Walsch, Neale Donald: Author of the best-selling "Conversations with God" series.

Walton, Travis: claims to have been abducted by a UFO on November 5, 1975, while working on a logging crew in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. Walton could not be found, but reappeared after five days of intensive searches.

Warlock: A magician or male witch.

Warrior: From the Michael teachings, one of the seven essence roles. Its positive pole is persuasion; its negative pole is coercion. Warriors seek challenge.

Water Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.

Watts, Alan: was a philosopher, writer, speaker, and expert in comparative religion. He wrote over twenty-five books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, consciousness and the pursuit of happiness, relating his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religions or philosophies (Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Hinduism).

Werewolf: A man temporarily or permanently transformed into a wolf. It is a phase of Lycanthropy (q.v.), and in ancient and mediaeval times was of allegedly frequent occurrence. It was, of course, in Europe where the wolf was one of the largest carnivorous animals, that the superstition gained currency, similar tales in other countries usually introducing bears, tigers, and so forth. — The belief is probably a relic of early cannibalism. Communities of semi-civilized people would begin to shun those who devoured human flesh, and they would be ostracized and classed as wild beasts, the idea that they had something in common with these would grow, and the conception that they were able to transform themselves into veritable animals would be likely to arise there from.

There were two kinds of werewolf, voluntary and involuntary. The voluntary would be, as has been said, those persons who, because of their taste for human flesh, had withdrawn from intercourse with their fellows. These appeared to possess a certain amount of magical power, or at least sufficient of it to transform themselves into the animal shape at will. This they effected by merely disrobing, by the taking off a girdle made of human skin, or, putting on a similar belt of wolf-skin, obviously a substitute for an entire wolf-skin. But we also hear of their donning the entire skin. In other instances the body is rubbed with a magic ointment, or water is drunk out of a wolf's footprint. The brains of the animal are also eaten. Olaus Magnus says that the werewolves of Livonia drained a cup of beer on initiation, and repeated certain magic words. In order to throw off the wolf shape the animal girdle was removed, or else the magician merely muttered a certain formula. In some instances the transformation was supposed to be the work of Satan.

The superstition regarding werewolves seems to have been exceedingly prevalent in France during the 16th century as is evidenced by numerous trials, in some of which it is clearly shown that murder and cannibalism took place. Self-hallucination, too, was accountable for some of these cases, the supposed werewolves fully admitting that they had transformed themselves and had slain numerous persons. But at the beginning of the I7th century, commonsense came to the rescue, and persons making such confessions were not credited. In Teutonic and Slavonic countries it was complained by men of learning that werewolves did more damage than the real criminals, and a regular " college " or institution for the practice of the art of animal transformation was attributed to them.

Involuntary werewolves were often persons transformed into an animal shape because of the commission of sin, and condemned to pass so many years in that form. Thus certain saints metamorphosed sinners into wolves. In Armenia it is thought that sinful women are condemned to pass seven years in the form of a wolf. To such a woman a demon appears, bringing a wolf-skin. He commands her to don it, from which moment she becomes a wolf with all the nature of a wild beast, devouring her own children and those of strangers, wandering forth at night, undeterred by locks, bolts, or bars, returning only with morning to resume her human form.

Romance, especially French romance, is full of werewolves, and one of the most remarkable instances of this is the Lay by Marie de France entitled Bisclaveret, the Lay of a werewolf.

Many werewolves were believed to be innocent persons suffering through the witchcraft of others. To regain their true form it was necessary for them to kneel in one spot for a hundred years, to lose three drops of blood, to be hailed as a werewolf, to have the sign of the cross made on their bodies, to be addressed thrice by their baptismal names, or to be struck thrice on the forehead with a knife.

