Glossary
[B]

BACULUM:
Witches rod, staff, wand, or broomstick used in divination and certain fertility spells.

BALEFIRE:
a ritual fire built for an outdoor Sabbat Festival. The Balefire is used for magickal purposes and is traditionally lit on Yule, Beltaine Midsummer.

BANE /BANES/ BANEFUL:
that which destroys life - Poisonous, dangerous, destructive.

BANISH:
the magickal act of driving away evil or negativity. A strong purification, sometimes associated with the removal of 'spirits'.

BARDIC TRADITION:
A tradition of telling of History and Legends through Storytelling and Song - derived from Celtic Tradition [see Talieson]

BARROW:
an elvin or Celtic burial mound often used by covens for Sabbats.

BAUCHAN:
(Buckwan) A less friendly type of brownie. One of the few types who will not leave when seen by the human residents of his home. They mostly stay around just to play tricks, but can be very helpful when the proper mood strikes (i.e. Callum mor Macintosh had a love/hate relationship with his Baucan companion. The love side must have been stronger because when Callum moved to the states his Bauchan came before him and cleared his plot of land for him.)

BCE:
Before-Common-Era is the nonreligeous equivalent of BC.

BELL:
1) An altar tool, symbol of the Goddess and rung during ritual to invoke Her. Also rung to ward off negative or evil and to evoke good energies.
2) to signal the beginning and/or end of a spell. Can symbolize the motion of the Elements and its swinging to and fro, represent the extremes of good and evil; positive and negative.

BELTANE:
the festival celebrated on April 30th or May 1st. It celebrates the union of the God and Goddess, Season of planting and fertility. Also called May Day, the May Pole tradition is a phallic symbol, marking the return of vitality, passion and consumated hopes. Pronounced b' YALt'n. Also see NOSWYL MAI.

BESOM:
Witches broom, used for cleansing - usually the round type. Symbol of the Element Water.

BEYOND THE VEIL:
the other side, veil between worlds, and crossing over - terms pertaining to those things beyond the physical realm and our 'normal' senses .... the body dies but the spirit crosses over.

BIDDY:
a 'doll' made from the last sheaf from the last harvest....SEE CORN DOLLY.

BIND:
To cast a spell of containment, also to practice ligature.

BIORHYTHM / CIRCADIAN RHYTHM:
this is the study of the three physical, intellectual, and emotional vibrations or components, that start when we are born or at conception; OPINIONS VARY. These then are tracked to predict high low days in a person's life. More simply put these are our INTERNAL CLOCKs, doing things like changing our temperature and blood pressure throughout the day...

1. PHYSICAL: state of the body, strength, vigor, pain, etc.
2.  INTELLECTUAL: state of the mind, logical thinking, problem solving ability, etc.
3. EMOTIONAL: state of personality, happy, irritated, angry, sad, elated, etc.

BIRTHSTONE OR SUNSTONE:
the crystal assigned to one's birthmonth, representing the Solar aspect. A natalstone.

BLESSED BE:
a recent greeting among Witches. Pronounced as three syllables.

BOLLINE:
a white handled knife, single edged to reflect it's working nature, and used in ritual purposes of cutting herbs, or engraving candles, etc. The white is to reflect the energy of applied work, maintaing purity to herbs and craft work.

BOOK OF SHADOWS:

1. Treasured rituals, spells, training techniques, procedures, guidelines, and other materials important to a Witch and/or coven are written down and placed within a Book or Archive. There are many types of these books in existence, a large number of them have been published even though most witches consider the contents a secret.
2. a Wiccan book of rituals, spells and other magickal lore. Best when handwritten. This is a very personal item, some say it should be destroyed at the 'passing over' of its owner, preferably by their Coven or Circle members. [see also Grimoire]

BOOK, MIRROR:
a diary record of personal magickal events.

BOUQUET:
in perfumery, a blend of natural or synthetic scents which produce a specific odor.

BRAZIER:
a thurible or incense burner. Usually ceramic or metal and often designed to be suspended or swung by a chain; usually ornate. The Brazier is often partly filled with sand so that incense sticks may be inserted or charcoal briquettes placed inside to burn.

BREDE:
is a misspelling of the phonetic sounding 'Bride', another name for Brigid, etc. and refers to the Goddess as well as the holiday of Imbolc, Candlemas, etc...Feb. 1st. See GWYL FAIR

BREW:
see infusion.

BRIGID:
also see Candlemas, a Sabbat Festival customarily held on February 2 eve. Also see GWYL FAIR:

BRITISH TRADITION:
This tradition of Wicca is made up of any of the old traditions closely related to the Gardnerian Craft but excluding family traditions and other British traditions dissimilar to Gardnerian Wicca.

BURIN:
an engraving tool, often made with wooden handle carved by the user.

BURNING TIMES, THE:
this refers to the three hundred year period of history called the Middle Ages, when over 180,000 people, of whom 87% where women, were tried tortured and put to death for the religious grounds of witchcraft. The Christian Church, during this time, stamped out religious practices they were opposed too - attaining a great deal of wealth for Church and State!

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