Posts Tagged ‘traditional teachings’

“We are not people of the book. We are people of the heart. For the people of the book, know not what is in their book; but are most righteous in their unknowing.” Lady Circe, Queen Mother of the Alliance of the Old religion (1921-2003)

Lady Circe’s quote reminds us that the true witch does not merely espouse from a book written on paper, but instead makes their lives the embodiment of the book. The traditions and practices of the folk witch are not based in mere memorization of lines and adherence to dogma, but involve a whole paradigm about magic, the nature of creation, the spirit world, tapping the power of creation and destruction, and working the laws of the Gods, Goddesses and spirits. For the true witch, the Gods and Goddesses are our parents and we honor them, request assistance of them and even get annoyed with them just as any child does their parents. The traditional witch does not see them as  symbols of anything. They are independent living beings that shape and create our universe and they are our truest family. Because of this, the challenge for the student of a traditional witch is to open their eyes and heart and, at times, close their mouth and look at the whole lifestyle of the teacher including their sayings, lore, customs, prohibitions, etc. We witches live our ways and thus, we are people of heart and soul whose very lives tell the nature of our wisdom traditions.

In addition to this quote, Lady Circe often told me that “we learned to write and became stupid.” In this statement, this wise woman was warning us that the ways of the Craft must be written into our very souls so that we are always witches; able to tap the spiritual forces of the universe and make magic wherever and whenever it is needed. She warns that there is a risk if we simply memorize the contents of our books and quote them as if we really know what they mean and live what they instruct. We are warned not to simply speak the teachings of our Craft, but to demonstrate them in mind, spirit and deed. In this way, we become a beacon to those who see us. For, the teachings instruct us to “live in nobility of mind and purpose.”

As the reader will note in this article, my position is that there were and are living traditions of witchcraft (Northern European and other) in America. I am also clear that these streams originated on other continents (European, Africa and others) and migrated here, synchronized with Native American practices and often grafted themselves onto the skeletal structure of Christianity as a matter of survival and a normal part of cultural assimilation. In my experience, these traditions are almost exclusively oral, are rarely from one specific ethnic or culture stream, and are not religious in their context, though they provide powerful spiritual insights and are often preserved in families. The caveat for the seeker of traditional witchcraft is to avoid looking for elements of mainstream paganism. Traditional folk witchcraft (“Craft”) looks and feels very different than modern Craft, though modern versions incorporate some elements from the older forms.

My contribution is as an individual who has learned and lived a living folk magic tradition and has learned modern tradition as well. It is not intended to be an academic article, but is intended to stimulate the thought processes of the reader on the nature and existence of traditional witchcraft and other folk magic practices. It is also my sincere hope that those persons reading this article, who think of themselves as witches yet often do not believe that witchcraft is anything other than a modern construct, will re-consider this position. Modern streams of the Craft give us innovation and bridge the gap between the folk ways and modern culture and this is an immense contribution to the collective of witchcraft teachings. However, the modern neo-pagan movement is only revisiting and revising an older practice. So, I pray thee lovely witches. Believe in thyself for you stand upon the shoulders of generations of lore, customs, practices, and yes – tradition.

Witchcraft and Magic in Folkoric Tradition

For the sake of clarity, my use of the term “folkloric” refers to traditions steeped in “folklore”. Webster dictionary defines as folklore “traditional customs, tales, sayings, dances, or art forms preserved among a people.” In this article, folkoric magic refers to a branch of magical knowledge that deals with folklore. I have chosen to commit my work to the preservation of and continued work with, folk-based Witchcraft (from a specific hereditary line to be described in this text), southern folk tradition from Virginia with later influences from the deeper south and Appalachian and other streams of Faery tradition. It is important for the reader to understand that folk practices are central to all cultures and preceded formalized temple-based and other magical traditions that were or are more connected with the political structures of a society. In this way, one could think of folk magic tradition as “the mother of all magical traditions”. I am sure that there are old traditions of Witchcraft and magic that were preserved through grimoires, diaries and other written documents, but that kind of tradition was not a part of my experience except in modern traditions. Also, though all cultures have folk magic practiced by the nearly everyone, these cultures also have gifted people that are trained in deeper aspects of the tradition and the persons are the witches and conjurers that are the subject of this article. They are the carriers of tradition that keep the fires of folk tradition burning.

