| Book of Shadows |
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| BURNING TIMES The year of 1692, the Burning Times refers to the Salem Witchcraft Trials and also the the Inquisition as a whole. To learn more about the Salem Witchcraft Trials, go here and to view a list of the victims go here. |
| BROOM Also known as a besome, the broom is usually created from a natually gnarled branch of oak and is primarily used to sweep out negative energies from your home or ritual space. The Broom is also commonly noticed at handfasting rituals. |
| BENANDANTI A elite fertility cult that orginated from Friuli, in northern Italy. They dedicated rites to ensure their crops and domestic animals. |
| BETH-LUIS-NION (BLN) An ancient alphabet of Celtic origin that consists of thirteen consonants and five vowels. In the Irish version of this alphabet, a tree corresponds with each letter. Often seen as a Drudic alphabet, the BLN, named so due to its first three letters--Beth (birch), Luis (rowan), and Nion (Ash)--has fallen to rare use except in divination . Go here to view this alphabet. |
| BIGGHES A term for the ceremonial odornments of a high priestess, it is usually in reference to a necklace, bracelet, crwn, garter belt, and wristbands. |
| BISHOP'S CANNON Or Canon Episcopi that described the "witch's" Sabbat. It read that females were seduced by the devil while believing that they were servicing Diana. |
| BLACKFASTING A fasting rite in which one does not consume dairy nor meat and concentrates their energy into causing their victim to waste away. |
| BLACK MASS The anti-mass of Catholic Christianity of which most public people believed "witches" participated in. A priest using a naked woman as an alter would desecrate the host by placing it inside the female, engaging in intercourse with her, then washing her sexual organs with goat's urine which was viewed as holy water. The Lord's Prayer was read backwards, to invert its power. Often it allegedly involved animal and human sacrifcies. |
| BLASTING ROD Another definition for a ritual rod. Rods are often viewed as adding power to their possessor. They are often made from ash, yew, hazel, blackthorwn, and beech. |
| BOOK OF SHADOWS A witch's own personal manuscript of their spells, thoughts, studies, and rituals that have been taught to them by others. Above all else the Book of Shadows is fervently protected as a secret. Some people do share their BoS with members of their own covens. Often times the Book of Shadows is made of paper or another destructible material to protect its contents. Most of the book are hand written. Gerald Gardner claimed to have created the first Book of Shadows in print. |
| BROCKEN A traditional gathering site for witches located in the Hartz Range in Germany. Broken is the highest mountain, the closest to the Divine. |
| BROKEN A state of one's spirit when they have shattered their soul, this usually occurs after extreme trauma and mental breakdown. A Broken One must spend years re-establishing their connections to both their emotions and spirits to unify themselves again. |
| BUDAPEST, ZSUZSANNA Born January 30, a wonderful feminist and Pagan author, who created the Holy Book of Women's Mysteries. She was victimized by being arrested and convicted for fortunetelling on February 10, 1975. |
| CAN-CORO'MO Created by northern European tribes as a talismanic human figure, it was carved from wood. It is most noted for its recognizable legs and deep scored mouth, as most other features are unrecognizable. Often they were kept overlooking a mountian path as a guardian. |
| CALL, THE The voice used in summoning a being or deity. The voice must be kept forceful and unwavering. |
| CANDLE MAGICK The use of candles, their color correspondances, and sometimes their aroma to create magickal forces. Candles are believed to attract spirits, the presence of a blue flame a certain sign that an entity has drawn near. |
| CAULDRON A cauldron or large often metallic pot used in rituals around the world. In the Bronze and Iron ages in Europe it was connected with the Spirit of Water. Later in Welsh and Irish beliefs it was seen as the cornucopia, a source of plenty. At that time it was seen as a physical representation of the god Dagda, the god of rejuvenation and muse. Today in Wicca the cauldron is seen as the nuturing and fertility of the Goddess. Cauldrons often invoke the memory of Cerridwen and her cauldron of knowledge. |