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Gardnerian Tradition A tradition of witchcraft based on the teachings of Gerald Gardner, who is considered by many to be the founder of modern Wicca.

Garter Long a symbol of witchcraft, this is a leather strap or thong tied about the left thigh; which may include gold or silver buckles which denote rank within a coven, or the number of covens run by a particular witch.

Gematria Considered part of the “literal qabalah,” gematria is the technique of converting names or words into numbers in order to find their meaning in their mathematical relationships, working from the premise that words or phrases which add up to the same number are somehow related. This technique can be viewed as a form of meditation, since the aim is not so much to discover the “true” meanings of the words but rather to discern as many patterns and connections as possible. Gematria was originally practiced with the Hebrew language, but the approach can be applied to any set of letters. The practice of gematria formed the early beginnings of numerology. See Temurah

Genii (ARB) In Islamic tradition, the genii are the intermediate race of spirits between angels and people, who ruled the earth before Adam. Also known as djinn, genn, or gin. See Spirit

Genius (LTN) From gignere to “to beget.” (1) An attendant spirit of a person or place. (2) A strong leaning or inclination. (3) Extraordinary intellectual power manifested in creative activity. See Inspiration

Genius Loci (LTN) (1) The tutelary deity of a place or city. (2) The pervading sprit of a place or local.

Geomancy A form of divination by us of the earth.

Gharb I Mutlaq (ARB) The Absolute Void. The plane beyond manifestation. See Sunyata

Ghost From the Old High German word geist, meaning spirit. Usually used to refer to the manifestation of a dead human. Many systems describe the soul as made of differing parts or layers. The “lower” or outer parts are responsible for daily habits, memories, and verbal thought. Indeed, the word “habit” comes from an Egyptian word for parts of the soul, khabit, meaning “something doubled.”

When the body dies, the higher part of the soul (the atma, or “true self”) continues its existence and spiritual journey while the lower parts usually disintegrate. Sometimes, these “shells” are inhabited by an elemental or other spiritual entity. It could be said that a ghost remains where it is and does what it does out of habit.

Most ghosts are not malevolent and generally disintegrate and fade away over a period of time unless provided with additional energy by some circumstance.

Some spiritualists claim that many ghosts are not aware that they have died. By many accounts, all that is required to banish such entities is to kindly but firmly tell them that their bodies have passed on and the rest of them can leave any time it is ready. See Kama-Rupa; Qlippoth; Shell.

Glamour A temporary state of illusionary enchantment. A form of magick involving the changing of a person's immediate perception of you. It normally is accomplished by simply altering the physical appearance (eye color, hair length, height, etc.) temporarily. However, it may also include changing someone's emotional reaction; thought to give the guise of concealment or change to an object by enchantment—making one thing appear as another thing entirely, for a short amount of time. Glamours last only as long as the magician feeds energy into the operation.

Glyph From glyphe (GRK), meaning “carved work.” A symbolic figure or character usually incised or carved in relief.

Gnome An elemental being that dwells in the earth plane. See Elementals

God The Supreme Being. God is consistently said to be sexless (or both sexes) and without attribute, being within and without, apart from and a part of all things. Therefore, the prohibitions in many religions against idolatry since any image, which can be made, are not the true image of God. The word “God” is also used to men a deity of masculine aspect. See Adonai; Deity; Iao; Tao; Tetragrammaton.

God Posture Used to invoke the God into the ritual worker. Standing, with ankles touching, arms crossed against chest with fists against the pectorals. With head down, this is the Slain God posture; with head erect, this is the Reborn God posture.

Goddess A deity of feminine aspect. Many Neopagans and practitioners of Wicca now use the word “Goddess” to refer to the Supreme Being. Some do this in an attempt to mend the estrangement of flesh and spirit, of humanity and nature, which amny believe to be a result of patriarchal, dualistic, hierarchical Western worldviews. Of course, like the word “God, Goddess” means different things to different people. See Deity

Goddess Posture Used to invoke the Goddess into the ritual worker. Similar to the Egyptian "Ka" posture, one stands with feet apart, arms upraised and outstretched; so that the body creates an "X" formation.

God-form The practice of building up a archetypical image and personality of a deity on the astral plane and assuming it ritually. This is done in an attempt to form a vessel for (to resonate with) whatever aspect of divine nature is being worked with. It is hoped that this will result in the gradual transmission of the initiate’s soul into the elements of the eternal. See Invocation

Godhead Divine Nature or Essence. The source of all emanation and manifestation, of which all deities are but aspects or facets. Godness. The atma of Vedantic philosophy.

