Magickal Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

C
Chaos Magick
A modern technique-oriented form of magick, which doesn't involve religion as a compulary part of one's practive, although it's practitioners tend to be either athiests or pantheists in general.
Chaos magick was devised by Peter J. Carroll in the 1970's, and is in part based upon the work of Austin Osman Spare.
See this essay for some more information.

M
Magick, Spelling of the Word
The use of the archaic "k" on the end of the word "magick" was initiated by Aleister Crowley in order to differentiate it from stage illusion, magic.
However, many people who use magick (i.e. spells, rituals, etc.) also spell it with only a "c".
It's a matter of personal taste when it comes down to it.

P
Paganism
Paganism is a general all-embracing term for magickal, earth-based, polytheistic (this is on occasion debated), and (according to the dictionary) non-judeochristian paths.
Paganism is not neccessarily religious, although it involves belief, and arguably includes everything from Wicca to Thelema through Satanism (any variety you care to name), and then some.

S
Satanism, LaVeyan
LaVeyan Satanism is an atheistic philosophical system based largely around self-interest. While there are a few LaVeyans who practice magick, none of them worship Satan, or anything else (except possibly themselves).
Currently, the majority of Satanists are LaVeyan, and this is the form which is a recognised religion under the name of Satanism in many parts of the world.

Satanism, Order of the Nine Angles
The Order of the Nine Angles works with Baphomet, but not with Satan, and don't subscribe to a Christian type paradigm. The ONA began as a renegade splinter of the IOT chaos magick group - it has had a reputation for attracting Nazis, although relatively few practitioners of it's form of satanism actually are (most that I know are anarchists, oddly enough).

T
Thelema
A form of ceremonial magick and a religion. The Thelemites are a magickal and religious order based upon the teachings of Aleister Crowley.
Their beliefs may be summed up by the phrase:
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, Love is the Law, Love under Will", which basically translates as: "do whatever you like, but don't fuck with people without good reason".
This however doesn't go anywhere near explaining the compexities of Thelemic belief.
Popular Thelemic Authors:
Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie

W
Warlock
The definition of the word warlock is much argued amongst witches.
The most common definition of the word traces it back to a scottish, or possibly old english, word of a few centuries ago meaning "traitor" or "oath-breaker", thought to have come to be used to refer to witches because they broke their oaths to the Christian church. Many modern witches use view the term as an insult, and some covens refer to the ejection of a member as a "warlocking". The ritual of warlocking apparently involves cursing the victim to be an outsider, shunned even by those who did not know him.
Another story of how the word came to be associated with witchcraft is this:
In the late 1500' a Scot went against the wishes of his clan a became a catholic priest. Well this did not sit well with his clan so he was cast out. This however did not cause him to be called a warlock ( WARLOCK : Gaelic/ Scottish for traitor. ). During an outbreak of so-called witchcraft, when people accused others of being witches to keep themselves from being burned, someone named this scottish priest as a witch. I could not find out if he was burned or escaped but the text did make note that more than 50 people did. The priest's clan banished him, branded him a warlock (traitor), and no longer spoke his name.

According to the Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins, by John Ayto, Arcade Publishing, 1991:
Etymologically, a *warlock* is a 'liar on oath', and hence a 'traitor' or 'deceiver'. Indeed, the word originally meant 'traitor' in English. It soon broadened out into a general term of abuse, and it was also used as an epithet for the 'Devil', but the modern sense 'evil sorceror' did not emerge until the 14th century. It started life as a compound noun formed from woer 'faith, pledge' (a relative of English 'very' and German wahr 'true') and -loga 'liar' (a derivative of 'leogan', the ancestor if modern English 'lie'.

Another definition of the word was most commonly used up the eastern side of England, and especially in the North East, taken from Old Norse rather than Old English, and comes from "varth-lokkr" meaning (essentially) "one who locks (something) in" or "one who encloses" and is used for an exorcist or a magician who traps and disposes of unwanted entities. As such, it is a term of honour.
Still other definitions include the claim that the word refers to a scalplock of hair worn as a marker by one who could see the wyrd. The word is still used in it's common dictionary definition of a male witch. People on various sides of the debate argue vehmently that one or the other of these definitions is completely right, or completely wrong.

Wicca
A modern religion, based upon earth worship. Wiccans are not always witches (i.e. magickal practitioners). Wicca generally involves the worship of the God and Goddess, although some Wiccans worship many gods, and some regard their gods to be mere archetypes. There are now many forms of Wicca, but it can be roughly divided into Gardnarian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca, and modern and/or eclectic wicca.
Wiccans follow the Wiccan rede, which boils down to:
"An it harm none, do what thou wilt"
This is based upon Crowley's "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, Love is the Law, Love under Will", which is in turn based upon the axiom of Francis Dashwood's Hellfire Club, who nicked it off Reblais.
Many Wiccans also believe in the Law of Threefold Return, and in their version of "karma", although there is a trend against this in British Gardnarian covens at the moment.
Popular (note, I said popular, which is not necessarily the same as good) Wiccan authors include:
Gerald Gardner, Starhawk, Silver Ravenwolf, and Scott Cunningham

Witchcraft

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