West Indies Islands (Occult in the): Magic and sorcery in the West Indian Islands are wholly the preserve of the negro population, who possess special magical cults called Obeah and Vaudoux, variants of West African fetishism. The root idea of Obeahism and Vaudoux is the worship and propitiation of, the snake-god Obi—a West African word typifying the Spirit of Evil. Vaudoux or Voodoo is a form of Obeah practiced in Haiti, San Domingo, and the French West Indies. Its rites were always accompanied by the sacrifice of fowls and goats, and in only too many cases by the offering up of the " goat without horns "—the human sacrifice, usually a young girl or boy. The lonely groves and mountain caves where the devotees of Vaudoux enjoy the orgies of a Walpurgis night seldom give up their secrets. There are two sects of Vaudoux—the white and the red. The former, which only believes in the sacrifice of white fowls and goats, is tolerated by the laws of Haiti, and its rites are as commonly practiced as those of the Catholic Church. But even the red sect, which openly stands for human sacrifice, is seldom interfered with. The authorities dare not suppress it, for their own policemen and soldiers stand in awe of the "Papaloi," and ' Mamaloi "—the priests and priestess of the snake-god. More than that, there have been Presidents of Haiti in recent years who believed in Vaudoux. Hippolyte was even a " Papaloi" himself. He beat the black goatskin drum in the streets of the capital to call the faithful together to see him kill the sensel fowl. Another president, Geffard, tried to do his duty and stamp out the cult. A terrible revenge was taken upon him. His young daughter, Cora, was shot dead as she knelt in prayer before the altar of a church in Port-au-Prince. To-day there is a temple of the red sect in the Haitian capital near a triumphal arch, which is inscribed with the unctuous words, " Liberty—education— progress." Under British government Obeahism perforce takes forms less dangerous to the social order than it does in Haiti; but it is none the less a constant public peril in Jamaica and the other British West Indian Islands. It is a bitter foe of religion, education and social advancement In olden days it worked by means of wholesale poisoning, and in quite recent days there have been not a few cases of Obeahmen seeking to do murder in the old way. A favourite method of the Obeahmen, both in Jamaica and Hayti, is to mix the infinitesimal hairs of the bamboo in the food of persons who refuse to bow the knee to them. This finally sets up malignant dysentery. If the afflicted one remains contumacious, he dies ; if he makes his peace with the Obeahman, and gives him a handsome present, the slow process of poisoning ceases, and he lives. In all the crises and troubles of life the negro flies to the Obeahman. If he has to appear at the Police Court he pays the Obeahman to go there also and " fix de eye " of the magistrate, so that he will be discharged. Perhaps he has been turned out of his office of deacon in the Baptist Chapel by a white minister for immorality. In that case the Obeahman will arrange for a choice collection of the most powerful spells— such as dried lizards, fowls' bones, and graveyard earth— to be placed in the minister's Bible for him to stare upon when he looks up the text of his sermon. Then, if the Obeah works properly, the erring deacon will be received back to office. Even black men of education and official position are often tainted with Obeahism. They often make use of it for profit and to increase their power over the ignorant negroes. The mulatto chairman of a Parochial Board—the Jamaican equivalent of our County Council—was sent to goal for practicing Obeah only a few years ago. A prominent member of the Kingston City Council was the leading Obeahman in the island—the pontiff of the cult. He was so clever that the police could never catch him, although he was supposed to make over £3,000 a year by his nefarious practices. Once some detectives raided his place, but he received timely warning and fled.

A writer to the press thus describes a " red " Vaudoux ceremony: "I had seen the ' white ' ritual several times in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere when at last I was permitted through the kindness of a-mulatto general, to witness the ' red ' rite. I was informed that only cocks and goats would be sacrificed, and that turned out to be the fact. The General conducted me to a small wood about three miles from the town of Jacmel. By the light at kerosene oil flares I saw about forty men and women gathered round a rude stone altar, on which, twitted around a cocomacacque stick, was the sacred green snake. The 'Mamaloi,' a tall, evil-looking black woman, was dressed in a scarlet robe, with a red turban on her head. She was dancing a sinuous dance before the altar, and droning an ancient West African chant, which the onlookers repeated. Rapidly she worked herself up to a frantic pitch of excitement, pausing now and then to take a drink from one of tie rum bottles which passed freely from hand to hand. Ai last she picked up a glittering machete from the altar, and with her other hand seized a black cock held by a bystander She whirled the bird round her head violently until tie feathers were flying in all directions, and then severed the head from the body with one swift stroke. The tense and horrible excitement had kept the worshippers silent, but they burst into a savage yell when the priestess pressed the bleeding neck of the slaughtered fowl to her lips. Afterwards she dipped her finger in the blood and made the sign of the cross on her forehead and pressed it to the forehead of some of her disciples."

Westcar Papyrus: An Egyptian papyrus dating from the eighteenth century B.C., devoted chiefly to tales of magic and enchantment.

What The Bleep Do We Know: A documentary film from 2004 that explored the connection between science and spirituality. The range of topics discussed included: neurology, quantum physics, psychology, epistemology, ontology, metaphysics, magical thinking, and conscious creation. The concepts of JK Knight/Ramtha were also prominently featured. 

White, (Stuart Edward): Starting in 1922, White and his wife Elizabeth "Betty" Grant White wrote numerous books they claimed were received through channelling with spirits, most notably The Betty Book. 

White Eagle Lodge: Founded in 1936, the lodge was created to bring ordinary people the vision of the spiritual life. Through becoming increasingly aware of the interpenetration of matter and spirit, it was taught that death is not the end, but a return home to a greater reality.

