Читать книгу Wicca A to Z - Gerina Dunwich - Страница 9

BALEFIRE A sacred outdoor fire burned by Witches as part of a Sabbat celebration, particularly the festivals of Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas, and Autumn Equinox. Dancing deosil (the Wiccan term for “clockwise”) around a balefire often takes place to invoke the deities, raise magickal energy, or celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year. Slips of paper, upon which prayers, wishes, thanksgivings, and requests for healings have been written, are sometimes cast into the fire. Many Witches use a balefire for fire-scrying (the divinatory art of gazing into vision-producing flames), and in many instances libations are poured onto the flames or coals to honor a particular deity or ancestor. The following day, long after the balefire has burned out, the remaining ashes can be used for divination, or are collected for use in spells and potions.

BANE A deadly herb that possesses poisonous properties. The term is often used in combination, as in “henbane,” “wolfsbane,” “baneberry,” and so forth. Since early times, sorcerers in just about every culture around the world have been known to be clever in the forbidden art of poison-craft, and in the Middle Ages, Witches were said to have done away with their enemies and rivals with various herbal banes. The most popular magickal poisons were made with belladonna, henbane, and mandrake.

BANISH To release or drive away a conjured spirit from the power of the magick circle.

BANISHING RITUAL In Ceremonial Magick, a ritual performed by a magician to remove negative or evil influences from the circle. In the banishing ritual of the Lesser Pentagram, a consecrated ceremonial sword is used to inscribe pentagrams in the air, archangels are invoked at the four quarters, and a special prayer known as the “Kabbalistic Cross” is recited.

BANSHEE In Gaelic folklore, a female nature-spirit who takes the form of an old woman and presages a death in the family by wailing a mournful tune that sounds like the melancholy moaning of the wind. As a herald of death, the banshee is usually heard at night under the window of the person who is about to die.

BAPHOMET A demonic deity envisaged as a goat-headed creature with wings, the breasts of a woman, and an illuminated torch between its horns. Baphomet was said to have been worshipped by the inner circles of several occult brotherhoods in the Middle Ages, and was identified with the Devil card of the Tarot by the nineteenth century magickal philosopher Eliphas Levi.

The symbol of Baphomet, also known as the mysterious “Bearded Demon” and the “Satanic Goat,” has often been misinterpreted as one of the Craft in general; however, Wiccans and Neo-Pagans do not use this symbol in their rituals, nor do they believe in or worship the Devil of the Christian faith (whom practitioners of Satanism and Devil-worshipping cults revere and associate the symbol of Baphomet with).

BARREN SIGNS In astrology (and especially the astrologically-based practice of lunar gardening), the three signs of the zodiac which indicate a tendency toward barrenness: Gemini, Leo, and Virgo.

BASKANION A phallus-shaped ornament worn on a necklace by children of ancient Greece for magickal protection against the evil eye. The baskanion (which was also known as probaskanion and fascinum) was often used as an amulet to protect homes, gardens, blacksmith forges, and chariots. In ancient Rome, this amulet was called the satyrica sigma.

BELL A hollow, metallic instrument, usually cup-shaped with a flared opening, which emits a tone when struck by a clapper suspended from within or by a separate stick or hammer. Bells have been used by nearly all cultures throughout history as magickal talismans, fertility charms, summons to a deity, and as instruments for sacred music and religious rituals of widely varying beliefs. Many Witches and Wiccans use a consecrated bell as an altar tool to signal the beginning or close of a ritual or Sabbat. Houngans and mambos of Haiti’s Voodoo religion, as well as the tribal priests of Africa, use bells and dancing to invoke their gods. Chinese magicians summon the rain and other forces of nature with special magickal bells, while Siberian Shamans wear them for incantations and prophecies. Bells have also served as magickal or sacred tools to “ring out Witches,” exorcise demons and ghosts, protect animals and children from the power of the evil eye, as well as to bless, and to divine the future.

BELTANE One of the eight annual Witches’ Sabbats, normally celebrated by Wiccans and Neo-Pagans on the first day of May. Also known as May Day, Rood Day, Rudemas, Festival of Tana (especially among Witches of the Strega Tradition), and Walpurgisnacht (meaning “Walpurga’s Night” and named after the old German goddess Walpurga—the May Queen), Beltane is derived from an ancient Druid fire festival celebrating the “Sacred Marriage” (the union of the Goddess and Her consort, the Horned God.) It merrily celebrates the annual “rebirth” of the Sun, marking the symbolic death of Winter and the symbolic birth of Spring. Legend holds that it is a time of the year when the fairy-folk abound in force.

It is a Beltane tradition among many modern Witches to gather morning dew from grass and wildflowers to be used in good-luck potions and spells.

