Contemporary Witchcraft
Encyclopedia
This article is about contemporary witchcraft, including, but not limited to, Wicca
.
Contemporary witchcraft refers to many different types of witchcraft
practices of the 21st century. One of the most widely known witchcraft practices is Wicca
, a Pagan religion, which first appeared in the early 1950s after the repeal of anti-witchcraft laws then extant in the United Kingdom
.
The practice of contemporary witchcraft often involves the use of divination
, the practice of magic
, working with the four classical elements and with unseen forces such as spirits and the forces of nature. The practice of natural medicine, folk medicine
, spiritual healing, and shamanism
can also be applied under the umbrella term of contemporary witchcraft.
Gerald Gardner
. At the time, he called the religion "Witchcraft," and he called its followers "the Wica." He initially claimed that it was an ancient Pagan religion that had been persecuted during the witch-hunt
s in Europe, commonly called "The Burning Times" in contemporary witchcraft and Pagan history. Though he claimed Wicca to be a survival of a pre-Christian religion, there is doubt in some areas about Gardner's claims, and some critics suggest that Gardner himself, along with other influential figures such as Doreen Valiente
and Aleister Crowley
, formed Wicca from various texts, sources, and practices.
Wiccan beliefs revolve around pantheism
and dualism
, with the worship of the Triple Goddess and the Horned God
. Magical practices are taken from both traditional European sorcery as was practiced by cunning folk
, and also from 19th century occult
practices such as those taught by Aleister Crowley. Wiccans commonly celebrate the eight Sabbats that form the Wheel of the Year
.
Wicca is primarily an initiatory mystery religion, with only members initiated into a legitimate Wiccan coven
being able to fully practice. Many traditions of Wicca, including those of Gardnerian Wicca
and Alexandrian Wicca
follow this doctrine. Within the general Pagan community, people who practise Wicca without being formally and traditionally initiated are called "Neo-Wiccans," with the religion being called "Neo-Wicca," and can include movements such as feminism
(in the case of Dianic Wicca
), and Anglo-Saxon mythology (in the case of Seax-Wicca).
There have been many publications both by traditionally-initiated and non-initiated Wiccans, including practitioners from Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca publicising sometimes full Wiccan rites and beliefs, such as the traditional Degree Initiations.
Within Wicca, there are set rules by which Wiccans should abide, such as the rule of "harming none," and the rule of threefold return, which states that anything that a practitioners sends out (in the form of 'positive' or 'negative' actions, words, spells, etc.) will return to the caster threefold. However, there is debate amongst this claim, as some believe that energy is sent back at the same level as given.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, Wiccans do not believe in the Christian concept of the Devil or moral sin, believing that each individual is responsible for his/her actions, and that no outside force is capable of making someone do something against their will. Also contrary to popular misconceptions, Wiccans do not ride broomsticks, turn individuals into creatures (such as the common Toad
), seek to harm people, or perform any stereotypical "Witch"-like acts popularized by mainstream media.
witchcraft religion. Some practitioners claim that the religion is of ancient origin, originating from Etruscan mythology
, and was the religion of the peasants when Roman Catholicism became the religion of the upper classes. Scholars, however, claim that this history is a myth largely based upon Charles Godfrey Leland
's book, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
, which was also used as a basis for Wicca. It was popularised in the late 20th century by writers Dr. Leo Louis Martello and Raven Grimassi.
Followers commonly worship the Roman Goddess Diana
, along with her brother Apollo
, and their daughter Aradia
. Other practitioners worship the God aspect as Lucifer/Hesperus
, a benevolent God of the sun and moon, and in no way connected to the Christian Satan
.
Practices are similar to those with other Neo-Pagan witchcraft religions, such as Wicca
. The pentagram
is the key symbol for followers in their magical rituals, and followers celebrate a series of eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year
, though most commonly with Roman leanings and practises. Practitioners also participate in ancestor worship, something which is uncommon to other Neo-Pagan Witchcraft beliefs.
. Traditionalists often use the witch trial documents of the Renaissance
as inspiration, combined with their knowledge of folklore
and paganism
. Sometimes the term Traditional Witchcraft is used specifically for practices in Britain
, as the word "witch" derives from Old English, it refers to Old English or Anglo-Saxon
paganism. Otherwise the term is used to refer to practices in any of the countries in which the Witch Hunts of the Renaissance
were conducted. Some Traditionalists believe it is important for their Tradition to be passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth. Others believe that there is no way for a Tradition to survive unbroken from the Middle Ages to the present day, and therefore practices are based more on historical studies of pre-Christian beliefs than a body of lore passed from one Witch to another.
TraditionalWitchcraft.net explains, "Traditional Witchcraft is a term that was introduced to refer to the aboriginal spiritual traditions of Europe. There really is no collective historical term that could be used to refer to these traditions, so the use of the term Traditional Witchcraft fits quite nicely. Those who follow these traditional ways are often referred to as Traditionalists. However, there are other terms that are used by specific traditions and cultures that are even more appropriate, but these are left to those who follow those traditions and will not be mentioned here.".
