The Guild tries to use ordinary words wherever ordinary words will serve. The terms below are those a reader of this website, or a new member, is most likely to meet.
No term in the glossary matches that word.
- Admission
- The rite by which a member is received into a grade. The Guild prefers this word to initiation. See Initiation.
- Amulet
- An object made or worn to keep something away. Compare talisman.
- Apprentice
- The first grade of the Guild, under the Moon. Its work is the Lamp, the Gates and the Record.
- Art, the
- Ritual magic considered as a craft: the deliberate use of symbol, ceremony and trained attention to bring about change.
- Articles
- The founding document of the Guild, adopted in 1974 and amended once, in 2003.
- Artisan
- The third grade, under Venus, in which the member makes and consecrates the instruments.
- Banishing
- The ceremonial clearing of a place, and of the practitioner, before and after a working. In the Guild it is done by the Rite of the Four Gates.
- Bench
- The altar: the table at the center of the Hall on which the lamp and the instruments are set. By extension, a member's own regular practice, as in "work at the bench."
- Calling
- The fourth part of a rite, in which the power proper to the work is invoked.
- Chapterhouse
- A chartered local body of seven or more members, with a consecrated Hall and the right to admit and advance members.
- Charge
- One of the five rules of conduct accepted by every Apprentice. See The Ethic of the Art.
- Circle
- The boundary traced around the bench at the opening of a rite, within which the work is done.
- Common Book
- The collected Papers of the Guild, in seven Books, one for each grade. First compiled in 1979.
- Consecration
- The ceremonial setting apart of an object for one use in the Art.
- Convocation
- One of the four gatherings of the Guild year, held at the equinoxes and the solstices. The General Convocation, at the autumn equinox, is also the governing assembly of the Guild.
- Correspondence
- A relation of likeness between things of different kinds, such as a planet, a metal, a color and a number, on which the symbolism of a rite is built.
- Divination
- The art of putting a question to a pattern, such as cards, lots or figures, and reading the answer.
- Elder
- The seventh grade, under Saturn, conferred by the Council on Masters of long service.
- Element
- One of the four modes of existence and action: Fire, Water, Air and Earth. A fifth, Spirit, is their common ground.
- Evocation
- The calling forth of a particular intelligence to a place outside the circle. Compare invocation.
- Fourfold Breath
- A breathing exercise in four equal counts: in, hold, out, hold. It opens the practice of the Lamp.
- Gates, the Four
- The four quarters of the Hall, each given to an element. Also the daily rite by which they are opened and closed.
- Geomancy
- Divination by sixteen figures formed from rows of single or paired points.
- Grade
- One of the seven stages of the course of study. A grade records work completed and examined. It confers no authority.
- Guildmaster
- The elected presiding officer of the Guild, chosen by the General Convocation for a term of seven years.
- Hall
- The place in which a rite is worked, whether the consecrated room of a Chapterhouse or a cleared space at home.
- Hearth Course
- The course of study as followed by members who work alone, under a mentor, at a distance from any Chapterhouse.
- Instruments
- The working tools of the Art: the lamp, the wand, the cup, the blade and the disk.
- Invocation
- The calling of a power into the circle and into the practitioner. Compare evocation.
- Journeyman
- The fourth grade, under the Sun. The title is traditional and is borne by members of every gender.
- Keeper
- The fifth grade, under Mars, in which evocation is taught and the member serves as an officer.
- Lamp
- The first instrument, and the sign of attention. Also the daily practice of stillness before a flame.
- License to depart
- The formal dismissal, with thanks, of whatever has been called in a rite.
- Lot
- A marked token drawn unseen as a means of divination. The Guild uses seven, one for each planet.
- Master
- The sixth grade, under Jupiter, attained by the presentation of a Master's piece.
- Master's piece
- An original and fully documented operation presented to the General Convocation by a candidate for the grade of Master.
- Mentor
- The senior member who reads another member's monthly summary of the Record and replies to it.
- Mother Hall
- Lantern House, in Frederick County, Maryland: the seat of the Council, the library and the archive.
- Paper
- A numbered unit of written instruction from the Common Book.
- Petition
- A letter asking for admission to the Guild. One who has sent it is a petitioner.
- Planetary hour
- One twelfth of the day or of the night, assigned to one of the seven planets. See Planetary Days and Hours.
- Probation
- The season of thirteen weeks during which a petitioner keeps the daily practice before admission.
- Record
- The bound notebook in which a member writes down every working, at the time, with what was observed and what followed.
- Rite
- A ceremony performed according to a fixed order. Every rite of the Guild has seven parts.
- Scribe
- The second grade, under Mercury, given to the study of correspondences, divination and the composition of rites.
- Scrying
- Gazing into a dark or reflecting surface until images arise.
- Seal
- The emblem of the Guild: a seven-pointed star enclosing a lamp, within a double ring. See The Seal of the Guild.
- Seven Lamps
- The seven planets of the old sky: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon.
- Sigil
- A drawn figure that stands for a name, a power or an intention.
- Sponsor
- One of the two members who meet a petitioner, guide the probation, and recommend for or against admission.
- Sunwise
- In the direction of the sun's daily course: clockwise in the northern hemisphere. The direction in which the Gates are opened.
- Talisman
- An object made at a chosen time and consecrated to bring about one stated purpose.
- Theurgy
- An old name for ritual directed toward the divine and the perfecting of the practitioner, as distinct from ritual directed to outward ends.
- Warden
- One of the seven elected officers who form the Council of the Guild.
- Working
- Any single operation of the Art, from a daily banishing to a full ceremony.
- Workroom
- A registered group of three or more members who meet for study and practice, in person or online, without a charter.