Recently you answered an anon and mentioned how a belief in spirits is directly tied up in traditional witchcraft since it is from spirits that a witch divines her power. I was wondering if you'd be willing or able to speak a little more on the relationship between spirit belief and trad. witchcraft.
I will add a disclaimer here first, stating that this is traditional witchcraft as I know it, and that others may have other opinions and practises. Traditional witchcraft is not a monolith.
Okay, so on to your question. Traditional witchcraft is animist. It (broadly) believes in spirits of many things. This is largely where differences come from, because localities are so different. Swamp spirits are not going to be the same as desert spirits, because the environs are so different. They are not going to want the same things and they are not going to have the same ways of relating. That’s not a bad thing. However, because of this, a witch surrounded by swamp spirits isn’’t going to be able to teach someone traditional witchcraft who is in the desert. It’s sort of like learning proper etiquette for meeting people in America and then applying that to Japan – it doesn’t really work. It may get across, but it will be awkward and look exceedingly stupid.
I have gotten asked multiple times for books suggestions on traditional witchcraft, and every time I stumble. Partially because I just haven’t read many, and partially because it’s not something that can be learned from a book, and me talking about how I love to read Three Books of Occult Philosophy because I am a giant nerd who writes theories on well, magical theory, for fun isn’t going to help anyone understand traditional witchcraft, because it isn’t, it’s ceremonial.
My first experience with modern witchcraft was mean teenage girls who had gotten a copy of To Ride A Silver Broomstick by Silver Ravenwolf, and after reading it, were witches. I had no idea how to relate to it.I grew up in a little town where books on witchcraft just wasn’t a thing. I grew up in a family where books were supplementary, if anything. My father hasn’t read a book since he graduated high school.
In my last post post I likened modern witchcraft to wizardry in Dungeons & Dragons and I still agree with that. The wizard takes time and study to learn and research and tap into magic. My understanding of modern witchcraft is that it believes everyone can practise magic, and that everyone has the capacity for magic, all on their own, they just have to learn and find it, then exercise it like a muscle. There are tons of starter books, tons of posts on tumblr about new witches, and that’s all brilliant! I am not crticising any of it.
Traditional witchcraft, on the other hand, is not so…independent. It will absolutely accept that people are born with power, and some people more than others. It also accepts that anyone (and perhaps even everyone) can do magic. However, traditional witchcraft stalls there. It doesn’t say ‘read this in a book,’ it doesn’t say ‘power is inside you.’ Traditional witchcraft is taught by the spirits you work with, and especially the spirits you initiate with.These spirits are the ones who teach you, they are the ones who guide your feet. They are the ones who power your workings, beyond that which you could hope to achieve on your own. In many circles to try and teach traditional witchcraft fully to another person will literally kill the witch fire in you, because you have given it to someone else – you are human and thus, not able to light someone’s witch fire without losing your own. This is why people like @ofwoodandbone and I will say that we can’t tell someone something – it isn’t our place, and for that matter, it may not be right for that person. It may be something that our spirits have sworn us to secrecy on and we cannot share, even if we wanted too. (And why would we want to, when the witch learns so much more from the journey?) This is also why someone on a trad path may not call themselves a witch until they’ve completed The Death.
Someone who initiates with the Witch Father is going to have a very different experience and a very different craft from someone who initiates with Melusine, just like how, in my analogy from my last post, the Warlock in D&D who is pacted to an Archfiend is going to have a different skillset and spell list than one who pacts with an Archfey. They’re both warlocks, their classes are the same, but it’s not universal, and it’s going to be very different from that wizard. Why? Because their spirits are not the same. Spirits are not some homogeneous blob, some Jungian universal memory with no personality. No – what my ancestors and spirits are going to want served at Supper are going to be different than what yours do.
For example, some people have guests remove their shoes once they enter the home, because shoes are dirty. Other people find this disgusting, and don’t want people taking off their shoes, because feet are gross. So it is with spirits – they tell you – they teach you – what it is they want of you. That relationship is why spirit belief is vital – you can’t learn it from books just like how you can’t get a girlfriend by reading romance novels – you have to go out there and meet the girl.
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