Sometimes the name "witch" is seen as an insult by Traditionalists, and more specific terms are preferred. Generally Traditional Witchcraft (or "Trad Craft") is seen as any shamanic pagan priesthood which pre-dates Christianity
, and which may have survived into the modern era. The Traditional Witch can also be called a Hedgewitch as the "hedge" signifies the boundary between this world and the Otherworld, which the witch may journey to and from. Such shamanic practitioners may have survived Christianity by converting or becoming syncretic Christo-pagans known as "cunning folk
". The cunning folk were practitioners of Christian magic, invoking the powers of saints, angels, and other powers. They may have incorporated many pagan beliefs, however it seems they did not continue shamanic trance work. The cunning folk were known as "Pellars" in Cornwall
.
Ros An Bucca describes it thus, "A modest number of practitioners exist in Cornwall
and the West Country
and even fewer private circles and lodges of predominantly solitary practitioners continue unobserved, and the ordinary people still seek their help to get over life’s hurdles and the farmer still employs the charmer for protections over their land, its buildings, machinery and livestock".
, a.k.a. Robert Cochrane (1931–1966), founded "Cochrane's Craft" in opposition to Gardnerian Wicca
.
Cochrane's Clan of Tubal Cain worshipped a Horned God
and a Triple Goddess
, much akin to Gerald Gardner's Bricket Wood Coven
. Cochrane himself disliked Gardner and his take on Wicca, and often ridiculed him and his Craft. Whilst the Cochran Tradition uses ritual tools, they differ somewhat from those used by Gardnerians, some being the ritual knife (known as an athame
), a staff (known as a stang), a cup (or commonly a chalice), a stone (used as a whetstone to sharpen the athame), and a ritual cord worn by coven members..
In 1963, Cochrane anonymously published an article in the spiritualist
newspaper Psychic News
(9 November issue) entitled "Genuine Witchcraft is Defended". In it, he stated that:
At a gathering at Glastonbury Tor
held by the Brotherhood of the Essenes in 1964, Cochrane met Doreen Valiente
, who had formerly been a High Priestess of Gardner's Bricket Wood Coven. The two became friends, and Valiente joined the Clan of Tubal Cain. Cochrane often insulted and mocked Gardnerian witches, which annoyed Valiente. This reached an extreme in that even at one point in 1966 hcalled for "a Night of the Long Knives
of the Gardnerians", at which point Doreen "rose up and challenged him in the presence of the rest of the coven." Shortly after Valiente's departure, Cochrane's wife Jean also left, and the Coven soon ceased to function.
Cochrane is often credited with originating the term "Gardnerian" as a derogatory description of Gardner's Wicca; however, his published letter terms it as "Gardnerism".
Some were inspired by Cochrane's work and from the many letters he wrote to fellow occultists, to form Traditions such as Roebuck, Tubal Cain, and 1734. Some practitioners of Hedgecraft also follow a Cochrane based practice.
described the Sabbatic Current as "an initiatory line of spirit–power that can inform all who are receptive to its impetus, and engaged with beyond be understood as a Key unto the Hidden Design of Arte" and he sometimes referred to a Nameless Faith, and The Crooked Path (or Via Tortuosa), "the sorcerous ethos present in many forms of Traditional Witchcraft". Chumbley, himself, reserved "Sabbatic Craft" as a unifying term meant to refer exclusively to the "convergent lineages" of the Cultus Sabbati, a body of Traditional Witchcraft initiates, although both "Sabbatic Craft" and "Sabbatic Witchcraft" may be found on the Internet in contexts which don't necessarily observe that distinction. Thus, in its more general sense, one finds references to such works as Mastering Witchcraft
by Paul Huson
, The Call of the Horned Piper by Nigel Jackson, The Pillars of Tubal Cain by Nigel Jackson and Michael Howard, and other titles from Capall Bann Publishing and Fulgur Limited. However, Chumley's works and those of Daniel Schulke from Xoanon Publications on the Cultus Sabbati's "ongoing tradition of sorcerous wisdom" continue to serve as the prototypical reference works. Explaining the origins of the name "Sabbatic Craft", Chumbley said:
Chumbley's Traditional British Witchcraft grimoire
, Azoëtia, incorporated diverse iconography from Sumerian, Egyptian
, Yezidi, and Aztec
cultures, but he spoke of a patchwork of ancestral
and tutelary spirit lore
which he perceived amid the diverse "Old Craft" traditions in Britain
as "a gnostic faith in the Divine Serpent of Light, in the Host of the Gregori
, in the Children of Earth sired by the Watchers
, in the lineage of descent via Lilith
, Mahazael, Cain, Tubal-cain
, Naamah, and the Clans of the Wanderers
"… Schulke explains that, in Britain, folk magic and cunning–craft absorbed many international elements from "Freemasonry
, Bible–divination
, Romany charms, and other diverse streams" and notes that what Chumbley called "dual–faith observance", refers to a "co–mingling of ‘native’ forms of British magic and Christianity
". Regarding the diversity in Britain, he continues: "[a]rguably a partial consequence of both trade–routes
and Empire
, such influences are far from alien imposition
s, but rather sympathetic
and synchronous
spirit–streams" and cautions that the "mere presence of syncretism
within the Old Craft, however, does not legitimise the blending of sign
with symbol
, charm
with conjuration
, and tradition with tradition... Truth in word, honour in deed, and a flame well–tended must inform all, elsewise the appeal to nativism
is revealed as unenlightened bigotry
".