On the Quest for Folkloric Magical Tradition
This article presents my journey into folk magic and traditional craft. I am also presenting the reader with insights to consider regarding the unique elements of these forms of magical tradition that differ greatly from the modern approaches. This is not to discredit modern traditions in any way, but to illustrate and honor the “original settlers on this new world of magic” and to provide a generalized roadmap for the seeker of these ways to use to inform them on how to find and recognize folkoric Craft.  The seeker of older traditions will have to consider certain elements that influence the appearance and accessibility of these traditions such as the following:

•    From what culture did the tradition originate?
•    From what economic class did the tradition originate?
•    How did the tradition immigrate to America?
•    Where did the people carrying the tradition settle?
•    What was the prevailing religious persuasion of the area where the tradition originated and where (and when) it settled (ex. Catholic, Protestant etc.) in America?
•    What were the laws of the area regarding heresy, witchcraft, divination etc and how punitive were/ are they?
•    Were there other cultures with magical traditions that lived in close relationship to the tradition through its formative years in America?
•    Is there a traditional role for the primary carriers of the tradition in its culture (here in America) such as a conjurer has in the south?
•    Who are the primary carriers of the tradition in the respective culture or family (i.e. men, women, 7th sons etc)?
•    Are there specific customs about who receives the teachings and how they are transmitted?
•    Is there a specific term or title to describe the practitioner? For instance, the words “pagan” or “witch” may be offensive.
•    Are their customs regarding secrecy or how the carrier of the tradition is approached for information?
Considering these items can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the quest and the quality of the findings for the seeker. They will also influence the closeness of the relationship to the teacher since any disregard of them could lead the seeker into unintentional disrespect to the teacher and the tradition. All of these elements color the subtleties any stream of folk magic, since all of the streams in America have been influenced by immigration, migration and the evolution of American culture. Folkoric traditions can be subtle and elusive at times, so the seeker of these ways will need a lot of patience.

My Roots in Folkoric Magical Tradition

There are two major streams of folkloric magical tradition that have shaped my life, though I have been initiated (for lack of a better term) into and honor other traditions as well. These primary streams originate in “living folk tradition,” meaning that they are a part of family and community practices that do not originate with a person. Rather, they evolved from ethnic and cultural groups over long periods of time and influenced by migration patterns and other cultural shifts..

Southern Appalachian Folk Magic

These practices include the following: a) Irish, Scottish and some elements of British folk magical practice; b) African practices from the slave trade; and c) localized Native American practices and lore. In my homeland of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, the accumulated practices and traditions of this stream were simply referred to as “conjure” or “working”. This area is rife with both Appalachian folk traditions and Southern folk magic. This area is on the fringes of the Southern currents of Appalachian culture and includes both the old Celtic and British practices of the “mountain folk” and the folk magic preserved by African slaves. These practices primarily involve five modes of magic:

1)    Working with the crossroads spirit called the “Dark Man,” “the Dark Rider” or “the Stranger”     who opens and closes the road to magic and grants favor to those who know how, when and where to approach him, feed him, or “pay” him for the work to be done. This aspect is primarily African in origins, but historical representations of witches in the England, Ireland and Scotland also reference meetings with “the devil” at the crossroads. This suggests that this practice may herald from multiple cultural roots. However, the devil mentioned is not the Christian hellish entity, but is a threshold being that guards the door between the worlds of humanity and spirits.

2)    Simple magical workings such as cleansings, blessings, curses, herbal lore, fire magic and “charming” (mostly amulets, bags, and specific spoken spells for healing). There is also a lot of cursing and protection magic in this stream of practices.
3)    Graveyard magic to work with ancestral spirits for varied purposes such as love, protection, cursing, healing, advice, etc. This form may use many methods from “dusting” or the use of graveyard dirt for various uses to the construction of a soul pot to entreat, feed and collaborate with the spirits of the dead.

4)    Interpreting “tokens,” which are signs associated with pre-vision, also called the second sight or the “veil.” This stream of lore and practices is specific to family blood lines that have the veil in it. My family was one of these.

5)    Practices for opening and maintaining contact with, and the favor of, spirits such as “the little people” (Fairy), ancestral (the dead), angels (God’s messengers) and the “spirit” or “maker” (God). In this tradition, spirits are everywhere and everything is influenced by them. The conjurer has the skill to work with them.

For clarity, I have developed a sub-section of the material later in this article discussing Faery Seership, which draws from a specific stream of Southern Appalachian folk magic.

The lore, techniques, and practices of Southern Appalachian magical teachings came to me orally from my biological mother, who received it from two primary sources including a woman that my siblings and I lovingly knew as Ms. Granny, a freed slave who mid-wifed my mother’s birth. She lived well beyond 100 years of age and was deeply respected and revered by my family. My mother was born in a slaves quarters on an old plantation outside of Winchester, Virginia. Other sources for this material were neighbors and other friends in the Valley and in West Virginia that shared their knowledge with me. It was always made clear to me that some of this “stuff” as my mother called it came from the slaves while others came “over on the boats” with her family from Germany as well as from the families of other people in the region that heralded from British, Scottish and Irish roots. This blood was highly honored in my culture as was Native American blood, which was highly concentrated in my family on my father’s side. My mother, sister and I were born with the “veil”, a placental sheath on the eyes of the newborn that indicates the “blessings” or gift of spirit sight. Being exposed to these practices throughout my formative years tuned me into the subtle nuances of folk tradition and magic in the context of culture. For many years I paid little attention to the power and sacredness of these practices as they were simply a part of what you did in the normal course of events in life.
Interestingly, there are also elements of Celtic and African magical practice fused with Christian practices in Southern Appalachian tradition such as the laying on of hands, praying to God for conjure (the power to do a specific magical working), the use of prayer clothes, the use of a form of baptism used by conjurers to bring their students into the spirit world, charms and spells that often have old Pagan names and Christian ones such as the charm to staunch bleeding:

