HISTORY

Neo-pagan witchcraft, or "Wicca", as it has come to be called, began in the 1940's with the writings of Gerald B. Gardner. Gardner supposedly discovered a traditional coven in the south of England, and was inducted into their ranks. His oaths of secrecy to them prevented him from revealing their practices. When Gardner went public, he was forced to write, embellish and import occult information, to make up for what he could not reveal, and this is what became "Gardnerian" Wicca. There is no doubt that Gardner was associated with such figures as Aleister Crowley, and was influenced by ceremonial magic, through the OTO, the Golden Dawn, and Masonry. It is also common knowledge that Gardner was associated with a cluster of Occultists called the Fellowship of Crotona. By Gardner's own description, they were a loosely confederated group of Masons, Hermetics, Rosicrucians and occultists, but not actual, "traditional" witches. Wicca strongly resembles a de-christianized version of the Order of the Golden Dawn, with many Thelemic and Theosophical adoptions. Wicca makes claims to be "spiritually descended" from the Old Pagan religions, but the fact is, their ritual structure and theology bears little similarity to any authentic native European pagan culture. Traditional Witchcraft, on the other hand, adheres to beliefs and practices of Crafter families and underground organizations that pre-date the twentieth century. Usually, most Traditional organizations can only date themselves with any accuracy to the 17th century. However, folklore and history as far back as the 11th century record practices similar to those carried out by Traditional Witches today.

"WITCH"

Some Wiccans refer to themselves as "witches", others do not. Most Traditional witches do not refer to themselves as "witches", but rather call themselves "The People" or use no special names at all. They may refer to themselves as "crafters", "Pellars", or use some other term, but "witch" was historically intended to be an insult and more likely, a serious criminal charge. Some modern-day Traditionals have begun using the word "witch" to lower the barriers between themselves and the New-Age world. However, if the term "witch" is used, it is by either group or personal choice.

ETHICS

Wicca has a "Rede" which forms the basis of Wiccan ethics and states that "As long as you harm none, do as you will". Wiccans consider this "Rede" to be an indisputable universal law. Traditional Witchcraft has no such rule, its ethics are totally ambiguous and situational. Traditional Witchcraft is family and Faith oriented. If one's family or faith is attacked, then stopping that attack is the proper course of action. If that involves harming someone, so be it, there is no ethical injunction against it and that's what a Traditional Witch would do. Traditional Witchcraft, as with nature, is not solely good or solely evil, but both, with a time and place for both. While perhaps hard for non-believers to understand, it is simply the way of things. To deny either side is to move away from "wholeness".

FORMALITY

Wicca has a very formal structure and is based on a "three degrees" model of initiation, similar to that used in Masonry. Wicca is very hierarchical, with such monikers as "High Priest/Priestess" titles and normally female-oriented. There are two valid "traditions" of Wicca--Gardnerian and Alexandrian--but since the explosion of occult interest on both sides of the Atlantic, many non-aligned "Eclectic" traditions have sprung up overnight, representing almost every culture or metaphysical orientation you can think of. Normally, in Traditional Witchcraft, there is no set group "structure". Titles are not frequently used, and when they are, they remain rather informal compared to the Wiccan emphasis on titles. Traditional Craft groups can have leadership, with knowledge, experience and willingness to serve being the deciding factor for choosing most leaders. They are as likely to be male as female, with limited power, unlike the Wiccan "High Priest/ess". The rituals and rites of Wicca tend to be fairly formal and written out before hand. In Traditional Witchcraft, most rituals are spontaneous and less structured than those followed in Wicca. There exist ritual forms, some very old, but they are partial, open and simple. In Traditional working, the "inner level" of the ritual carries more emphasis than the "outer level" with the idea being: "It's not how you do something, but why you do something." In Traditional Witchcraft, the apprentice's advance is much slower than in Wicca. A life of learning and experience are crucial for genuine progress and initiations are more or less considered events that happen on a personal level over a period of time and bestowed by otherworldly powers. This is the Way.

"NEW AGE" ADAPTATIONS

Wicca has adopted many "New Age" concepts within its canon that are without basis in the historical or cultural context of the European Old Craft. Some of these are listed below;

DUO THEISM:

Wicca states there are only two divine beings, a "god" and a "goddess". The many different gods and goddesses that were worshipped by our European ancestors or other peoples are considered "aspects" or "manifestations" of these two divine beings. Therefore, it is the Wiccan belief that "All Gods are one God, and All Goddesses one Goddess". This divine reductionism is referred to as "Duo theism", and has no precedent in ancient Europe, nor Traditional Witchcraft. This belief is a relatively modern belief. In addition, some Wiccans believe this "God" and "Goddess" to be aspects of a mysterious divine unity, sometimes called "The One". This thinking tends to bring them full-circle, to a New-Age slanted version of Monotheism. Our European ancestors were Polytheists. They believed in many Gods, be they personal or regional Gods--so too with most Traditional Witches.