. It is used as another name for the Traditional Witch. The Hedgewitch is usually a solitary practitioner, but may be attended by assistants. Their main function is mediator between the spirit
s and people. They may also work as an herb
al healer or midwife. Some claim it to be the continuation of the practices of the cunning folk
and wise-women, while others say that it is a modern tradition.
Author Rae Beth popularised a more Wiccan version of Hedgecraft in her 1992 book Hedge Witch - a guide to Solitary Witchcraft, Hedge Witches worship the Triple Goddess
and the Horned God
. They celebrate the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year
. This version of Hedgecraft was criticized for having many similarities with Wicca
.
" or "cottage witchery," Hearth Witchcraft is both domestic and nature based, popularised by Anna Franklin in her 2004 book "Hearth Witch" (Lear Books). The household hearth is a focal point for practising magic within Hearth Witchcraft.
ecstasy, and has a basis in the traditional Hawaiian Witchcraft of Huna
/Ho'Oomana. It is an American tradition in that it has been influenced by many indigenous and immigrant communities on this continent including Appalachian folk magic, Brujeria, Huna/Ho'Oomana, and Voudou; as well as Traditional and Celtic Witchcraft influences.
Practitioners are polytheists who have, among other Gods: the Star Goddess, the Divine Twins, and the Blue God. Practitioners believe that there are three parts to the human soul, a belief shared with Huna/Ho'Oomana, mystic Judaism.
and anti-nuclear movements of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Reclaiming's spiritual approach is based in the religion and magic of Goddess
, who is understood as the immanent
life force, not as a transcendent
deity. The Reclaiming tradition of witchcraft also honors the Horned God
, as does Wicca; but in general, Reclaiming is somewhat more focused on the Goddess than on the God.
The Reclaiming Tradition of contemporary American Witchcraft arose from a working collective around the 1980s in the San Francisco Bay Area
, blending the influences of Victor and Cora Anderson's Feri Tradition
of Witchcraft, Dianic Witchcraft
as taught by Z. Budapest
, and the feminist
, Anarchist, peace
, and environmental movement
s.
While some members of Reclaiming describe themselves as "Wiccan", others prefer the term "Witch".
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
.
Contemporary witchcraft refers to many different types of witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
practices of the 21st century. One of the most widely known witchcraft practices is Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
, a Pagan religion, which first appeared in the early 1950s after the repeal of anti-witchcraft laws then extant in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The practice of contemporary witchcraft often involves the use of divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
, the practice of magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, working with the four classical elements and with unseen forces such as spirits and the forces of nature. The practice of natural medicine, folk medicine
Folk medicine
-Description:Refers to healing practices and ideas of body physiology and health preservation known to a limited segment of the population in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture having prior experience.All cultures and societies...
, spiritual healing, and shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
can also be applied under the umbrella term of contemporary witchcraft.
Wicca
Wicca emerged around the 1950s, when it was popularised by EnglishmanEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...
. At the time, he called the religion "Witchcraft," and he called its followers "the Wica." He initially claimed that it was an ancient Pagan religion that had been persecuted during the witch-hunt
Witch-hunt
A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...
s in Europe, commonly called "The Burning Times" in contemporary witchcraft and Pagan history. Though he claimed Wicca to be a survival of a pre-Christian religion, there is doubt in some areas about Gardner's claims, and some critics suggest that Gardner himself, along with other influential figures such as Doreen Valiente
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...
and Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
, formed Wicca from various texts, sources, and practices.
Wiccan beliefs revolve around pantheism
Pantheism
Pantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic or creator god. The word derives from the Greek meaning "all" and the Greek meaning "God". As such, Pantheism denotes the idea that "God" is best seen as a process of...
and dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
, with the worship of the Triple Goddess and the Horned God
Horned God
The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in some European pagan religions. He is often given various names and epithets, and represents the male part of the religion's duotheistic theological system, the other part being the female Triple Goddess. In common Wiccan belief, he is...
