Finding your Wiccan Name

What is a Wiccan name?

Many Wiccans take on — or are given — a secret soul-name. This is the name they use only in ritual — their magickal name.

This name is believed to hold great power. It encapsulates your Essential Self. It is your "true name."

To know your true name is to know a great deal about you. For this reason, your magickal name is held sacred and secret, generally divulged only to those who are held in perfect love and perfect trust. In most cases, this means those you Circle with.

Plus, names have magickal power.

The Power Of Naming

Names have great power. When you know the name of something, you know its essence... and knowing its essence gives you power over it.

If words didn't have power, what would be the point of magick, prayer, mantra, positive self-talk, etc?

There are tales and myths about the Power of naming in every culture, as far as I know. Even in the West, where we don't put much stock in these things, this belief survives in stories like Rumplestiltskin.

People spend months, even years, picking the perfect baby names. When people get a new pet, the names they bestow tell us much about the person, if not the animal.

Many traditions around the world speak of the power of names.

The Bible vividly demonstrates the Power of naming. In the creation story, God named earth and light and so on, and they immediately sprang into being. When He gave Adam the ability to name the creatures, Adam gained dominion over them, which is to say, he gained knowledge of them, which grants Power over them.

In everyday life, we don't "know" a person until we know their name.

When asked about a stranger, we say, "I don't know them." We don't reply "I don't know their name " — not unless we know other things about them. If we don't know their name, we feel we don't know them.

Conversely, if we know their name, we feel we do know them. "Who is that?" "That's Bonnie." Knowing her name implies an insight into at least a little of what Bonnie is about.

Why Do Wiccan Names Convey Such Power?

Naming something is identifying it. And once you identify it, you know some things about it.

"That's mint." Immediately you know the flavour, that it's good for bad breath and upset tummies, that it grows like a weed, and perhaps much more.

To know about yourself is a source of immense Power.

"Know Thyself" is more a Commandment than a command. When you know yourself, you know God. And to name yourself, you must know yourself.

Or be open to the Divine telling you . . . .

That's Part 1 of the power in names.

The Power of Names: Magick

Part 2 is the magickal component.

Remember that speech is an incredibly powerful magickal tool.

Taking an intentional name is like working a spell or setting a positive affirmation.

Every time you say it or hear it, you're reminded of Who you choose to be. And every time someone else says it, the energy moves within both of you.

And then the Universe shifts to help you be that person.

This effect is increased when it is a Wiccan name that you take, because you're using it between the worlds, where magick is natural.

The Power of Names: Magick

The third reason that magickal names are powerful is because you are very conscious when you invoke them.

The more consciousness you bring to choosing your Wiccan name, the more alignment with your Divine Essence you are creating. And the more you are aligned with the Divine, the more magickal power you are accessing.

So a magickal name that is aligned with your Divine Essence — your true name — of hold great magickal power.

Wicca Names

When we are Wiccan, baby names and pet names take on even more significance, because Wiccans know that a name has power.

So when you choose to take a magickal name for yourself, give it at least as much thought as you might give to finding just the right baby name.

Like this hypothetical baby, you will keep this name for many years. Others will know you, by your magickal name. It will be something, ideally, that you can grow into, as you age.

For more tips on finding a Wiccan name, please see the next article.

With Brightest Blessings,

erin Dragonsong