Beltane is a time for celebrating Mother Nature by feasts of traditional Pagan foods, poetry recitals, and clockwise dancing around a brightly-decorated Maypole (which is an ancient and obvious fertility symbol and represents both the phallus and the procreative power of the Horned God.) The Maypole placed in the “womb” of the Mother Earth is symbolic of the sacred sexual union of the male and female aspects of Nature. The entwining of ribbons around the Maypole by those dancing in a circle around it serves to strengthen its magick and to raise what is known as a “cone of power.”

Another custom associated with the Sabbat of Beltane and reaching back to the most ancient of times is the bonfire, which is traditionally kindled on the top of a hill. According to old Celtic tradition, a Beltane bonfire must be started with nine pieces of wood, collected by nine men from nine different trees.

Other Beltane customs practiced around the world include: bathing in morning dew for good luck; the practice of various methods of divination (especially those involving the Beltane cake, also known as a carline); reenactments of Lady Godiva’s legendary naked ride through the streets of Coventry, England; and pilgrimages to sacred wells to partake of the healing water or to make offerings (such as the tossing in of coins, usually accompanied by a secretly made wish).

BESOM A straw broom used by Witches in certain Wiccan ceremonies such as Handfasting and the Sabbat of Candlemas. Although the broom has always been associated with Witches, it was never actually used for flying as the legends of olden times claim. Instead, according to one theory, Witches practicing sympathetic magick (which works on the basic principle that like produces like) would straddle the broom and jump up and down in order to show their crops how high to grow. The majority of modern Witches who own besoms use them as altar decorations and as magickal tools to symbolize fertility and to sweep the magick circle clean of any traces of negative magickal, spiritual, or psychic energy. The besom is also used in various spells and weather workings.

BEWITCHMENT The act of gaining power or casting a spell over another person, place, or object by means of either white, gray, or black magick; the act of enchanting a man, woman, child, animal, place, or object. In days gone by, bewitchment was regarded as an act against God and was punishable by fines, imprisonment, torture, and execution.

BIGGHES In certain traditions of Wicca, a set of ceremonial jewelry consisting of a leather garter, silver crown with crescent moon, bracelet and necklace. It is traditionally worn by the High Priestess of a coven.

BILOCATION An unusual phenomenon in which a person and his or her spiritual or astral “double” appears in two different, often distant, places at the same exact moment. The double may appear either in solid physical form or as a silent ghostlike apparition. Very little is understood about bilocation; however, its existence had been known to humanity since ancient times and it has been said that certain mystics, saints, holy men, and magicians experience bilocation and some are even capable of practicing it at will. Often involuntary bilocation is interpreted as an omen of death for the person whose double has been seen.

BINDING In Witchcraft, a magickal spell which usually involves the tying of knots on a cord, and is performed to control the actions of another or to render a sorcerer or sorceress magickally powerless. Bindings are used by some Wiccans for the purpose of preventing evil, negativity, or disaster of some kind from occurring, and also to put an end to the harm caused by gossips, troublemakers, and those who commit crimes. Interestingly, there exists a controversy among Wiccans over how ethical the casting of bindings are. Some Wiccans feel that such spells violate the Wiccan Rede, while others feel that they are perfectly acceptable when warranted, especially if the binding is directed at a situation rather than a specific person.

BINDRUNES A powerful magickal talisman, usually made from metal or wood and inscribed or painted with two or more different rune symbols which are superimposed upon one another in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. Bindrunes are sometimes placed on ritual tools (such as the blade or handle of a Witch’s athame), candles, and jewelry.

BIRTHSTONE A jewel associated with a specific month or astrological sign of the zodiac. A birthstone is believed to attract good luck and repel negative or evil influences; however, it is said to be unlucky to wear the stone of a month or astrological sign other than one’s own. The two exceptions to this rule are jade and crystal, which are believed to bring good luck to all who wear or carry them as charms.

BLACK ARTS Another word for black magick; the practices of demonology and sorcery; a general term often extended to apply to the entire spectrum of occult subjects, including magick and Witchcraft. Wiccans and Neo-Pagans take strong offense to being classified as practitioners of the black arts, as the term possesses sinister connotations. To the average person it brings to mind frightful images of the evil cauldron-stirring hags of Macbeth, Devil-worshipping orgies, necromancy, and a multitude of demonic horrors which no doubt existed nowhere else but in the fertile imaginations of superstitious God-fearing peasants and churchmen of the Middle Ages.

BLACK MAGICK Negative magick performed with evil or selfish intent; any form of magick that signifies the destructive element, invokes malevolent forces, and is practiced to deliberately cause injury, misfortune, or death to another living thing.