. Magical practices are taken from both traditional European sorcery as was practiced by cunning folk
Cunning folk
The cunning folk in Britain were professional or semi-professional practitioners of magic active from the Medieval period through to the early twentieth century. As cunning folk, they practised folk magic – also known as "low magic" – although often combined with elements of "high" or ceremonial...
, and also from 19th century occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
practices such as those taught by Aleister Crowley. Wiccans commonly celebrate the eight Sabbats that form the Wheel of the Year
Wheel of the Year
The Wheel of the Year is a Neopagan term for the annual cycle of the Earth's seasons. It consists of eight festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are referred to as Sabbats...
.
Wicca is primarily an initiatory mystery religion, with only members initiated into a legitimate Wiccan coven
Coven
A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....
being able to fully practice. Many traditions of Wicca, including those of Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner , a British civil servant and scholar of magic...
and Alexandrian Wicca
Alexandrian Wicca
Alexandrian Wicca is a tradition of the Neopagan religion of Wicca, founded by Alex Sanders who, with his wife Maxine Sanders, established the tradition in the United Kingdom in the 1960s...
follow this doctrine. Within the general Pagan community, people who practise Wicca without being formally and traditionally initiated are called "Neo-Wiccans," with the religion being called "Neo-Wicca," and can include movements such as feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
(in the case of Dianic Wicca
Dianic Wicca
Dianic Witchcraft and Dianic Feminist Witchcraft, is a tradition, or denomination, of the Neopagan religion of Wicca. It was founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest in the United States in the 1970s, and is notable for its focus on the worship of the Goddess, and on feminism...
), and Anglo-Saxon mythology (in the case of Seax-Wicca).
There have been many publications both by traditionally-initiated and non-initiated Wiccans, including practitioners from Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca publicising sometimes full Wiccan rites and beliefs, such as the traditional Degree Initiations.
Within Wicca, there are set rules by which Wiccans should abide, such as the rule of "harming none," and the rule of threefold return, which states that anything that a practitioners sends out (in the form of 'positive' or 'negative' actions, words, spells, etc.) will return to the caster threefold. However, there is debate amongst this claim, as some believe that energy is sent back at the same level as given.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, Wiccans do not believe in the Christian concept of the Devil or moral sin, believing that each individual is responsible for his/her actions, and that no outside force is capable of making someone do something against their will. Also contrary to popular misconceptions, Wiccans do not ride broomsticks, turn individuals into creatures (such as the common Toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
), seek to harm people, or perform any stereotypical "Witch"-like acts popularized by mainstream media.
Stregheria
Stregheria is an ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
witchcraft religion. Some practitioners claim that the religion is of ancient origin, originating from Etruscan mythology
Etruscan mythology
The Etruscans were a diachronically continuous population, with a distinct language and culture during the period of earliest European writing, in the Mediterranean Iron Age in the second half of the first millennium BC...
, and was the religion of the peasants when Roman Catholicism became the religion of the upper classes. Scholars, however, claim that this history is a myth largely based upon Charles Godfrey Leland
Charles Godfrey Leland
Charles Godfrey Leland was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe....
's book, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Leland that was published in 1899. It contains what he believed was the religious text of a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, Italy that documented their beliefs and rituals, although various historians and...
, which was also used as a basis for Wicca. It was popularised in the late 20th century by writers Dr. Leo Louis Martello and Raven Grimassi.
Followers commonly worship the Roman Goddess Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
, along with her brother Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, and their daughter Aradia
Aradia
Aradia is one of the principal figures in the American folklorist Charles Leland’s 1899 work Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, which he believed to be a genuine religious text used by a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, a claim that has subsequently been disputed by other folklorists and...
. Other practitioners worship the God aspect as Lucifer/Hesperus
Hesperus
In Greek mythology, Hesperus is the Evening Star, the planet Venus in the evening. He is the son of the dawn goddess Eos and is the brother of Eosphorus , the Morning Star. Hesperus' Roman equivalent is Vesper...
, a benevolent God of the sun and moon, and in no way connected to the Christian Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
.
Practices are similar to those with other Neo-Pagan witchcraft religions, such as Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
. The pentagram
Pentagram
A pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes...
is the key symbol for followers in their magical rituals, and followers celebrate a series of eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year
Wheel of the Year
The Wheel of the Year is a Neopagan term for the annual cycle of the Earth's seasons. It consists of eight festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are referred to as Sabbats...
, though most commonly with Roman leanings and practises. Practitioners also participate in ancestor worship, something which is uncommon to other Neo-Pagan Witchcraft beliefs.
Traditional Witchcraft
Non-Wiccan Witchcraft Traditions often identify themselves as "Traditional (or Traditionalist) Witchcraft" to indicate that they pre-date or otherwise differ from WiccaWicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
. Traditionalists often use the witch trial documents of the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
as inspiration, combined with their knowledge of folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
. Sometimes the term Traditional Witchcraft is used specifically for practices in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as the word "witch" derives from Old English, it refers to Old English or Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
paganism. Otherwise the term is used to refer to practices in any of the countries in which the Witch Hunts of the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
were conducted. Some Traditionalists believe it is important for their Tradition to be passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth. Others believe that there is no way for a Tradition to survive unbroken from the Middle Ages to the present day, and therefore practices are based more on historical studies of pre-Christian beliefs than a body of lore passed from one Witch to another.
