catoptromancy

From the Ancient Greek κάτοπτρον (kátoptron, “mirror”) + -mancy.

1660, Urquhart tr. Rabelais, Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv.
Her Trippa going on in his Discourse, said by Catoptromancy, likewise held in such account by the Emperor Didius Julianus, That by means thereof, he ever and anon foresaw all that which at any time did happen or befal unto him: Thou shalt not need to put on thy Spectacles; for in a Mirror thou wilt see her as clearly and manifestly Nebrundiated, and Billibodring-it, as if I should shew it in the Fountain of the Temple of Minerva near Parras.

Catoptromancy was a species of divination performed by the aid of a mirror. This..was common among the Achaians.

1880, J. Grant, Mysteries of all Nations, section XLII:

Divination by use of mirrors, or other reflective surfaces.


capnomancy

Ancient Greek καπνός (kapnós, “smoke”); capno- + -mancy

1610, Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie of God
Diuination generally was done by diuers means...by smoake, Capnomancy.

To these is also added Capnomancy, so called from smoke, because it searcheth into the flame and smoke; and thin colors, sounds and motions when they are carried upright, or on one side, or round...

1897, Three Bks Occult Phil. lvii. (Agrippa)

(divination) Divination by interpreting smoke rising from a fire. A form of pyromancy.

savusta ennustaminen

class of divinatory methods involving smoke


cyclomancy

1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge
CYCLOMANCY: Pertains to divination from a turning wheel.

CYCLOMANCY: Divination depending upon a revolving device[…]the decision of the wheel is automatically fulfilled, so it is not surprising that many people believe that questions concerning their future can be answered by a similar contrivance. Spinning arrows may be used instead of revolving wheels for telling fortunes; and, on the lighter side, cyclomancy has survived in various parlor games, such as "spin the bottle."

1973, Walter B. Gibson, Litzka R. Gibson, The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, London: Souvenir Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 316:

Divination by interpreting wheels or any other revolving objects.


critomancy

Critomancy: Divination by means of observing viands and cakes. The paste of cakes which are offered in sacrifice, is closely examined, and from the flour which is spread on them, omens are drawn.


anemoscopy

Divination by use of the wind including its direction and intensity.


nephomancy

Divination by use of the movement of clouds.


kephalomancy

Kephalomancy. Divination by the crackling of a donkey's head when burnt.

1973, K. Ellis, Prediction and Prophecy iii:


entomomancy

1983 Complete Bk Predictions
Entomomancy Predicting from the appearance and behavior of insects.

Divination by the behaviour and appearance of insects. A form of augury.


enoptromancy

From Ancient Greek ἔνοπτρον (énoptron, “mirror”) + -mancy.

uder

enoptromancy...Divination with a mirror.

enoptromancy a form of divination involving a mirror and its reflections.

1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)

Divination by means of a mirror or other reflective surfaces.


felidomancy

FELIDOMANCY: Divination involving the behavior or actions of a cat, ranging from changes in weather to unexpected visitors, or other occurrences. Dating from the Middle Ages, many of these have survived as popular superstitions.

[1973, Walter B. Gibson, Litzka R. Gibson, The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, London: Souvenir Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 317:

Divination by interpreting the appearance and behaviour of cats.


gastromancy

1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie of God
Diuination generally was done by diuers means..Hydromancy..done either in a glasse bottle full of water, wherein a Childe must looke, (and this is called, Gastromancy of the glasses belly)...

The methods [of scrying] varied according to the nature of the shiny object used and the medium employed... Sometimes the term gastromancy ('divination by the belly') was used, because the vessel filled with water was called gastra 'belly-shaped vessel'.

1985, G. Luck Arcana Mundi, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

Divination by noting magical visions in large-bellied glasses, sometimes described as a technique where a child is placed in front of a glass filled with water, the images in the glass then interpreted. Similar to crystallomancy.


gyromancy

en-noun

gyromancy (usually uncountable, plural gyromancies)

Divination where people walk on a circle of letters until dizzy; the letters they fall on are significant. Similar to Dervishing.


hippomancy

1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii.
Hippomantia ex hinnitu, fremitu, sudore..

1911 Encyc. of Religion & Ethics
There is also a trace of hippomancy in Persia. According to Herodotus (iii. 84-87), after Darius and six other Persian nobles had slain the pseudo-Smerdis, they agreed that he should be king whose horse should first neigh after sunrise, when they had mounted their steeds.

1973 L. Watson Supernature ix.
Precoginition means "knowing in advance," and systems of knowing cover just about every possible source of variation. They include..hippomancy (based on the stamping of horses)... None of these need be taken seriously...

Divination by the interpretation of the appearance and behaviour of horses. Their neighing and stamping are particularly noted.


hieromancy

HIEROMANCY: Divination through various forms of sacrifice, or preparation for such, especially when performed by adepts in accordance with accepted rituals.

1973, Walter B. Gibson, Litzka R. Gibson, The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, London: Souvenir Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 318:

Divination by interpreting sacred objects, often used in sacrificial offerings. Similar to aruspicy.


hepatoscopy

From Ancient Greek ἡπατοσκοπία (hēpatoskopía), from ἥπατος (hḗpatos), genitive form of ἧπαρ (hêpar, “liver”) + σκοπέω (skopéō, “to see”). Equivalent to hepato- + -scopy.

uder

1973 Collier's Encyc. x.
Hepatomancy...animal livers

(rare) Divination by the liver of an animal or bird. The liver was divided into sections, each section representing a deity, and the markings in these zones were important.


ichthyomancy

Divination interpreting the appearance and behaviour of fish. A form of augury.


lecanomancy

From Late Latin lecanomantia, from Ancient Greek λεκανομαντείᾱ (lekanomanteíā), from λεκάνη (lekánē, “dish, pan”).

der

λεκανομαντείᾱ

1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie of God
Diuination generally was done by diuers means..Hydromancy..done..in a basen of water, which is called Lecanomancie, in which Strabo sayth the Asians are singular.

1660 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv.
Have you a mind (quoth Her Trippa) to have the truth of the matter yet more fully and amply disclosed unto you..by Leconomancy, of old in prime request amongst the Assyrians, and thoroughly tried by Hermolaus Barbarus.

1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. Magic ii.
Among the various other kinds of divination not here mentioned may be enumerated Chilomancy performed with keys; Alphitomancy or Aleuromancy, by flour; Keraunoscopia, by the consideration of thunder; Eychnomancy, by lamps; Ooscopy, by eggs; Licanomancy by a basin of water; Palpitatim, Salisatio, by the pulsation or motion of some member etc.

1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of Sorcery
I may mention further lecanomancy, which was performed by letting precious stones drop into water; a mysterious little whistling resulted which announced the thing desired.

Divination by interpreting the sound or effect of an object or substance (commonly a gem) falling into a body of water.


lunomancy

Borrowed from Latin luna (“moon”) + -mancy.

divination by interpreting shadows created by moonlight on a person's face dusted with silver. This is most often done on the full moon to have the highest moonlight intensity.


macharomancy

From Ancient Greek μαχαίρα (makhaíra, “dagger”) + -mancy.

1652, Gaule The Magastromancer xix.
Macharomancy, by knives or swords […]

MACHAROMANCY: Use of swords, daggers, and knives as instruments of divination. Presumably of ancient origin.

[1973, Walter B. Gibson, Litzka R. Gibson, The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, London: Souvenir Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 320:

Divination by interpreting swords, daggers and knives. This was popular in Scotland where on July 31st it was performed to predict the deaths and marriages of the following year.


idolomancy

First element is from Late Latin idolum, from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image, idol”). Second element is from Latin -mantīa, ultimately from Ancient Greek μᾰντείᾱ (manteíā). Equivalent to idol + -mancy.

1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix.
Idolomancy, by Idolls, Images, Figures...

IDOLOMANCY: Use of idols or images for purposes of divination. The answers may come through dreams, by drawing lots, or anything else that believers may attribute to the power of such images. Some ancient oracles belonged in this category, and pagan priests often spoke from within hollow statues to give direct replies to questions regarding the future. In many cases, idolomancy has been closely identified with demonomancy, in as much as the idols simply represent the demons who are supposed to inhabit them when properly invoked.

1973, Gibson Complete Illust, Bk Div. &ast Prophecy:


selenomancy

He is openly incredulous about the gem glossopetra, shaped like a human tongue and supposed to fall from the sky during an eclipse of the moon and to be invaluable in selenomancy.

1923, Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, page 98:

For millennia we have tried to fathom it: via selenography and selenomancy, poetry and algebra, robots and rockets.

2019, Leah Hager Cohen, Strangers and Cousins, page 240:

Divination by the appearance and phases of the moon. Similar to lunomancy.


hydatoscopy

(rare) Divination by interpreting rainwater. Omens are drawn from the various formations and sizes of rain puddles, and bowls of rainwater are gazed upon until clairvoyant visions appear on the surface of the water, or in the mind's eye. This is considered in some cases to be more important than hydromancy because rain has fallen from the heavens, making it sacred.


smudging

One of the most common forms of purification is done with smoke, using some kind of smoking or smudging.

2002, Raven Kaldera, Tannin Schwartzstein, The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle, page 36:


geomancie

Bungay. Let it be this, whether the spirites of piromancie or Geomancie, be most predominant in magick.
Vander. I say of Piromancie.
Bungay. And I of Geomancie.

1594, Robert Greene, Frier Bacon & Frier Bongay:

Sometimes they answer to that they are called for, by divers figures Men or Women set in polisht Stone, Iton, Brasse, Steele, Glasse, or the Nayles of ones hand; and this is called by the generall Name of Geomancie: And most commonly to such as these, they chuse out Women and Children.


hydromantie

Of this roote [astrology] last spoken of, springs innumerable branches; such as the knowledge of natiuities; the Chiromancie, Geomantie, Hydromantie, Arithmantie, Physiognomie: & a thousand others: which were much practiced, & holden in great reuerence by the Gentiles of olde.


hydromancie

If these apparitions appeare in the Water, then it is called Hydromancie. These I have heard are very incident to Catch-poles, Bum-baylies, and the like, when they are duckt under Water at high Tyde at one of the Temples.

1620, J. Melton Astrologaster, (Please provide the book title or journal name):


logarithmancy

/lɒɡəˈɹɪðmənsi/

/lɑɡəˈɹɪðmənsi/

From logarithm + -mancy; or a blend of logarithm + arithmancy.

What difference betwixt Astromancy, Magomancy, or Magastromancy (as touching a sorcerous both superstition, and operation) and all these after-named? viz. […] Arithmancy, by numbers; Logarithmancy, by Logarithmes; […]

1652, John Gaule, “From the Affinity to Witch-craft”, in Πῦς-μαντία [Pys-mantia] the Mag-astro-mancer, or The Magicall-astrologicall-diviner Posed, and Puzzled. By John Gaule, Minister of Great Staughton in the County of Huntingdon, London: Printed for Joshua Kirton at the Kings Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard, →OCLC, page 165:

LOGARITHMANCY: A mathematical method of divination performed with the aid of logarithms. Now supplanted by modern computers.

