Plain definitions of words you are likely to meet when reading about, speaking with, or serving Pagans. Usage varies between traditions, and individuals may use a term differently.
A
- Altar
- A table or other surface set apart for religious use. It holds images of deities, candles, offerings, and ritual tools. Many Pagans keep a small altar at home.
- Ancestor veneration
- The practice of honoring those who have died, whether family members or forebears in a wider sense, with remembrance, offerings, and prayer.
- Animism
- The understanding that animals, plants, rivers, stones, and places have spirit and can be related to as persons.
- Athame
- A ritual knife used in Wicca to direct attention and to mark the ritual circle. It is not used for cutting and is not a weapon. A wand or the hand may be used in its place. Usually pronounced ATH-uh-may or uh-THAH-may.
- Awen
- A Welsh word meaning poetic inspiration. In modern Druidry it names both the flowing spirit of inspiration and the three-rayed symbol that represents it.
B
- Beltane
- The festival of May 1, welcoming the beginning of summer. One of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year.
- Blot
- A Heathen rite in which an offering, most often of mead or another drink, is made to the gods, the ancestors, or the spirits of the land. Pronounced to rhyme with boat.
- Book of Shadows
- A Wiccan's personal or coven book of rituals, teachings, and notes. Its contents differ from one tradition and one person to another. It is not a single published scripture.
- Broom closet
- An informal expression. A Pagan who is "in the broom closet" keeps their religion private, often out of concern for employment, custody, or family relationships.
C
- Circle
- The sacred space within which Wiccan and much other Pagan ritual takes place, marked out at the start of a rite and released at its end. Also an informal word for a ritual gathering or a small group.
- Coven
- A small, self-governing group of Wiccans or Witches who worship and study together, traditionally of no more than thirteen members.
- Craft, the
- A name some practitioners use for Witchcraft or for Wicca.
- Cross-quarter days
- The four festivals that fall about midway between the solstices and equinoxes: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh.
D
- Deity
- A goddess or a god. Most Pagans honor more than one.
- Divination
- The practice of seeking insight or guidance through methods such as tarot cards, runes, or the observation of natural signs. It is used by many Pagans as an aid to reflection.
- Druid
- A member of the modern religious and philosophical movement of Druidry, inspired by the learned class of the ancient Celtic peoples.
- Duotheism
- The honoring of the divine as two, a Goddess and a God. Common in Wicca.
E
- Earth-centered
- A broad description of religions and spiritual paths that treat the natural world as sacred. Often used alongside or in place of Pagan.
- Eclectic
- Describes a Pagan who draws on several sources to form a personal practice and does not follow a single named tradition.
- Elder
- A person of long experience who is respected as a source of guidance in a Pagan community. Some traditions mark the passage into eldership with a ceremony.
- Elements
- Earth, air, fire, and water, often with spirit as a fifth. In many Pagan rituals they are honored as the basic qualities of the natural world and are associated with the four directions.
- Esbat
- A Wiccan ritual held at the full moon, or sometimes the new moon, as distinct from one of the eight seasonal sabbats.
G
- Gothi, gythia
- Terms for a priest (gothi) and a priestess (gythia) in Heathenry.
- Grove
- A local group of Druids. Also a stand of trees regarded as sacred.
H
- Handfasting
- A Pagan wedding ceremony, named for the custom of binding the couple's joined hands with a cord or ribbon. When conducted by authorized clergy with a marriage license it is a legal marriage.
- Heathen
- A person who practices Heathenry, the modern religion based on the pre-Christian traditions of the Germanic peoples, including the Norse.
- High priestess, high priest
- The leaders of a Wiccan coven, responsible for conducting ritual and for teaching.
I
- Imbolc
- The festival of February 1 to 2, marking the first stirrings of spring and associated with the goddess Brigid. One of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year. Usually pronounced IM-bolk.
