W
Wafer
The sacred wafer is often used by devil-worshippers for purposes of profanation. (See Devil-worship.) There was found in the house of the…
Waldenses
The name of a Christian sect which arose in the south of France about 1170. They were much the same in origin and ethics as the Albigenses…
Wannein Nat
An evil spirit. (See Burma.) War, Occult Phenomena during the: A surprising number of ideas regarding the supernatural have crystallized…
Wayland Smith
A famous character in German mythological romance and father of Weltich, whom he trained in the art of warfare and sent to the Court of…
Werwolf
A man temporarily or permanently transformed into a wolf, from the Anglo-Saxon wer, a man, and wulf, a wolf. It is a phase of Lycanthropy…
West Indian Islands
Magic and sorcery in the West Indian Islands are wholly the preserve of the negro population, who possess special magical cults called…
Westcar Papyrus
An Egyptian papyrus dating from the eighteenth century B.C., devoted chiefly to tales of magic and enchantment. The commencement and ending…
Whistling
It is considered unlucky for sailors to whistle aboard ship. This is of the nature of sympathetic magic, as it might possibly raise a…
Wild-Women
A species of nature spirits believed in by the German peasantry. Says Keightley concerning them: "The Wilde Frauen or Wild-women of Germany…
William Rufus
Son of William the Conqueror, and tyrant of England in the eleventh century; a wicked and cruel prince. He was much disliked, particularly…
Willow-tree
The Willow, as might be expected, had many superstitious notions connected with it, since, according to the authorized version of the…
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is said to be the haunt of numerous spectres. Queen Elizabeth, Henry VIII., Charles I., and some of the Georges have all…
Wirdig's Magnetic Sympathy
The doctrine of magnetic attraction and repugnance formulated by Tenzel Wirdig, professor at Rostock, who published his Tenzelius Wirdig…
Wisconsin Phalanx
A spiritualistic community founded by Warren Chase in 1844. Chase had settled in Southport, Wisconsin, in 1838, and there, with his wife…
Witchcraft
(From Saxen Wicca, a contraction of witega, a prophet or sorcerer.). The cult of persons who, by means of satanic assistance or the aid of…
World Period
(See Planetary Chains.) Worlds, Planes, or Spheres: According to theosophists, these are seven in number and are as follows: The older…
Wraith
The apparition or double" of a living person, generally supposed to be an omen of death. The wraith closely resembles its prototype in the…
Weirtz – Wonders of the Invisible World
(See Hypnotism.) (See Illuminati.) Werner, Dr. Heinrich : (See Spiritualism.)