ESOTERIC TERMINOLOGY
In New Age culture, where spirituality is often diluted and appropriated, I feel it’s important to define a few frequently used words:
Animism: The ancient wisdom and practice that natural objects, phenomena (such as weather), and other inanimate things are living, possess personality, are filled with spirits, and have the capacity to offer wisdom and spiritual healing.
Core Shamanism: In combination with Animism, Shamanism is the oldest form of spirituality found by anthropologists. It’s important to note that it exists across many cultures and continents, and was first seen in matrilineal cultures (including my own as a Han Taiwanese). Shamanic healing consists of a practitioner traveling through varied states of consciousness via ecstatic dance, rattling, shamanic drumming, altered breath, consumption of plants (in my case, common non-psychedelic plants), and other rituals to interact with spirits and bring back messages that yield resolution and transformation.
Divination: The practice of viewing a situation with immense depth to see what is below the surface, and looking into likely pasts and future potentials. Practitioners of witchcraft, dreamwork, and shamanism are all able to divinate. The ‘language’ of divination is very often visual: nature omens, Tarot readings, shamanic journeys, or the nuanced symbols found in dreams.
Magick: The intention or action undertaken to manifest personal transformation or noticeable change. I intentionally use the ancient spelling of the word (‘magick’) rather than the term ‘magic’, as a way to differentiate my discussion of magick from illusionism and Hollywood magic. The vein of magick I practice is Chaos Magick — a style that cuts through the extraneous to work directly with energy currents for practical results.
Necromancy: The practice of connecting to the dead. In my case, this is mainly with ancestral spirits, spirits of loved ones who have passed on, and deceased pet spirits. This is an agnostic method, which means the dead can be accessed via core shamanic journeying, witchcraft, other forms of ritual work, and dream work.
Occultism: The serious study of the action or influence of supernatural energies and powers (magick), oftentimes in ritual.
Plant Spirit Healing + Plant Magick: Respecting and revering the consciousness of plants, I work with specific botanicals to achieve clearing, protection, healing and emotional and spiritual equilibrium. As with most forms of magick, the effectiveness of this ancient practice is rooted in the practitioner’s relationship with the plant’s own energy. Folk medicine still exists today, such as in Chinese Herbalism within the Traditional Chinese Medicine system.
Shapeshifting: Being mercurial is a quality of a witch, shamanic practitioner, and occultist. It’s defined as “changing form or identity at will”, most often energetically, but it can also be tangibly noticed in behaviour and other physical qualities of the shapeshifter. Both shamanism and witchcraft employ this method of magick to facilitate positive change and healing.
Witchcraft: Contrary to shamanism, where the practitioner travels to the beyond, witchcraft mainly focuses on inviting the spirit beings here to our physical world. Methods often include spells, inner visioning, and rituals that invoke energies and spirits. Lunar and astral alignment, magickal correspondences, spiritual symbolism, the elements, sensing frequencies and resonance, talisman and sigil making, and working with spirit companions are key aspects of witchcraft.
