaranteed vision.

Smudging

A name for ceremonies that belong to specific Indigenous nations, each with its own plants, prayers, and protocols. It is not a generic word for burning herbs. If you are not part of those traditions, call your own practice smoke cleansing or simply airing a room, and do not buy wild-harvested white sage.

Solitary

A witch who practices alone rather than in a coven. Most of this site’s practices work solitary. Solitary practice is complete practice.

Spell

A focused act with intention, often with words, objects, or timing. Honest practice: intention plus action in your own life matters more than “perfect” wording. Read more: Spell.

Staff

A taller walking stick used in some outdoor or group rites. Beginner use: not needed indoors. Safety: watch overhead clearance; do not bring large poles into crowded ritual spaces without consent. Take only fallen wood you have a right to gather; do not cut living trees or take wood from protected or sacred sites without permission.

T

Threefold return

A modern Wiccan teaching that magical action comes back multiplied. It is one belief among many, not a law of nature.

Thurible or incense burner

A dish or hanging censer for charcoal and resin or loose herb. Beginner use: optional; stick incense in a proper holder is simpler. Safety: Use incense charcoal on a sand bed in a fireproof burner on a nonflammable surface; light and move disks with tongs, not fingers. Charcoal produces carbon monoxide: use only with real ventilation (open window or strong airflow), never in a closed small room, tent, car, or bathroom, and never leave a lit disk unattended. Disks and ash stay hot long after they look gray; wait until the burner is cool to the touch before emptying ash. Prefer no smoke around birds, cats, other pets, or anyone with asthma.

W

Wand

A stick or rod for pointing and pacing ritual. Beginner use: a fallen twig you have a right to take, a chopstick, or your finger. Safety: take only fallen wood you have a right to gather; do not cut or strip living trees, and do not take wood from protected trees, parks, or sacred sites without permission.

Waning moon

The portion of the lunar cycle after full moon, when the lit part shrinks. Folklore often links it with release; astronomy is the measurable part.

Warding

Folk language for protective habits and symbols around a home or self. Not a substitute for locks, boundaries, or Getting help. Read more: Warding.

Waxing moon

The portion of the cycle after new moon, when the lit part grows. Folklore often links it with building; use as optional timing only.

Wheel of the Year

The modern eight-festival seasonal map used in much Wicca-influenced craft. Adjust for local climate and hemisphere. Read more: Wheel of the Year.

Wicca

A modern religion within witchcraft, made public by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s and since grown into many lines such as Gardnerian and Alexandrian. Many witches are not Wiccan.

Y

Yule

Winter solstice sabbat, around December 21. Read more: Yule.

Where to go next

New to all of this? Start with the witchcraft hub and the history of witchcraft. For safe, honest practice, read ethical witchcraft. My book The Novice’s Guide to Witchcraft has the full glossary, along with herb, crystal and tool appendices.