What does Wizard or Sage mean?

This term originates around 1550 meaning philosopher. During that time, the lines were blurred between philosopher and occultist. Its etymology suggests wisdom. Wizard is derived from “Wys-ard” or “Wise-one”. It became a word that meant a person with magical power achieved through wisdom or knowledge. It did not have the same negative connotations as “witch”. It tended to be male-associated, probably because few women were taught proficient enough literacy to partake in philosophy at the time it originated. It indicated someone who was very well-read, often on all subjects. In the early 20th century, it became a term for a technical genius in a particular subject i.e “a Computer Wizard”.

It is a shame this benevolent-sounding word does not have more female associations. I would like to see more female wizards to break the mould.

Sage has a similar meaning, but less emphasis on magic and more on wisdom. People rarely use it to describe themselves in the modern day.

There isn’t really a good book on this. It is such a hard topic and since wizards are the epitome of readers, I would have to recommend a library. A good place to start is probably two books for which I have the lowest of opinions. HAHA! The problem is that it is such a vast subject with lots of practical knowledge. So any concise singular book is bound to be full of inaccuracies. Modern Magick by the late Kraig is probably the first book I learned magic from, (excluding some Phil Hine and some books on Energy Work). One of the few books with Wizard in the title is “Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard”. This also falls short of accuracy in several places. Oberon Zell Ravenheart reflected the views of the neopagan community rather than challenging people to grow in hard and difficult ways. He famous made unicorns by mutilating the horn pads on goats. This left me with a very low opinion of the community feeling that he if he, who was part of the Church of All World, embedded in the neopagan community and invented the term “polyamorous”, if he had to mutilate goat’s horn-pads, to experience something magical, then the community wasn’t for me.

See also other types of Magic Practitioner.