TraditionalWitchcraft.net explains, "Traditional Witchcraft is a term that was introduced to refer to the aboriginal spiritual traditions of Europe. There really is no collective historical term that could be used to refer to these traditions, so the use of the term Traditional Witchcraft fits quite nicely. Those who follow these traditional ways are often referred to as Traditionalists. However, there are other terms that are used by specific traditions and cultures that are even more appropriate, but these are left to those who follow those traditions and will not be mentioned here.".
Sometimes the name "witch" is seen as an insult by Traditionalists, and more specific terms are preferred. Generally Traditional Witchcraft (or "Trad Craft") is seen as any shamanic pagan priesthood which pre-dates Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and which may have survived into the modern era. The Traditional Witch can also be called a Hedgewitch as the "hedge" signifies the boundary between this world and the Otherworld, which the witch may journey to and from. Such shamanic practitioners may have survived Christianity by converting or becoming syncretic Christo-pagans known as "cunning folk
Cunning folk
The cunning folk in Britain were professional or semi-professional practitioners of magic active from the Medieval period through to the early twentieth century. As cunning folk, they practised folk magic – also known as "low magic" – although often combined with elements of "high" or ceremonial...
". The cunning folk were practitioners of Christian magic, invoking the powers of saints, angels, and other powers. They may have incorporated many pagan beliefs, however it seems they did not continue shamanic trance work. The cunning folk were known as "Pellars" in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
Ros An Bucca describes it thus, "A modest number of practitioners exist in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
and even fewer private circles and lodges of predominantly solitary practitioners continue unobserved, and the ordinary people still seek their help to get over life’s hurdles and the farmer still employs the charmer for protections over their land, its buildings, machinery and livestock".
Cochrane's Craft
Roy BowersRoy Bowers
Robert Cochrane , who was born as Roy Bowers, was an English Neopagan witch who founded the tradition known as Cochrane's Craft, which is seen by some to be a form of Wicca but is sometimes considered distinct from it due to Cochrane's opposition to both Gerald Gardner and Gardnerian Wicca.Born...
, a.k.a. Robert Cochrane (1931–1966), founded "Cochrane's Craft" in opposition to Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner , a British civil servant and scholar of magic...
.
Cochrane's Clan of Tubal Cain worshipped a Horned God
Horned God
The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in some European pagan religions. He is often given various names and epithets, and represents the male part of the religion's duotheistic theological system, the other part being the female Triple Goddess. In common Wiccan belief, he is...
and a Triple Goddess
Triple Goddess
The Triple Goddess is the subject of much of the writing of Robert Graves, and has been adopted by some neopagans as one of their primary deities. The term triple goddess is sometimes used outside of Neopaganism to refer to historical goddess triads and single goddesses of three forms or aspects...
, much akin to Gerald Gardner's Bricket Wood Coven
Bricket Wood coven
The Bricket Wood coven, or Hertfordshire coven was a coven of Gardnerian Witches founded in the 1940s by Gerald Gardner. It was notable for being the first coven in the Gardnerian line, though having its supposed origins in the pre-Gardnerian New Forest coven...
. Cochrane himself disliked Gardner and his take on Wicca, and often ridiculed him and his Craft. Whilst the Cochran Tradition uses ritual tools, they differ somewhat from those used by Gardnerians, some being the ritual knife (known as an athame
Athame
An Athame or Athamé is a ceremonial dagger, with a double-edged blade and usually a black handle. It is the main ritual implement or magical tool among several used in the religion of Wicca, and is also used in various other neopagan witchcraft traditions. It is variously pronounced or...
), a staff (known as a stang), a cup (or commonly a chalice), a stone (used as a whetstone to sharpen the athame), and a ritual cord worn by coven members..
In 1963, Cochrane anonymously published an article in the spiritualist
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
newspaper Psychic News
Psychic News
Psychic News was a weekly British Spiritualist newspaper that was in publication from 1932 to 2010.-History, 1932-2010:The first issue of the paper was published on 28 May 1932. The name of the paper was devised by one of its founding editors, Maurice Barbanell, who said that he was told to use it...
(9 November issue) entitled "Genuine Witchcraft is Defended". In it, he stated that:
At a gathering at Glastonbury Tor
Glastonbury Tor
Glastonbury Tor is a hill at Glastonbury, Somerset, England, which features the roofless St. Michael's Tower. The site is managed by the National Trust. It has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument ....
held by the Brotherhood of the Essenes in 1964, Cochrane met Doreen Valiente
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...
