M
Mabon
On or around September 21st, the Autumn Equinox, Wiccans celebrate the second harvest. Nature is preparing for winter. Mabon is a vestige of ancient harvest festivals which, in some form or another, were nearly universal among peoples of Earth.
Macrocosm
The world around us.
Mag/Magh
A plane or field. Usually referring to the Other Worlds.
Mage/Magus
(magi pl.) Someone who is adept at magick, but not a witch.
Magician
1As a general term, anyone who does any sort of magic at all. 2More 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 non-magical purposes.
Magick
Using knowledge and focused will to direct energy, and manifest a change in physical reality.
Magick Circle
A sphere constructed of personal power in which rituals are performed. Within it the witch is protected from outside forces. The sphere extends both above and below the surface of the ground.
Magick Name
A name given to an individual for spiritual purpose. The name can be given by a Spiritual Guide, a Spiritual Teacher or a family relative. This name is used in magickal ceremonies, or as a means to identify the "spiritual" nature of a person.
Magickal Correspondences
Items, objects, days, colors, moon phases, oils, angels, and herbs used in a ritual or magickal working that match the intent or purpose of the celebration or ceremony.
Magickal Herbalism
Combining the scientific with the spiritual. A means of mixing plants into herbal remedies while enhancing the known attributes and energies of the plants to aid to it's effectiveness through magickal rituals and/or consecrations (or spells).
Magickal System
The basic set of guidelines relating to the worship of specific Gods and Goddesses or cultural traditions. Also called a Tradition.
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.”
Magraritomancy
Procedure of using bouncing pearls.
Mahayana Buddhism
A later, “heterodox” version of Buddhism which incorporates many Paleopagan deities from throughout Asia as Buddhas or Saints.
Maiden
1An appointment held by one of the women of the coven. She is virtually the assistant High Priestess. 2The descriptive term used to describe the first of the aspects of the Threefold Goddess Energies (Maiden, Mother, and Crone). It is traditionally associated with the Waxing Moon, and the period from Imbolc (Candlemas) to Beltane (May eve) where the energies are those of initiating, beginning, and creation.
Malachite
A stone whose magickal qualities are that of balance and communication and understanding with nature and animals.
Male Mysteries
Pagan study which attempts to reclaim the power and mystery of the old Gods for today’s Pagan males.
Malleus Maleficarum
The Latin title of a book, translated as The Witch Hammer written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Institoris Kramer and Jakob Sprenger. This book gave definite instructions for the persecution of Witches.
Mana
Polynesian word for psychic energy.
Mandala
Sights (especially drawings, paintings and carvings) used primarily as associational and/or trance inducing devices.
Manifested Energies
Magickal energies that are tangible reality.
Manifesting Magick
Using your will to make something happen.
Mantic Arts
The various methods of divination.
Mantis
A diviner or seer.
Mantras
A Gothic rune magick; rune singing.
Marcachd Shigh
"Faerie riding," or the paralysis in animals caused by faeries riding them.
Masculine Energy
The 'do' or grounded side of nature. The masculine aspects of the Divine within us all. (In a simplistic example: You think your hungry (that's feminine energy), you get up and make a sandwich, (that's masculine energy).)
Mass Control
An APK talent for increasing or decreasing the mass of an object or being.
Master Teacher
A spiritual entity on a higher spiritual plane of existence, who assists certain individuals designated as spiritual teachers (such as the Pope, a Minister, or Priest/Priestess, etc.). They help with the responsibility of ‘leadership’, the dissemination of knowledge, and the more advanced spiritual evolutionary issues that a spiritual teach must be cognizant of.
Material Basis
Item or substance serving as the physical-plane focus, or means of manifestation, such as incense smoke in which shapes can be seen, also when working for a practical result, the preparation or physical actions one performs to assist in achieving that goal-such as actually looking for a job if one is working for a job, or money.
Matriarchal
Based on the Goddess or feminine as the head of the family. Descent, kinship, and succession are determined through the mother.
Matrix
A word in Crystal Magick that refers to the base of a crystal cluster, the main 'lump' part.
May Pole
Sexual symbol of Beltane representing the phallus.
Maya
1Sanscrit for “illusion.” 2A tribe of Central American Indians. (Mayans)
Mayin
One who controls the worlds of illusion, a magician or mystic.
Mead Moon
The seventh Full Moon of the Year.
Measure
A practice that still takes place in some covens, it entails measuring various parts of a person’s body with thread. This thread is then kept by the group’s leader in trust for the duration of a person’s involvement, implying that person’s promise to keep the secrets of that order.
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.
Medicine Pouch
A ceremonial bag which holds a variety of objects which hold special or spiritual meaning to the owner. It can contain, stones, feathers, amulets or charms. For healers it is often filled with useful herbs which are utilized in healing ceremonies and practices.
Meditation
Reflection, contemplation- turning inward toward the self, or outward toward Deity or nature. A quite time in which the practitioner may either dwell upon particular thoughts or symbols, or allow them to come unbidden.
Media
The basic components of a divination system.
Medium
A person with the ability to become a middle ground between our world and the world of the dead, thus allowing the dead to speak through them.
Megalith
A gigantic stone monument.
