Me: *sees An Acorn On The Ground* I Really Don't Need This

hello!!!!!

Some more witches to follow?

Please reblog if you’re a witchcraft blog of any sort. I would love to follow you~. Also, don’t be shy about talking to me if you’re interested! I don’t bite.

My little magickal friend. Apparently she's got this wildcrafting thing down 🕸🌙💚

.:: Defining Traditional Witchcraft ::.

What is Traditional Witchcraft?

According to Michael Howard, Trad Craft refers to “any non-Gardnerian, non-Alexandrian, non-Wiccan or pre-modern form of the Craft, especially if it has been inspired by historical forms of witchcraft and folk magic”.

Traditional Witchcraft, therefore, is not a single monolith. We can, in fact, distinguish between:

Operative Witchcraft or Folk Magic

Ritual(istic) Witchcraft

This first difference is taken from Margaret Murray; she used the first term for indicating the practice of magic, as carried out by cunning folk and folk magicians, and included the non-religious practice of spells, charms, divinations, etc. “whether used by a professed witch or by a professed Christian, whether intended for good or for evil, for killing or for curing. Such charms and spells are common to every nation and country, and are practised by the priests and people of every religion. They are part of the common heritage of the human race and are therefore of no practical value in the study of any one particular cult.” (The Witch-Cult, p. 11.)

The second term (also called “Dianic cult” by Murray) indicates, instead, “the religious beliefs and ritual of the people, known in late mediaeval times as ‘Witches’. The evidence proves that underlying the Christian religion was a cult practised by many classes of the community, chiefly, however, by the more ignorant or those in the less thickly inhabited parts of the country. It can be traced back to pre-Christian times”. Therefore we can say that Ritual Witchcraft is the cult of pre-Christian Deities or Spirits connected to the witches.

While the ideas of Murray about this cult have now been discredited, other scholars have reopened this field as a viable area of study, discovering many ecstatic witch-cults. The most known academics in this field are: Carlo Ginzburg, Éva Pócs, Emma Wilby, Claude Lecouteux, Wolfgang Behringer, Sabina Magliocco, Gábor Klaniczay, Gustav Henningsen and Bengt Ankarloo.

Relying on the work of these scholars, we can say therefore that Ritual Witchcraft was/is the religious system surrounding the Sabbath, the Procession of the Dominae Nocturnae from house to house, the spiritual flight, Elphame, the Wild Hunt, the Night Battles, etc.

As we can understand, even if the majority of the Ritual Witches were/are also Operative Witches (practitioners of Folk Magic), not all the Operative Witches were/are also Ritual Witches. The majority of Folk Magicians/Operative Witches, in fact, didn’t go to the Sabbath, didn’t astrally fly, didn’t astrally go with the Wild Hunt, from house to house with the Domina Nocturna, to Elphame/the Otherworld or to the Night Battles. Ritual Witches did.

We can say, therefore, that Operative Witchcraft is a practice, while Ritual Witchcraft is a religion.

Traditional Witches who are secular are, therefore, usually Operative and not Ritual Witches. While the distinction between Ritual and Operative Witchcraft is an established one in the Witchcraft community, I introduce a new, according to me useful, second distinction, inside Ritual Witchcraft (i.e. Witchcraft as a religion), by borrowing the terms “Revivalism” and “Reconstructionism” from Polytheism, in which it’s an already established terminology:

Hereditary Witchcraft

Revivalist Witchcraft

Reconstructionist Witchcraft

Hereditary Traditional Witchcraft brings together all the traditions that claim a lineage from the Witchcraft of the past.

Revivalist Traditional Witchcraft is inspired by folklore, trials and the figure of the witch without any presumption of hereditarity. Unlike the Reconstructionist one, it leaves ample space for personal initiative and the influence of other traditions, without slavishly following the history in every single detail.

Reconstructionist Traditional Witchcraft, finally, tries to resume, starting from the in-depth study of folklore, historical trials and documents, the exact practices and beliefs of Historical Witchcraft. For example, the pantheon of Spirits, the festivities, the structure of the Sabbath, the structure of the offerings, and so on.

An important aspect for those who practice Reconstructionism is the resumption of the names of the Gods (or it would be more correct to say, of the “Deific Familiar Spirits” or “Major Spirits”) forgotten and remained only in the trials papers and in folklore. The idea is to reopen roads, ways to these Spirits. Reconstructing therefore means paying homage to these Spirits and allowing those interested to re-establish a connection with Them.

We said before that Traditional Witchcraft is not Wicca. What’s the difference?

According to the Traditional Witchcraft author Lee Morgan:

“It could easily be said that one of the major differences between the modern revival referred to as “Traditional Witchcraft” and the other modern revival known as “Wicca”, is that Traditional Witchcraft draws on “folkloric material” and is largely “shamanic” whereas Wicca is more of a fusion of Western Occult ceremonial and natural magic traditions.”

(From: Lee Morgan’s “A Deed Without a Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft”)

Looking for Witches 🌙

If you are active, kind, and post about any of the following please reblog. My dash has been kind of dead lately

Crystals

Spells

Grimoire/Book of Shadows

Tarot

Witchy Recipes

Altar stuff

Aesthetic

Or if you want a witchy mutual please reblog 🌙✨

so now i have a couple weeks to get $900 together so i don’t get evicted!

as you may know, i’m in danger of getting evicted (i had a string of financial/family emergencies). i got an extension to pay off my past due rent, but i’ll owe another month by then so here i am again owing $900 i don’t have. 

i will be doing readings and accept donations for them (hint hint)

! as always though,, pendulum readings are free (unless you’re so swayed to donate). 

however, new and exciiting! tarot readings are now a thing! 1 card readings will be free! Anything more complicated, in-depth follow ups etc will be on a by-donation basis (button under the inbox tab), or if it’s easier you can send money to my paypal.me link! ! 

if you can’t donate (i get it trust me) then reblogging this is a huge help! and always positive vibes!

*if you’re getting a reading remember to check the rules 

Crystal clear 💖🌟 I’m currently working really hard to get the shop up by the end of the month, but i’m afraid that the opening date might have to be moved to early July. Fingers crossed though!

Hey witches,

I just had a fun idea!

Looking for a way to associate yourself with a spell, but don’t feel like cutting your hair or fingernails, or the like? What else do you have on your body that is solely yours, but that you don’t have to cut off to use?

Your fingerprint!

Using candles? Press your thumb into the softened wax! Using paper and ink? Stamp that thumb!

Since your thumb print is your biological “barcode”, so to speak, that’s a great way to add a self-identifier to your spell!