The high priestess of a coven of hereditary Witches in the New Forest of England, who initiated Gerald Gardner into Witchcraft in 1939. Little was known about Clutterbuck for many years, prompting some outside observers to speculate that she had never existed at all but was fabricated by Gardner. In 1980 Doreen Valiente, English high […]

English witch and astrologer who moved to America in the 1960s and gained fame by publicizing the renaissance of witchcraft in the Western world. Her trademarks were a cape, loose gowns and a jackdaw named Mr. Hotfoot Jackson who perched on her shoulder. She always wore a crystal necklace, passed on to her, she said, […]

A witch is either a woman or a man who knows that he or she is a witch. A witch is a natural. A witch realizes certain powers; represents, rather than worships them; calls them Goddess and God (without it being a fixed, or boxed, ideology) and invokes them; fuses with them emotes and lives […]

The ability of witches, sorcerers  and other magically empowered persons to transform themselves and other humans at will into animals, birds and insects. In witchcraft trials, people testified that the accused witches had appeared before them or tormented them in some nonhuman shape. For example, in 1663 Jane Milburne of Newcastle, England, did not invite […]

A paranormal phenomenon whereby a body or object is raised up into the air in defiance of gravity. Levitation has been reported in cases of bewitchment, hauntings and possession; it also is attributed to saints and holy persons. In 1550 in Wertet, Brabant, a group of nuns reportedly levitated into the air, climbed trees like […]

Sacred space means different things to different people. So really, the only way I can get around that is to tell you what it means to me. Sacred space is an enclosure we create, if you like, an artificial bubble in mundane reality, inside which we create an environment that is conducive to whatever type […]

Witchcraft is the ability to harness and use the powers of nature and one’s own personal energy in order to create a desired effect in the world. It is ancient and found the world over, in various forms under different names and titles. It is often seen as an innate ability, something that one is […]

A curse that is the product of envy, revenge and anger. In earlier times, people commonly blamed their misfortune on the ill-wishing of others. If two people argued and then one suffered a mishap, became ill or had other problems, the other party was suspected of ill-wishing them. Remarks such as “You’ll be sorry” were […]

The Brocken, also called the Blocksberg, was the most famous meeting place for witches in Europe. An old-fashioned poet, Matthison, wrote of it with gruesome awe. The horn of Satan grimly sounds; On Blocksberg’s flanks strange din resounds, And specters crowd its summit high. One wild story even claimed that here on Walpurgis Night (30th […]

It is advantageous that you realize just what is accessible through this technique. I have spent many years charting and understanding the concept of thought and the body of the mindscape as a way of understanding and tapping into what I was sure was there as a latent or uncontrolled power. I have always been […]

Let’s not confuse the word service with the word servitude. You service the forces with which you interrelate. You are in service to life itself. This is our deity, which we consider both our Goddess and our God. This is Witchcraft at the core. Your service is to the truth of that which you perpetuate […]

The biological animal and the soul that infuses it has an innate ability to handle its own life and transcend both the internal and the external problems that arise through merely being alive (in this time, within certain conditions).   I will begin this section by throwing into the ring a particular word that is […]

Contemplation is a very natural way of focusing and inspiring the mindscape. It is best accessed through an activity (sometimes repetitive) that doesn’t require the mental concentration of reading or learning (e.g., rocking, watching a fire, simple weaving, unhurried gardening, unhurried cleaning, unhurried, purposeless walking). Contemplation is a time-to-spare active meditation that also gives surcease […]

Mulengro is the name of an entity that is like an alien barb; one that has become an out-of-control arrow that pierces generation upon generation with its poison. It feeds on its own likeness, and people are its host. Mulengro could be considered to be like the Qliphoth of Qabbalah and the devil that Christianity […]

The lifescape of magic and Witchcraft is a place and a way of being rather than the paradigm of something one does. We know each other by recognizing the way in which we live and that which is within each of us that has lived, thus, forever. It is the recognition of the quest. The […]

Personal power is a natural growth process that develops as a result of the life you live in the way of the witch. Others will notice you even when you do not desire to be noticed. Therefore, personal power is the ability to disappear when you want to and appear when you want to. It […]

Know, at all times, why you are doing what you are doing. Know your own motives well. Exercise caution in your undertakings, as each action, each thought, is to be clearly of your own choosing. Each thought and every action will engender, progressively, a response relative to it for which you are solely responsible. I […]