(obsolete, rare) Divination using logarithms.


astragyromancy

Possibly a joining of astragalomancy and gyromancy (spinning of the dice).

Known as astragalomancy or astragyromancy, this method is supposed, righdy or wrongly, to make clear to man the designs of providence, the will of the gods, the decrees of fate.

1970, Richard Cavendish, Man, Myth & Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural:

ASTRAGALOMANCY or ASTRAGYROMANCY: Divination with dice, ranging from crude bones with primitive markings to cubes bearing spots, letters, or cabalistic symbols, all interpreted by the bone caster.

[1973, Walter B. Gibson, Litzka R. Gibson, The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, London: Souvenir Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 312:

This is an extremely simple form of sortilege related to astragalomancy or astragyromancy (from the Greek astragalos, meaning "vertebra, knucklebone"), which began about 5,000 years ago.

1992, Max Maven, Max Maven's book of fortunetelling, page 45:


Beltane

From the Celtic *belo-tanos "bright fire".

And quhair it be tainted that they big, and the Birdes be flowin, and the nest be funden in the Trees at Beltane the trees sal be foirfaulted to the King (bot gif they be redeemed fra him, throw them that they first perteined to) and hewin downe, and siue schillings to the King is unlaw.

1424, James I of Scotland, The lawes and actes of parliament maid be King James the first and his successours kinges of Scotland, Edinburgh edition, Robert Waldegrave, published 1597, page A3:

The first day of May (since 1752); May Day, a Scottish quarter day, sometimes associated by Christians with the nearest Church Feast, the Invention of the Cross (3 May), and Whitsunday (15 May).


Eostre

A learned borrowing from Old English Ēostre, the Northumbrian variant of West Saxon Ēastre (“a word referring to "the rising dawn" to indicate the season of Spring”) and ēastre (“Easter”), from Proto-West Germanic *austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ (“Easter, springtime”). Doublet of Easter.

der

(paganism) A neopagan festival celebrated either in March or April to welcome the Spring, also called Ostara or Easter.


Ancestor Night

This is Ancestor Night, the Feast of the Dead, the night strongest for communication with those gone into the shadow lands, those who now dwell over Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge to Asgard.

1991, D J Conway, Norse Magic, Llewellyn Publications, page 51:

Other names are the Festival of Remembrance, the Feast of Apples, Ancestor Night or the Feast of the Dead.

1999, Gail Duff, The Wheel of the Wiccan Year, page 23:

(Germanic paganism) A festival celebrated by followers of Heathenry in late October or early November and based on the Germanic tradition of ancestor worship.


shamanism

en-noun

shamanism (countable and uncountable, plural shamanisms)

/ˈʃɑːmənɪzəm/

Any of a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world.


dobby

dobby (countable and uncountable, plural dobbies)

(chiefly Nottingham) The children's game of tag.


Lokean

(Germanic paganism) One who honours Loki as their primary god.


psychographer

(spiritualism) A medium able to psychograph (to have one's body possessed by spirits in order to let them write texts in the physical world).


psychograph

In this article he deals with the still more remarkable impressions, known as "psychographs," which they have obtained on photographic plates without exposing them at all, and which Mr. Lethem claims could only be produced by "spirit" agency.

A remarkably clear psychograph — a thought-picture — was taken, or impressed, upon a plate in Hope's home without the plate being exposed to light.

1938, True Mystic Science - Volumes 1-2, page 21:

Such a psychograph - and I believe the normal psychic photograph is such - is independent of the laws of light, so that one can imagine how utterly at sea a photographic critic would be who judged its authenticity by shadows or any such tests.

1986, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John Michael Gibson, Richard Lancelyn Green, Letters to the press: the unknown Conan Doyle, page 295:

Seven years after he began organising regular séances with Miss Poole, Dr. Hamilton managed to obtain his first so-called psychograph or spirit photograph.

2012, Fabrice Bourland, The Baker Street Phantom, →ISBN:

In 1915, for example, the British photographer William Hope made a "psychograph" that contained handwritten messages from two disembodied spirits, and Coates confirmed that the "writing attributed to the late Archdeacon Colley and Mr. William Walker is identical with their own handscript while they were in life."

2013, Kristen Lacefield, The Scary Screen: Media Anxiety in The Ring, →ISBN, page 36:

(spiritualism) A photographic image having a supposed supernatural or spiritual origin

A psychograph or a planchette is an apparatus used in spiritistic circles as an instrument for receiving written messages from the spirits of the dead.

1971, Kurt E. Koch, Occult Practices and Beliefs, →ISBN, page 94:

ln a very well-known utterance, the novelist said of Effi Briest (with that curious pellucidity which has no grain of vanity in it): "Perhaps I have been so successful with it because l wrote the whole novel in a dream-like state, almost as if with a psychograph" - a psychograph being the pen-like implement used in spiritualistic ghost-writing.

2001, Patricia Howe, Helen Chambers, Theodor Fontane and the European Context, →ISBN:

Yet more surprising are the results if recourse be had to the table, for rapping, or to the psychograph, requiring, it is true, longer practice than the divinging rod.

2012, Eduard von Hartmann, C. C. Massey, Spiritism, →ISBN, page 66:

(spiritualism) Any of various devices used for automatic writing.


margaritomancy

In ancient times, a form of margaritomancy was used to determine the guilt or innocence of a man or woman suspected of committing a crime.

2003, Gerina Dunwich, Dunwich's Guide to Gemstone Sorcery, page 134:

Margaritomancy: Divination by pearls. A pearl was covered with a vase, and placed near the fire, and the names of suspected persons pronounced. When the name of the guilty one was uttered the pearl was supposed to bound upwards and pierce the bottom of the vase.

1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of Sorcery
Very curious was margaritomancy, or divination by a pearl. "The pearl is to be enchanted," says de l'Ancre, "and shut in a pot; then if it chance that the name of the thief be pronounced the pearl will leap, striking against the pot."


moleomancy

Divination by interpreting moles on the body, supposedly developed by the Greek physician Hippocrates.


meteoromancy

From Ancient Greek μετέωρος (metéōros, “in mid-air”) + -mancy.

bor

1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci.
The Romans are believed to have derived meteoromancy from Etruria.

METEOROMANCY: A special branch of astromancy dealing with omens that pertain to shooting stars. Ancient Roman augurs included thunder, lightning, eclipses, and other heavenly phenomena in such divinations.

[1973, Walter B. Gibson, Litzka R. Gibson, The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, London: Souvenir Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 321:

1983 Complete Bk Predictions
Meteoromancy: Divination from meteors and shooting stars.

Divination by interpreting meteorological phenomena such as meteors.

meteoromancie

divination by interpreting meteorological phenomena


myrmomancy

Divination by interpreting the appearance and behaviour of ants, especially their eating habits. A type of augury.


myomancy

From Ancient Greek μῦς (mûs, “mouse”); myo- + -mancy.

1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci.
Myomancy was a method of divination by rats and mice, and is supposed to be alluded to in Isaiah lxvi. 17. Their peculiar cries, or some marked devastation committed by them, was taken for a prognostic of evil.

Pliny has a chapter on myomancy, or soothsaying by means of rats and mince, (Nat. Hist., lib. ix. c. 57).

1865, Samuel Lysons, Our British Ancestors: Who and what Were They?:

1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
Myomancy - Made use of the sounds and damage done by rats. The great Dictator Fabius Maximus renounced his throne when warned by the squeal of a mouse and Cassius Flaminius threw up his command of cavalry.

Myomancy. Divination by mice or rats, for instance, rats leaving a sinking ship.

1973, K. Ellis, Prediction and Prophecy iii:

Divination by interpreting rats or mice. Their cries were believed to indicate the presence of evil.


necyomancy

From the Classical Latin necyomantīa, from the Koine Greek νεκυομαντεία (nekuomanteía), from the Ancient Greek νέκυς (nékus, “corpse”) + μαντεία (manteía, “divination”). Compare the French necyomance.

uder

νεκυομαντεία


molybdomancy

From Ancient Greek μόλυβδος (mólubdos, “lead”) and the suffix -mancy. Probably after Greek μολυβδομαντεία (molyvdomanteía) or French molybdomancie.

uder

1727, Bailey, The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
MOLUBDOMANCY [molybdomanteia of molybdos Lead, and manteia Divination, Gr.] a divining, an observing the motions, Figures, &c. of melted Lead.

1931, de Givry, Lock tr., Picture Museum of Sorcery
Molybdomancy was divination by melted lead; drops of it were allowed to fall into water, and the resulting noises and hissings listened to.

The place of molybdomancy is also to be located in the uncertain border area between spontaneous and solicited projection.

1957, Robert Plank, “Spontaneous Projection of Meaningful Forms”, in Journal of Projective Techniques, page 146:

There was a happy group in Tallahassee swapping wives on the basis of molybdomancy.

1971 January, Tak Hallus, “Homage”, in Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact, page 67:

Dropping hot lead or tin into water was another method occasionally employed by the Etruscans in a version of molybdomancy, much like ceromancy.

2003, Raymond Buckland, The Fortune-Telling Book, page 199:

divination by interpreting shapes formed when molten metal, typically lead or tin, is dropped into water.

tinanvalanta

divination by molten metal dropped in water


egromancy

Coined by Richard Francis Burton from Middle English forms of necromancy, such as egremauncey and egremauncye.

Then she stood up; and, pronouncing some word to me unintelligible, she said: — By virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and half man; whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or sit, and neither dead nor alive.

1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:

Whereby I know that this twelfth King of the house of Gorice in Carcë shall be a most crafty warlock […] who by the might of his egromancy and the sword of Witchland shall exceed all earthly powers that be.


love potion

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-love potion.wav

One love potion was composed of the powdered navel string of a new-born baby boy.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 82:

I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth
 You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
 She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
 Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine.

1959, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (lyrics and music), “Love Potion No. 9”, performed by The Clovers:

A drink supposed to have the magic power to make the drinker fall in love with a specified person.


byname

From by- + name. Cognate with Dutch bijnaam (“nickname”), German Beiname (“nickname, epithet”), Swedish binamn, Danish binavn and Norwegian Bokmål binavn.

(Germanic paganism) A ritual title for a god or goddess used in Heathenry.


quadrate

From Middle English quadrat, quadrate, from Latin quadrātum. Doublet of quadrat; compare also quadrant (“square or quadrangle”).

(astrology) An aspect of the heavenly bodies in which they are distant from each other 90°, or the quarter of a circle; quartile.


Cthulhic

en-adj

Cthulhic (comparative more Cthulhic, superlative most Cthulhic)

more Cthulhic (comparative)
most Cthulhic (superlative)

Of, or pertaining to, Cthulhu; monstrous.


psychomancy

Divination involving communication with spirits; necromancy.


Imum Coeli

From Latin imum coeli (“bottom of the sky”).

Appropriately, perhaps, it would also be here that they would make the fatal discovery which would bring them, inexorable as the Zodiac's wheel, to their Imum Cœli. . . .

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 457:

(astrology) The point where the ecliptic crosses the northern meridian, said to represent the deep subconscious.


celestial object

en-noun

celestial object (plural celestial objects)

It is only 100 feet across but it now has the honor of being the solar system's fastest-spinning celestial object.