White Eagle, a spiritual teacher, spoke through the mediumship of Grace Cooke, and described himself as a spokesperson for a wiser Brotherhood in spirit, helping  humanity to understand their true spiritual nature, and to grow in wise love for all life. White Eagle’s teaching taught how to bring that love to bear in all ordinary, daily encounters.

Wicker Man: Tall, anthropomorphic wooden structures, woven from flexible sticks such as used in wicker furniture and fencing. Julius Caesar wrote of a horrifying ritual where ancient Druids sacrificed men and animals in these humanoid-shaped structures.

Wierus (1516-1588): Wierus, whose original name was John Weyer, was a pupil of Agrippa. He wrote De Praestigiis Daemonum et incantationibus ac veneficiis—on the activities of demons, incantations, and sorceries.

Williamson, (Marianne): Bestselling author of A Return to Love, The Healing of America, A Woman’s Worth, Enchanted Love, Illuminata, and others. Many of her works are based on the tenets established in A Course in Miracles.

Williamson is also the co-leader of The United States Department of Peace, a proposed cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the U.S. government. The original idea of a Peace Department in the United States dates back to the administration of George Washington, but has been most recently proposed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

Willow Tree: The Willow, as might be expected, had many superstitious notions connected with it, since, according to the authorized version of the English Bible, the Israelites are said to nave hung their harps on willow trees. The weeping willow is said to have, ever since the time of the Jews' captivity in Babylon, drooped its branches, in sympathy with this circumstance. The common willow was held to be under the protection of the devil, and it was said that, if any were to cast a knot upon a young willow, and sit under it, and thereupon renounce his or her baptism, the devil would confer upon them supernatural power.

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 been reputed to haunt the Castle, while Herne the Hunter (q.v.) is also said to roam the Great Park. An officer of the Foot Guards, while on duty, was once sitting in the library reading in the gloaming when he declares he heard a rustle of silken dress, and, looking up, saw the ghost of Queen Elizabeth glide across the room. He buckled on his sword, and reported the matter. The story attracted the attention of the country for some weeks. Sir Richard Holmes and his assistants kept watch for many nights, but the ghost did not re-appear. Not long ago a housemaid in St. John's Tower thought she saw a ghost, and was so frightened that she became ill, and had to be sent home. In 1908 a sentry discharged five rounds of ball cartridge at a figure which he declared was a spectre which appeared on the terrace.

Witch: This expression, now denoting a female magicia: derives from Old English wicca, a man who practices magi In the Middle Ages the term witch was of common gen. According to the Malleus Maleficarum, one of the most important treatises on witchcraft, witches were anthropophagites. They were capable of raising hailstorms, causing sterility in man and beast. They consorted carnally with demons, and their offspring were equally demoniac. They could transport themselves at will, strike an enemy with lightning, influence court decrees, bewitch by mere look, and cause calamities and death.

Witchcraft:  (From Saxen Wicea, a contraction of miega, a prophet or sorcerer.) The cult of persons who, by means of satanic assistance or the aid of evil spirits or familiars, are enabled to practice minor black magic. But the difference between the sorcerer and the witch is that the former has sold his soul to Satan for complete dominion over him for a stated period, whereas the witch usually appears as the devoted and often badly treated servant of the diabolic power.
 
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Witch Mountains: Certain mountains in Europe were closely associated with witches' gatherings. In Carpathia there was the Babia Gora—The Old Women's Mountain. In Germany, there were a number of such mountains, in Thuringia, Westphalia, and elsewhere: The Huiberg, near Halberstadt, the Horselberg, the Koterberg, the Staffelstein. In France, there was the Puy de Dome. In Italy: Barco di Ferrara, Paterno di Bologna, Spirato della Mirandola, Tossale di Bergamo.

Witches' Circle: A circle intended to keep within its area the occult power aroused by the witches.

Witches' Sabbat: An assembly of witches and magicians, held every three months: on February 2nd, Walpurgis Night, which was May Day Eve, on Midsummer Eve, and on November Eve. The witches, anointing themselves with the fat of children slain or exhumed from graves, or using belladonna and aconite as "flying ointments," came riding through the air on goats, distaffs, rakes, broomsticks, and even in carriages. They had an opportunity of meeting the Devil himself at such gatherings, which took place on a mountain top or at a crossroads. Usually, a dead tree stood nearby, or a gibbet.

Satan himself presided, in the form of a raven, a cat, or a goat, or even in human form. Initial homage was paid by the assembled witches to the Grand Master with the osculum infame, a kiss on the posteriors. As their own contribution, witches brought stolen or their own children as neophytes in the service of Satan.
Occasionally, at these gatherings, the witches stripped naked, as is evident from many mediaeval paintings and woodcuts.