By the blood of Adam sin was taken.
By the blood of Christ, it all was taken; and
By that same blood, I do thee charge
That the blood of (insert name of person bleeding),
No longer run at large.

This “charm” as they are called is used to charm away bleeding. People who have these charms are called “charmers,” a term that shows up repeatedly in Celtic, Manx and other old European cultures and, interestingly, 200-300 years after immigration to American in the Southern Appalachian practices. However, sadly, it is my understanding that the charmers in Appalachia are now dying out and there are few of them left.

There are also other Celtic magical practices within my family such as the making of “prayer water” which is water collected from a running spring and prayed over at dawn. This water is then used to anoint or bless a person so God’s healing power can help them. It is well documented that Celtic magical and mystical traditions long revered wells and springs for their magical powers as access points to the underworld within the land.

Faery Seership

There are forms of magic and a body of practices in the Appalachian material that works specifically with Faery and otherworld beings. Given the heavy influence of Irish and Scottish culture on Appalachian culture, this would be a given. Faery traditions have long figured prominently in the supernatural landscape of Gaelic cultures that are well documented for their mixed bag of fear and reverence for the little people or “Gentry.”

The material I received was not taught in some formal style. It was simply practices that were passed on in informal chats, stories or as they seemed appropriate to specific situations. Often, I would meet older folks in the family or community who would disclose that they knew I had the veil because it runs strong in my family or they could “see it over my eyes” (referring to a technique used to assess the presence of second-sight in an individual). I rarely heard the word “magic” used. Instead, the word “work” was used most. I suspect this was to avoid stigma. However, some folks, who were fundamentalist Christian, or just plain staunch, called it witchcraft, superstition or the devil’s work.

I expanded upon this material through academic research of recorded folk tradition, which I further developed through contemporary practice and technique development based on traditional elements. These folk practices center in on where the spirits live, how to contact them, how to understand their ways, how do deal with them when they are harmful, and how to secure their favor. There are many types of spirit beings in this tradition. Some of them are what we think of as “fairy.” Sometimes they are referred to as “the Little People” or “Sidewise Folk” (meaning sideways) or simply as “Them.” Occasionally, but very infrequently, the term “fairy” was used. Primarily, these beings affect luck and health. There are also other beings in the tradition such as “Grey Ladies,” “Grey Men,” “Lights,” “Hants,” “Devil Dogs,” “the Woods Folk,” and “Boogans.” They lurk around corners, in the shadows, on dark roads, and other twilight places and always live close by to humanity. These beings can be harmful or helpful and the conjurer or “worker” knows how to approach and work with these creatures for help, harm or simply to get rid of their influence.
My first exposure to this work was as a child watching my mother leave food for the little people to assure their presence and blessings. She was clear that “these folk were here before us, they mean us only good … but they must be cared for as family or they get mad and make things bad.” Mixed into this lore was work with the ancestral dead and “hants” (or haunts) that live at specific places. Things that are often considered events in modern culture are considered personages by the conjurers. For example, death is both an event and a being like “Old Man Death” or “Mr. Death” who comes by and gets you when it is your time to die. Even God, often simply referred to as “the Maker” was a being you talked directly with as a direct contact.  In short, the spirit beings of Southern Appalachian practices are not “energies” or “symbols”, they are personal neighbors that live “in a secret hidden room” just next door to our world and they interact with us all the time. Now, the confusing aspect of these practices was identifying the Celtic and African elements from each other. This is particularly true in the crossroads work, which calls upon a being that shows up in the folkoric witchcraft of Northern Europe and the magical practices of African tradition. This cultural fusion is common throughout the American South where African and European elements have intertwined and fused together with American dialect over centuries of exposure to each other.

I remember my mother hanging iron nails or pieces of bread over the crib of my nieces to keep the bad spirits at bay. All of the practices centered on a constant relationship with the spirit world to turn the tides of luck in your favor. They are direct, active, constant and organic. The conjurers (when that or any name is used to describe them) are uncanny at best and often avoided unless you need their help, which you pay for with money.  A lot of the lore and practices described by Reverend Robert Kirk, who wrote in his 1690 treatise entitled The Secret Commonwealth (the seminal text on Gaelic Faery practices) bear general resemblance to the Appalachian to practices to which I was exposed.