1999 July 22, “Asteroid Is Called Fastest-Spinning Solar System Object”, in space.com, retrieved 2009-01-09:

A symbol for each desired celestial object, such as for each planet, the sun, and the moon are included along with a method for detachably attaching each of the symbols to the zodiac chart.

2000, John Raymond Winks Jr., "Natal zodiac chart," US Patent 6,015,295, abstract

(astronomy, astrology) Synonym of celestial body.


-mancer

I’ve always thought it was a shame us Cullenmancers missed out on a romance tarot with how beautiful all their designs are.

As a Solasmancer I don't expect more, but I'd hope somehow Solas' experience with the Inquisition has an impact on him going forward.

I agreed with some and disagreed with others, so I'm putting it out there for my fellow Galemancers: what's Gale's [zodiac] sign?

2023 December 22, Theia-Euryphaessa, Reddit:

(fandom slang) A suffix attached to a video game character's name to create a word for a player who romances that character in the game.


cusper

And if you were borm on those tricky days which fall between two signs — like 23 December, or 21 May — then you are called a ‘cusper’, a person born on the cusp of two signs, and said to partake a little bit of both.

1989, Liz Greene, Astrology for Lovers, Red Wheel Weiser, →ISBN:

(astrology) A person born on a day at a junction of star signs.


witchy

en-adj

witchy (comparative witchier, superlative witchiest)

witchier (comparative)
witchiest (superlative)

The children are scared to go near the witchy old woman's house at night.

Bernadette was a small wiry girl with a lot of long witchy black hair, and on the first day of school she wore only one sock.

1967, Beverly Cleary, Mitch and Amy, New York: Dell, published 1980, →ISBN, →OL, page 92:

Sabrina and the three sisters in Charmed have a myriad of witchy powers.

2006 August 8, Sharon Lamb with Lyn Mikel Brown, Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes, New York: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 96:

Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of witches; witchlike.


Yule tree

1993 The Rites of Odin, Ed Fitch, Llewellyn, →ISBN, page 135.
Modern Yule Tree decorations are acceptable for this season, of course, though parents may wish to decorate the Yule tree so that it reflects Yggdrasill, the mythic World-Tree.

1997 Thunder issue 2 (Heathen Journal), The Folk's Noisy Friend, Garman Lord.
Then again; what about those Indian shamans whose idea of a quick sure fire way to do a vision quest is to go stand on a mountain outcrop where lightning is about to strike, until they light up like Yule trees with static electricity, jumping off the rock to safety (hopefully) at the last possible moment?

2000 Ratatosk Volume 4 issue 4 (Heathen Journal) Yule not Xmas, Red Raven.
Those without an outdoor tree can hang gifts indoors on the Yule tree, or go for a walk to the local woods.

(chiefly paganism) A yuletide decoration comprising a potted tree decorated with ribbons and religious symbols.


Night

"In this prayer, Sigdrifa calls upon powers of Nature - Day, Night, Earth - and the gods and goddesses as a group.

1993, Our Troth, Ring of Troth and other True Folk, Ring of Troth, page 383

Hail to Night and her daughters.

1993, Teutonic Religion, Kveldulf Gundarsson, Llewellyn Publications, page 316

In another story, the Allfather, the original sky god from early Wyrd culture, took Night and her son Day, and gave to each of them a horse and chariot and put them in the sky, so that they should ride around the world every twenty-four hours.

1996, The Wisdom of the Wyrd, Brian Bates, Rider, page 48

(Germanic paganism) The goddess of the night in Heathenry.


clarifier

/ˈklɛɹəfaɪɚ/

[…] if any card in the spread puzzles you, you can pull another card from the deck as a clarifier.

2004, Barbara Moore, What Tarot Can Do for You: Your Future in the Cards, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN, page 20:

(cartomancy) An additional card used to enhance or explain the primary cards in a spread.


wortcraft

They were the keepers of starcraft, runecraft, lorecraft and wortcraft and they guided many through the darkness of the future and healed bodies and minds.

1994, Tony Linsell, Anglo-Saxon Mythology, Migration & Magic, →ISBN, page 16:

(chiefly historical, but also used in some modern forms of paganism) (Knowledge of) the medical usage of worts, of herbal remedies (and related magic); herblore.


Yule wreath

1989 A Book of Troth, Eldred Thorsson, Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, page 175.
The harrow, which must be made of stone and set up outside or in an outdoor room with a chimney or smoke hole, is fitted out with a horn, a vessel of beer or ale, a single (red) candle and the Yule-wreath in its center.

1993 Our Troth, the Ring of Troth and other true folk, →ISBN, page 554.
In Scandinavia, the centre of he Yule festivities (especially before the German tree was adopted) was the Yule wreath; many families have wrought-iron candleholder wreaths as family heirlooms, and these are also woven with evergreen branches.

2000 Ratatosk Volume 4 issue 4 (Heathen Journal) Yule not Xmas, Red Raven.
Over the Yule period write wishes on strips of paper and thread them onto the Yule wreath.

(chiefly paganism) A yuletide decoration comprising a ring of greenery decorated with ribbons.


Thor's beard

Sempervivum tectorum
Sempervivum tectorum#Translingual

(Germanic paganism) The plant houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum), as used in Heathenry.


Thor's hammer

(Norse mythology, Germanic paganism) Mjöllnir (Mjollnir), the distinctively T-shaped war-hammer of the Norse thunder god Thor, or a representation thereof, now used as a symbol by various pagan religious groups.


Sky Father

(Germanic paganism) Title for any of the highest gods of Heathenry, but especially Tiw/Tyr.


world-ash

Ash is a strongly runic tree by implication, the world-ash Yggdrasil being the tree from which Odin hung in order to obatin the runes.

1993, Bernard King, The elements of the Runes, Thorsons Element, →ISBN, page 95:

This eventuality would not be surprising if the world ash was, at the time, a small young tree.

1988, David A. White, The turning wheel: a study of contracts and oaths in Wagner's ring, page 108:

(Norse mythology and Germanic paganism) Yggdrasil.


spae-craft

Twelfth Night is particularly a time fo fore-tellings; if there is a skilled rune-reader or someone with spae-craft in the group, this is when they should cast or speak for the year ahead.

1993, Our Troth: History and Lore, →ISBN, page 570:

The greatest tools of spae-craft seem to have been the staff and the hooded cloak.

1994, Kveldúlf Hagan Gundarsson, Teutonic Magic: The Magical & Spiritual Practices of the Germanic Peoples, Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, page 216:

I have the privilege of having a very wise and kind idis, Ealgitha, who teaches me spaecraft and other things.

1997, Elmindreda Pukwdugie, Winifred Hodge, Lina (Heathen Journal), volume 3, number 1:

(Germanic paganism) The magical art of foretelling the future, used especially in Heathenry.


oath-ring

(Germanic paganism) A ring (particularly an arm ring) on which oaths are sworn.


Otherworld

(paganism) The other realms of existence beyond the world of mankind, especially the realms of the dead or the fairy folk.


Redbeard

Redbeard!

1989, Eldred Thorsson, A Book of Troth, Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, page 146:

The radiant goddess, wise in womans wisdom, foresaw a future as secure as the oak pillars of redbeards hall, and knew true hearts gladness as the sacred vows were made.

1999, Thunder, issue 10, How Sif Got Her Golden Hair (Thorskegga Thorn)

(Norse mythology, sagas and Germanic paganism) The god Thor.


rainbow bridge

1993 The Rites of Odin, Ed Fitch, Llewellyn, →ISBN, page 273.
O High Ones of the Rainbow Bridge, Thou hast heard that which is my need And my desire.

1998 Heartland, Volume 1, Issue 3 (Heathen Journal), I Believe, Joanne Fletcher - Holloway.
With nature I give and feel her pain, In Freyja's arms I'm at peace again, And in all I've heard, And in all I've read, My life is anew, like the eagle that flew, Across the Rainbow Bridge, Myself to myself, I give to you.

2004 The Book of Seithr, Runic John, Capall Bann Publishing, →ISBN, page 82.
Asgard stands perched on the highest branches of the tree, where it is reached by crossing Bifrost, the rainbow bridge.

(Germanic paganism) The road between the realm of the gods and the realm of men in Heathenry which appears in the form of a rainbow; Bifrost.


aett

1984 Fortune -Telling By Runes, David & Julia Line, The Aquarian Press, →ISBN page 15.
Known as aettir, these basic divisions were sometimes named after Norse deities: Freya's eight, Hagal's eight and Tiu's eight.

1993 The Elements of The Runes, Bernard King, Element, →ISBN, page 110.
When we examined runic divination, we related, in passing, the phases of the moon to the three ættir of the Common Germanic Futhark.

The runic futhark is usually divided into three aetts.

1998, The Norse Tradition a beginners guide, Pete Jennings, Headway, →ISBN, page 36:

Each aett is named after the rune that begins it, which may be regarded as the patriarch of the family it heads. This trine of families was so important that it survived the increase of the runes in England and the decrease in their number […]

2009, Donald Tyson, Runic Astrology: Chart Interpretation Through the Runes, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN:

Each Aett contains certain runes that cover similar concepts. For example each has a rune for light, as in Kanauz the torch, Sowelo the sun, and Dagaz the day. The light becomes greater in power as we progress through the Aettir.

2016, Kim Farnell, Runes, Plain & Simple: The Only Book You'll Ever Need, Hampton Roads Publishing, →ISBN, page 38:

(sometimes paganism) A division of the runic alphabet containing eight runes.


need-fire

In Silesia, also, need-fires were often employed for the purpose of curing a murrain or preventing its spread.

1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 278:

Fire - divided into need-fire (kindled by friction - discussed under 'Waluburg's Night') and 'struck fire' (sparked by flint and steel - discussion under Thonar).

I built up the kindling in various stages in the base of the stove as I prepared to make my need-fire.

1998, Darien Hamilton, “Kindling in the Yuletide”, in Heathen Journal, volume 2, number 3:

When great pestilence is upon the land, old folklore tells of using a bow drill to make the need-fire, which is then used to cure cattle of their illness.

2003, Brian Froud, Ari Berk, The Runes of Elfland, page 51:

(paganism) A ritual fire created by friction.


Norse Tradition

1997 Pagan Dawn issue 125 (Pagan magazine), Call us Heathens, Arlea Anschutz and Steven Hunt.
Norse Tradition is another similar term, but instead of being too broad, it[']s too narrow.

1998 The Norse Tradition a beginners guide, Pete Jennings, Headway, →ISBN, page 1.
The Norse Tradition, sometimes known as Odinism (after its chief god Odin), sometimes called Northern Tradition (as in Northern Europe) or Asatru (from the words meaning 'a faith in the Gods') is attractive today for many of the reasons for which it was followed long ago.

2001 Goddess of the North, Lynda C. Welch, Weisser Books, →ISBN, page 226.
While an entire book could be written about the spiritual symbols of the Norse Tradition, the purpose here is to give a brief description, without compromising the reader's own intuition concerning the symbols.

(Germanic paganism) The religion of Heathenry, a modern faith inspired by the ancient pagan beliefs of the Germanic tribes, Anglo-Saxons and Norse peoples.