Menhir
A stone with engraved symbols that is commonly used to mark the site of a Covenstead.
Mental Projection
An OOBE or psi talent that may involve traveling GESP without the image of an “astral body” being brought along.
Mentor
An elder magickal practitioner who offers advice and guidance.
Merging
The state of becoming one with all things (the Astral state). Diffusing into Oneness and the boundless; Astral Travel.
Meridian
A great circle of the celestial sphere passing through its poles and the zenith of a given place.
Mesopaganism/Meso-Paganism
A general term for a variety of movements both organized and non-organized, 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)
Metagnomy
Divination using “visions” received in a trance state.
Metamorphosis
Change, especially of the outward appearance.
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
A science of philosophy of life that attempts to explain reality and knowledge. The study of the real nature of things. (See also Nine Maidens)
Meteoromancy
Divination from meteors.
Metoposcopy
The reading of character using the lines in the forehead.
Miaran na mna sithe
"Thimble of the fairy woman," or the foxglove.
Microcosm
The world within us.
Midgard
The world of mortal humans, Middle Earth.
Midhe
The middle of the Fifths.
Midsummer
The Summer Solstice, usually near or on June 21st, one of the Wiccan festivals and an excellent night for Magick. Midsummer marks the point of the year when the Sun is symbolically at the height of its powers, and so too is the God. This is the longest day of the year.
Mighty Dead
Those who have died and who are widely acknowledged as great priestesses, priests, and/or teachers of the Craft.
Mighty Ones
Beings, deities, and unseen presences usually invoked during rituals/ceremonies. Sometimes linked to the elements.
Mindpower
The energy of human intelligence.
Mind’s Eye
The "Chakra" in the center of your forehead roughly an inch above your brow. This is responsible for generating the magickal energies associated with mental prowess, usually through mild meditation one can feel it energize. Things such as divination, psychic, and other empathic abilities. The root of magick itself is the bending of reality through the mind's will. This is also called the "Third Eye".
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.
Mojo
Magick.
Mojo Bag
A small bag that is worn around the neck. A mojo bag usually contains charms or talismans.
Moleosophy
The study of moles and indicators of a person’s character and future indications.
Molybdomancy
Draws mystic inferences from the hissing of molten lead.
Mommet
A magickal doll representative of someone female. These dolls are magickally, physically, and telekinetically linked to its represented individual. They are used for indirect magick, such as healing and protecting those not immediately in the caster's presence. These dolls are hand-made having something belonging to the represented individual made part of it, glyphs, sigils, and runes are sewn on, and the doll is stuffed with herbs as dictated by the purpose of the doll.
Monolith
A menhir, a large stone.
Monotheism
Belief in one supreme deity who has no other forms and/of displays no other aspects.
Moonstone
A stone whose magickal qualities are that of the feminine, receptivity, tidal flow, and emotion.
Moonwise
See Widdershins.
Moon Magick
A magick ritual, ceremony or practice conducted in association with a particular phase of the moon. Most often aligns one's energies and purpose to the feminine aspects of the Divine.
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.
Moon Void of Course
An astrological term for when the Moon leaves one aspect but has not yet entered the next sign. This stage lasts from a few hours to a few days. It is best to avoid any magick workings during this period (you will have trouble drawing energy and will be forced to use your own) as well as avoiding making major decisions or planning important events.
Morning Star
A bright planet seen in the eastern sky before or at sunrise.
Morphogenic Field
Rupert Sheldrake’s theory that an energetic field of resonance is just beyond the spectrum of normal human perception.
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 Lughnassadh.
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.
Muince
A collar or torc.
Muir
The sea.
Mundane
1Not Pagan; mainstream. Some people use this simply to distinguish between different aspects of their lives, as in, "My craft name is Shadow; my mundane name is Sarah Smith." As a warning: "Please don’t freak out my mundane relatives by talking about Samhain." Other people may use the word in a derogatory manner to imply one who is narrow-minded, dull, or hostile to matters magickal: "Rhiannon had to move because her landlord was a mundane; he kept complaining about the coven meeting at her place." 2Mundane may also refer to the material world, the physical realm. To anything non-magicakal/spiritual. 3Pertaining to “the earth plane.”
Mundane Plane
The physical plane on which we exist.
"Mundanely Known As"
Refers to a person’s formal, check-cashing name rather than a craft name or nickname. Because some people use their legal name only for cashing checks, Pagans often know each other primarily or solely by craft name. This also offers protection in less-tolerant areas, a holdover from times when craft/magickal names made it impossible to anyone to betray coven mates if captured and tortured.
Mundras
A Gothic language of runic hand gestures.
Myomancy
The study of the prophetic meaning or behavior of rats and mice.
Mystic
1One who practices mysticism. 2A person who uses mostly passive talents and rites for mostly theurgical purposes.
Mysticism
1The doctrine or belief that direct knowledge of the God(s), of 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. 2The concepts and theories behind the theurgical approach to occultism.
Myth
Body of lore about any land or people that makes up their mythology.
Mythic Cycle
A Mythic Cycle is an archetypal story seen through many pantheons.
Mythology
Cultural religious lore. Collection of myths legends of a particular people, revealing their perception of order and power in the world.
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