Green Witchcraft is a term often used interchangeably with the descriptor Hedge Witch. There are certain similarities between the paths but the fundamental core of each path is very different. Where the Hedge Witch is focused on journeying to the Otherworld and receiving wisdom from the spirits she encounters, the Green Witch’s focus is much […]

Alister Crowley’s “love under will.” When we consider Wilt. The saying goes love under will. But he says do what thou wilt. Turning will…into a verb. This could possibly be of some great importance. It may indicate the opposite of static nature. As a witch, you may be for ever-changing and hopefully learning as you […]

Witchcraft is the set of beliefs and practices employed by Witches in ritual and spellwork. Often, magical work is incorporated into the Shabbat and Esbat celebrations observed by covens and solitary Witches, though spellwork may be employed on its own on other occasions. In fact, many Witches consider themselves to be constantly “practising” their Craft […]

Personal power is a natural growth process that develops as a result of the life you live in the way of the witch. Others will notice you even when you do not desire to be noticed. Therefore, personal power is the ability to disappear when you want to and appear when you want to. It […]

A witch is either a woman or a man who knows that he or she is a witch. A witch is a natural. A witch realizes certain powers; represents, rather than worships them; calls them Goddess and God (without it being a fixed, or boxed, ideology) and invokes them; fuses with them emotes and lives […]

A witch’s primary power (deity) is her or his Goddess. She is known by many names, derived from many cultures, and all are aspects of the One. The Moon in its waxing and waning, in its phases of full, new, and dark, is how witches dance with the birth, life, and death of their undertakings […]

Witchcraft is the set of beliefs and practices employed by Witches in ritual and spellwork. Often, magical work is incorporated into the Shabbat and Esbat celebrations observed by covens and solitary Witches, though spellwork may be employed on its own on other occasions. In fact, many Witches consider themselves to be constantly “practising” their Craft […]

One of the witches’ most important basic beliefs, obviously, is the reality and possibility of magic. This involves the idea that the physical world is only part of reality, the part that we are able to apprehend with our five senses. Beyond are vaster realms; and in these the witch seeks to venture. This, again, […]

Traditional witchcraft is an umbrella term that includes many traditions. Essentially traditional witches are practitioners of forms of witchcraft that pre-date Wicca and new age practices. Some of these traditions may be passed down as family traditions, whilst others are cultural, where witches follow the traditions of their own or a specific culture. Traditional witchcraft […]

Within the corner of a darkened room, a woman sits on a chair and hums a repetitive tune. Her eyes are closed and she rocks back and forth, back and forth, back and forth-seeming to sway in some invisible wind like the rushes on a lakeshore. Her hands are moving between threads as she weaves […]

Witchcraft is as old as the human race. It dates from the days when, by the flickering light of a clay lamp, a Stone Age artist worked in the silent depths of a cave sanctuary, drawing upon the walls the great beasts he hunted for his food. Sometimes he depicted the beasts with arrows and […]

Village witch or healer who provided cures, remedies, charms, spells and divination, usually in exchange for a fee or gift. “Cunning” comes from the Old English term kenning, meaning “wise” or “knowledgeable.” Other terms for cunning man and cunning woman are wise man, wise woman, sorcerer, wizard, conjurer, charmer, blesser, white witch and witch. Traditionally, […]

The best-known Biblical text referring to witchcraft is verse 18 in the twenty-second chapter of Exodus, which states: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” It is printed on the title-page of The Discovery of Witches by Matthew Hopkins, the notorious Witch-Finder General. His book was published in 1 647, “For the Benefit of the […]

The Greek goddess of witchcraft, Hecate, was also the goddess of the crossroads, and animals were sacrificed to her at such locations. It was believed that Hecate appeared at crossroads on clear nights, accompanied by spirits and howling dogs. Offerings were placed there to propitiate her and ask for her intercession in cases of madness, […]

One of the witches’ most important basic beliefs, obviously, is the reality and possibility of magic. This involves the idea that the physical world is only part of reality, the part that we are able to apprehend with our five senses. Beyond are vaster realms; and in these the witch seeks to venture. This, again, […]

The ability of witches, sorcerers  and other magically empowered persons to transform themselves and other humans at will into animals, birds and insects. In witchcraft trials, people testified that the accused witches had appeared before them or tormented them in some nonhuman shape. For example, in 1663 Jane Milburne of Newcastle, England, did not invite […]

Witchcraft probably originated about 25,000 years ago in the Palaeolithic era. At that time, humankind and nature were seen as inextricably linked. People acknowledged every rock, tree and stream as deities in the life force, and the Earth as mother, offering both womb and tomb. Early man used sympathetic, or attracting, magick – in the […]