Most Wiccans and Neo-Pagans avoid the use of black magick in any form (also known as “sorcery”) to keep from violating the Wiccan Rede and setting into motion the threefold (and in some cases, sevenfold or greater) negative karma which return to haunt them.

BLACK MASS In Satanism, a travesty of the Roman Catholic Mass in which sacred bread known as the “host” (representing the body of Jesus Christ in a Communion Service) is stolen from a church and desecrated. The Satanic Black Mass ceremony includes the backwards recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and the alleged sacrifice of unbaptized children to the Devil.

Contrary to popular misconception, modern day Witches, Wiccans, and Neo-Pagans do not perform any type of a Black Mass. Nor do they worship or even acknowledge the existence of Satan (other than perhaps in the minds of those who fear or worship him.) The Sabbats of the Witches’ year are not related in any way to the Black Mass, which was a notion first popularized by churchmen of the Middle Ages. They are celebrations of the sacred Earth, Mother Nature, the seasonal transitions, and the myth cycle of the Goddess and Her consort, the Horned God. See also SABBAT, WHEEL OF THE YEAR, and individual Sabbat entries, such as BELTANE, SAMHAIN, and so forth.

BLASTING A term used in medieval times for a malicious act of sorcery believed to have been practiced by Witches and designed mainly to destroy the fertility of crops, animals, and even humans. According to ancient legend, to blast crops, a Witch needed to make a magickal powder from the ashes of a flayed cat, lizard, snake, or toad that had been incinerated over hot coals. The powder would then be scattered over the crop fields, causing them to fail. Blastings were usually carried out as an act of revenge.

Modern Witches do not perform blastings or any other form of black magick that violates the Wiccan Rede. If anything, the majority have been known to cast spells and perform special rites that promote fertility, not destroy it.

BOLLINE A practical white-hilted working knife used by Witches to harvest sacred herbs, cut wooden wands, slice bread, and carve magickal symbols in candles and talismans. Unlike the Witches’ ritual dagger known as an athame, the bolline is generally not used for the storing or directing of energy in spells and rituals. Compare ATHAME.

BOMOR A Malay Shaman (or medicine man) who uses various forms of divination to determine the treatment of sick patients. The bomor also uses counter-charms, makes propitiatory offerings of food to the spirits, and brings back the soul of the patient which is believed to be wandering in limbo during illness.

BOOK OF SHADOWS A secret diary of magickal spells and potions kept by many individual Witches or covens. In certain Wiccan traditions, a Witch’s Book of Shadows must be burned in the event of his or her death in order to protect the secrets of the Craft. In others, it is buried with the Witch or passed down to the surviving children or other heirs. Although a Book of Shadows is traditionally kept confidential, there are a number of modern Witches who elect to have their Book of Shadows published in order to share their knowledge and magickal spells with other Witches.

BOTTLE IMP Mainly in Arabian folklore, a supernatural genielike creature who is confined to a bottle and invoked as needed by a sorcerer’s magickal incantation. Bottle imps have also appeared in some folktales from Estonia, Finland, the Philippines, Sweden, and Switzerland.

BRUJA A name used by the people of Mexico, Central America, and the Hispanic communities throughout the United States for a female Witch. (The name used for a Witch of the male gender is brujo.) The bruja, who is generally regarded as having a much greater power than her male counterpart, is often contacted by individuals in need of healings, charms, the breaking of curses, and the casting of various spells. She is said to work powerful folk magick, handed down to her by many generations of ancestors.

BULLA A round hollow object, inscribed with certain magickal words or symbols, and filled with various substances. Bullas were popular among the ancient Romans and early Christians who used them as amulets for protection against all evil-natured entities.

BUNE WAND An old Scottish nickname given to the legendary Witches’ broomstick, or any object supposedly used by Witches as a flying instrument. See also BESOM.

BURIN An engraving tool used by many Witches and practitioners of the magickal arts to mark names or symbols ritually on athames, swords, bells, and other magickal tools.

BURNING TIMES A term often used by Wiccans and Neo-Pagans alike in reference to the days of the past when it was commonplace in many parts of the world for Witches (or at least those accused of being Witches) to be hunted, tortured, and executed—usually by being burning alive at the stake in a public square. The term “burning times” generally refers to the mid-fifteenth to early eighteenth centuries. It was during this dark and violent period in history that the Christian Church and its infamous Inquisition put to death an estimated 30,000 to nine million people (most of whom were innocent women and children) in their fanatical effort to rid the world of heretics and Devil-worshippers. While it was believed by most during that time that “purification by fire” was the only true way to destroy the evil that was said to be intrinsic of Witches. Some places (such as England and Colonial America) employed public hangings as punishment for those who they believed were in league with the Devil.