I've had so many people ask me about thier Craft and Magickal names so I thought I'd re-publish the article I wrote on that for you here. If you want to see more articles that might be of interest you can find a stack of them here http://www.oakandmistletoe.com.au/useful-articles/useful-articles

Ok, so you’ve read the books and been told that most Witches and Wiccans will need to choose their Craft or their magickal name. ‘Craft’ and ‘magickal’ mean the same thing just using different titles. So what’s a Craft name and how do you choose one? Let’s get to that in a second, but first we just need to decide if you actually have to have a Craft name or not.  

Depending on the tradition you favour, your Craft name is either given to you by a coven member, by the deities or you choose one yourself. Alternatively, some traditions determine that you have a ‘public’ name and a ‘private’ name known only by you and the Gods and Goddesses. Let’s make it simple though. If you follow an eclectic path you can have a Craft name or not. The choice is yours. There’s no rule that says “Thou shalt be known by a Craft name from this day henceforth!”  

The value in a Craft name is that it gives you the opportunity, often at the same time that you dedicate yourself to the Divine, to rename yourself with a title that you feel gives a more personalised and deeper description of who you are rather than what your Mum and Dad named you all those years ago. In other words, you get to choose what you should be known as before the Lord and Lady. This is actually a really special opportunity to redefine who you so it’s not to be taken lightly!

So a Craft name is a new label that identifies you before the Gods and Goddesses but it’s a label you get to choose for yourself rather than have it dropped on you by parents who were never really sure of the person you were going to develop in to. Having a Craft name also identifies you within the Wiccan and Craft community and let’s people know that you are Wiccan sympathetic. It’s a ‘tag’ if you like that says’ “I am Wiccan” that other Wiccans and Witches can then identify with. 

The really big question though is how to choose a name. To be honest, in many occasions, the name chooses you. A bit like cats and how they will either adopt you or not want to talk to you! If the name is yours, it will come to you. This means that usually, that name won’t come to you till you’re ready and then it will either simply jump out at your or gradually keep jumping on your lap until you decide you like it, again like a cat!  

A couple of words of warning here. It’s probably bad form to give yourself the name of a ‘high’ God or Goddess, someone like Gaia or Herne. That’s almost tantamount to calling yourself God or Goddess even though in fact your are but that’s another InfoCircle article! It’s much better to name yourself the daughter (or son) of a higher Goddess like Rhiannon. I’d also steer clear of the fluffy names like ‘Lady Moonbeam of the silver Goddess tresses’ or ‘Starlight speckled robin’  or something equally as ridiculous if I were you. You’ll only get laughed at which may not be good for your self confidence!  

You might want to represent yourself not with the name of a deity but with the name of something else that you have a strong association with. Perhaps a type of tree, a plant, an animal, a crystal, a time of year or a special place. There are so many options available to you and you don’t have to stick with the earthly bound names like ‘Jane’, ‘Robert’ or ‘Susan’. You can name yourself, and therefore be, anything you feel is right before the Lord or Lady.  

So with all that, the choice to take on a Craft name or not is yours, as is the name you finally allow into your life and adopt as your own. You may also want to change it again when you go from first to second degree or you may want to stick with it for life. It’s your choice, your name and you can do whatever you like. This is your opportunity to describe who you are with your name, probably for the first time in your life.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst