Traditional Witchcraft

As many of our clients and friends are aware, I was raised in a non-Wicca Traditional Witchcraft tradition. Many have asked what exactly is Traditional Witchcraft and what are it's practices? In this short post, I will list some of the practices that my family has been part of for generations and hopefully give a bit of an insight into what we actually do...

Traditional Witchcraft is not Wicca. It is based upon older practices that would be considered almost shamanic in some respects. We have a matron goddess and a patron god, but we also work with other deities and spirits. Spirits are hugely part of our work. Both ancestral and other. We do not particularly practice a great many festivals as do Wiccans, but have a handful of celebrations of which we take part. Yule, Beltaine, and Samhain are three of the main ones that occupy our focus.

We do not go in for circles much unless we need to generate and focus a great deal of power. For to us the land is sacred and so are we so protection abounds within us all.
We also do not invest in a great number of "sacred" objects. All that we use are fairly mundane. We have a sharp knife, a cauldron, a staff or wand, a stang, and other items that are utilized. However, we are just as likely to cast a spell with our knife and cauldron in the evening and make breakfast with the same tools the next morn. In the using, they attain their magick and so are not magickal in and of themselves.
The power lies in the sorcerer.
We believe that one can curse as well as cure and that one must know both sides in order to be powerful and useful. For there is no light or dark, there is just energy and how one  uses it is up to them. We do not have the law of three that Wiccans do as we do not believe that we will bring back the energy upon us if we curse. However, we do believe that if you go around cursing for the sake of cursing, then someone else will eventually give you a slap, so you must use that power judiciously.
We do not go in for huge, elaborate rituals. These are time consuming and my ancestors had animals to tend and crops to bring in. So we build up the energy and cast the spell and away we go. That is one reason for the small number of tools that are actually used.

Well, that is about it for now.. I will add more to this subject as time permits.

Until the next time.......