Making the Connection

aboriginal

Refers to a people that has lived or existed in a particular area or region from the earliest known times or from the beginning.

abyss

From late Latin abyssus and Greek abussos, which literally means "bottomless," stemming from bussos, meaning "bottom." A gorge or chasm that is unfathomably deep, vast or infinite, such as the bottomless pit of hell or a dwelling place of evil spirits.

Anti-Christ

From the Greek antikhristos. Any antagonist, opponent, or enemy of Jesus Christ, whether a person or a power. A false Christ.

black magick

The use of magic for evil purposes, calling upon the devil or evil spirits.

blasphemy

Something said or done which shows a disrespect for God or things that are sacred.

conquistadores

From the Latin conquirere meaning "to conquer." Spanish soldiers or adventurers, especially of the sixteenth century who conquered Peru, Mexico, or Central America.

coven

From the Anglo-Norman, mid-seventeenth century "assembly" and from convenire meaning convene.

dogma

From Greek stem word dogmat, meaning "opinion" or "tenet," and from dokein, "to seem good." A belief or set of beliefs, either political, religious, philosophical, or moral and held to be true.

hierophant

From the Latin hierophanta and Greek hierophantes, meaning literally a "sacred person who reveals something." An ancient Greek priest who revealed or interpreted the sacred mysteries, or holy doctrines, at the annual festival of Eleusis.

incarnation

A period of time in which a spirit or soul dwells in a bodily form or condition. One of a series of lives spent in a physical form.

indigenous

From a mid-seventeenth century word indigena, literally meaning "born-in," and from gignere, meaning "to beget." Inborn, intrinsic, or belonging to a place, such as originating, growing, or living in an area, environment, region, or country.

left-hand path

In occult tradition, a practitioner who practices black magick.

neophyte

From the Latin neophytus and Greek neophutos or phuein, "to plant" or "cause to grow"—literally meaning "newly planted." A beginner or novice at a particular task or endeavor. Somebody who is a recent convert to a belief. A newly ordained priest, or someone who is new to a religious order, but who has not yet taken their vows, so is not yet a part of the order.

Pan

In Greek mythology the god of nature or of the woods, fields, pastures, forests, and flocks. Is described as having the torso and head of a human, but the legs, ears, and horns of a goat.

pharaoh

From the Hebrew par'oh, Egyptian pr-'o, and Latin and Greek Pharao, meaning literally "great house." An ancient Egyptian title for the ruler or king of Egypt, often considered a tyrant and one who expected unquestioning obedience.

physiognomy

From phusis meaning "nature, character" and gnomon, "to judge." The art of judging a person's character or temperament by their physical features, especially facial features.

reincarnation

The reappearance or rebirth of something in a new form. Some religions or belief systems state that the soul returns to live another life in a new physical form and does so in a cyclical manner.

resurrection

The act of rising from the dead or returning to life. In Christian belief, the Resurrection was the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead after he was crucified and entombed. Resurrection also refers to the rising of the dead on Judgment Day, as anticipated by Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

right-hand path

In occult tradition, a practitioner who practices white magic.

Sabbath

From the Greek sabbaton, and the Hebrew sabba, both meaning "to rest." Sunday is observed as the Sabbath, or day of rest from work and for religious worship in Christianity, and Saturday is the Sabbath as observed by Judaism and some Christians.

Santeria

From Spanish santeria meaning "holiness". A religion which originated in Cuba by enslaved West African laborers that combines the West African Yoruba religion with Roman Catholicism and recognizes a supreme God as well as other spirits.

sarcophagus

From the Greek sarkophogos, which literally means "flesh-eater" and probably refers to the kind of limestone that was used in the making of coffins thought to decompose bodies rapidly.

spell

A formula or word believed to have magical power. A trance or a bewitched state.

vision

From the Latin vis, to see. Faculty of sight or a mental image produced by imagination. Can refer to a mystical experience of seeing as if with the eyes, only through a supernatural means such as in a dream, trance, or through a supernatural being, and one which often has religious, revelatory, or prophetic significance.

voodoo

From Louisiana French, voudou or vodu, meaning "fetish." A religion mainly practiced in the Caribbean countries, especially Haiti, that is comprised of a combination of Roman Catholic rituals and animistic beliefs involving fetishes, magic, charms, spells, curses, and communication with ancestral spirits.

white magick

The use of magic for supposed good purposes such as to counteract evil.