Winter Finding

1985 The Wisdom of the Runes, Michael Howard, Rider & Company, →ISBN, page 133.
Winter Finding.

1998 The Norse Tradition a beginners guide, Pete Jennings, Headway, →ISBN, page 70.
Asatru: Sheddingmoon Bede: Halegmonath Roman Date: Sept 23 Festival: Winter-Finding Theme: Harvest end.

2006 Everything you need to know about Paganism, Selene Silverwind, David & Charles, →ISBN, page 106.
Winter Finding; is also referred to as Harvest.

(Germanic paganism) A festival celebrated in Heathenry which marks the beginning of fall, held on the autumn equinox.


Summer Finding

1985 The Wisdom of the Runes, Michael Howard, Rider & Company, →ISBN, page 133.
Summer Finding.

1989 A Book of Troth, Eldred Thorsson, Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, page 54.
The tide of the spring fetival, Easter, is rekoned as mentioned above - the first full Moon after the spring equinox, or Summer Finding.

2006 Everything you need to know about Paganism, Selene Silverwind, David & Charles, →ISBN, page 104.
Other names for Summer Finding are Ostara and Easter.

(Germanic paganism) A festival celebrated in Heathenry which marks the beginning of spring, held on the spring equinox.


lagna

(astrology) In Vedic astrology, the degree of the sign that is rising on the eastern horizon at the time of a person's birth.


hex sign

Compound of hex + sign, coined in English.

(Germanic paganism) A protective symbol used in Heathenry comprising a six-petaled flower or star set within a circle, as a New Age adaptation of the above.


trefot

1984 Futharc A Handbook of Runic Magic, Eldred Thorson, Weser, →ISBN, page 108.
Trefot - dynamic power from the three realms of being and the threefold evolutionary force.

1993 Our Troth, by the Ring of Troth and other true folk, The Ring of Troth, →ISBN, page 668.
Trefot - also called triskelion (swirling form).

1997 Theod Volume IV Number 1 (Heathen Journal), Two Charms Against Dwarves, Eric Lord Wodening.
If so we can be assured that the crosses were substituted for some heathen symbol, valkntR, trefot or fylfot.

(Germanic paganism) A three-armed spiral symbol used in Heathenry to represent the god Woden or the Norns.


Asafolk

The first element is cognate to the first element of Ásatrú, and derives from Old Norse or Icelandic áss (“god”). The second element is folk.

All Asatru organizations, publications, independent kindreds, and just plain Asafolk are asked to take part.

1996, Lina, Ostara, volume 1, issue 4 (Heathen Journal), An Open Message to All Asafolk

Gamlinginn claims pines have spiritual significance for Asafolk.

1997, Lina, volume 2, issue 4 (Heathen Journal), Second Annual Yggdrasil Day (Charles Spratling)

Most Asafolk seem to have the attitude 'I found the gods, and I'm better off for it.'

1998, Lina, volume 4, issue 2 (Heathen Journal), News and Announcements (Dave Haxton)

(uncommon, modern Germanic paganism) Followers of Heathenry.


Ases' Garth

1993 Our Troth, the Ring of Troth and other true folk, →ISBN, page 262.
There are nine worlds: the Ases' Garth (or God Home), Light Alf-Home, the Middle-Garth (Middenerd, Middle-Earth, or Man Home), Nibel-Home, Etin Home, Muspell-Home, Wan-Home, Swart Alf-Home, and Hel-Home (which also includes Niflhel), Misty-Dark Hel, a lower realm into which, according to Vafthrudnismal, men die out of Hel.

1997 Teutonic Religion, Kveldulf Gundarsson, Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, page 10.
Ases' Garth

1997 Lina Volume 3, Issue 2 (Heathen Journal), Love Songs for Sif and Thor, Winifred Hodge.
My Sif, Even the wide plains, Even Middle Garth's broad reaches, Even Ase's Garth itself Cannot hold our love enclosed.


Earth Mother

In the ancient myth of Demeter and Persephone - which has been adopted by so many peoples under so many forms - Demeter the Earth-mother loses her daughter Persephone (who represents of course the Vegetation), carried down into the underworld by the evil powers of Darkness and Winter.

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 73:

Taking this somewhat tenuous line of reasoning one step further, it might be suggested that witches sought enlightenment and contact with the Earth Mother and Sky Father through group activities, while wizards tended towards shamanistic methods and techniques.

1994, Tony Linsell, Anglo-Saxon Mythology, Migration & Magic, Anglo-Saxon,, →ISBN, page 165:

His mother is Jord (the Earth Mother), his foster mother is Hlora, his step mother is Frigg, his wife is Sif, his mistress is the giantess Jarnsaxa and his daughter is Thrud (one of the valkyries).

1997, Thorskegga Thorn, "Thor and the Goddesses", Thunder, issue 2 (Heathen Journal)

The following scheme further interprest the 'Skyfather(s)' - Earthmother(s) cosmology, drawing on our previous discussion of cosmogony and cosmology.

2000, Nathan J. Johnson, Robert J. Wallis, Galdrbok, The Wykeham Press,, →ISBN, page 193:

(paganism, archaeology) The Great Goddess of the Earth and fertility.


head line

(palmistry) A line on the palm of the hand from between the thumb and index finger moving across the palm. Supposed to indicate, by its form or position, one's mentality.

líne an chinn

a line on the palm supposed to indicate one's mentality


palm reading

en-noun

palm reading (countable and uncountable, plural palm readings)


heart line

(palmistry) A line on the palm of the hand from below the index finger to below the pinky, supposed to indicate, by its form or position, one's love life.

líne an chroí

a line on the palm, supposed to indicate one's love life


duppy

Jamaica, circa 18th century. From Bube dupe (“ghost”) (compare Akan adɔpe).

(Jamaica, games) A drawn game of noughts and crosses (in Jamaica tii-taa-tuo).


Muspell

Borrowed from Old Norse Muspell. The ultimate origin is disputed, but one suggestion includes Latin mundus (“world”) + Proto-Germanic *spilþijaną (“to kill, ruin, murder”), thus meaning "destruction of the world." More at Muspilli.
Cognates include Old Saxon mūdspelli, Old High German muspilli. More at spill.

der

At the beginning of time there was Muspell, which was the realm of Fire.

2003, Kim Farnell, Reading the Runes, A Beginner's Guide, Zambezi Publishing, →ISBN, page 21:

Certainly the encounter between the cold of Niflheim and the fires of Muspel suggests the chemical reactions that led to the evolution of the planetary surface and its atmosphere.

2005, Diana Paxson, Taking Up the Runes, Weiser Books, →ISBN, page 323:

(Norse mythology and Germanic paganism) The primordial realm of fire which existed to the south of Ginnungagap.


birthtime

From Middle English burthtyme, berth-tyme, burth-tyme, birde time, birþe time, burþtime, equivalent to birth + time.

(astrology) The exact time when someone was born; the time of birth.


boline

Originally spelled bolline. From Italian bolino, which is a variant of bulino (“burin”). The bolino was conflated with the cortel bianco ("white knife"). Doublet of burin.

Grabbing my wicker basket and boline, the special knife I use for cutting herbs, I passed through the living room and out a pair of French doors onto my terrace garden.

2012, Juliet Blackwell, In a Witch's Wardrobe: A Witchcraft Mystery, New York, NY: New American Library, →ISBN, page 28:

A white handled knife used in Wicca, for physical cutting, in contrast to the athame.


heptangle

(occult) A seven-pointed star with the construction lines retained.


pentangle

From Middle English pentangel. By surface analysis, pent- + angle.


cazimi

(astrology) The position of the center of the sun in the sky.


Snake

en-proper noun

Snake (countable and uncountable, plural Snakes)

en:Snake (disambiguation)
en:Snake (zodiac)
en:Snake River

(astrology, timekeeping) The sixth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.


witches' Sabbath

en-noun

witches' Sabbath (plural witches' Sabbaths)

The phrase is first attested in the seventeenth century, but was popularized only from the 20th century onwards.

A religious gathering of a Wiccan coven at a covenstead or circle


sesquiquadrate

From sesqui- (“one and a half”) + quadrate (“right-angled”).

prefix

(astrology) Of or noting the aspect or position of any two celestial bodies separated by 135°.


earth sign

(astrology) Any of the three star signs Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo.


air sign

(astrology) Any of the three star signs Aquarius, Gemini and Libra.


water sign

(astrology) Any of the three star signs Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio.


fire sign

(astrology) Any of the three star signs Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.


Piscean

(astrology) Of, or pertaining to, the Pisces star sign.


Virgoan

(astrology) Of, or pertaining to, the Virgo star sign.


Libran

(astrology) Of, or pertaining to, the Libra star sign.


Sagittarian

(astrology) Of, or pertaining to, the Sagittarius star sign.


Sagittarian

(astrology) Someone with the Sagittarius star sign.


Geminian

/d͡ʒɛmɪˈnaɪən/

(astrology) Of, or pertaining to, the Gemini star sign


Taurean

(astrology) Of, or pertaining to, the star sign Taurus.


Leonian

(astrology) Of, or pertaining to, the Leo star sign.


Capricornian

(astrology) Of, or pertaining to, the Capricorn star sign.


Cancerian

From Cancer + -ian; from Latin Cancriana, from Cancer + -iana.

(astrology) Of or pertaining to the astrological sign of Cancer.


Cancerian

(astrology) A person born under the astrological sign of Cancer.


quintile

(astrology) An aspect of planets that are distant from each other by one fifth of a zodiac (72°)


tasseomancy

From French tasse (“cup”) + -mancy (“divination”).


Mother Nature

But when you’re in a struggle with one of Mother Nature’s challenges — like a virus or a climate change — the goal is not to defeat her. No one can. She’s just chemistry, biology and physics. The goal is to adapt.

2020 April 28, Thomas L. Friedman, “Is Sweden Doing It Right?”, in New York Times:

A personification of nature as woman, emphasizing fertility and fecundity.

Mare Naturalesa

the personification of Nature and the Earth's biosphere as a woman


moonchild

From moon + child, because the ruling planet of Cancer is the Moon. The term is used to avoid the negative connotations of the word cancer.

The punk icon and bottle-blond beauty is a moonchild who, like most Cancer women, has a "heart of glass."

2007, Holiday Mathis, Rock Your Stars: Your Astrological Guide to Getting It All:


fortune-teller

/ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn ˈtɛlə/

The usual exchange between English children is as follows: A: Who do you love? (referring to one of the names on the fortune-teller) B: Simon. A: S-I-M-O-N (alternately opens and shuts the device as he or she says each letter).

2006, Andrew Wright, David Betteridge, Michael Buckby, Games for Language Learning, page 137:


horary

From Medieval Latin hōrārius, from Latin hōra (“hour”).

But every kind of personal problem could be dealt with as an horary question.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 276:

This aspect of astrology impinged on medicine too, since an horary question could be a request for diagnosis, in which case the doctor might answer it by inspecting not just the arrangement of the heavens but also a sample of the patient's urine, bearing in mind when it was passed or when it was brought to him.