I respect the solitary witches who blaze your own trails, walk your own paths, and listen to your own gods. It can be a lonely, yet rewarding, life. It is not for the faint of heart. From the solitary we can all learn self-reliance and how to listen to our intuition. I respect the witch […]

A lot of traditional witches do not cast a circle at all as this is not traditional witchcraft but some do cast a compass which is not a circle. It is very different.   Rituals in Traditional Craft are very different from those that are Wicca and ceremonial based in that they are not scripted, […]

According to a prophecy by the famous 19th-century cunning man James Murrell, the Essex village of Canewdon, located in England’s “witch country” of East Anglia, would be populated with witches “forever.” Indeed, the village and the surrounding area have been steeped in witch lore since at least 1580, when a woman named Rose Pye was […]

An Esbat is a regular meeting of a coven of Witches at which religious worship is conducted, business is discussed and magic and healing work is done. The frequency of esbats depends on the coven. Most covens meet at the full Moon, which occurs 13 times a year. They may also meet at the new […]

A curse is a spell intended to bring misfortune, illness, harm or death to a victim. Curses are the most dreaded form of magic, as curses are universal. They are “laid” or “thrown” primarily for revenge and power but also for protection, usually of homes, treasures, tombs and grave sites. A curse can take effect […]

There is a special connection between the spirit and its possessing location, most often the victim’s bedroom or personal place. Anything that can be moved is taken out, such as rugs, lamps, dressers, curtains, tables and trunks, to minimize flying objects. Only a bed or couch remains, accompanied by a small side table to hold […]

In contemporary Witchcraft, a powerful, magical rite of sexual intercourse that pays homage to the male/female polarity that exists in all things in the universe. The Great Rite expresses the physical, mental, spiritual, and astral union between man and woman and the union of the Goddess and God. The Great Rite is the hieros gamos, […]

This name was given to the statue of a mysterious deity alleged to be worshipped by the Knights Templars. The latter, although a powerful and wealthy order of chivalry, came to be distrusted by Church and State at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and were disbanded. They were accused of heresy, of worshipping the […]

The Appalachian Granny Magic Tradition of Witchcraft is one that is only recently being heard of. Though the tradition is a very old one, dating all the way back to the first settlers of the magical Appalachian Mountains who came over from Scotland and Ireland in the 1700’s. They brought along their even older Irish […]

Hermetica Forty-two sacred books of mystical wisdom attributed to the mythical Hermes Trismegistus, or “thrice great Hermes,” the combined Egyptian and Greek deities of Thoth and Hermes, respectively. The books, which date from somewhere between the third century b.c.e. and first century c.e., had an enormous impact on the development of Western occultism and magic. […]

The transformation of a human being into a wolf. There are two types of lycanthropy: a mania in which a person imagines himself to be a wolf and exhibits a craving for blood; and the magical-ecstatic transformation of a person into a werewolf (“man-wolf,” from the Old English werewolves , man, plus wolf), usually accomplished […]

A belief during the witch hunts, that the Devil, his demons and witches could transport themselves and others through the air. Flying (also called transvection) was done with the aid of a broom, fork or shovel, according to lore; some witches were said to ride demons who were transformed into animals such as goats, cows, […]

Also referred to as “drawing the quarters” this is a way of acknowledging the four cardinal directions and their Elemental associations, as well as the chosen deities of the coven or solitary Witch. In a coven, either the High Priestess, the High Priest, or another coven member will walk around the circle, stopping in each […]

The ability of witches to interfere with or destroy the fertility of man, beast, and crop. This malicious destruction was considered a common activity among witches, and remedies and preventive actions circulated in folklore and magic. Blasting is the antithesis of rituals to enhance fertility, and accusations of it date to the second century c.e. […]

The amniotic fetal membrane that sometimes clings to a newborn’s head or body after birth. Being born with a caul, or veil, has significance in folklore related to magical powers. A person born with a caul was believed to have psychic gifts such as the ability to see ghosts and spirits and to divine the […]

The best-known Biblical text referring to witchcraft is verse 18 in the twenty-second chapter of Exodus, which states: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” It is printed on the title-page of The Discovery of Witches by Matthew Hopkins, the notorious Witch-Finder General. His book was published in 1 647, “For the Benefit of […]

From the Autumn Equinox until just after the Wild Hunt rides out around Samhain is the Season of the Witch.  People all over the United States seem to know that this is true without being told so.  The stores decorate for Halloween, reporters develop stories about local Witches, and Witches themselves feel a certain thrill in the chilly autumnal […]