In the early 80s, in addition to this material, I received information from a hereditary witch from Essex, England that included material on working with the Fairy (the British spelling), including a body of lore and practices called “mill magic.” Mill magic involves opening out the inner powers and potencies of a place through visionary and movement processes. It also works with opening the hidden doors of nature through which the spirits bring and take life. These mills open out inner power from the ever-present crossroads or “grey paths” that lead into and out of our world. One might look at these paths as the circulatory system of the planet, which carries energetic life-blood from the heart of the planet outward into the surface life of our world. The heart of the world is the molten core that burns at the center of the land is also known as “the Star within the Stone” in folkloric witchcraft.

Interestingly, a primary custom in this work is that after the techniques for mill magic are passed on, the teacher and the student must never be in communication again. In fact, my teacher said, “Once I pass the mill to you, I am dead to you.” It is my understanding that this custom was only used when the material was passed outside of the bloodline family for it broke and age old taboo. In folk tradition, there are often strange customs like this that occur. They also tend to involve how, when and where certain teachings or techniques can be given. So, the seeker of these ways needs to be aware of the unconventional. They also need to understand that they (the student) dictate nothing about what they get and how, when or where they get it. This is often a challenge for American students.

I call this collective body of all of these practices “Faery Seership” to place emphasis on the development of second sight and other intuitive and subjective skills that allows for human-to-spirit contact and work. This form of magic promotes the idea that spirits are everywhere and involved in all the affairs of humanity and the natural world.
The folk elements of the Faery Seership are found in the practices of Appalachian tradition and include stories about the “little people” and other types of uncanny spirits that live in the woods, graveyards, mountains, streams and at the crossroads. Work with the ancestral dead and the “little people” is intertwined. Often the boundaries between the two types of spirit beings are blurred and it can be difficult for the outsider to ascertain where one stops and the other begins. There is a great deal of bleed-over between the African and European elements in this form of magic. Some of the general forms of magical practice that are a part of Faery Seership include the following:

1)    Graveyard and home-based ancestral magic including how to contact the dead and work with them.

2)    Lore about different types of spirits, where the spirits live, what they do and how to secure their favors.

3)    Recipes for teas and other herbal preparations to open out the spirit sight.

4)    Techniques for conjuring power from the land through specific movements and use of voice intonation that differs for men and woman.

5)    Techniques for awakening the second sight for persons who were not born with it.

6)    Techniques for healing, blessing, cursing, clearing and conjuring spirits and spiritual forces to a place or a person.

7)    Techniques for opening the grey roads, which are the haunted paths between this world and the spirit world. This is often done at in-between places such as graveyards, crossroads, woodland clearings, etc.

In Reflection

I remember when I first came to the Witchcraft. There was all this talk about “the book,” a written compilation of rites, teachings, practices and lore that extends from the extant past. I also remember the many discussions and debates between often self-aggrandized Elders, High Priests and High Priestesses over who had the “correct” book, thus deeming them as “the real thing” and the most valid witch, or of the most credible witch lineage. At the time, I bought into this notion and discounted the southern Appalachian folk tradition of my cultural roots to sit at the feet of whoever seemed to possess the book. I did this for many years and learned many wonderful intellectual concepts that appeared very coherent, organized and thought provoking. But too often, I found it lacked that spark or ring of truth that usually accompanies teachings and practices based in actual “living tradition.” Thanks to the guidance of dear friends like R.J. Stewart, I reclaimed my roots and re-integrated the many magical practices and philosophies. I learned and lived from my teachers, parents and overall culture living in the fringes of Appalachia. In fact, it is from these deep running roots that the tree of Faery Seership grew.

Hereditary Traditional Witchcraft

The line of Hereditary Traditional Witchcraft that I learned and continue to carry was influenced by Scottish, Irish and Italian cultural elements and was originally preserved in a family context. The most influential of my teachers in this line was Lady Circe of Toledo, Ohio, was a 5th generation hereditary witch and the first person in her family to open her teachings to people who were not “of the blood” (i.e. not blood related).

It may startle the reader to hear of a folk witch using the term “Lady” as a prefix to her name. However, Lady Circe, like many hereditary witches, somewhat discounted the importance and completeness of her teachings and incorporated elements from modern Wicca and Western mystery traditions into her practices, thus allowing a more systematic approach that could bring people who were not members of her family into the old magic.  Since, by its nature, tradition is a living, changing and organic entity, these elements were not removed, but considered elements within the tradition.