2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor, Arrow, published 2007, page 295:

(astrology, of a question) Whose answer can be worked out by drawing up a horoscope of the exact time the question was asked.


folkish

en-adj

folkish (comparative more folkish, superlative most folkish)

more folkish (comparative)
most folkish (superlative)

universalist

chiefly US; related to their opponents, neopagan groups that support marginalized people

From folk + -ish. (Compare Old English folcisc, and German völkisch.)

neo-völkisch

related to far-right or racist neopagan groups

(religion, Germanic paganism) Practicing a form of Heathenry that is traditional.

(religion, Germanic paganism, especially in white supremacy and Nazism) Practicing far-right and racist forms of Heathenry that are hostile towards minorities, Christians, and Jewish people; and also supporting Nazi influences.


magickal

magickal (comparative more magickal, superlative most magickal)

more magickal (comparative)
most magickal (superlative)

You must decide for yourself whether a new, additional name will help or hinder your magickal growth.

1990, “Amber K”, in True Magick: A Beginner's Guide:

What magickal techniques do you use that work well for you?

2002, Joyce Higginbotham, Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-centered Religions:

You can even use it as a seal on your magickal correspondence.

2003, Denise Zimmermann, Katherine Gleason, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft:

Involving, or pertaining to, magick (in modern occultism).


haunted house

en-noun

haunted house (countable and uncountable, plural haunted houses)

بَيْت أَشْبَاح

house believed to be a center for supernatural occurrences

It was easy to see that it was an avoided house—a house that was shunned by the village, to which my eye was guided by a church spire some half a mile off—a house that nobody would take. And the natural inference was, that it had the reputation of being a haunted house.

1859, Charles Dickens, “The Mortals in the House”, in The Haunted House:

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see haunted, house.


universalist

en-adj

universalist (comparative more universalist, superlative most universalist)

more universalist (comparative)
most universalist (superlative)

(religion, US, paganism, Germanic paganism) Following a form of neopaganism, especially Germanic neopaganism, that is supportive of minorities and marginalized groups.


psychographic

(spiritualism) Relating to seances or occult communication.


necromance

en-verb

necromance (third-person singular simple present necromances, present participle necromancing, simple past and past participle necromanced)

necromances (present singular third-person)
necromancing (participle present)
necromanced (participle past)
necromanced (past)


aphetically

en-adv

aphetically (comparative more aphetically, superlative most aphetically)

more aphetically (comparative)
most aphetically (superlative)

(astrology) In an aphetic way: pertaining to the apheta.


carbon-ferrous

(astrology) Pertaining to a type of asteroid, meteor, or comet, that contains mainly the carbon element and iron.


claircognizance

Presumably from late 17th century French clair (“clear”) + cognizance.

The ability for a person to acquire psychic knowledge without knowing how or why they knew it.


clairsentience

From late 17th century French clair (“clear”) + sentience (“feeling”).

The psychic ability for a person to acquire knowledge by means of feeling.


clairalience

From late 17th century French clair (“clear”) + alience (“smelling”).

An episode of clairalience occurred for me during an animal communication with a dog that had chronic eosinophilic pneumonopathy, a lung disease that was causing congestion and thick nasal discharge. I received a distinctly rank odor associated with the nests of pack rats that the client had found under the bathtub and pantry in her old home.

2017, Karlene Stange, The Spiritual Nature of Animals: A Country Vet Explores the Wisdom, Compassion, and Souls of Animals:

To develop your clairalience, small everything! Do not turn your nose up to the opportunity of smelling the world after rainfall, flowers on a walk, fruit and vegetables in the supermarket, puts during cuddles, coffee in the morning, cooking smells in the evening, candles and incense.

2021, Shelley F. Knight, Good Grief: The A To Z Approach Of Modern Day Grief Healing:

Many people suddenly smell a scent from an unidentified source that reminds them of a loved one who has passed. This is more common than we realize, regardless of whether these are examples of clairalience.

2021, Carla Camins Macapinlac, Vade Mecum: An Always-Present Guide to Your Divine Path:

Sometimes, clairalience can be an early indicator of something. As with any clairsense, it can come in handy when loved ones are in trouble.

2021, Vincent Higginbotham, How Witchcraft Saved My Life:

the ability to acquire psychic knowledge by means of smelling.


saturnal

From Latin saturnalis, itself from the Roman god Saturnus + -alis '-al'.

This increased period extends in the trans-Saturnal sphere of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

2004, Mantak Chia, Dirk Oellibrandt, Taoist Astral Healing: Chi Kung Healing Practices Using Star and Planet Energies, →ISBN, page 92:

(Roman mythology, astrology) Of or pertaining to the Ancient Roman god Saturn or to the corresponding planetary entity in astrology.


rascette

From Middle French rachette, rascette, from Late Latin racheta, rasceta (“wrist, ankle”), diminutive of rasca, from Arabic رَاحَة (rāḥa, “palm of the hand”).

uder

(palmistry) The lines or wrinkles running across the wrist at the base of the palm.

腕紋

the lines running across the wrist at the base of the palm


benefic

In the previous condition of overcoming, it was notable that while the malefics could only maltreat by overcoming through a superior sign-based square, the benefics could bonify by overcoming through a superior square or trine.

2017, Chris Brennan, Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune, page 471:


Lilith

bor

Hebrew לִילִית (lîlîṯ)

(astrology) The "dark moon" or "black moon", a fictitious invisible second moon of Earth proposed by astrologers in the early 20th century. Now often interpreted as the position of the apogee of the actual Moon, or as the empty focus of the Moon's elliptical orbit (Earth occupying the other focus).


technopaganism

Any of various neo-pagan movements with an emphasis on technology, such as the use of modern devices in magic rituals.


ghosthunting

Investigations that aim to track down ghosts.

spokenjacht

Investigations aiming to track down ghosts


ghosthunter

They watched the two ghost-hunters run own the corridor and go crashing over the trip-wire.

1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 119:

His reputation as a ghosthunter grew stronger and others began contacting him for investigations and "exorcisms."

1992, Blanche Barton, The secret life of a Satanist: the authorized biography of Anton LaVey:

The most prolific and successful German horror writer of the Hefte is Helmut Rellergerd (1945-), who writes as Jason Dark about a ghosthunter named John...

1999, John Clute, John Grant, The encyclopedia of fantasy:

The Frighteners (1996) has a ghosthunter, Frank, working with a trio of ghosts who infest premises that he then clears.

2004, Tom Ruffles, Ghost images: cinema of the afterlife:

The last two years have certainly made me a ghosthunter, perhaps not in the intensive style exhibited by ghosthunter clubs and "professional" ghosthunters...

2005, John B Kachuba, Ghosthunting Illinois:

A person who attempts to track down ghosts.


Oriental

en-adj

Oriental (comparative more Oriental, superlative most Oriental)

more Oriental (comparative)
most Oriental (superlative)

/ɔːɹiˈɛntəl/

From Middle English oriental, from Anglo-Norman oriental, Middle French oriental, from Latin orientālis (“eastern”), from oriēns (“rising (of the Sun)”), present active participle of orior (“I rise”).

(astronomy, astrology) Pertaining to the eastern part of the sky; happening before sunrise.


right-hand path

(occultism) A path through life that focuses on deities or divinity rather than the terrestrial.


left-hand path

(occultism) A path through life that values the advancement and preservation of the self and the pursuit of terrestrial goals, rather than the worship of intangible deities.


chink-a-chink

A magic trick where four small items appear to move around a mat with just the wave of the magician's bare hands.


cosmicism

The literary philosophy developed by the American writer H. P. Lovecraft, stating that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as God, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence.


triquetra

en-noun

triquetra (plural triquetras or triquetrae)

From Latin triquētrus (“having three corners”).

der

A shape formed of three vesicae piscium, sometimes with an additional circle, a symbol of things and persons that are threefold (including the Christian Trinity), and a symbol of protection in Wicca.


genius loci

head

genius loci (plural genii loci or genii locorum)

genii loci (plural)
genii locorum (plural)

jēʹnyəs lōʹkī

jēʹnyəs lōʹsī

/ˈɡɛnɪˌʊs ˈloʊki/

jēʹnyəs lōʹkī

jēʹnyəs lōʹsī

/ˈɡɛnɪˌʊs ˈləʊki/

Learned borrowing from Latin genius loci (“tutelary deity of a/the place”), from the singular genitive form of locus (“place”).

lbor

(Roman mythology) The minor deity or spirit watching over a particular place.


genius locorum

jēʹnĭəs lŏkôʹrəm

/ˈd͡ʒiːnɪəs lɒˈkɔːɹəm/

A borrowing of Latin genius locorum (“tutelary spirit of the places”), employing the genitive plural of locus (“place”).

bor

(rare) A single spirit or minor deity (genius) which watches over several places, rather than only one.


cheiromantist

"Duchess, this is Mr. Podgers, my pet cheiromantist. Mr. Podgers, this is the Duchess of Paisley, and if you say she has a larger mountain of the moon than I have, I will never believe in you again."

1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 1, in Lord Arthur Savile's Crime:


horoscopy

(astrology) The aspect of the stars at the time of a person's birth.


zodiac sign

(astrology) Any of the twelve star signs corresponding to the constellations which make up the zodiac.


An R with a cross-stroke indicating an abbreviation (of recipe, response, retrograde etc). In the case of a prescription, abbreviating Latin recipe (“take this”, second-person singular imperative of recipiō); it is sometimes typeset as, or even interpreted as, a digraph Rx. Compare also Dx (“diagnose, diagnosis”) and Hx (“history”).

der

second-person singular imperative of <i class="Latn mention" lang="la">recipiō</i>


SCP

(genre): An initialism of special containment procedures. Not an initialism of the SCP Foundation’s motto, secure, contain, protect, which is a backronym from SCP.

init

SCP Breakout is an SCP experience based on the horror genre of the same title.

If you start reading or just heard about SCP and the writing community. This is the book to start reading.

2021, Grace Anderson Wilson, Terrifying SCP Horror Stories:

(fandom slang) A genre of science fiction horror consisting of quasi-scientific reports on the capture, containment, and attempted study of a variety of supernatural entities by the fictional shadow organization known as the SCP Foundation.


yod

(astrology) A significant astrological alignment, see Yod in Wikipedia.


biquintile

(astrology) An aspect of two planets that are distant from each other by two fifths of a great circle (72 degrees)


Arietian

From Latin Arietianus, from Aries + -ianus (“-ian”), from aries (“ram”).

(astrology) Synonym of Arian, of or related to Aries, its nature, or its influence.


Arietian

(astrology) Synonym of Aries, a person born under the influence of Aries.


Indigo child

Coined in the 1970s by Nancy Ann Tappe, a synaesthete who claimed to perceive most children under the age of ten with an indigo aura.

Adults misunderstand this behavior as being contrary or difficult, when it is simply the Indigo child attempting to find emotional respite.

1989, Barbara Bowers, What Color is Your Aura?, page 203:

(New Age) A child believed to be the next stage of human evolution; believed to have paranormal abilities like telepathy, or to be more empathic, independent, and creative than his or her peers.


deosil

Before people started arriving, I began the day as I always did: by sprinkling saltwater widdershins—counterclockwise—around the perimeter of my shop, then smudging deosil—clockwise—with a sage bundle.

