Post by brandra on Nov 25, 2005 5:39:50 GMT -5
This is the handout that I gave out at the Insight foundation Moot 24/11/05 I will add more to this shortly.
B
Traditional Witchcraft.
What do we understand by traditional witchcraft?
For the purpose of this exercise I will refer to
Traditional Witchcraft as Gardinarian and Alexandrian and other groups that sprung up in the 20th century. (Wiccan) This would include Seax.
Then we have the hereditary traditions, these are mainly based within families passed down from one generation to the next.
We also have the Solitaries and Hedge witches, many of these may come under the heading of hereditary but some don’t.
There is a lot of talk about the rights and wrongs of what Gardner did but we have to accept that if he hadn’t done what he did witchcraft would have remained hidden and likely as not died out altogether.
I have to say that Gardeners version has very little to do with Hereditary Witchcraft that is not to say that it is not a viable tradition for many people after all everything as a beginning.
The true witch is probably the Hedge witch and the solitary who are still following the ways of the cunning folk working with natural remedies just as our ancestors did.
I do not believe that there were ever covens like the one that Gardner claimed to be initiated into, there were however family groups and that is our subject for this talk and I can only talk about the philosophy of the Hereditary Witch that I was associated with there will be other families who did things very differently.
I had the good fortune to work for a while with a hereditary witch in the late eighties and early nineties. I mostly only learned her beliefs and how she worked there was a ton of herb lore and other stuff that I didn’t manage to get due to a personal loss, which stopped her working. I certainly don’t feel entitled to claim any hereditary title.
What is the difference between hereditary witches and traditional witches?
There will be a vast difference between various family traditions so I can only tell you what I learned.
Starting with Philosophy
What do hereditariness believe, how do they worship their Gods?
The Worship of Gods is a very personal thing but as I learned from my teacher she referred to a Lord and Lady but not by any names as I understand it the believe that there is a life force which could be interpreted as the universe but seen in aspects of male and female the gods are not all good but have a dark side to them that is equal in power, male female light and dark that is how the universe is mad all things in balance.
There are also a number of minor gods who are more local and my have responsibilities for particular things, these are really spirit of a high level this I suppose depends on your definition of what a god really is. Gods like Hern and Aradia would be considered high spirit, they would be the ones that you would appeal to for protection if you had some problem or maybe needed healing or your crops were being raided.
There is no such thing as Karma that is an eastern philosophy and the three-fold effect belongs to the 20th century traditions the only ethical rule is to take responsibility for your actions. This of course applies to all aspects of your life not just the use of magic. The use of magic is totally the responsibility of the user if you use bad magic and it works out wrong you are responsible and you are your own judge and jury of course if you course someone harm by it they may retaliate as you may do if needed. If someone threatens you or your kin you do what you have to.
There is a strong belief in fate in the respect that the universe will put you where you need to be for the purpose that you need to fulfill. It is quite possible that the gods will have some task that needs to be fulfilled the high spirits will have the responsibility to put you where you need to be to achieve the result required they would also support you through it and don’t be deceived they are very powerful.
After Life.
The after life is more difficult it seems quite complex it is possible that you could reach a point of becoming high spirit but there is no clear belief in reincarnation or how one progresses, it seems that it may be that there is a continuation of growth in the afterlife that would allow development to the higher spirit Plaines. The possibility of reincarnation on some cases is not ruled out...
So what tools did she use?
The only tools I ever saw her use was a knife which looked like a kitchen knife with a bone handle, it was well used the other thing she used was a stick that she never named but used it like a wand. She used a lot of candles and seemed too meditated with them and that seemed to be her main ritual tool. She did have a goblet at times but I think she used it for water when she needed to drink, she gave that to me some years ago and it has pride of place on my alter
The rituals
Rituals were very simple and dedicated to a lord and lady but unnamed. But she did little poems to the other gods as she called them the ones who talk to you. Most of it seemed unplanned it was just as it happened spontaneously there was no elaborate alter she did most of it from a captains chair it just came out of her head.
She did the handfasting between my ex and me but we had to decide how we wanted it and she just went with it adding a few bits of her own.
She told me that it doesn’t matter how you hold your rites so long as you are sincere in what you say and do.
Initiation.
Initiation and personal progress, there is no formal initiation any levels that you achieve are through the gods, it is about connecting with both nature and the universe. She explained to me that I will experience certain things as I progress if what she is telling me now doesn’t make sense then I have not reached the level of development needed but to remember it as it will be relevant some day. There is a difference between having knowledge and knowing.
Group structure
The family will gather around the ones who seem to be the wiser gender is irrelevant however you can see where the concept of the crone would come in. Wisdom is usually associated with age although it is not a rule and if one younger seemed to be the wiser then the family might look to them for guidance. Often older members of the family would work together to offer guidance to the younger members after all we all have special skills and areas of weakness.
My teacher wrote lots of letters to me with bits of wisdom and thoughts that had come to here in her meditations I kept them and added them to my book of shadows.
I confess there were times when I thought her a bit odd but most of what she told me makes sense now and the last remnants of confusion I am sure will clear in time.