, who had formerly been a High Priestess of Gardner's Bricket Wood Coven. The two became friends, and Valiente joined the Clan of Tubal Cain. Cochrane often insulted and mocked Gardnerian witches, which annoyed Valiente. This reached an extreme in that even at one point in 1966 hcalled for "a Night of the Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...
of the Gardnerians", at which point Doreen "rose up and challenged him in the presence of the rest of the coven." Shortly after Valiente's departure, Cochrane's wife Jean also left, and the Coven soon ceased to function.
Cochrane is often credited with originating the term "Gardnerian" as a derogatory description of Gardner's Wicca; however, his published letter terms it as "Gardnerism".
Some were inspired by Cochrane's work and from the many letters he wrote to fellow occultists, to form Traditions such as Roebuck, Tubal Cain, and 1734. Some practitioners of Hedgecraft also follow a Cochrane based practice.
Sabbatic Current
Andrew ChumbleyAndrew D. Chumbley
Andrew D. Chumbley was an English practitioner and theorist of magic, and a writer, poet and artist. He was Magister of the UK-based magical group Cultus Sabbati....
described the Sabbatic Current as "an initiatory line of spirit–power that can inform all who are receptive to its impetus, and engaged with beyond be understood as a Key unto the Hidden Design of Arte" and he sometimes referred to a Nameless Faith, and The Crooked Path (or Via Tortuosa), "the sorcerous ethos present in many forms of Traditional Witchcraft". Chumbley, himself, reserved "Sabbatic Craft" as a unifying term meant to refer exclusively to the "convergent lineages" of the Cultus Sabbati, a body of Traditional Witchcraft initiates, although both "Sabbatic Craft" and "Sabbatic Witchcraft" may be found on the Internet in contexts which don't necessarily observe that distinction. Thus, in its more general sense, one finds references to such works as Mastering Witchcraft
Mastering Witchcraft
Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks and Covens is a book written by Paul Huson and published in 1970 by G.P. Putnams- the first mainstream publisher to produce a do-it-yourself manual for the would-be witch or warlock....
by Paul Huson
Paul Huson
Paul Huson is a British-born author and artist currently living in the United States. In addition to writing several books about occultism and witchcraft he has worked extensively in the film and television industries.-Family:...
, The Call of the Horned Piper by Nigel Jackson, The Pillars of Tubal Cain by Nigel Jackson and Michael Howard, and other titles from Capall Bann Publishing and Fulgur Limited. However, Chumley's works and those of Daniel Schulke from Xoanon Publications on the Cultus Sabbati's "ongoing tradition of sorcerous wisdom" continue to serve as the prototypical reference works. Explaining the origins of the name "Sabbatic Craft", Chumbley said:
‘Sabbatic Craft’ describes a corpus of magical practices which self–consciously utilise the imagery and mythos of the "Witches' Sabbath" as a cipher of ritual, teaching and gnosis. This is not the same as saying that one practises the self–same rituals in the self–same manner as the purported early modern "witches" or historically attested cunning folkCunning folkThe cunning folk in Britain were professional or semi-professional practitioners of magic active from the Medieval period through to the early twentieth century. As cunning folk, they practised folk magic – also known as "low magic" – although often combined with elements of "high" or ceremonial...
, rather it points toward the fact that the very mythos which had been generated about both "witches" and their "ritual gatherings" has been appropriated and re–orientated by contemporary successors of cunning–craft observance, and then knowingly applied for their own purposes.
Chumbley's Traditional British Witchcraft grimoire
Grimoire
A grimoire is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons...
, Azoëtia, incorporated diverse iconography from Sumerian, Egyptian
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Yezidi, and Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
cultures, but he spoke of a patchwork of ancestral
Veneration of the dead
Veneration of the dead is based on the belief that the deceased, often family members, have a continued existence and/or possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living...
and tutelary spirit lore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
which he perceived amid the diverse "Old Craft" traditions in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as "a gnostic faith in the Divine Serpent of Light, in the Host of the Gregori
Grigori
The Watchers is a term found in the Old Testament Book of Daniel, and later sources, which is connected to angels...
, in the Children of Earth sired by the Watchers
Nephilim
The Nephilim are the offspring of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:4, or giants who inhabit Canaan in Numbers 13:33. A similar word with different vowel-sounds is used in Ezekiel 32:27 to refer to dead Philistine warriors....
, in the lineage of descent via Lilith
Lilith
Lilith is a character in Jewish mythology, found earliest in the Babylonian Talmud, who is generally thought to be related to a class of female demons Līlīṯu in Mesopotamian texts. However, Lowell K. Handy notes, "Very little information has been found relating to the Akkadian and Babylonian view...
, Mahazael, Cain, Tubal-cain
Tubal-cain
Tubal-cain is an individual mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in . He was a descendant of Cain, the son of Lamech and Zillah, and the brother of Naamah.-Name:...
