Reference
Witchcraft Glossary.
Clear definitions for the terms a solitary practice uses.
These definitions reflect how I use these terms in practice and in the Grimoire app. Some carry contested histories (several modern witchcraft terms were coined or standardised in the mid-twentieth century and are often presented as ancient) and where that matters, the entry says so. A glossary should tell you not just what a word means but where it came from.
54 terms covering divination, ritual, astrology, herbology, deity work, and the tools of the craft.
Apothecary
A witch's collection of magical supplies: herbs, resins, oils, crystals, candles, and ritual tools, kept organised and stocked for working use. A well-tended apothecary holds only what is actually used, not everything the lore mentions.
Archetype
A universal pattern of character or energy that recurs across cultures, mythologies, and the human psyche. The concept was developed by Carl Jung, who identified figures such as the Hero, the Shadow, the Wise Old Man, and the Great Mother as structures shared across all human experience. In witchcraft, archetypes appear in tarot (the cards of the Major Arcana are archetypal), in deity work (a deity may be approached as an archetype as well as a distinct being), and in witch path frameworks where a practitioner identifies the character of her practice.
Athame
A ritual knife used in magical practice, typically double-edged and black-handled. An athame is an instrument of will and direction rather than a cutting tool, used to cast circles, direct energy, and carve sigils into wax, not to cut physical material.
Book of shadows
A personal journal in which a witch records her own practice: rituals performed, spells cast, dreams, reflections, and accumulated magical knowledge. The term was popularised by Gerald Gardner in the mid-twentieth century. In contemporary practice it often merges with the grimoire into a single private working record.
Casting a circle
The act of defining and consecrating a sacred space before ritual work. A circle marks the boundary between ordinary and sacred space, contains the energy raised within a working, and offers a degree of protection during the opening of the work. It is closed at the end of a ritual.
Candle magic
The use of candles as the primary tool of a magical working: selecting wax colour, dressing with oils, carving with intention or sigil, and burning with focused attention. One of the most accessible and widely practised forms of spellwork. Colour is the primary correspondence: white for purification, red for passion and strength, green for abundance, black for banishing and protection, gold for solar energy and success, silver for lunar and intuitive work. The Candle Guide in Grimoire covers colours, dressing oils, and practical working instructions.
Charm casting
A form of divination in which a collection of small symbolic objects is cast onto a flat surface (a cloth or mat) and read for meaning according to which charms appear, where they land, and how they relate to one another. It belongs to the older traditions of lithomancy and cleromancy.
Cleromancy
Divination by casting or drawing lots: one of the oldest recorded forms of divination, found across cultures from ancient Greece to sub-Saharan Africa to medieval Europe. The ancestor of rune casting, charm casting, and many other divinatory practices.
Correspondence
A recorded link between two things within a magical system: a herb and a planet, a colour and an element, a number and a quality. Correspondences are the working vocabulary of Western occultism, allowing a witch to build a coherent ritual by selecting elements that share the same symbolic register.
Dark moon
The phase immediately preceding the new moon, when the moon is invisible in the sky. Traditionally associated with endings, banishing, deep introspection, and underworld work. Distinct from the new moon itself, which marks the beginning of the next lunar cycle.
Deity work
The practice of building and maintaining a sustained relationship with a specific god or goddess, through regular offerings, devotion, prayer, and ritual attention. Distinct from simply acknowledging or invoking a deity as part of a working.
Devotional practice
The regular, ongoing acts through which a witch tends her relationship with the divine: offerings, altar maintenance, prayer, sacred dates observed, and sustained attention to a specific deity over time. Devotional practice is measured in years, not sessions.
Divination
The practice of seeking knowledge (of the self, a situation, or the future) through symbolic or intuitive means. Tarot, runes, charm casting, scrying, and astrology are all forms of divination. In contemporary witchcraft, divination is most usefully understood as a tool for reflection rather than prediction.
Eclectic witch
A practitioner who draws from multiple traditions rather than following a single lineage, taking what resonates from various paths and building a practice that fits their own nature and circumstances.
Elemental correspondence
The association of a herb, crystal, planet, colour, or magical working with one of the four classical elements: fire, water, earth, or air. Each element carries its own energetic quality, direction, season, ritual tool, and magical application.
Esbat
A ritual observance held at the full moon or new moon, distinct from the sabbats which follow the solar calendar. Esbats are lunar celebrations: more frequent and often more personal than the seasonal festivals. Traditionally associated with the goddess and with cycles of renewal.
Full moon
The lunar phase when the moon is completely illuminated as seen from Earth. Associated with peak magical power, manifestation, completion, and high ritual. The traditional time for esbat observance and major workings that require sustained energy.
Familiar
An animal companion understood to assist a witch in her magical work: either a physical animal with whom a deep intuitive bond has formed, or a spirit in animal form. Historically, familiars were described in early modern European witch trial records as spirits sent by the devil, typically in the form of small animals. In contemporary practice the concept is understood quite differently: as a genuine spiritual bond between a practitioner and an animal, or as a spirit animal ally cultivated through intention and attention. The bond is recognised rather than created.