- Initiation
- A ceremony by which a person is received into a coven, a tradition, or a level of training within it.
K
- Kemetic
- Relating to the modern practice of ancient Egyptian religion. From Kemet, an ancient name for Egypt.
- Kindred
- A local group of Heathens who worship together.
L
- Libation
- An offering of drink poured out for a deity, an ancestor, or a spirit.
- Litha
- The festival of the summer solstice, on or about June 21. Also called Midsummer. One of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year.
- Lughnasadh
- The festival of August 1, celebrating the first harvest. Also called Lammas. One of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year. Pronounced LOO-nah-sah.
M
- Mabon
- A name, in use since the 1970s, for the festival of the autumn equinox, on or about September 22. One of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year.
- Magic
- The use of ritual, symbol, and focused intention to bring about change, most often in oneself. Some writers spell it "magick" to distinguish it from stage illusion.
O
- Offering
- A gift made to a deity, an ancestor, or a spirit, typically of food, drink, flowers, or incense.
- Ostara
- The festival of the spring equinox, on or about March 20. One of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year.
P
- Pagan
- A member of any of the contemporary religions and spiritual paths that honor the sacredness of nature and, usually, more than one deity. Capitalized when used as the name of a religious identity.
- Pantheism
- The view that the divine and the natural universe are one and the same.
- Pantheon
- The family of goddesses and gods honored by a particular culture or tradition, such as the Norse, Greek, or Egyptian pantheon.
- Pentacle
- A five-pointed star within a circle. The most common symbol of Wicca. Also the name of a disc bearing that symbol which is kept on a Wiccan altar.
- Pentagram
- A five-pointed star drawn with five straight lines. With a circle around it, it is called a pentacle.
- Polytheism
- The honoring of many goddesses and gods, each understood as a distinct being.
R
- Reconstructionism
- An approach to Pagan religion that seeks to practice the religion of a particular ancient culture as faithfully as possible, using historical and archaeological evidence.
- Rede
- An old word for counsel or advice. The Wiccan Rede is a short statement of Wiccan ethics, usually given as "If it harms none, do what you will."
- Ritual
- A religious ceremony. In Pagan usage the ordinary word for an act of worship.
- Runes
- The letters of the old Germanic alphabets. Heathens and others use them for inscription, meditation, and divination.
S
- Sabbat
- Any of the eight seasonal festivals of the Wheel of the Year, in Wiccan usage.
- Samhain
- The festival of October 31 to November 1, marking the end of the harvest and honoring the dead. One of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year. Usually pronounced SOW-in.
- Solitary
- A Pagan who practices alone and does not belong to a coven or other group.
- Sumbel
- A Heathen rite in which a drinking horn or cup is passed and each person in turn offers a toast, a remembrance, or a pledge.
- Summerland
- A name used by many Wiccans for a place of rest and renewal after death.
T
- Threefold Law
- The teaching, held by many Wiccans, that what a person sends out into the world, for good or ill, returns to them multiplied.
- Tradition
- A particular form of a Pagan religion, with its own body of ritual and teaching, handed on from teacher to student. Roughly comparable to a denomination.
W
- Wheel of the Year
- The cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed by Wiccans and many other Pagans: Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, and Mabon.
- Wicca
- A modern Pagan religion honoring a Goddess and a God, celebrated in ritual circles at eight seasonal festivals and at the full moon.
- Wiccaning
- A Wiccan ceremony of blessing and welcome for a child. It does not commit the child to the religion.
- Witch
- A practitioner of Witchcraft, of any gender. Many Wiccans use the word as a religious title. Not all Witches are Wiccan.
Y
- Yule
- The festival of the winter solstice, on or about December 21, celebrating the return of the sun. One of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year and a major feast for Heathens.
Suggest a Term
If a word you were looking for is missing, or a definition here could be clearer, write to education@paganednet.org. For fuller explanations, see What Is Paganism? and The Wheel of the Year.