BOOK OF SHADOWS:

In the old days, Traditional practitioners of the Secret Craft kept little written evidence of what they were doing. Most people at the time were illiterate and even if they were literate, a written record could be a death sentence if you were caught. The Old Craft was primarily an oral tradition, with a minimum of written records.

KARMA:

Gardner incorporated this concept into Wicca. In traditional Craft, "Fate" is an important concept, but "Karma" is unknown. The Traditional Craft belief on these matters has always been very different than the eastern concept of "Karma".

THREE-FOLD LAW:

One of the basic tenets of Wicca. An historic belief of many peoples that their actions would return to visit them "many times over". Wiccans seem to have given up the belief in "hellfire and damnation" as a deterrent to their negative actions and simply replaced it with their "three fold law", which warns of three-times retribution for negativity. No belief such as this exists in Traditional Witchcraft.

GOODNESS AND LIGHT

Wicca, a modern belief with a largely urban following, has lost much of its connection to Nature and the Land. Wicca tends to be a religion of "goodness and light", venerating the Nature Goddess as a loving, motherly deity, and viewing the unseen world as a place of positive power, full of helpful spirits. Taking into consideration the overwhelming commonality of Wicca's followers, this makes psychological sense, for the majority has probably never experienced the hardships of life side-by-side with Nature. However, this is not how our ancestors saw the Gods, World and Nature, and definitely not how Traditional Witches view things. The Old Craft views Nature as both kind and cruel--giving and taking. Traditional Witchcraft holds as self-evident, a great darkness inherent in Nature, the natural world, and in the innate character of spirits, gods and humans. Traditional Witches believe harmful spirits to be an unpleasant fact.

SACRED DAYS

The Wiccan calendar is divided into eight Sabbats, or Holydays: the four Celtic Festivals, the two solstices, and the two equinoxes. The Celts did not observe the Solstices or equinoxes in pre-Christian times and did not have an eight-fold calendar. They observed only two seasons--summer and winter. Gerald Gardner, probably influenced by the romantic "revivalist" druids of England, brought the "eight sabbat" concept to Wicca. In Traditional Witchcraft, Sacred Days are timed by the ebb and flow of nature, and are different everywhere where you go. Old Celtic dates, such as Samhain and Bealtain, may be followed in some traditions, but even if they were, the solstices and equinoxes probably would not be.

TOOLS

In line with the Golden-Dawn based magic of Wicca, its "tools" are the Cup, Pentacle, Knife and Wand, representing the four hermetic elements. Similarly, its "magic circle" is based on Hermetic circles from grimoires, and its "quarter calling" is based on the Enochian magic of John Dee, which has also been resurrected and used by the Golden Dawn. Traditional Witches do not normally use formal sets of tools. The tools of traditional witches tend to be things like Stangs, besoms, cauldrons, cords, skulls of people or animals, hammers, mirrors, various stones, horns or bowls. Some traditions may use knives, but there is no New-Age symbolism attached. Many Traditions use no tools at all. Circles are not cast and used to any major extent and the traditional term for a drawn circle is "Compass round", with natural places often sufficing for working areas, leaving no need for a drawn "circle". When "compass rounds" need to be drawn, they are drawn by traditional ceremonies and bear little resemblance to Wiccan circle castings. Land is sacred and traditional witches do not "consecrate" the ground. You simply dwell upon it.

AFTERLIFE

Wicca believes in an eastern Hindu/Buddhist model of "reincarnation" and spiritual evolution. The Traditional Craft generally senses that the soul or spirit may enter into yet another point of existence after death, but this usually involves a return to Nature, dwelling with the ancestors, or becoming a guardian spirit. Traditional witches consider there to be a well-defined, natural, spiritual existence for all things, including humans. They traditionally believe that time and nature move in cycles and that the power of both is obvious. To the Traditional Witch, life and death are mysteries entangled within the flow of these cycles. Through the workings of some Old Craft rites, some traditions believe that a soul may achieve a higher level of existence and dwell amongst the "Hidden Company" after death, but this mystery is known best to those traditions that teach it.