In my encounters with other traditional lines of witchcraft in America, I  found that the phenomena of synchronizing modern practices with traditional ones was a reoccurring theme. In the 1960s and 70s, the modern Craft movement brought forth systems that were very organized and guided by structured books of teachings. This was very impressive to many of the old style traditional witches, like Lady Circe. Most “blood-born witches” are humble people who have great power. They tend to honor and cherish their tradition but not to hold it as more impressive than any other. Because of this, they are often open to learning other things which, of course, presents a challenge to an amateur anthropologist like me who try to get to the root practices of their family tradition. Indeed, it was an adventure and a process working with Lady Circe to delve into the subtle innuendos of her teachings and retrieve their roots and meanings.

However, those of us who knew her well, and loved her deeply, saw her as family, friend, mentor and role model in the richest, most profound ways. She was mother, grandmother and great grandmother to all of us who received and closely followed the teachings of this loving, patient, elegant, alluring and profoundly wise witch. To me, in the depths of my heart, she was “great grandma” as well as Queen Mother. Though Wiccan elements came into our great grandma’s teachings in the 70’s, the core tradition remained traditional and hereditary witchcraft; a tradition of family where tradition is thicker than blood. So, the use of “Lady” came much later. And, though she was (and is) indeed a lady in the truest meanings of the word, she was so much more. The closeness between the teacher and the student in the traditional ways, far exceeds the concepts of mentor and guide. It is an irreplaceable blending of spirits and sharing of the hidden ways of sprit known only to those “who have eyes to see and heart to hear”.

Often this process involves a type of “weeding out” of other influences to identify the core tradition and practices. It took a great deal of time and effort to work with this incredible woman and tease out the traditional hereditary elements of her practices and beliefs because they were often subtle and so incorporated into daily living that discussing them as a “teaching” was  a foreign concept to her.  I was fortunate that my Lady Circe was honest and forthcoming about this synergy of old and new. Many teachers are not. Instead, too often they try to pass on the whole of their practices as old and traditional which, in the end, erodes the integrity of the teacher and the material. In my view, this type of practice is what has called the historical validity of so many Witchcraft traditions into suspect. In retrospect, I am so very grateful to Lady Circe for her honesty. This allowed me to get to the root teachings of this true old line hereditary witch.

Her Craft roots draw from a family folk magic tradition that, at a minimum, extends over a hundred years in the United States alone. Much of her tradition is taught in the form of rhymes, recipes, practices and simple charms and spells .Her teachings are elegantly simple but profoundly complex in the simplicity. There were many unique elements to how Lady Circe originally received her teachings and power within the Craft such as the following:

•    She received her power through the breath of her paternal great-grandmother. This happened in 1921 when Lady Circe was born “still-born” or dying. Her paternal great-grandmother named Mary literally snatched her away from the hospital and then brought her back again – healthy and thriving. She said, “I gave this child my breath and now she is mine.” Mary, a woman of 1st generation Irish decent, was known to be strange and was considered a witch by the family.

•    Mary ensured that there was constant close proxemics between her and Lady Circe through her younger years. Lady Circe always slept in bed with her teacher at night, a custom frown upon since old people were seen to draw life out of younger ones. During this time, Mary would tell Lady Circe things and show her magical practices.

•    When Lady Circe was still young, Mary took her to an area behind the wood shed where the woods met the clearing. She left her there for hours (some versions of the story say, overnight) and instructed her that she would tell her more when she returned. This practice of leaving the student witch at an in-between place to encounter the spirits is a classic aspect of folkoric magical tradition.

•    Much of the power of what occurred between Mary and Lady Circe did not come into being until after Mary died and Lady Circe began puberty. This is also a classic element of folkoric magic, where the full power of the teacher passes at death and magical or intuitive abilities awaken at puberty.

As with many folk practitioners, magic was simple, direct, practical and potent. She never taught from a book, but directly through experience, wisdom rhymes and stories, lore and example. In these teachings, the Gods are not symbols and magic is not merely a mental game. Rather, the Gods and Goddesses are real, pre-human beings and are our true family. Magic is the mechanism by which the ancient beings who established the order of the universe (known in our tradition as “the Old Ones Before Time”) bring about creation, destruction and regeneration. The art of magic was given to humanity by Faery people, also known as the “Children of the Dawn” or “the Elder Race,” when they mated with humanity in the earliest stages of creation. Witches, as our tradition understands them, are those who carry “the blue blood,” which is the blood of that co-mingling of species.
This blood is the traditional witches’ mark that marks one as having the propensity for magic. During instruction and initiation, the blood is awakened and the old power opens out of the would-be witch. Otherwise, it lies sleeping until awakened. Inherent in this philosophy is the belief that the propensity to be a witch is genetic. If this ability awakens without proper training it can be deeply disturbing and even harmful to the blossoming witch. The tradition sees a witch as a special type of being that exists betwixt the human and spirit worlds. Initiation into this magical stream of work ultimately happens through constant exposure to the teacher or, as we say, “I touch you and your blood remembers.” So, if the propensity for being a witch is in the student, then it will be awakened through contact with the carrier of the tradition.

