GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 4 definitions

1.       
   Wicca , prop. n. [OE. wicche wizard, AS. wicce, fem., wicca, masc.; see also witch and wicked.]
   A religion derived from pre-Christian times, also called Witchcraft{4}, which practices a benevolent reverence for nature, and recognizes two deities, variously viewed as Mother & Father, Goddess & God, Female & Male, etc.; its practitioners are called Wiccans, Wiccas, or witches. Since there is no central authority to propagate dogma, the beliefs and practices of Wiccans vary significantly.
   PJC
   Encouraged by court rulings recognizing witchcraft as a legal religion, an increasing number of books related to the subject, and the continuing cultural concern for the environment, Wicca -- as contemporary witchcraft is often called -- has been growing in the United States and abroad. It is a major element in the expanding “neo-pagan” movement whose members regard nature itself as charged with divinity.
   Gustav Niebuhr (N. Y. Times, Oct. 31, 1999, p. 1)
   
   PJC
   “I don't worship Satan, who I don't think exists, but I do pray to the Goddess of Creation.” said Margot S. Adler, a New York correspondent for National Public Radio and a Wiccan practitioner. “Wicca is not anti-Christian or pro-Christian, it's pre-Christian.”
   Anthony Ramirez (N. Y. Times Aug. 22, 1999, p. wk 2)
   
   PJC
    Wicca is a ditheistic religion, also called Witchcraft, founded on the beliefs and doctrines of pre-Roman Celts, including the reverence for nature and the belief in a universal balance. Though frequently practiced in covens, solitary practitioners do exist. The modern form of the religion was popularized in 1954 by Gerald Gardener's Witchcraft Today. It is viewed as a form of neo-paganism.
   Wicca recognizes two deities, visualized as Mother & Father, Goddess & God, Female & Male, etc. These dieties are nameless, but many Wiccans adopt a name with which they refer to the two: Diana is a popular name for the Goddess to take, among others such as Artemis, Isis, Morrigan, etc. Some of her symbols are: the moon; the ocean; a cauldron; and the labrys (two-headed axe), among others. The God is of equal power to the Goddess, and takes on names such as Apollo, Odin, Lugh, etc. A small number of his symbols are: the sun; the sky; a horn (or two horns); and others.
   Witchcraft is not a Christian denomination; there is no devil in its mythos, thus the devil cannot be worshiped, and the medieval view of Witches as Satan-worshipers is erroneous. Satanists are not Witches and Witches are not Satanists. Both have a tendency to be offended when the two are confused.
   In the Wiccan religion male Witches are not “Warlocks”. The term Warlock comes from Scottish, meaning 'oathbreaker', 'traitor', or 'devil'. Its application to male witches is of uncertain origin.
   The Wiccan Rede, “An it harm none, do what thou wilt” comes in many variations. All of them say the same thing, “Do as you wish, just don't do anything to harm anyone.” It is implied that 'anyone' includes one's self.
   Witches practice in groups called Covens or as solitary practitioners, and some practice “magic”, which is to say, they pray. Since the one rule that Witches have requires that they can not do harm, harmful magic does not exist in Wicca. In Wicca, “magic” is simply subtly altering small things, to gain a desired effect.
   Wicca, sometimes called Neo-Witchcraft, was revived in the 1950s, when the last laws against Witchcraft were repealed. Gerald Gardner founded Gardnerian Wicca sometime after his book, Witchcraft Today, was published in 1954. Raymond Buckland, in America, did much the same that Gardner did in Europe -- stood up to the misconceptions about Witchcraft.
   
   Two other books describing the modern practice of Wicca are:
   
   Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, by Scott Cunningham, Llewellyn Publications, 1988.
   
   Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, by Raymond Buckland, Llewellyn Publications, 1975.
   
   A Web site devoted to elucidation of modern witchcraft is:
   Witchvox
   Cody Scott
   
   PJC
   A practitioner of Wicca, also commonly called a Wiccan, Wicca, or witch .
   PJC
   For at least one person who has seen “The Blair Witch Project”, the surprise hit movie of the summer did not so much terrify as infuriate. One long slur against witches, said Selena Fox, a witch, or Wicca, as male and female American witches prefer to call themselves.
   Anthony Ramirez (N. Y. Times, Aug. 22, 1999, p. wk 2)
   
   PJC
   
         
       

2.       
   Witch , n. [Cf. Wick of a lamp.] A cone of paper which is placed in a vessel of lard or other fat, and used as a taper. [Prov. Eng.]
   1913 Webster
         
       

3.       
   Witch, n. [OE. wicche, AS. wicce, fem., wicca, masc.; perhaps the same word as AS. wītiga, wītga, a soothsayer (cf. Wiseacre); cf. Fries. wikke, a witch, LG. wikken to predict, Icel. vitki a wizard, vitka to bewitch.]
   1913 Webster
   One who practices the black art, or magic; one regarded as possessing supernatural or magical power by compact with an evil spirit, esp. with the Devil; a sorcerer or sorceress; -- now applied chiefly or only to women, but formerly used of men as well.
   1913 Webster
   There was a man in that city whose name was Simon, a witch.
   Wyclif (Acts viii. 9).
   
   1913 Webster
   He can not abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch.
   Shak.
   
   1913 Webster
   An ugly old woman; a hag.
   Shak.
   
   1913 Webster
   One who exercises more than common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person; also, one given to mischief; -- said especially of a woman or child. [Colloq.]
   1913 Webster
   (Geom.) A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.
   1913 Webster
   (Zool.) The stormy petrel.
   1913 Webster
   A Wiccan; an adherent or practitioner of Wicca, a religion which in different forms may be paganistic and nature-oriented, or ditheistic. The term witch applies to both male and female adherents in this sense.
   PJC
   Witch balls, a name applied to the interwoven rolling masses of the stems of herbs, which are driven by the winds over the steppes of Tartary. Cf. Tumbleweed. Maunder (Treas. of Bot.) -- Witches' besoms (Bot.), tufted and distorted branches of the silver fir, caused by the attack of some fungus. Maunder (Treas. of Bot.) -- Witches' butter (Bot.), a name of several gelatinous cryptogamous plants, as Nostoc commune, and Exidia glandulosa. See Nostoc. -- Witch grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Panicum capillare) with minute spikelets on long, slender pedicels forming a light, open panicle. -- Witch meal (Bot.), vegetable sulphur. See under Vegetable.
   1913 Webster
   
         
       

4.       
   witch , v. t. [imp. & p. p. witched ; p. pr. & vb. n. witching.] [AS. wiccian.] To bewitch; to fascinate; to enchant.
   1913 Webster
   [I 'll] witch sweet ladies with my words and looks.
   Shak.
   
   1913 Webster
   Whether within us or without
   The spell of this illusion be
   That witches us to hear and see.
   Lowell.
   
   1913 Webster