.:: Defining Traditional Witchcraft ::.

.:: Defining Traditional Witchcraft ::.

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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”)

More Posts from Grimoire-archives and Others

4 years ago

Its such a rip off that flowers don’t taste good

4 years ago

On Kitchen Magic

There are a lot of misconceptions about kitchen magic on here. 

(It’s nobodies fault this is how social systems work)

I’d like to clarify somethings out of my years working professionally and decades of cooking experience and the effect it has on people and lives in general.

The magic isn’t in the intention, or correspondences, or the direction your stir, or sigils and designs you draw into dough, or the herbs you grew in your window.

The magic is in the cooking.

Want to be an amazing practitioner? Want to get to the level where you can wield real power with it like other forms of craft? Practice Cooking.

Forget everything about magic and learn:

1. Knife skills- your knife should become an extension of yourself. Practice different techniques. Supreme, Brunoise, Chiffonade, etc. Your knife is more than a wand it’s also a weapon. There’s something incredibly grounding about it.

2. Mise en Place- Just like with ceremonial work- everything in its place. Make sure you’re keeping your work space clean as you go. Prepare things ahead of time like- peeling & blanching veg, prepping meat, anything you can ahead of time. When everything has a place nothing can slow you down or get lost.

3. Food Knowledge- Sure you know basil is good for attracting wealth but what color does it turn water when its boiled? How to keep it from bruising while making pesto? How long it takes to blanch? What species do you buy at the market and how does it differ in flavor from others? Just an example. You need to know everything about everything. A chef never stops learning. Learn how to eyeball measurements. Start baking by weight. Make something from every country. Make old old old ancient recipes. Ferment! Never! Stop! Learning!

4. Cook- You can’t just read. or watch. You need to apply yourself in the kitchen.

Get yourself a good chef’s knife if you dont have one, a solid cutting board, a decent saute pan, a pot made of non-reactive metal, tongs, and a plating spoon.

Do not pay more than like 5 dollars for a plating spoon. These are all you’re really gonna need to make just about anything. Certain things you’ll acquire when you take interest in specific things (say candy thermometer, silicone brush, uhh, baking pans, all sorts of things) but you don’t need a lot to start with at all.

Your fuck ups will teach you something and might actually be your best creations. Do not ever be afraid to make something even if you think you’ll fail.

5. Passionate and Getting Good?- DO NOT GO TO COOKING SCHOOL

Cooking school is a scam unless this is something you know you want to do for life. I cook professionally and even I don’t want to cook for life this business isn’t cut out for everyone and that’s okay. Go stage at a restaurant looking for work. TONS of restaurants hire people with no experience because they want to teach. I’ve quit positions because i’ve been over qualified thats how bad they want to teach sometimes. Seriously! Go learn from real chefs who are in the shit everyday. You’ll learn far more this way, you’ll get paid for doing it, and you’ll start building your cooking resume up.

This is obv an optional step but if you really wanna hone your skill and love cooking I just gotta beg you dont waste your money on cooking school.

My most successful peers never went or dropped out. Everyone who did go and is still actually cooking works middle management and hates their life.

In conclusion- Until your technique is second nature your magic will be weak.

Start worrying about the flips, tricks, correspondence n glitz after.

Obviously I’ve got the teaching bug myself and I’d love to continue to share industry tips some secrets. Maybe even teach some classes.

You don’t need a lot to get started but it’s an overwhelming field to jump into just like anything else. Consider this a 101.

Keep your nails short and clean.

Keep your hair up.

Wear a clean apron.

Wash your hands on entrance.

-Chef 🔪

4 years ago
Night 🥰

Night 🥰

4 years ago

tips for giving off

big witch energy

crystals in your pocket

softly chuckle to yourself while staring into a strangers eyes like you know

dirt

talk to plants you walk by

nod at passing cats like old friends

when someone offers a hand to shake look at their palm instead and sigh deeply

rocks

stare at the sun stare right at it you coward

use a cauldron to cook all meals

…sage

4 years ago

Chamomile Sleep and Offering Syrup

To go along with the syrups I’m planning to post now we come to Chamomile Syrup. This is really good for when you are having a hard time sleeping and want to add something to your tea when you don’t have the actual chamomile tea. Or you want to add a little extra boost to your Chamomile tea. You can also use this in your drink to help ground and center yourself.  Add it to teas, coffee, or liquor as you please. This also is really good as an offering! 

1 Cup water

1-2 cups sugar or sugar substitute

5-10 bags of Chamomile tea OR 1 cup chamomile flowers

STEPS

Place water and tea bags or flowers into a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Add in sugar or sugar substitute; stir until the sugar has dissolved completely before turning down the heat and allowing simmering for 10 minutes

Make sure to stir it every so often as to make sure nothing on the bottom burns

Remove from heat, cover, and allow the syrup to cool for 20 minutes.