2012, Juliet Blackwell, In a Witch's Wardrobe: A Witchcraft Mystery, New York, NY: New American Library, →ISBN, page 32:


decan

(Egyptology, astrology) One of a collection of 36 small constellations or zodiacal subdivisions that appear heliacally at intervals of 10 days or are separated by approximately 10 degrees.


Chiron

(astronomy, astrology) A centaur (minor planet) and comet-like/asteroid-like object, orbiting between Saturn and Uranus.


midheaven

(astrology) The intersection of the ecliptic and meridian above the horizon


clairsentient

en-adj

clairsentient (comparative more clairsentient, superlative most clairsentient)

more clairsentient (comparative)
most clairsentient (superlative)

Exhibiting or pertaining to clairsentience.


Summerland

A census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California, United States.

census-designated place
census-designated place

Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County#English


lation

Copernicus placed the Sun at the centre of the Universe, exempt from any sort of lation.

17th century, John Donne, Elegy XI: The Autumnal
Since such love's natural lation is, may still
My love descend, and journey down the hill,
Not panting after growing beauties. So,
I shall ebb on with them who homeward go.

(astrology, obsolete) Motion of a celestial object from one place to another; local motion.


infortune

en-verb

infortune (third-person singular simple present infortunes, present participle infortuning, simple past and past participle infortuned)

infortunes (present singular third-person)
infortuning (participle present)
infortuned (participle past)
infortuned (past)

From Latin infortunium. See in- (“not”), and fortune.

(astrology, of a planet) To have a malign influence


dispositor

The ascendant and the dispositors of the Sun and the Moon bear signification of the mind, and the lord of the ascendant and the Moon of the body.

1795, Ebenezer Sibly, A New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences:

(obsolete, astrology) The planet that is lord of the sign where another planet is.


significator

In this diagram there was one significator which pressed remarkably upon our astrologer's attention. ― Sir W. Scott

(astrology) A planet that is supposed to rule something.

significateur

In fact, I have fallen out of the habit of separating a significator from the deck because most layouts have positions to indicate the role that a person is acting out, or that otherwise reflect his status and state of mind.

2001, Janina Renée, Tarot for a New Generation, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN, page 17:

(cartomancy) A card representing a querent, question, or situation.


aspected

Ficinus, cap. 19, saith they are most prone to this burning lust, that have Venus in Leo in their horoscope, when the Moon and Venus be mutually aspected […]

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III, section 2, member 2, subsection i:

(astrology, obsolete) Subject to a particular planetary aspect.


satellitium

(astrology) A grouping of several planets in a sign.


semisquare

(astrology) An aspect made by two planets when they are 45 degrees apart from each other.


starcraft

en-noun

starcraft (usually uncountable, plural starcrafts)

From star + -craft, the latter part from Old English -cræft (“-craft”).

On the same morning, almost the same hour, / Under the selfsame aspect of the stars, / (Oh falsehood of all starcraft!) we were born. / How like each other was the birth of each!

1827–1879 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “Part I”, in The Lover’s Tale, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1879, →OCLC, page 18:

The art of interpreting or reading the stars, astrology.


ghostbusting

(informal) The activities of a ghostbuster; exorcism of ghosts.


moonblood

From moon + blood, as the lunar cycle is traditionally linked to menstruation.

When the menopausal woman was seen as holding her moonblood within her for greater power, menopause was not the trauma that modern society makes it today.

1990, Diane Stein, Casting the circle: a women's book of ritual, page 72:

Bring some of your saved moonblood and make blood drawings […]

1991, Shekhinah Mountainwater, Ariadne's thread: a workbook of goddess magic, page 133:

Your smile soothed each cramp when my moonblood was nigh.
You promised relief when enough years passed by.
I bury this symbol in honor of You.
With my thanks for Your gift as I start life anew.

1998, Dorothy Morrison, Everyday magic: spells and rituals for modern living, page 214:


tetragram

/ˈtɛ.tɹə.ˌɡɹæm/

In the Taixuanjing, a sequence of four lines, each of which may be unbroken, broken once, or broken twice. Each sequence is interpreted as an element of the sets of solid lines (⚊ for Heaven), once-broken lines (⚋ for Earth) and twice-broken lines (𝌀 for Man) formed by combinations of four monograms (two digrams or bigrams, in other words) in the divination of the Taixuanjing.


matutine

From Latin, from matutinus (“pertaining to morning”), from Matuta (“Roman goddess of the morning”); related to Latin maturus (“early”) (compare mature).

1817, Ebenezer Sibly, The New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology, Volume 2, Revised Edition, 1822 printing, page 1031,
If, at the time of the matutine ſetting of the Dolphin, there be ſhowers, there will be none at the riſing of Arcturus. […] The matutine riſing of the greater Dog begetteth heat, troubleth the ſeas, and changeth all things.

Matutine planets are those which in their rising precede the Sun.[…]We must also know in what conditions the matutine star rejoices and in what the vespertine star rejoices, for they are protected in a favorable position whenever they precede the Sun.

1975, Julius Firmicus Maternus, translated by Jean Rhys Bram, Ancient Astrology Theory And Practice: Matheseos libri VIII, page 39:

The star indicates much trouble for the native in whose chart it is matutine rising or setting, but if the aspect is matutine culmination Arcturus brings riches and honor.

1990, George Noonan, Fixed Stars and Judicial Astrology, page 14:

(astrology) Before the sun (of the rising of a planet or star); that rises before the sun (of a planet or star).


Rule of Three

(religion, Wicca) A religious tenet held by some Wiccans, stating that whatever energy, positive or negative, a person puts into the world will be returned threefold.


rule of three

(religion, Wicca) A religious tenet stating that the energy a person puts out into the world, positive or negative, will be returned to that person threefold.


Kemetism

Neopagan revivals of Ancient Egyptian religions.


astromancy

From astro- + -mancy. From Latin astromantīa, from Ancient Greek ἀστρομαντεία (astromanteía), from ἄστρον (ástron, “star”) + μαντεία (manteía, “divination”).

der

ἀστρομαντεία

In the ancient world and in the Middle Ages astrology was the science of planets and stars, astrolatry was the worship of stars, and astromancy was the practice of soothsaying and divination by means of celestial configurations. We use the word biology for the science of living things and properly speaking we should use the word astrology for the science of stars. But astrology became corrupted and took the place of astrolatry and astromancy. Astrology now is the mythological belief that the affairs of human beings are influenced by the heavenly bodies. Millions of people in America read the astrology (or rather the astromancy) columns in the daily newspapers; they find astromancy interesting and entertaining, for it is anthropocentric and connects human beings and the universe in ways that are meaningful to most people.

2000, Edward Harrison, Cosmology: The Science of the Universe, page 25:

Divination by the stars; astrology in its modern prophetic aspect.


tripudium

(historical) A solemn religious dance of the Ancient Romans, performed in triple time.

A form of divination based on the observation of birds feeding.


vitki

(Germanic paganism) A sorcerer in Norse Heathen societies.


Supermoon

(astrology, astronomy) Alternative form of supermoon


Super Moon

(astrology) Alternative form of supermoon


supermoon

From super- + moon. Coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.

coin

And should the moon happen to hit its ever-shifting orbital perigee at the same time that it lies athwart from the sun, we are treated to a so-called supermoon, a full moon that can seem close enough to embrace – as much as 12 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the average full moon. […] Some astronomers dislike the whole supermoon hoopla. They point out that the term originated with astrology, not astronomy; that perigee full moons are not all that rare, coming an average of every 13 months; and that their apparently swollen dimensions are often as much a matter of optical illusion and wishful blinking as of relative lunar nearness.

2014 September 7, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times:

(astrology, astronomy) A full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range.

superlluna

a full moon or new moon, when the Earth–Moon distance is in the lowest tenth of its range


decumbiture

/dɪˈkʌmbɪt͡ʃɚ/

From Latin dēcumbo (“lie or fall down”).

By casting a figure for the decumbiture, or moment when the patient felt ill, and by resolving a question on the sight of his urine, the astrological doctor claimed to be able to diagnose the disease, prescribe the treatment, foretell when the sickness would reach its crisis, and prognosticate its eventual outcome.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 277:

(astrology, now historical) The time one takes to one's bed during an illness, as used for astrological prognostications; or a chart drawn up to express this.


white magic

Widespread popular tolerance of white magic thus helped to mitigate the rigours of the law.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 238:

(idiomatic) Magic derived from good or benign forces, as distinct from evil or malevolent forces; or magic performed with the intention of doing good or giving aid.


orlay

Learned borrowing from Old English orlæġ (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *oʀlag, *uʀlag, from Proto-Germanic *uzlagą (“destiny; fate”, literally “that which is laid out; out-lay; plan; design”). Equivalent to or- + lay.

der

There laws they laid, there life chose, To men's sons, and spoke orlay […]

2004, Nathaniel Harris, Witcha: A Book of Cunning:

I am fully aware of how Oaths affect my Orlay and my Wyrd. I am Oathed to no one, save the Holy Ones and my Wife.

2006, An Heathen Reader: Some Thoughts on the State of Things I Think, anheathenreader.blogspot.com/.../some-thoughts-on-state-of-things-i.html

You could think of your own orlay as the source or seed of your “personal wyrd.” A newborn infant initially inherits its orlay from its parents and ancestors. This initial orlay is its heritage, compiled from the words and deeds of those ancestors.

2009, Alaric Albertsson, Travels Through Middle Earth:

These deeds done within the innangard of the tribe by its tribesmen are its law, its orlay.

2011, Swain Wodening, The Sacred and the Holy:

Remember how I wrote at the beginning of this chapter that the Norns 'shape' orlay. Orlay itself gives a person 'shape' within the dimensions of Time and Wyrd.

2021, Winifred Rose, Heathen Soul Lore Foundations:


octavation

First attested in 1922; probably formed as octav(e) + -ation, but compare octavate.

This octavation will be qualified (and perhaps rendered nil) if on a day when Uranus is well aspected its octave Mercury should be adversely aspected, or vice versa.

1947, George Llewellyn, Improved Perpetual Planetary Hour Book (rev. ed.), page 170

(astrology, rare) The relationship between two planets that are distant from each other by one eighth of a great circle (45.625 degrees)


as above, so below

The concept was first laid out in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus: "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing."

(occultism) What happens on a higher level of reality also happens on lower levels; the microcosm and macrocosm behave alike.

Emerald Tablet
Hermes Trismegistus
as above, so below

jak nahoře, tak dole

what happens on a higher level of reality also happens on lower levels

quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius


antiscion

From Ancient Greek ἀντίσκιον (antískion), from ἀντι- (anti-, “opposite”) + σκιά (skiá, “shadow”).

(astrology) The mirror image, or shadow, of a planet, based upon a line of reference which is the axis of 0 Cancer/0 Capricorn (the position of the sun at the solstices).


Temperance

From temperance. A virtue name first used by Puritans in the 16th century.

