Symbols Dictionary W
Wand: Wands come in a variety of forms from a king’s scepter, the conductor’s baton, to the god’s trident or rod, the shepherd’s crook, to a magician’s staff, to the simple stick, all symbolizing power and virility. According to Man, Myth And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995), edited by Richard Cavendish, “As symbols of authority, the wand and the rod can be traced back to the staffs of priest kings and magician healers of antiquity.” In Egypt they were an emblem of royal authority and Red Indian chieftains bore carved wands as their badges of office; the fairy wand is an agent of transformation; the Wizard wand is usually of hazel-wood, English, Irish, and Welsh Druid wands were yew; Medieval magicians had magnetized steel caps at the tip projecting a powerful magnetic force. The use of a sword, in place of a wand, occurs in the records of English witchcraft past and present.
War: War was virtually unknown to the matriarchal societies of the Neolithic and early Bronze Age and even after its creation by patriarchy, the Goddess brought peace when evoked among warring peoples (Walker, 1983). The Gods of patriarchy created a religion and culture of hierarchies, domination, and war. This violence is mainstream in patriarchal culture today and is intertwined with our political and personal relationships. In this system of dominator and dominated, women become target symbols of power. The country often takes on the symbol of the Mother and “protecting the mother-country” is used in military rhetoric to gain social popularity and conceal the real motivations of the war. Further, war enacts the Oedipus Complex by allowing mature and powerful men to send their “younger, handsomer, more virile rivals—the sons who can be made obedient soldiers and sent off to be destroyed,” according to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983). Walker explains, “Wars are begun by elite males and carried out by those of lower status, while priesthoods bless the effort… In effect, war is a gentlemen’s agreement between the authority figures on both sides that they will kill off each other’s youths, and even win social approval and adulation for doing so.”
Werewolf or Wolf: Also known as “spirit-wolf,” the modern concept of the werewolf originated with the medieval wolf clan who worshipped totem wolf animals. Greco-Romans also worshipped wolf-gods in the form of Zeus Lycaeus (“wolfish” Zeus) or Lycaeon, the Pelasgian wolf-king and consort of the Ninefold Goddess, Nonacris. Other lycanthropy (werewolfism) gods included Apollo Lyceaus, descended from the Egyptian dog deity Anubis, and consort of the divine Wolf Bitch Artemis; the Roman Dis Pater, Soranus, and Feronius, consort of Goddess Feronia (“Mother of Wolves”); and the She-Wolf was a face of the Triple Goddess, according to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983).
West: See Directions.
Whale: See Animals.
Wheat: This is a symbol for food and, with grapes and a cup, symbolizes the last supper of Christ. According to Symbols Of Church Seasons And Days (1997), by John Bradner, “wheat, which is a familiar ingredient of bread, stands for Jesus who said, ‘I am the Bread of life’ (John 6:35).”
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Wheel: In general, a simplistic symbol of the Goddess, the wheel has many variations. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983) explains, “A primary Oriental symbol of the Goddess as ruler of Fate was the karmic wheel, often identified with the wheel of the galaxy, the Milky Way, or zodiac, circling the outer reaches of the universe around the Goddess’s yoni or omphalos (navel), her earth-centered hub.” The tantric tradition visualized this wheel as a mandala representing the Triple Goddess; the Celts saw the karmic star-wheel as representing Mother Arianrhod (that later inspired the Farris Wheel); and in Ethiopia the Goddess sat in the middle of a wheel of flames. The Hindu recognized the Chakra as a wheel representing “perfect completeness and unifying time and space;” Vishnu was represented by the six-spoked wheel wile the eight-spoked wheel represented the eight cardinal directions; The Buddhist’s Wheel of the Law or dharmachakra (also called Wheel of Truth and Golden Wheel) symbolizes “the ability of Buddhist teaching and enlightenment to roll over and crush falsehood,” according to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002). When the wheel contains flames it is a symbol of the sun and it is linked to with both Celtic and Roman sky gods such as Jupiter. The Native American Wheel of Life is a central belief, as Shepherd (2002), explains, “Humans spiritual, physical, emotional and psychological experiences of life, and their connections with the elements and with the other worlds of the earth, plants, animals and minerals, are reflected and described within the many interrelated medicine wheels, which is their totality form the complex wheel or Hoop of Life.” |
Whisper: As it was believed that the dead and gods could only speak in whispers because they did not have their physical form, whispering was believed to be the way spirits and gods communicated (Walker, 1983).
Whistling: Thought to be the magic power of witches, whistling is a form of sympathetic magic to control wind.
Widdershins: Meaning counterclockwise, widdershins was the term for the direction of the moon and represented the “left-hand path” of paganism. Walking three times widdershins around a fairy hill and then saying “open door” was believed to open the way to the fairyland.
Willow: See Trees.
Wings: Representing unhampered mobility, wings and feathers have been associated with deities all over the world. Man, Myth And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995), edited by Richard Cavendish, explains, “Perhaps because man’s body, wingless and earth-bound, has never normally been able to levitate, let alone fly, the ability to take off and soar freely away from terra firma, as demonstrated by birds, has aroused man’s awe and longing.” See Birds.
Witch Hunts: See Inquisition.
Wolf: See Animals.
World Egg: See Egg.
Wreath: Symbols of victory, Osiris was given a wreath by Atum at his victory; Apollo holds the Laurel wreath sacred; the oak wreath or corona civica was worn only by the emperor at the time of Augustus; Olive leaf wreaths were associated with the dead and Osiris in Egypt; and the wreaths a man was awarded during his life were carried at Roman funeral processions; even today wreaths of flowers are placed on coffins