Now, as another point of clarity, in folkoric witchcraft, the techniques and the “blood” are not enough. The would-be witch also need spirits passed on to them. In modern tradition, this would be described as “inner contacts.” This passing on of contacts includes what is termed as the “passing of power” that occurs in Wiccan and other Craft traditions.
The rites and workings taught in this form are not complex and the symbols are obvious and simple in their reflections of natural truths. It stresses simplicity, or as Lady Circe often said, “If you would walk the witch’s way, observe with care the child at play” and “Never loose the magic you were born with; for children are the true witches.” These sayings stress the simplicity of our ways and gently warn us that we must not overcomplicate the purity the witch’s craft. Traditional Craft and the other forms of folk magic that I address in this chapter have a practical nature that is tied to everyday life. They also have an inherent truth and power about them because they are based on longstanding relationships of people or groups of people with the natural and spirit world.

The traditional witchcraft I learned incorporates seven general modes of magical practice:
1)    A direct and constant relationship with the Gods as your parents or original ancestry. The deities and spirits are not seen as distant beings, but as a constant presence in our lives. They have specific names which vary from tradition to tradition based upon cultural roots, immigration patterns and synchronized elements of Christian influence. Often the names are colloquial, slang or a set of descriptive words like “the Dark One” or “the many-footed walkers.”

2)    Development of the ability to “tap the power,” which allows the witch to work magic. This power flows up from center of the earth, which we call “the abyss,” or down from the stars. This persuasion of traditional Craft rarely speaks of raising the power out of our bodies other than to gift it to the Gods. Instead, we harness, focus and charge the power we call from the abyss and the stars..

3)    Simple spells and rites for healing, cursing, love and protection as well as herbal lore, incense/potion making, tree and stone lore, using the power of these objects to accomplish specific aims.

4)    Techniques and lore for living in harmony with nature and its associated spirits, spiritual truths and rhythms.

5)    Techniques for developing intuitive/psychic skills (the sight) as a tool for communicating with subtle forces such as the Faery, the deities, nature spirits and the ancestors. These skills also allow the witch to understand and interpret the ways of our Lady of Fate.

6)    Transmission of inner spirit contacts through apprenticeship, initiatory power and specific rites of making. This is a hallmark of old line witchcraft for it involves an introduction of the inner spirit contacts of the teaching witch to a student witch.

7)    Ancestral reverence and magic using altar and hearth work to honor and work with the spirits of the dead to aid our magical work and guide us from the other side as intermediary spirit beings.

The original rites for induction into this Craft were simple and direct since it was usually passed on from one family member to another. They involve such practices as taking the student to an areas considered “in between” such as a graveyard, a place where the woods and the clearing meet, the seashore, or other transition points. The student places one foot in one area (such as the clearing) and one foot in the other area (such as the woods) and is then left there for a period of time from midnight on to be inducted into the spirit world. Other elements of the tradition include the use of mirrors for conjuring and witch name known by other witches, as well as a spirit name only known by the spirits.

When Lady Circe went public as a witch, she developed formal initiatory rites that were less folk-based and were used to bring people into her witch family or “house.” It is interesting to note that the concept of “Karma” was not used in her teachings, though there is a saying that came down in the family that “the toucher is touched,” inferring that whatever we touch, touches us back. This saying embodies an implied warning that whatever magic we work, will touch us back … so we should be mindful.

Defining Traditional Witchcraft

Now that the concept of “tradition” seems to be the in-thing in the modern Pagan communities, it is important to define what is meant by this concept when used by Traditionalist Witches. However, there are concepts which I, as a Traditional Witch, feel are core to understanding traditionalist Craft. These ideas are mine and I do not present them as any way universal. Rather, they are food for thought and, indeed, it is a sad day when witches are unwilling to think beyond their comfortable familiar patterns and challenge themselves. Therefore, I invite you to at least entertain some of the concepts laid out in this writing and subsequent ones in this column as food for thought when pondering the definition and scope of Traditional Witchcraft.

An Anthropological Fact

There have been and always will be persons in communities who are recognized as witches, conjurers, root doctors and other colloquial names for practitioners of localized folk magic and mystical traditions. The names change with the culture but the concepts, core practices and societal role remain the same. Across cultures and races, this person is feared and revered. They tend to live at the edge of society and practice fertility magic, seership (including contact with the dead and localized spirits and deities), healing of humans, animals and plants, cast spells and conjurations, and are wise in the inner ways that maintain harmony between humans and non-humans (including animals, plants and unseen beings).