Goetia Originally derived from words meaning “howling” or “crying.” Sometimes used to refer to the general class of medieval grimoires. Most of these books were oriented towards summoning or calling various spirits and demons (the resemblance to howling). See Barbarous Names; Ecstasy; Invocation.

Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a Masonic/Rosicrucian-style initiatory order devoted to Western ceremonial magick. While very active around the beginning of the 20th century (particularly in Britain), it later fragmented due to doctrinal differences and squabbles over leadership. Algernon Blackwood, W. B. Yeats, S. L. MacGregor Mathers, Austin Spare, Dion Fortune, Isreal Regardie and Aleister Crowley were all members of the Golden Dawn at one time or another.

Grammary Written magick. A Grammary may include symbols, signs, the Ogham, sigils and many other items.

Granthi (SKT) Literally “knot.” There are three granthis or knots, which the kundalini must break or burn through as it travels up the spine. The first block is at the muladhara chakra at the base of the spine. It is sometimes called the knot of Brahma. The second block is at the ajna chakra or heart center and is attributed to Vishnu. The third block is at the anahata chakra or brow center and is often called the knot of Shiva. Untying the knot of Shiva is equivalent to crossing the Abyss in the Hebrew quabalah. Both of these stages are metaphors for transcending dualistic consciousness and attaining the Real Self. See Chakra; Sephiroth.

Great Rite This rite is seen most commonly in witchcraft and marks the initiation into the third degree. Sexual in nature, but it may be performed symbolically.

Great Work The Great Work is a term Aleister Crowley barrowed from alchemy to refer to the next stage of human development, which he called “the solarization of consciousness.” Essentially, the Great Work is the path of human evolution. See Magnum Opus; Philosopher’s Stone; Secret Chiefs.

Green Man Represented by artwork showing the face of a man peering out from live foliage, this is the famous Green Man. He is God of the Woodlands, and has been idolized for many, many centuries.

Grimoire Generally any book of spells. Generally refers to older texts of ceremonial magick, usually used to refer to a medieval work such as The Key of Solomon the King or The Sworn Book of Honorius. In origin, a grimoire contained detailed information on spirit (and/or daemon) conjuring—complete with names, associations, and rituals; borderline, if not outright what most today call "black magick". It also shows other elements of ceremonial magick, which is where the confusion of terms occurs. There are certainly similarities, but the differences are just as visible. Most of these contain ragged spells (to do things such as hide treasures or insure success in battle); rituals for summoning; and also include lengthy lists of angels, demons, and miscellaneous spirits. Most grimoires are characterized by gross mistranslations from earlier Greek and Hebrew works. Few are worth more than a glance unless you are really into summoning and coercing service out of the spirit world.

The term grimoire is sometimes used to denote the personal workbook of a magickian. Often confused as being the same as “Book of Shadows.”

Gris-Gris In many African religious systems, a gris-gris is a charm, fetish, or amulet. (pronounced Gree-Gree) Hoodoo "mojo bags" are known as gris-gris. These contain an odd number of ingredients (never more than thirteen), usually including a picture of, nail parings of, or hair samples of the person the bag is used for (or against, as the case may be). Small symbols and charms are added, along with herbs, crystals, and sometimes colored candle wax, ash or incense, to convey the intent. The bag is made during ritual, and anointed once weekly with an oil associated with the intent. It is worn or carried whenever possible.

Grounding A ritual or segment of a ritual intended to return the mind to the material world and normal state of consciousness. Any energy in a ritual must be raised, focused, brought to a peak, and then returned to its source. All phenomena are cyclic. The spaces in music are as important as the notes themselves. To ignore this in ritual magick, to journey without return, invites exhaustion and obsession. Grounding is sometimes applied to negative or unwanted forces already present. It implies a great sinking deep into the earth where a natural cleansing and recycling process occurs. See Banishing

Guna (SKT) The three gunas are qualities or principles which, together, comprise the universe. The three are tamas (stability), rajas (restlessness or motion), and sattwa (orderliness). The gunas are considered to be in constant flux, each being dominant during one phase or cycle. The gunas are also thought to be a model for the development of the individual. First there is sluggishness and neglect; this results in pain and excessive motion, which finally settles into thoughtful action and moderation. The gunas are very similar to the three alchemical principles of Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury. See Tribindu

Guph (HEB) The name for the physical body in the quabalah. See Kosha

Guru From the root gur, “to raise.” A spiritual teacher or guide. Some say that a guru could be anyone or anything that teaches you at a given time. For this reason, you may need a different guru at different times. A gurudeva is a divine being or spirit guide. The param-guru is the Guru Beyond, or Supreme Guru-ness. See Ascended Master; Master.



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