Men and women of "quality," courtiers, landed gentle-men, wealthy and distinguished also participated in the Sabbat, as mediaeval paintings of witch scenes indicate.

Witches' Unguent: A venomous concoction, compounded of toad, cat, lizard, and vipers, used by witches in poisoning crops.

Witch-hunting: This practice, of searching out suspected witches, torturing them to the point of confession, and condemning them to death after a perfunctory trial, was sporadic throughout the Middle Ages. But it reached a greater intensity, sponsored by religious and civic bodies, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which were marked by numberless mass witch burnings. Such operations occurred especially in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Denmark. In England, Lancashire was the locale of many investigations, trials and convictions, on varying degrees of hearsay and subjective evidence, of women accused of witchcraft. Similar campaigns were carried out late in the same century in southern England; while in the United States the Salem witch-hunts of New England became notorious for the ruthlessness of their prosecution. Witchcraft and Papists: In seventeenth century England and in Switzerland witch-hunting was closely associated with the persecution of Roman Catholics. Catholicism, in fact, and witchcraft were, in a political sense and religious sense, considered synonymous, according to contemporary historical and parliamentary records, pamphlets, diaries, biographies, state trials, and memoirs.

Wolf, The:  Amongst the ancient Romans, the wolf was a fruitful source of augury, and many are the tales in which he has figured as a good or evil omen. A wolf running to the right with his mouth full was a sign of great joy. If a wolf, after he had entered a Roman camp, escaped unhurt it was regarded as a sign of defeat; and the terrible result of the second Punic war was said to have been augured from the carrying off of the sword of a sentinel in the camp by a wolf. The peasants of 19th century Sweden did not dare to speak of a wolf by name but called him the "grey one" or "old grey": they seemed to regard the pronouncing of his name as unlucky.

Worlds, Planes, or Spheres: According to theosophists, these are seven in number and are as follows: the older Sanskrit names, which are now superseded, being given for reference: -- Divine, or Adi; Monadic or Anutadaka, Spiritual or Nirvana, Intuitional or Buddhi, Mental or Manas, Astral or Kama, and Physical or Sthula. These worlds are not physically separate in the manner which planets apear to be, but interpenetrate each other, and they depend for their differences, on the relative density of the matter which compose them, and the consequent difference in the rates at which the matter of each world vibrates.

Except for the physical world (the densest) oar knowledge of them, so far as it extends, is dependent on clairvoyance, and the more exalted the vision of the clairvoyant the higher the world to which his vision can pierce. Each world has its appropriate inhabitants, clothed in appropriate bodies, and possessing appropriate states of consciousness. The two highest worlds, the Divine and the Monadic are at present incapable of attainment by human powers, the remaining five are in greater or less degree. The monad for the purpose of gathering experience and for development, finds it necessary to pass downwards into the material sphere, and, when it has taken possession of the Spiritual, intuitional, and higher Hfental Worlds, it may be looked on as an ego or soul embodying will, intuition and intellect, continuing eternally the same entity, never altering except by reason of increasing development, and hence being immortal. These Worlds, however, do not afford sufficient scope to the Monad and it presses r ill farther down into matter, through the lower Mental, into the Astral and Physical Worlds. The bodies with which it is there clothed form its personality and this personality suffers death and is renewed at each fresh incarnation. At the death of the physical body, the ego has merely cast aside a garment and thereafter continues to live in the next higher world, the Astral.

At the death of the Astral body in turn, another garment is cast aside, the ego is clear of all appendages and as it was before its descent into denser matter, having returned to the Mental World, the Heaven World. The ego finds itself somewhat strange to this owing to insufficient development, and it again descends into matter as before. This round is completed again and again, and each time the ego returns with a fresh store of experience and knowledge, which strengthens and perfects the mental body. When at last this process is complete, this body in turn is cast aside and the ego is clothed with its casual body. Again it finds itself strange and the round of descents into matters again begins and continues till the casual body has been fully developed. The two remaining worlds are but imperfectly known but the intuitional, as it's name indicates is that where the ego's vision is quickened to see things as they really are, and in the Spiritual World the divine and the human become unified and the divine purpose is fulfilled. (See the articles on the various Worlds and bodies, Theosophy, Monad, Evolution, Reincarnation.)

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 flesh, even to details of dress. It is believed possible for people to see their own wraiths, and among those who have been warned of approaching dissolution in this wise are numbered Queen Elizabeth, Shelley, and Catherine of Russia, the latter of whom, seeing her " double" seated upon the throne, ordered her guards to fire upon it! But wraiths of others may appear to one or more persons.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: Located in Dayton, Ohio, UFOlogists claim that Hanger 18, a storage base for crashed UFOs, was housed there.