(tarot) The fourteenth trump or major arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks.


triple goddess

(Wicca) Alternative letter-case form of Triple Goddess


Proserpina

From Latin Prōserpina from Ancient Greek Περσεφόνη (Persephónē) by metathesis perhaps first in Magna Graecia via a Sicilian Doric Greek Προσερπίνα (Proserpína) or Ionic Greek Προσερπίνη (Proserpínē), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pers-o- (“sheaf of corn, grain, seed”) and *gʷʰn̥-t- (“to strike”), meaning 'corn-thresher'.

(astrology) A fictitious planet beyond Pluto


theomancy

(historical) A kind of divination drawn from the responses of oracles.


thought-form

Two people can have the same idea at the same time because they felt the same thought-forms.

One can feel the threatening energy of the thought-forms left in the room after a tense fight.

(spiritualism) A manifestation of the thoughts, ideas or emotions of someone. It is believed to be able to be sensed by people and take physical form within the spirit world.


Odinic

en-adj

Odinic (comparative more Odinic, superlative most Odinic)

more Odinic (comparative)
most Odinic (superlative)

Hermann Pálsson, in his essay “Odinic Echoes in Gísla saga,” attempts to collect literary evidence for the importance of Odin's cult in early Iceland.

2009, Adam Oberlin, “Odinic Elements in the Northern Sigurdr Legend”, in Myth: German and Scandinavian Studies:

Perceived Heathenism and Odinic Prayer.

Neil Gaiman's American Gods (2001) centres on Odinic myth transposed to modern America.

2014, Carolyne Larrington, The Poetic Edda (revised version), Folio Society 2016, p. xxiv


semisextile

1825, Society of the Mercurii (LONDON), The Astrologer of the Nineteenth Century; Or, The Master Key of Futurity, and Guide to Ancient Mysteries, Being a Complete System of Occult Philosophy. ... By the Members of the Mercurii; Raphael, the Metropolitan Astrologer; the Editor of the Prophetic Almanack; and Other Sideral Artists. ... The Seventh Edition, Supervised ... by Merlinus Anglius, Junior, Gent. [i.e. R. C. Smith]., page 265:
The semisextile, or twelfth part of a circle , is a distance of thirty degrees in the zodiac[…]

(astrology) An aspect of the planets when they are distant from each other the twelfth part of a circle, or thirty degrees.


ornithomancy

This chapter in the great volume of superstition was indeed cultivated with unusual solicitude amongst the Pagans - ornithomancy (or the derivation of omens from the motions of birds) grew into an elaborate science.

1840 April, Thomas de Quincey, “Modern Superstition”, in Blackwoods Magazine, page 564, column 2:

Ornithomancy was a popular way of searching into futurity.

1880, James Grant, The Mysteries of all Nations, Leith: Reid & Son, page 380:

Divination by means of birds, especially from their behaviour, flight, vocalisations, etc.


osteomancy

From Ancient Greek; corresponding to osteo- + -mancy. Probably coined by John Selden in 1612.


ghostology

en-noun

ghostology (usually uncountable, plural ghostologies)

/ɡəʊsˈtɒləd͡ʒi/

[…] it seemed even more unaccountable than if it had been a thing of ghostology and witchcraft.

1872, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Septimius Felton; or, the Elixir of Life:

This, as all students of ghostology are aware, has frequently been the case; and it was precisely the case with the ghost seen by the famous Lord Brougham, […]

1908, H. Addington Bruce, “The Ghost Seen by Lord Brougham”, in Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters:

Experts in ghostology know exactly, where ghosts live, how they behave, how to deal with them, how to make them appear and disappear.

1957, William L. Fischer, Critical Notes on Evolution, page 30:

The knowledge, or study of ghosts or spirits; the science of the supernatural; spiritism.


tephramancy

Divination by ashes, especially, especially those of a victim has been sacrificed.


Crone

[…] different stages of life as represented by our Lady as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, as well as our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.

2002, A.J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, page 90:

The Lady is often thought of as having three aspects: Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

2004, Aurora Greenbough, Cathy Jewell, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spells and Spellcraft, page 9:

(Wicca) One of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Mother and Maiden, representing an old woman.


Maiden

(Wicca) One of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Crone and Mother representing a girl or a young woman


sortilegious

en-adj

sortilegious (comparative more sortilegious, superlative most sortilegious)

more sortilegious (comparative)
most sortilegious (superlative)

Despite the sortilegious lighting, this is not a traditional witches' brew but a turtle soup being tested for her cookbook.

1970 April 10, “The Good Witch Of The West”, in Life, page 69:


manred

Borrowed from Welsh manred (“atom, mote”), formed from mân (“small”) + rhed (“course, flow”) in the 19th century.

bor+

They were made of the manred, that is, of the elements in the extremities of their particles and smallest atom … God was in each of the particles of the manred, […]

2003, Kennth Morris, “Druidism”, in G. De Purucker, editor, Theosophical Path Magazine, January to June 1930, Kessinger Publishing, →ISBN, page 131:

God pronounce his ineffable name, and Manred, the primal substance of the Universe, was formed. Manred was composed of thousands of teeming atoms in each of which God was present, and each was part of God.

2004, Lewis Spence, “The Celtic Idea of the Origin of Man”, in An Introduction to Mythology, Cosimo, Inc, →ISBN, page 169:

(Celtic paganism, Theosophy) The primal substance of the Universe


spodomancy

From Ancient Greek σποδός (spodós) + -mancy.


heartline

(palmistry) A line on the palm supposed to reflect a person's emotional state.


spiritism

en-noun

spiritism (countable and uncountable, plural spiritisms)


semiquintile

(astrology) An aspect of the planets when distant from each other half of the quintile, or thirty-six degrees.


high priestess

high priestess (plural high priestesses)

(tarot) The second trump or major arcana card in most traditional tarot decks.

(Wicca) A third degree (sometimes forth degree) female witch in Wicca.


cronehood

Many circles create ceremonies to mark a woman's passage into cronehood and designate special status to crones

2000, Beverly Engel, Women Circling the Earth, page 34:

An archaic term, really, but I like it. crone: A menopausal or post-menopausal Wiccan. The time at which a woman assumes her cronehood is intensely individual.

2006, Ashleen O'Gaea, Family Wicca: practical paganism for parents and children, page 213:

Grant (name) the gifts of inspiration, and a clear and quick mind as he/she approaches the honored state of (Sagehood/Cronehood).

2007, Kevin M. Gardner, A Handbook for Wiccan Clergy, page 29

She speaks her commitment to herself as an elder and to the aspects of cronehood she will celebrate.

2007, Ruth Barrett, Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation, page 9:

(Wicca) The elderly stage of a female Wiccan witch (compared with the Crone aspect of the Goddess).


lemures

Coordinate term: Lares

The Lars and Lemures moan with midnight plaint.

1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:

So still lay the figure, and so dim was its outline, that any other than Arbaces might have felt a superstitious fear, lest he beheld one of those grim lemures, who, above all other spots, haunted the threshold of the homes they formerly possessed.

1834, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter VII, in The Last Days of Pompeii. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […]; successor to Henry Colburn, →OCLC, book IV, page 13:

(Roman mythology) The spirits or ghosts of the dead, considered as malignant.


discriminal

Latin discriminalis (“serving to divide”).

uder

(palmistry) Applied to the line which marks the separation between the hand and the arm.


chirognomy

From chiro- (“hand”) + -gnomy, from physiognomy.

The art of judging character by the shape and appearance of the hand.


chronomancy

The divination of the best time to do something, or the determination of lucky and unlucky days.


covenstead

From coven + stead; first attested in 1969.

He began being late for meetings and, as some members travelled quite a distance to the covenstead and had to leave promptly afterwards, Alex took him to task.

1969, June Johns, King of the witches: the world of Alex Sanders, page 108:

1986, Raymond Buckland, Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, link
It used to be that one covendom could not overlap another, so one covenstead would never be closer than six miles to the next.

1993, Janet Thompson, Of Witches: Celebrating the Goddess As a Solitary Pagan, page 29,
If that is the case, then the home of the high Priestess is likely to be referred to as the covenstead.

The covenstead is the meeting place of a coven.

1999, James R. Lewis, Witchcraft today: an encyclopedia of Wiccan and neopagan traditions, page 66:

(Wicca) A permanent circle or temple used to meet for rituals and to store religious items, often a mundane location.

For the last year, the entire covenstead had noticed an increase in the number of outsiders on their properties.

1995, Silver RavenWolf, Beneath a Mountain Moon, published 2005, page 104:

In connection with these principles the Dianic Covenstead had a very effective series of exercises and techniques for regaining kinship and attunement with nature.

2006, Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America, page 128:

It was easy to say they'd all get along fine—join other covensteads or live free like most everybody else, but the truth was that joining a covenstead was no easy task, and most wouldn't know what to do with themselves without a witch to serve.

2009, Diana Pharaoh Francis, Bitter Night: A Horngate Witches Book, page 53:

(Wicca, metonymically) A Wiccan congregation.


covendom

(Wicca) The area served by a covenstead and inhabited by members of the coven.


stichomancy

From sticho- + -mancy. First used to translate French stichomantie in Rabelais.

Divination by randomly selecting lines or passages from books.


onomancy

en-noun

onomancy (usually uncountable, plural onomancies)

From Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”) + -mancy. Compare nomancy.

divination by the letters of a name; nomancy


pegomancy

Ancient Greek πηγή (pēgḗ, “fountain”) + -mancy.

This was the Pegomancy of the Greeks; who also solicited the answer of the Nymphs of the Spring, by offerings of bread, stones, or coins, or by dipping in a mirror, and construing the figures which the water had left on it.

1824, John Macculloch, The Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland:

Needless to say, “midden,” if we are to translate, is the stuff through which one is trying to walk in that footless stocking while the editors of National Review are failing to bite the bullet and forsake all squalid pegomancy for pedomancy.

1975, Norman Mailer, letter to William F. Buckley Jr.


trioctile

The Twentieth day about Four a Clock the Moon entered the 25 degree, 19 minutes of ꝳ and came to a Trioctile with the Radical Place of the Moon in the third Indicative, (Jupiter benignly Irradiating the Moon by a Trine about the same time,) denounced a propitious Crisis to ensue.

1683, George Wharton, The Works of that Late Most Excellent Philosopher and Astronomer, Sir George Wharton, page 123:

They were trioctile in the natal chart, showing conflict between those parts of the nature, some variation on the conflict between fire ( self-will and self-confidence) and earth reality limits whether in the form of natural law, authority figures, or our own experience.

1985, Zipporah Pottenger Dobyns, William Wrobel, Seven Paths to Understanding, page 316:

Thereefore, both points must be tested, first that these four are feebler than the quintile and biquintile, and second that the decile and tridecile are stronger than the octile and trioctile, by a very little.

1997, Johannes Kepler, E. J. Aiton, Alistair Matheson Duncan, The Harmony of the World, page 345:

Important life periods are quadrature and opposition of Uranus, opposition and conjunction of Saturn, opposition and conjunction of Jupiter, sextile, quadrature, trine or trioctile and opposition of Neptune, sextile, quadrature or trine of Pluto.