This greasy, trance-inducing substance was traditionally made of hallucinogenic (and often fatal) herbs that had been boiled in pig fat and then strained. It was called “green salve” or “witches’ ointment” and it some of the stock ingredients (solinicaeds) caused a “flying” sensation as the hallucination began — hence the popular image of the flying […]

A lot of traditional witches do not cast a circle at all as this is not traditional witchcraft but some do cast a compass which is not a circle. It is very different. Rituals in Traditional Craft are very different from those that are Wicca and ceremonial based in that they are not scripted, they […]

The Brocken, also called the Blocksberg, was the most famous meeting place for witches in Europe. An old-fashioned poet, Matthison, wrote of it with gruesome awe. The horn of Satan grimly sounds; On Blocksberg’s flanks strange din resounds, And specters crowd its summit high. One wild story even claimed that here on Walpurgis Night (30th […]

In Witchcraft and magick, glyph is a term used to describe a powerful symbol that represents a person, place, or thing. When the glyph is consecrated, and/or acted upon, it can ward off psychic attack, illness, and bad luck. Most glyphs are a combination of an individual’s name and birth date. These are inscribed upon […]

This ritual was one of fasting to aid concentration, for some particular purpose. It was alleged to have been used by Mabel Brigge, who was executed for witchcraft at York in 1 538. The fast involved abstaining from meat, milk, and all food made with milk. During the period of the fast, the witch concentrated […]

Traditional witchcraft is an umbrella term that includes many traditions. Essentially traditional witches are practitioners of forms of witchcraft that pre-date Wicca and new age practices. Some of these traditions may be passed down as family traditions, whilst others are cultural, where witches follow the traditions of their own or a specific culture. Traditional witchcraft […]

Between earthly incarnations, witches believe the soul rests in the Land of Faery, a pagan paradise like the Celtic Tir-Nan-Og, the Land of the Young. Many references to this pagan otherworld can be found in British and Celtic legend. It is a very different place from the Christian heaven, involving no harps, haloes nor golden […]

It has been said by a thoughtful writer that the subject of witchcraft has hardly received that place which it deserves in the history of opinions. There has been, of course, a reason for this neglect—the fact that the belief in witchcraft is no longer existent among intelligent people and that its history, in consequence, […]

Alexandrian – Founded in England during the 1960’s by Alexander Sanders, self-proclaimed “King of the Witches”. An offshoot of Gardnerian, Alexandrian covens focus strongly upon training, emphasizing on areas more generally associated with ceremonial magic, such as Qabalah, Angelic Magic and Enochian. The typical Alexandrian coven has a hierarchical structure, and generally meets on weekly, […]

This exercise makes use of what is called the Book of Elements. It’s going to be one of your primary grimoires. The technique is commonly used by most of the occultists whom I have known (myself included), and it works on the premise that practitioners will consistently work at erasing any mundane conditioning complexes that […]

Exercise 1 1. Choose a quiet place where you will not be interrupted. If you are working the technique alone, you will need pencil and paper. If you are working with someone else, they will need the pencil and paper. They will question you and record the replies. 2. Write at the top of one […]

A witch is either a woman or a man who knows that he or she is a witch. A witch is a natural. A witch realizes certain powers; represents, rather than worships them; calls them Goddess and God (without it being a fixed, or boxed, ideology) and invokes them; fuses with them emotes and lives […]

The Fire Festivals interweave themselves with the lesser Sabbats of the solstice and equinox, but whereas the solstices and equinoxes mark the transitions of the Sun in its association with the Earth, the Fire Festivals mark the transitions of the seasons of Earth, the initiation of the transitions that are actualized and obvious at solstice […]

Hallowed Be Thy Name Hailed, and walled, with garnet and with topaz The Temples of my Family! Deep in scarlet velvet and in black Come lay with me Entwine and sweat and softly moan before the Fire; Beneath the Veil of candles Lit to show the Way But slightly, darkly Unto the music of ghosts; […]

The Law of Congruity is the law of cause and effect: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. That does not imply that the effect is either relative or recognizable in any human evaluation-it simply is what it says it is. The Law of Congruity does not apply to matter only, but to thought […]

Try hanging a set of chimes outside your door or a bell. Ringing bells and chimes are said to ward off and dismiss those negative energies that may wish to imprint themselves on your life.

Try placing a besom or a broom with its bristles up near the entry of your home. Any spirits with the intention of harm will have to pass through the bristles in order to get to you.