, Naamah, and the Clans of the Wanderers
Lamech
Lamech is a character in the genealogies of Adam in the Book of Genesis. He is the sixth generation descendant of Cain ; his father was named Methusael, and he was responsible for the "Song of the Sword." He is also noted as the first polygamist mentioned in the Bible, taking two wives, Ada and...
"… Schulke explains that, in Britain, folk magic and cunning–craft absorbed many international elements from "Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, Bible–divination
Bibliomancy
Bibliomancy is the use of books in divination. The method of employing sacred books for 'magical medicine', for removing negative entities, or for divination is widespread in many religions of the world:-Terminology:...
, Romany charms, and other diverse streams" and notes that what Chumbley called "dual–faith observance", refers to a "co–mingling of ‘native’ forms of British magic and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
". Regarding the diversity in Britain, he continues: "[a]rguably a partial consequence of both trade–routes
Trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
and Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, such influences are far from alien imposition
Cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It describes acculturation or assimilation, but can imply a negative view towards acculturation from a minority culture by a dominant culture. It can include the introduction of forms of...
s, but rather sympathetic
Sympathetic magic
Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence.-Similarity and contagion:The theory of sympathetic magic was first developed by Sir James George Frazer in The Golden Bough...
and synchronous
Synchronicity
Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner...
spirit–streams" and cautions that the "mere presence of syncretism
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
within the Old Craft, however, does not legitimise the blending of sign
Sign (semiotics)
A sign is understood as a discrete unit of meaning in semiotics. It is defined as "something that stands for something, to someone in some capacity" It includes words, images, gestures, scents, tastes, textures, sounds – essentially all of the ways in which information can be...
with symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
, charm
Magical formula
A magical formula or spell is generally a word whose meaning illustrates principles and degrees of understanding that are often difficult to relay using other forms of speech or writing. It is a concise means to communicate very abstract information through the medium of a word or phrase...
with conjuration
Conjuration
Conjuration is used in many video games, mainly RPGs, where it is usually referred to as summoning.* A notable example is the Final Fantasy franchise which incorporates summoning of monsters to fight alongside the characters....
, and tradition with tradition... Truth in word, honour in deed, and a flame well–tended must inform all, elsewise the appeal to nativism
Nativism (politics)
Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture....
is revealed as unenlightened bigotry
Bigotry
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
".
Hedge Witchcraft
Hedge Witchcraft, also called "hedge riding" or "hedgecraft," is the shamanic art of crossing the "hedge" or boundary between this world and the OtherworldOtherworld
Otherworld, or the Celtic Otherworld, is a concept in Celtic mythology that refers to the home of the deities or spirits, or a realm of the dead.Otherworld may also refer to:In film and television:...
. It is used as another name for the Traditional Witch. The Hedgewitch is usually a solitary practitioner, but may be attended by assistants. Their main function is mediator between the spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
s and people. They may also work as an herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
al healer or midwife. Some claim it to be the continuation of the practices of the cunning folk
Cunning folk
The cunning folk in Britain were professional or semi-professional practitioners of magic active from the Medieval period through to the early twentieth century. As cunning folk, they practised folk magic – also known as "low magic" – although often combined with elements of "high" or ceremonial...
and wise-women, while others say that it is a modern tradition.
Author Rae Beth popularised a more Wiccan version of Hedgecraft in her 1992 book Hedge Witch - a guide to Solitary Witchcraft, Hedge Witches worship the Triple Goddess
Triple Goddess
The Triple Goddess is the subject of much of the writing of Robert Graves, and has been adopted by some neopagans as one of their primary deities. The term triple goddess is sometimes used outside of Neopaganism to refer to historical goddess triads and single goddesses of three forms or aspects...
and the Horned God
Horned God
The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in some European pagan religions. He is often given various names and epithets, and represents the male part of the religion's duotheistic theological system, the other part being the female Triple Goddess. In common Wiccan belief, he is...
. They celebrate the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year
Wheel of the Year
The Wheel of the Year is a Neopagan term for the annual cycle of the Earth's seasons. It consists of eight festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are referred to as Sabbats...
. This version of Hedgecraft was criticized for having many similarities with Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
.
Hearth Witchcraft
Often also called "kitchen witcheryKitchen witch
A kitchen witch, sometimes called a cottage witch or a "Scandinavian" kitchen witch doll, is a poppet or homemade doll resembling a stereotypical witch or crone displayed in residential kitchens as a means to provide good luck and ward off bad spirits....
" or "cottage witchery," Hearth Witchcraft is both domestic and nature based, popularised by Anna Franklin in her 2004 book "Hearth Witch" (Lear Books). The household hearth is a focal point for practising magic within Hearth Witchcraft.