The Roots

Our traditions have been transmitted primarily through family lines, orally in stories, techniques, lore and practices. This material has been written down over the last couple of centuries in recipe-type books not necessarily called “grimoires,” though I guess they could be termed that now. These traditions have come down in way that appears fragmented, though they are not at all disjointed at the core. You see, in the old days, the Craft was not a religion – it was a vocation, practice and role in society. And, the “circle” was, as Lady Circe taught, “a secret meeting place” for the secret society of witches.
Today, we have gathered up these elements and teachings and systematized them. I think this will help preserve these ways, since most of us live in neither the society nor the family of origin and thus must re-construct an environment conducive to practicing and maintaining the Old Craft. Old streams of Craft in America have been influenced by migratory patterns into and across the United States. In fact, those of use who are “Southern witches” may have received, through initiation, primarily European practices that also have some African elements in it. This is an indication of authenticity, not eclecticism.
Traditions did not just arrive in an American vacuum. Rather, they have been influenced by the wars, economic strife, and cultural synergy of America. Those of us who grew up in the states that were involved in the African slave trade of the 1700s and 1800s were exposed to African magic and teachings incorporated into our cultures as well as to European magical practices. We also see that, all over the United States, Native American elements have also merged with European and sometimes African elements. These multi-cultural variants were not intentionally synergized. This happened over long periods of time and exposure. This is why they work. The modern practice of taking a little of this and mixing it with a little of that because ones likes it that way is not an element of traditional ways. In some parts of this country, we also see elements of Christianity and secret societies (Masonic, Oddfellows, etc.) synergized into the magical practices.

A Tradition?

In this era where anything that is practiced more than once is being termed a tradition, those of us who are preserving old traditions and practices are greatly challenged. It is my belief that, a practice does not become a tradition until it is tied to a culture, family, locality or race and is maintained over a long period of time. Traditions tend to grow out of cultures, land-bases and/or cultural synergies over long periods of time that give them their depth and inner potencies. Traditions tend to be a preservation of the ways of our fore-mothers and fathers and are time-honored practices and beliefs. A tradition encompasses a body of clearly defined beliefs and practices that also include attitudes, paradigms and philosophies. They cannot be transmitted by a book. They must be transmitted by a type of contagion wherein the student is hearing the words of the teaching, feeling the presence of the teaching in the attitudes of the teacher, and integrating the teachings into practices through direct experience and continued exposure to the teacher. Really, Traditional Craft is like a culture in itself. Perhaps as many years (even centuries) of time pass, the newer Craft practices will gather the inner power and practices that I would define as “traditional.” I believe this has already begun.

The Commonalities Across Traditions?

After decades of study and practice of folkoric magic and traditional witchcraft, I have identified certain commonalities in traditional folk-based Craft tradition. Out of this, I have found certain elements which I consider to be fundamental parts of authentic folkoric Craft traditions. I have listed these (see below) as a checklist to assist the seeker in finding and identifying folkoric magical traditions. The caveat is that this checklist is an outgrowth of my experience and is not intended to be definitive or tested in an academic or research manner. I have called this tool the Folkoric Witchcraft Checklist and I hope it proves helpful to the reader.

Orion Foxwood’s  Folkoric Witchcraft Checklist

The following list provides core elements that tend to define older or folkoric Craft traditions from modern constructs. This list can be used by students seeking older forms of Craft to determine whether a particular line of teachings are based on folkloric or old lines of witchcraft, or not. The more items that are present in the identified system, the higher the chances that the proposed line is old, or at lease based on old concepts.

1)    Is there a focus on ancestral reverence and collaboration with the dead through ongoing and active engagement practices such as altars, rites and techniques? (NOTE: once a year on October 31st does not constitute a folkloric line).

2)    Do the teachings focus on magic as an intrinsic part of everyday life? This includes daily practices incorporated into food preparation, eating, gardening, bathing, employment, sex and love, morning prayers, etc.

3)    Are magical tides as guided by the moon, seasonal and earth changes focal in the practices? Large rituals with lots of tools are not a part of these practices. Instead the work is direct, in nature (or in a graveyard), and often includes practices that are performed daily or at regular intervals.

4)    Is there a focus on the transmission of inner spirit contacts as a part of apprenticeship, especially as the teaching witch is dying?

5)    Is there synchronization with mystical Christian elements? If a tradition has no Christian elements in it, it is probably re-constructed and not old. There is no way that lines survived, in pure pagan style, without incorporating such elements as a normal part of synergy and survival.

6)    Do the practices include the use of rhyme and gibberish (also called the “spirit tongue”), which is a form of conjure that occurs when the human is taken by the spirit?

7)    Does the teacher prefer mentorship rather than structured classes? This involves working directly with the witch or conjurer to see how things are done and how they feel when they are working. Many traditional witches (me included) have begun to teach in a structured class format initially, but prefer to move that to a more traditional mentoring style.