2010, Ján Kaleta, Introduction to Aquarian Astrology, page 226:

(astrology) An aspect of two planets with regard to the Earth when they are three octants, or three eighths of a circle (135 degrees), distant from each other.


triplicity

triplicity (countable and uncountable, plural triplicities)

From triplic(ate) + -ity, from Latin triplicitas, from Latin triplex, triplicis (“threefold”). Compare French triplicité. See triplicate.

he very promptly and speedily formed and fashioned a complete fabric of the houses of heaven in all their parts, whereof when he had considered the situation and the aspects in their triplicities, he fetched a deep sigh, and said: I have clearly enough already discovered unto you the fate of your cuckoldry, which is unavoidable, you cannot escape it.

1693, Thomas Urquhart (translator), The Third Book (originally by François Rabelais) Chapter 25

(astrology) The division of the twelve signs according to the four elements.


psychography

psychography (usually uncountable, plural psychographies)

(spiritualism) The act of a spirit possessing one's physical body in order to write something.


drighten

From Middle English drihten, from Old English dryhten (“a ruler, king, lord, prince, the supreme ruler, the Lord, God, Christ”), from Proto-Germanic *druhtinaz (“leader, chief, lord”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to hold, hold fast, support”), equivalent to dright (“army, host”) + -en. Cognate with Scots drichtin, drichtine (“lord, the Lord”), and with Old Frisian drochten (“lord”), Old Saxon drohtin (“lord”), Old High German truhtin, Middle High German truhten, trohten (“ruler, lord”) (dialectal German Trechtin, Trechtein (“lord, God”)), Danish drot (“king”), Swedish drott (“king, ruler, sovereign”), Icelandic dróttinn (“hero, ruler, lord”), Finnish ruhtinas (“sovereign prince”). Related also to Old English dryht (“a multitude, an army, company, body of retainers, nation, a people, men”), Old English ġedryht (“fortune, fate”), Old English drēogan (“to serve in the military, endure”). More at dree.

cog

Believe me, my drighten, there is not one of us that has ever slacked on watch before!

(historical, Anglo-Saxon, Norse mythology, fantasy, paganism) A lord; ruler; sovereign; chief; leader; prince.


Horned God

(Wicca) The second major supernatural figure in the Wiccan religion, a triune god equal to the Goddess, split into the aspects of the Father, Master, and the Sage.


sideromancy

divination by studying the burning of straws on heated iron.


apotelesmatic

en-adj

apotelesmatic (comparative more apotelesmatic, superlative most apotelesmatic)

more apotelesmatic (comparative)
most apotelesmatic (superlative)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀποτελεσματικός (apotelesmatikós), from ἀποτέλεσμα (apotélesma, “effect of the stars on human destiny”). Morphologically, from apotelesm + -atic.

lbor

ἀποτελεσματικός

It will easily be supposed that when this apotelesmatic or judicial astrology obtained firm possession of men's minds, it would be pursued into innumerable subtle distinctions and extravagant conceits

1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences:

(obsolete, astrology) Relating to the casting of horoscopes.


pedomancy

May 13, 1975, Norman Mailer, letter to William f. Buckley, Jr.
Needless to say, “midden,” if we are to translate, is the stuff through which one is trying to walk in that footless stocking while the editors of National Review are failing to bite the bullet and forsake all squalid pegomancy for pedomancy.

Divination by examining the soles of the feet.


disposit

en-verb

disposit (third-person singular simple present disposits, present participle dispositing, simple past and past participle disposited)

disposits (present singular third-person)
dispositing (participle present)
disposited (participle past)
disposited (past)

From Latin dispositus, past participle of dispōnō.

Venus then indirectly disposits all planets in Leo because these planets are disposited by the Sun, ruler of Leo, and Venus disposits the Sun.

1983, Rose Lineman, Jan Popelka, Compendium of Astrology:

(astrology, transitive) To be located in the house of the sign ruled by the planet. For example, when a planet is in the house Gemini, it disposits Mercury because Mercury is the ruling sign of Gemini.


threefold law

(Wicca) A key tenet of Wicca, stating that the energy a person puts out into the world, whether positive or negative, will return to them multiplied three times.


wiccaning

The welcoming rite — referred to as a wiccaning, a saining, or a paganing — serves a threefold purpose.

1999, Helen A. Berger, A community of witches, page 90:

(Wicca) A Wiccan ritual analogous to baptism for infants.


sagehood

handpartings, the recognition of crone- or sagehood, and funeral or memorial services.

1998, Amber K, Robin Wood, Covencraft, page 129:

An elder Wiccan man, a male crone. Saging: (SAGE-ing) A ritual to recognize and announce a man's attainment of sagehood

2006, Ashleen O'Gaia, Family Wicca: practical paganism for parents and children, page 220:

Grant (name) the gifts of inspiration, and a clear and quick mind as he/she approaches the honored state of (Sagehood/Cronehood).

2007, Kevin M. Gardner, A Handbook for Wiccan Clergy, page 29

(Wicca) The elderly stage of a male Wiccan (compared with the Sage aspect of the Horned God).


white magick

(Wicca) Any magick used for good purposes


black magick

(Wicca) Any magick used for evil purposes


domify

domify (third-person singular simple present domifies, present participle domifying, simple past and past participle domified)

domifies (present singular third-person)
domifying (participle present)
domified (participle past)
domified (past)

There are various ways of domifying. That of Regiomontanus, which is the most common, makes the circles of position pass through the intersections of the meridian and the horizon; but others make them pass through the poles of the zodiac.

1842, Encyclopædia Britannica, volume VIII, page 101:

(astrology, obsolete) To divide (the heavens) into different astrological houses.


domification

Borrowed from Middle French domification; equivalent to domify + -ification.

bor+

Physike is received as Geometry: and jugling tricks, enchantments, bonds, the commerce of deceased spirits, prognostications, domifications, yea even this ridiculous wit and wealth-consuming pursuite of the Philosophers stone, all is emploied and uttered without contradiction.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

The introduction of alternative methods of domification was already exploited in Pico's Disputationes, which questioned both the natural philosophical basis of astrological houses and the contradictions on this matter in the astrological canon.

2003, Steven Vanden Broecke, The Limits of Influence, page 238:

The argument put forth by Copernicus that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the center of the heavens renewed concerns about domification.

2010, Katherine Crawford, The Sexual Culture of the French Renaissance, Cambridge, page 99:

(astrology) The division of the heavens into twelve astrological houses; or a particular system for such division.


synastry

en-noun

synastry (usually uncountable, plural synastries)

From Ancient Greek συναστρία (sunastría, “conjunction of the stars”).

der

(astrology) concurrence of the position or influence of stars


heathenry

en-noun

heathenry (usually uncountable, plural heathenries)

Asatru is one of the most popular types of heathenry.

2019, Theodoric Dukka, A Heathen's Guide Experiences & Advice On Magic & Spiritworking, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 7:

Alternative letter-case form of Heathenry (“Germanic (neo)paganism”)


apotelesm

And finally, the Elementes, and all thinges of the Elementes composed, do geue Testimonie (as Aristotle sayd) that theyr Whole Dispositions, vertues, and naturall motions, depend of the Actiuitie of the heauenly motions and Influences […] What shall be the heauenly Impression, the perfect and circumspecte Astrologien hath to Conclude. Not onely (by Apotelesmes) τὸ ὁτὶ. but by Naturall and Mathematicall demonstration τὸ διότι.

1570, John Dee, The Mathematicall Praeface to Elements of Geometrie of Euclid of Megara:

Had Alvarez the Spanyard endeavoured among us, to cure men with Apotelesmes or Figures, agreeable to the aspect of Heaven at our Birth, wee had laughed at him for an Almanack-maker.

1666, David Lloyd, “An Account of Mr. Valentine Greatrates, and his Performances”, in Wonders no miracles, or, Mr. Valentine Greatrates gift of healing examined upon occasion of a sad effect of his stroaking, page 29:

Duke William had a Mare that was with Fole of a Mule, and being near the time of her foling, he desired Fra. Paolo to bestow a Nights study with Astronomical Instruments, that the Horoscope, and natale Minute of the Beast might be known, with the situation of the Heavens, and the posture of the Stars at that time: which being done and reduced into the form of a Figure or Apotelesm, the Prince called Copies to be sent abroad[…]

1676, Pietro Soave Polano, “The Life of Father Paul the Venetian”, in Nathanael Brent, transl., The History of the Council of Trent, page xi:

“[…]I have just been drawing your apotelesm; your future lies open to me. But mind, look attentively at it.” The twins fixed their eyes on the star; presently it seemed to split asunder and form two complete stars[…]

1876, Adrien de Valvedre, At Dusk, page 206:

(astrology, obsolete) The calculation and explanation of a horoscope.


psychophony

From psycho- (“mind”) + -phony (“voice”).

Their motives are perhaps not entirely laudable and probably they are being fooled; but even if they are not getting authentic messages from the dead, yet some queer things have happened and are happening as a result of psychophony.

1922, Harper's Monthly Magazine, volume 145, page 679:

In this way the ancient knowledge of Pythagoras is applied in the most modern form of psychophony, and in this way, for the first time in the existence of the present world, the special mind-power vibrations which you require are reproduced on the invisible ether, at your command, by the use of the psychophonic records.

1996, C. De Radwan, The Secret of Mind Power and How to Use It, →ISBN, page 48:

Not uncommonly, the vibrations produce a sensation of inflation common in psychophony (vocal channeling) with the apparent expansion and swelling of the hands, feet, lips, cheeks, chin and solar plexus area.

2011, Sandie Gustus, Less Incomplete: A Guide to Experiencing the Human Condition beyond the Physical Body:

The third is the message of one or more spirits, which in psychophony is identified only as a spiritual friend.

2011, Group of Ethics Studies, The Ethics of Jesus Christ, →ISBN:

(spiritualism) Vocal communication with the dead or with spirits.


Taphthartharath

uder

Hebrew תפתרתרת

2080 Taphthartharath The spirit of Mercury תפתרתרת

1533, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy:

Somewhere in the universe on some subtle invisible plane, is an intelligence named Taphthartharath, for example, who is as real a being in his own way as one's own tailor is in his, […]

1968, Israel Regardie, The Tree of Life, Samuel Weiser, Inc., page 73:

(occult) Mercury's spirit, executing the malevolent influences of the planet.


tropical astrology

(astrology) A form of astrology that measures the position of the sun relative to the vernal equinox. This does not compensate for the precession of Earth's axis, so that the zodiac signs move around the sky relative to the vernal equinox by about one sign every 2150 years.


sidereal astrology

(astrology) A form of astrology that measures the position of the sun relative to the stars. This compensates for the precession of Earth's axis, which causes the zodiac signs to move around the sky relative to the vernal equinox.


gray magic

The term “gray” evolved for magic that could be classified as neither white nor black. Minor revenge would be considered a type of gray magic.

2002, Marion Weinstein, Positive Magic: Ancient Metaphysical Techniques for Modern Lives, page 63:

Copper remembered the old Grimoire she and Silver had used to learn gray magic.

2006, Cheyenne McCray, Seduced by Magic, page 3:

(Wicca) Any magic which transcends or blends white magic and black magic.

magia gris

magic which transcends or blends white and black