Green witch
A witch whose practice is rooted in the natural world: herbs, plants, the garden, and the magic of growing things. Green witchcraft emphasises plant lore, herbalism, elemental work, and connection to the land rather than formal ceremonial structure.
Grimoire
Originally, a textbook of magic: a reference work containing spell formulas, correspondence tables, and ritual instructions, meant to be consulted and used by others. In contemporary practice the term is used more loosely to mean any personal collection of magical knowledge, often merged with the book of shadows into a single private record.
Hedge witch
A witch who works at the threshold between the seen and unseen worlds: one who practises spirit travel, trance work, and communication across the veil. The hedge refers to the boundary between the human settlement and the wild beyond it, and the hedge witch is the one who crosses it.
Handfasting
A ritual joining of two people in a committed partnership, performed within Pagan and Wiccan traditions. The hands of the couple are bound together with a cord or ribbon, from which the phrase "tying the knot" is thought to derive. Traditionally, handfastings could be contracted for a specific period (classically "a year and a day") before a permanent commitment was made, though contemporary handfastings are typically understood as permanent. The practice was observed as part of Beltane celebrations and at cross-quarter festivals associated with fertility and union.
Incantation
Words spoken aloud as part of a magical working: a spoken spell, chant, or prayer used to direct intention and raise energy. The word derives from the Latin cantare (to sing), reflecting the originally musical quality of spoken magic.
Intention
The clearly held, consciously articulated purpose of a magical working. In most contemporary traditions, intention is considered the primary force of a working; the correspondences, timing, and tools amplify it, but the intention is what the magic is. The Spell Builder in Grimoire asks for intention before anything else.
Lithomancy
Divination using stones or crystals: reading meaning from their positions, colours, and relationships when cast onto a surface. One of the ancestor practices of contemporary charm casting, with roots in multiple ancient cultures.
Libanomancy
Divination through the observation of incense smoke. Also called capnomancy. One of the oldest recorded divinatory practices, documented in Old Babylonian cuneiform tablets dating to 2000–1600 BCE, where it was practised by temple priests. Smoke rising cleanly and directly is traditionally read as a favourable sign; smoke moving erratically or failing to rise indicates obstruction or resistance. The direction the smoke moves, and the shapes it forms, are also read for meaning. Used as an additional layer of interpretation when burning incense as part of a ritual working.
Major Arcana
The twenty-two numbered cards (0 to 21) of the tarot deck (from the Fool through to the World) depicting archetypal forces, life lessons, and significant turning points. They are generally read as carrying more weight than the Minor Arcana in a spread.
Minor Arcana
The fifty-six suit cards of the tarot deck, divided into four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles) each running ace through ten plus four court cards. They tend to describe the everyday texture of a situation rather than the major thematic currents the Major Arcana represents.
Moon phase
One of the eight recognisable stages of the lunar cycle: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, and waning crescent (dark moon). Each phase carries its own traditional magical associations for timing ritual work.
Natal chart
A map of the sky at the exact moment and location of a person's birth: showing the position of the sun, moon, and all planets within the twelve astrological houses. Read as a description of the person's character, potential, and life themes. Requires birth date, time, and location to calculate accurately.
Numerology
The practice of reading numerical patterns encoded in a person's name and birth date as a map of personality, purpose, and life direction. Draws on Pythagorean philosophy and Hebrew Kabbalistic traditions. Key numbers include the life path (from birth date), expression (from full birth name), and soul urge (from the vowels in the name).
Offering
Something given to a deity, spirit, or ancestor in a ritual context: food, drink, flowers, incense, candles, art, or sustained attention and prayer. Offerings are the material expression of a devotional relationship. Traditional offerings vary by deity and pantheon.
Pantheon
The complete collection of gods and goddesses belonging to a specific culture or religious tradition: the Greek pantheon, the Norse pantheon, the Egyptian pantheon. In witchcraft, also used to describe a practitioner's personal working relationship with multiple deities drawn from one or several traditions.
Patron deity
A god or goddess with whom a practitioner has a sustained, personal relationship, one who is honoured regularly, called on in workings, and tended through ongoing devotion. A patron deity is typically encountered rather than chosen: they make themselves known through signs, dreams, or persistent resonance.
Planetary hour
A division of the day in which each hour is governed by one of the seven classical planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, or Moon) following the Chaldean order. The system divides the actual hours of daylight and darkness rather than clock hours, making each planetary hour vary with the season and location. Used to time magical workings by planetary correspondence.
Resin
A plant-derived aromatic material used in incense and ritual burning: frankincense, myrrh, copal, dragon's blood, and benzoin are the most commonly used in Western magical practice. Resins are typically burned on charcoal discs in a heatproof censer. They tend to last longer than dried herbs and carry stronger scent.
Retrograde
An apparent reversal in a planet's path through the zodiac as seen from Earth: an optical effect caused by the relative motion of Earth and the other planet in their orbits. In astrological practice, retrogrades are traditionally read as periods to revisit, review, and refine rather than initiate. Mercury retrograde is the most widely known, but every planet retrogrades.