8)    Does the teacher understand and teach that “the power” comes from the spirits or is being loaned by a deity. The concept of “personal power” or what I call “privileged power” is a modern convection.

9)    Does the teacher use a type of binding oath to ensure fidelity and safety performed through oaths, simple rites of binding, and promises made to the spirit world?

10)    Does the teacher, at some point, provide a formal introduction of the new witch or conjurer to the world of the spirits? This introduces the student as a student and member of the family in the spirit world.

11)    Does the teacher provide instruction on both baneful and blessing magic? As we say in the southern tradition, “we works with both hands,” which means that the witch and conjurer can help or harm with their power. Traditional folk magic teaches that a worker must be able to do both to be effective at either.

12)    Does the teacher transmit their teachings orally in the forms of stories, songs, dances, magical practices and lore and usually in non-classroom, living situations, like informal discussions or “doing the work?”

13)    Does the teacher use of folk-based language to describe the work instead of intellectual, modern terms. For example, the spirits would never be called “energies” by a folk witch.

14)    Does the teacher feel that the ability to perform magic is a genetic one that travels in families? It is not a trait that all people have, though all people can perform simple (but effective) forms of magic.

15)    Does the teacher use folk names for God or the Goddess/God that describe their function such as “the Maker”, “the Black Bitch”, “the Stranger”, and “the Weaver”; instead of specific names like Diana or Pan? This is not always the case, but occurs a lot as you move out from the cities into the country.

16)    Does the teacher use graphic initiatory rites instead of symbolic ones? These rites are usually simple but potent such as burial in the ground (a graveyard in the old days), being bound up in vines to become re-veined into the green world, standing at an in-between place such as a crossroads, island seashore, or where the woods meet a clearing.

17)    Does the teacher use special names for the witch or conjurer that is given at initiation or by the spirits when they are “made?”

The Challenges of Finding Traditional Folkloric Witchcraft

I must warn the seeker of these ways that finding a teacher and getting them to teach can be a challenge. One of the greatest challenges is that a folk witch may not even know that what they have is of great value. Below, I have listed a few more of the challenges. This list will help tune the seeking student into some of the subtleties and sensitivities related to seeking, finding and studying folkoric witchcraft. Considerations include, but are not limited to the following:

•    The student is not entitled to the teachings. The sharing of teachings is an honor and the seeking student must approach with respect and humility for the teachings and the time of the teacher.

•    Again, there may be no grand books or grimoires and you may or may not be allowed to write down the teachings. They may be shared gradually with an expectation that you will memorize them and be able to recite them back when requested by the teacher. As my teacher often said, “what is spoken fades away, but what is written may hang you some day.”

•    The teachings may have no formal name beyond things like “the ways,” “the path,” “the hidden road,” “conja,” or other informal attributions.

•    The teacher may not use the word “witch.” This word or the use of the word “pagan” may be offensive.

•    There may be specific ways that a student is to request teaching. This may not be known to the student but is a deciding factor for the teacher. Yes, this is unfair, but it is a cultural nuance. The seeker does best to approach with a gift as specific to the culture of the teacher as you are able.

•    The teacher may under-valued their material as “stuff.” They may have embellished it with new, modern material. They also may embellish stories initially to test the student’s commitment and ability to hear “what is not said.”

•    The teachings are more than practices, they involve a whole paradigm which requires the student to look beyond just what you do into how you think, feel, relate and experience.

•    Many of the teachings will be hidden right in front of you

•    The teachings may be highly treasured as a remnant of the old ways, from the old country and not available to just anyone who wants it.

•    There may be specific prohibitions about how the information is given. For instance, maybe it can only be taught to the opposite sex. Or, maybe it can only be given once and when it is given, it may be required that all contact with the teacher be broken.

•    In order to pass on the teachings, there may be a requirement of a type of adoption as a child of the teacher and/or their spirits.

In Conclusion

It is time that seekers of the ways of the witch’s Craft understand that that they walk on a well worn path trodden by many countless centuries. There are many fine modern traditions that offer many insights. There are many old traditions that offer roots and re-connections. I challenge our movement not to neglect the roots of the witch’s tree while expecting the leaves to flourish. It is time that respect be given to the Elder Faiths. I hope to meet some of you, the readers, and hear about your quest and your findings. We will know each other by the voices in our blood.

“For, witches without fuss or bother, when chance to meet, never fail to know each other.” (Lady Circe)

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More About Orion Foxwood:
Orion Foxwood was born with the second sight in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, an area rife with the folk practices of the southern and Appalachian tradition. He lectures in across the United States and the U.K.

More info at: www.foxwood-temple.net/

Listen to Orion’s Interview on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show here: http://exploreyourspirit.com/Media/shows1.shtml#FOXWOOD