Try placing a bowl of magnetic oil-charged water in your rooms to soak up negativity. Float candles in it to make it a little less obvious and use black stones or black glass marbles to purify.

Place a small guardian totem such as a dragon or gargoyle and explain it’s duties. People will just think you like statues of animals, usually.

The most important thing to note when getting into witchery is that supplies are anything at your disposal. You don’t need fancy materials. A simple candle or a small necklace is more than enough. Whatever feels right to you works. Whatever you have space for works. Whatever you have the budget for works. Spirituality is […]

Wicca and Modern Druidry began in the 1950s. They have their roots and inspiration in the old traditions of Witchcraft and the Druids, yet were formed in order to create branches of a modern Western Paganism that celebrated Nature in all its glory. Two friends, Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols met around a decade earlier […]

In Witchcraft and magick, glyph is a term used to describe a powerful symbol that represents a person, place, or thing. When the glyph is consecrated, and/or acted upon, it can ward off psychic attack, illness, and bad luck. Most glyphs are a combination of an individual’s name and birth date. These are inscribed upon […]

Focus is rather difficult to describe in a linear fashion. It is achieved when you link emotion and intellect in one function for the purpose of actualization, by will, of the desired outcome. It does not allow the ego to interfere with its function. It is the deep stillness. It is the silence behind all […]

The preparation required of you when working magic, as well as ritual, if possible should be done with the idea of excellence kept clearly at the forefront of your thoughts. Should you be preparing a sacred space in which to work magic and ritual, seek to personalize the entire process by doing the best you […]

For all of the people out there who are looking to spiritual systems, whether exoteric or esoteric, or who look to sorcerous systems and metaphysical pursuits to make themselves into better people, find peace, increase their overall well-being, to them I say “keep looking and good luck.” Exoteric religions alone among those various interests may […]

Witchcraft can be said to employ the Law of Attraction in a sense, though magic can be much more complex than simply focusing one’s thoughts on the desired outcome. It might be more accurate to say that Witches employ rituals, tools, words, and gifts from the natural world to enhance and expand their work with […]

Once you have chosen to take upon yourself the obligations of the practice of Witchcraft, then the effects, or the immanence, of this way of life will be bestowed on you from aligned intelligence, and so will the tests that accompany them. Anyone who willingly opens themselves to powers beyond the veil of manifestation (as […]

Whether reading grimoires or studying under a teacher, it can be difficult to truly know how to discern true value from innocent babble or even outright deception. As such, when one is Seeking out there, it behooves us to maintain a standard of discernment to help us consider what we discover.  The Measuring tape: Consider […]

Witchcraft is the magical manipulation of energy to bring about change. The energy used by a witch may be environmental, from herbs, stones and other natural objects, or it may come from the witch herself or it may be channeled through the witch from a God or Goddess or from the Earth or Universe at […]

Don’t miss anything. In all of your undertakings, have all your senses working at their fullest potency; this is necessary in your magical, ritual, and personal activities. Of primary significance is the activity of your sixth sense, which will have been triggered/awakened by the preceding exercises, and which will pick up the exchanges of energy […]

The Terms of witchcraft are meant to transport the practitioner into the heart of life itself, where words are ultimately limitations and qualifiers. More specifically, they can guide practitioners toward a direct mystical experience of deity, nature, and the individual spirit. Words are obliterated and become meaningless when the practitioner achieves this experiential state of […]

The amniotic fetal membrane that sometimes clings to a newborn’s head or body after birth. Being born with a caul, or veil, has significance in folklore related to magical powers. A person born with a caul was believed to have psychic gifts such as the ability to see ghosts and spirits and to divine the […]

The expulsion of evil spirits by commanding them to depart. The expulsion is often done in the name of a deity, saints, angels or other intercessory figures. Exorcism comes from the Greek horkos, meaning “oath,” and translates as adjuro, or adjure, in Latin and English. To “exorcize,” then, does not really mean to cast out […]

Lucius Apuleius is best known to us as the author of The Golden Ass, one of the most famous romances in the world, containing as it does the story of Cupid and Psyche. His importance to the study of witchcraft rests on the fact that The Golden Ass is a romance of witchcraft, and illustrates […]

The ability of witches to interfere with or destroy the fertility of man, beast, and crop. This malicious destruction was considered a common activity among witches, and remedies and preventive actions circulated in folklore and magic. Blasting is the antithesis of rituals to enhance fertility, and accusations of it date to the second century c.e. […]