Once it is cool, take out the tea bags, or strain the flowers, and transfer into a jar. Store in the fridge

Don’t worry if it doesn’t look that dark at first, it’ll darken as it cools to a nice goldish color.

4 years ago

Money/Prosperity/Fortune spells I usually do:

Foods:

Oatmeal, pinch o salt, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice

Diced potato, finely cut beef, salt paprika, basil, lemon zest, scrambled egg

Tilapia & Shrimp - salt, cilantro, lemon, paprika, chilli powder, basil

Steamed white rice, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, milk

Green tea with lemongrass, lemon, & mint

I usually use sea salt, but whatever

Jar: Basil, Bay, Carrot, Egg shell, Lemon slices, pennies, sealed with green & yellow wax, I used Chinese lucky coins tied to a ribbon to tie around the jar. 

Altar: Gold cloth, 2 green taper candles, 1 yellow chime candle, a crap load of foreign currency, pennies, serpentine, carnelian, jasper (yellow or greenish colors), dragon’s blood scent, fehu rune and/or the Sun card from shadowscapes, and some of the wands cards depending on context

Galdr: chanting “fe fe hu” for about half an hour, sometimes I mix in, depending on context fehu with uruz or ansuz and so on, and/or ansuz (the z sounds can conflate between uruz and ansuz, and the u sound can conflate hu all three, imo)

Listen to your favourite song about the subject, use lyrics like a chant. Dress up during song. Wear jewelry or clothes like a body altar (gold and green colors, brown and copper are pretty good, coins and currency signs, etc) to invite prosperity to you.

Enchanting a coin, a favourite coin, and wearing it (in your shoe, in your pocket, on a necklace, in your wallet is preferred tbh - you can even shake it to help “activate” it) 

4 years ago
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year
Lammas - A Festival To Mark The Annual Wheat Harvest, And Is The First Harvest Festival Of The Year

Lammas - a festival to mark the annual wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year

1 year ago

Following witchcraft blogs is an absolute roulette wheel on whether you're following a TERF or not and I can't stand how many times it's happened to me. Reblog this if you're a witchcraft blog and aren't a TERF and I'll give you a follow! On this blog we love and respect trans women!

4 years ago
EARLY SAMHAIN PUMPKIN BREAD!

EARLY SAMHAIN PUMPKIN BREAD!

Okay, I admit it… Samhain might be my favorite pagan holidays, right next to Yule And Imbolc. So I will being posting lots of coming recipes for Samhain you can make time during the fall season. Without further ado, here is my recipe, from my table to yours.

Witchy Tip: Burn black, orange, and yellow candles, infused with fall herbs to spread comfort and hospitality in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 can of pumpkin puree (16 oz)

4 large eggs (Can be substituted for applesauce for a vegan option.)

1 cup (237 ml) apple cider 

2 tsp baking soda

2 cups (400 g) white sugar

1 cup (210 g) dark brown sugar (Can be substituted with 1 cup white sugar and 1/3 cup molasses.)

1 cup (237 ml) vegetable oil or butter

Pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

3 ¾ (456 g) cups flour 

½ tsp ground cloves

A thumb of all-spice

½ tsp ground ginger 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 F then butter and flour loaf pans. In an exceptionably large bowl mix pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla, oil, apple cider, and sugar. 

In a separate bowl mix in your dry ingredients and spices, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and ginger. 

In fourths, stir in your dry ingredients slowly, being carful not to over mix your ingredients. 

Place in over for 45 to 60 minutes, or until you stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.

You can top it will many things such as cinnamon sugar, maple icing, pumpkin glaze, or melted chocolate. 

And you’re done!

~ Angel

1 year ago

Sabbath Tip for Wiccans

Never... And I mean NEVER beat yourself up for not being able (for whatever reason) to do a full ritual for a Sabbath. Since today (August 1st) is Lammas/Lughnasadh I thought I'd share somethings you can do on a Sabbath without it being a full-on ritual at your altar with offerings.

Remember that a Sabbath is personal. If you take a moment to speak with the God and Goddess, or your patron deity, that is perfectly fine. Give thanks and ask for continued prosperity. Acknowledging the holiday within yourself is more than enough; you can light candles if you like but you can speak to you deity without any supplies.

Spend time on your grimoire [book of shadows] simply spending some part of the day devoted to your craft can be very rewarding. If a Sabbath comes up quickly and you don't have anything prepared then you can make a page in your BoS for that particular Sabbath with all of its associations and lore; or you could plan a Sabbath ritual in your book to use next year.

Eat witchy. By this I mean you can do something small to still commemorate the holiday. You could quickly look up associated herbs with the particular Sabbath and make tea if you have it available. Other than that, most Sabbaths are associated with wheat- that being said, having a quiet moment to yourself eating some toast with honey on it and thanking your deity/deities for the abundance of food and a beautiful harvest. [I know most of us don't harvest our wheat and make our own bread, but someone did, so give thanks] If you can't eat gluten then some fruit and milk'n honey are good universal Sabbath foods.


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