About Us

What is ‘Traditional witchcraft’?

Ask three Traditional Witches and you’ll get three different answers but they’ll all agree on a few important facts: We aren’t Wiccans; we don’t rely on rituals; we do spells, charms, potions, hexes and curses; we work magic; we rely on intuition and nature more than tools; and we don’t work from a book. There are lots of snippets and hints of traditional magic around but I don’t know of one authoritative book. Most of us don’t play well with others and a natural coven of witches, as Terry Pratchett points out, is one. Two is an argument, three is probably a riot. Because we don’t have rules or texts we have all developed in ways that suit us as people as well as our experience and reading. Traditional witchcraft has origins in ritual magic and spellcraft recorded in mythology, folklore and history but is reinvented by each new witch.

Can I be a Traditional witch?

Anyone can but there are differences in ability just like musical aptitude. Anyone should be able to do a reasonable protection charm or health spell - after all, they probably won’t cause any huge problem if they don’t work but they are unlikely to harm you. A big money spell or worse, a ‘love spell’ can cause you real problems if you don’t know what you are doing. And I speak as someone who once had a tree fall on her bathroom and demolish it - the cheque was in the post as requested but it wasn’t the least stressful way to get money! And love spells can rapidly turn into stalkers... Becoming a safe spellcaster takes practice and information. There are no rules, just personal ethics.

How do I get started?

You may get lucky and find someone willing to teach (most of us do from time to time if the person is in the right frame of mind). Reading a few books by Doreen Valiente and Marian Green would be a good starting point even though they also relate to Wicca. Expect to do a lot of reading between the lines, using your own intuition and energy. A good starting point for a lot of people is Wicca, if you don’t find your spiritual home there you will be more open to more traditional methods. The druid training is also very useful, see OBOD.

Isn’t it all a bit Harry Potter?

Maybe! Witchcraft is full of bullshit, I can tell you, having a Romany ancestor or a grandmother who was a witch or being the seventh son of a seventh son is unimportant. It’s what kind of person you arethat matters, and the archetype of the mysterious, magical witch accesses our imagination. This is key to being able to visualise and therefore create our will in the the world around us. That archetype is one that has kept the possibility of magic alive and stops the possibility being knocked out of us as children. We have to balance all the rubbish we have been told about witchcraft, black magic and the dangers of ‘messing about with the occult’ to find the truth - through learning a new craft.