Runes
An alphabet of twenty-four symbols used in divination, magic, and inscription by Germanic and Norse peoples from approximately the 2nd century CE. The most widely used system in contemporary practice is the Elder Futhark, named for its first six letters (F, U, Th, A, R, K). Each rune carries a name, a phonetic value, and a set of magical and divinatory meanings developed over centuries of use and interpretation. In divination, runes are typically carved or painted on stones, tiles, or wood, and either drawn individually or cast in spreads. The runic tradition experienced a major revival in 20th-century occultism and is now one of the most widely used divinatory systems outside of tarot.
Reversed card
A tarot card drawn or laid upside down. Reversed cards are not simply negative versions of their upright meanings; most readers approach them as the same card's energy in a more internalised, blocked, or shadow form. Some readers do not use reversals at all.
Rising sign
The zodiacal sign that was ascending on the eastern horizon at the exact moment of a person's birth. Also called the ascendant. The rising sign is considered to describe how a person presents themselves to the world and how others first perceive them, distinct from the sun sign, which describes the core self.
Sabbat
One of the eight seasonal festivals that mark the turning of the wheel of the year: Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Samhain, and Yule. Four sabbats fall on the solar events (solstices and equinoxes); four fall at the cross-quarter points between them. The framework was synthesised in the mid-twentieth century from older Celtic, Germanic, and folk traditions.
Scrying
Divination through focused gazing into a reflective or translucent surface (a black mirror, a bowl of water, a crystal ball, or a candle flame) in order to receive visions, impressions, or information. One of the oldest divinatory practices, requiring patience and a receptive, unfocused gaze rather than active searching.
Shadow work
The contemplative practice of examining and integrating the parts of the self that have been repressed or left unacknowledged: patterns repeated without intention, emotions suppressed, contradictions held alongside one another. The term comes from Carl Jung's concept of the shadow. In contemporary witchcraft it is practised primarily through journalling and reflective writing.
Sigil
A symbol created to represent and carry a specific magical intention, typically constructed by encoding a statement of intent into a visual form, then charged and activated. Sigils are among the most accessible tools of contemporary spellcraft and do not require elaborate apparatus or prior knowledge.
Solitary witch
A practitioner who works alone, outside a coven or formal tradition. The majority of contemporary witches are solitary: practising at home, without initiation, and without a designated teacher or lineage. Grimoire is built specifically for solitary practitioners.
Soul Portrait
In Grimoire, the single page where a practitioner's self-knowledge results are held together: witch path archetype, patron deities, natal chart, and numerology profile, built incrementally as each Discovery tool is completed. The four results approach the same person from four different angles.
Tarot
A deck of 78 cards (22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana) used as a divinatory and reflective tool. The modern tarot tradition is rooted in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck of 1909, whose symbolic vocabulary underpins most contemporary decks. Best understood as a mirror for the questioner's own thinking rather than a system for predicting fixed outcomes.
Transit
In astrology, the movement of a planet through the sky relative to its position in a natal chart. When a transiting planet forms a significant angle to a natal placement, the transit is said to be active, marking a period with a corresponding quality or theme. Transits are the primary tool for astrological timing.
Veil, the
The boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead, or between the ordinary and non-ordinary realms of experience. In most Pagan and witchcraft traditions, the veil is understood to thin at certain times of year, most notably at Samhain (31 October), when communication with ancestors and the dead is considered most accessible. Hedge witches are understood to work at or across the veil as a central part of their practice. The concept is found in varying forms across cultures and is not unique to Western witchcraft.
Waning moon
The lunar phase between the full moon and the new moon, when the moon's visible illumination is decreasing. Traditionally associated with releasing, banishing, letting go, and diminishing. The waning moon is the natural time for workings intended to remove, reduce, or end something.
Waxing moon
The lunar phase between the new moon and the full moon, when the moon's visible illumination is increasing. Traditionally associated with growth, drawing in, building, and manifesting. The waxing moon is the natural time for workings intended to increase, attract, or grow something.
Wheel of the year
The cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed in contemporary Pagan and Wiccan practice: Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Samhain, and Yule. The framework was synthesised in the mid-twentieth century by Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols from older Celtic, Germanic, and folk traditions and has become the backbone of contemporary witchcraft's seasonal practice.
Witch path
The particular tradition or archetype that most closely matches a practitioner's natural way of working. Contemporary frameworks typically identify ten or more distinct paths (including green, hedge, sea, dream, fire, solar, cosmic, word, ceremonial, and devotional) each with its own characteristic tools, energies, and practices.
Working
A magical ritual or spell: the act of performing intentional magic. Used as a noun: 'a working' refers to a specific ritual act (a protection working, a binding working, a manifestation working), distinct from the broader ongoing practice it belongs to.
Explore the app
Begin your practice
Grimoire is available now on Android. Download it today, or join the waitlist to be first to know when it arrives on iPhone.