Green Witchcraft
Is the practice of nature-based and earth oriented witchcraft, drawing on the folklore, folk religion and folk magic of ancient cultures as they connected to the forest; such as the tree worship of Druids, the kitchen craft of Italian witches or the keeping of sacred groves as presented in Gallic paganism. Green Witches usually practice a traditional form of witchcraft in which the earth, trees, herbs, plants and flowers are consulted for their medicinal and magical value. Belief in deities depends on the individual witch, though many Green Witches acknowledge and earth mother or series of nature spirits as their deity. Usually, the spirits of nature, the dead (that of humans and animals) or the Fey have a large part in Green traditions. A form of Green Witchcraft which is better classified as Green Wicca was popularized by Ann Moura, author of Grimoire for the Green Witch in the mid 2000's.Feri Tradition
The Feri Tradition is a mystery initiatory Witchcraft tradition brought out into the open in the 1920s by Victor Anderson and Harpy Coven that emphasizes spiritual ecstasy, often sexualHuman sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
ecstasy, and has a basis in the traditional Hawaiian Witchcraft of Huna
Huna
For other uses, see HunaHuna is a Hawaiian word adopted by Max Freedom Long in 1936 to describe his theory of metaphysics which he linked to ancient Hawaiian kahuna...
/Ho'Oomana. It is an American tradition in that it has been influenced by many indigenous and immigrant communities on this continent including Appalachian folk magic, Brujeria, Huna/Ho'Oomana, and Voudou; as well as Traditional and Celtic Witchcraft influences.
Practitioners are polytheists who have, among other Gods: the Star Goddess, the Divine Twins, and the Blue God. Practitioners believe that there are three parts to the human soul, a belief shared with Huna/Ho'Oomana, mystic Judaism.
Reclaiming
Reclaiming (formerly known as Reclaiming Collective) is an offshoot of the Feri Tradition, with an international community with the aim of combining "earth-based spirituality" and political activism. The author Starhawk (Miriam Simos) is its most prominent spokesperson, and her book "The Spiral Dance" inspired many new covens practicing along similar lines. Reclaiming was founded amid the peacePeace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
and anti-nuclear movements of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Reclaiming's spiritual approach is based in the religion and magic of Goddess
Goddess movement
The Goddess movement is an overall trend in religious or spiritual beliefs or practices which emerged out of second-wave feminism, predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand in the 1970s...
, who is understood as the immanent
Immanence
Immanence refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence, in which the divine is seen to be manifested in or encompassing of the material world. It is often contrasted with theories of transcendence, in which the divine is seen to be outside the material world...
life force, not as a transcendent
Transcendence (religion)
In religion transcendence refers to the aspect of God's nature which is wholly independent of the physical universe. This is contrasted with immanence where God is fully present in the physical world and thus accessible to creatures in various ways...
deity. The Reclaiming tradition of witchcraft also honors the Horned God
Horned God
The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in some European pagan religions. He is often given various names and epithets, and represents the male part of the religion's duotheistic theological system, the other part being the female Triple Goddess. In common Wiccan belief, he is...
, as does Wicca; but in general, Reclaiming is somewhat more focused on the Goddess than on the God.
The Reclaiming Tradition of contemporary American Witchcraft arose from a working collective around the 1980s in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, blending the influences of Victor and Cora Anderson's Feri Tradition
Feri Tradition
The Feri Tradition is an initiatory tradition of modern traditional witchcraft. It is an ecstatic, rather than a fertility, tradition stemming from the experience of Cora and Victor Anderson...
of Witchcraft, Dianic Witchcraft
Dianic Wicca
Dianic Witchcraft and Dianic Feminist Witchcraft, is a tradition, or denomination, of the Neopagan religion of Wicca. It was founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest in the United States in the 1970s, and is notable for its focus on the worship of the Goddess, and on feminism...
as taught by Z. Budapest
Zsuzsanna Budapest
Zsuzsanna Emese Mokcsay is an American author of Hungarian origin who writes on feminist spirituality and Dianic Wicca under the pen name and religious name Zsuzsanna Budapest or Z. Budapest. She is the High Priestess and the founding mother of the Susan B. Anthony Coven #1, the first feminist,...
, and the feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, Anarchist, peace
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
, and environmental movement
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
s.
While some members of Reclaiming describe themselves as "Wiccan", others prefer the term "Witch".
Sources
- Cunningham, Scott & Harrington, David. "The Magical Household", Llewellyn, 1996
- Beth, Rae. Hedge Witch: A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft, Robert Hale, 1992.
- Moura, Ann, "Grimoire For The Green Witch: A Complete Book of Shadows", 2003.
- Telesco, Patricia, "The Kitchen Witch Companion: Simple and Sublime Culinary Magic", 2005.
- Duerr, Hans Peter. Dreamtime: Concerning the Boundary between Wilderness and Civilization, pages 46, 47, 65, 97, 132. Translated by Felicitas Goodman. Blackwell, 1985.
- Jackson, Nigel A. Call of the Horned Piper, pages 4–5, 13, 14-15, 19-21. Capall Bann, 1994.