The Meaning of Traditional Witchcraft
The Nameless Arte of the Old Craft
The Bent Path (Left-Handed Path), the Winding Path (Center Path), and the Straight Path (Right-Handed Path) of the Crooked Path
Trodding the Crooked Path is a transformative journey of Traditional Witches and Cunning Folk which is experienced differently as one progresses and passes various milestones, initiations in Middle Earth, the Middle World, the Upperworld, and the Underworld – all of which is Fated. Various gifts can be received from kin in this world, from the Ancestors or the Gods in the Otherworld. Traditional Witches’ and Cunning Folk’s state of being and state of existence is also revealed by the Crooked Path.
The Nameless Arte of the Old Craft is a Nameless Arte of the Mysteries, Wisdom and the Cunning Mind. The Traditional Pagan worldview is a “way of seeing” that places the power of Nature, the unseen places within the Land, and the Otherworld. First in all a person thinks and feels, and the Old Craft is the craft of living in accordance with Nature, with the source of dreams, and the deeper urgings of Fate.
The Old Ways is a rather broad term that refers to the non-Christian and pre-Christian way of Pagan existence. In the sense we use it, it refers to our European Ancestors particularly; however, the path we discuss here is not limited to people of European Ancestry only. This is because the powers we believe in, the things we have experienced, and the values we treasure, are human powers, human experiences, and human values, before they ever were European.
The usage of the term traditional causes quite an amount of confusion on the part of some people, and quite a rebuke from others. It stands for a perspective on the Old Ways, and a perspective on modern day revivals of things such as the Cunning Arte, Pagan Sorcery or Witchcraft, which is not an outgrowth of the “new age” movement.
Traditional Paganism, and traditional forms of power manipulation or sorcery, or pre-Christian spiritual ecstasies, is “traditional” precisely because it is not born from the cradle of the New Age. It is not born from Theosophy, from selective aspects of liberal Christianity, from Ceremonial Magic, from Kabbalism, or the other “aspects” of the New Age mixture, including historical revisionist feminism, Eastern religion, Yoga, or any of the like. These paths, like Ceremonial Magic or Kabbalism, or Eastern religions, are all useful and powerful paths for those that utilize them with seriousness and with an eye for cultural context, but the watered down and haphazard mixtures that they normally appear in, in the “new age” movement, are actually quite insulting both to them, and to the other traditions they are oftentimes entangled with.
The Traditional Craft includes the Family Traditions of people who claim to have kept a pre-Christian tradition of some form of veneration or systematic manipulation of older powers and virtues, and it includes all the people out there who are alone, or just with a few close spiritual friends, living on the Land, and who see the Land as a sacred power that contains the memory of mankind. It includes people who keep a “ground-level” moral and ethical code, and who understand where the true Paganism of the past vanished off to. It vanished off into the souls of men and women, and into the Land. It re-emerged constantly through folk songs, folktales, Faery Tales, and Ballads - all of these things, as we shall see in this Gramarye, are the true wellsprings of the Hidden Tradition or the Secret Tradition of the Pagan Old Ways.
Traditional forms of Paganism worldviews are not flashy, not structured to the nth degree. They are as old as the ground under us, and they are as old as the souls within us. They have no appeal to those who are looking for flashy names, flashy ceremonial cloths, and false titles defined by those who are ego driven. They are not a fast road to having sex or orgies, nor are they a place that offers comfort to the rebellious ego, that only exists to please itself.
Traditional Craft is one of quiet immediacy and deep seriousness, and it offers no great and simple code for you to thrust in the faces of other people during debates. It offers no great assurances past the greatest assurance of all - “You are one with the Land, and all is as it is Fated to be.”
The magic of the Old Craft is the Cunning Arte of the Land and Fate, and the Power of Cunning Folk and Nature. Its metaphysics are not simple to grasp, nor do they come easily to those who have their understandings of “magic” tainted by the new-age. All the same, those who can master the Crooked Path’s many tests and trials can come to a destiny that humans can scarce dream about or comprehend- the unfolding of the human being into the fulfillment of Fate itself.
But this is not possible without the “ground level” work of coming into a true reciprocal and conscious relationship with the Land and the Old Powers that dwell within. This is the first work of the essential human, and when this work is accomplished, the other will be, as well. Traditional Paganism, in common with many traditional “folk” religions around the world, is a spiritual existence that deals with the Land itself as the most sacred manifestation of a timeless reality, which is full of many great powers, including those worshipped as Gods by our Ancestors, and the spirits of the dead, who forever fill Nature and make her the repository of all the Wisdom and power of our shared past.
Any path that deals with direct, simple experience of the Thresholds between the human consciousness and the immense, eldritch powers and spaces that exist within the body of the Land all around us, and any path that can approach these powers with a respect born out of spontaneous and genuine love, can claim to be “Traditional”, on some level. The human mind can experience many things, and the language of symbol is the key to unlocking this latent power in the mind. Traditional Paganism, like all Traditional spiritual paths, relies on symbols found in myths, folktales and folksongs, and in oral lore, which lead the mind into the right “place” to undergo a transformative and rather indescribable experience, which is the heart of True initiation.
In the British Isles, which is the cradle of my own Tradition, and all of my most crucial understandings, balladry and myth- coupled with the stories and talks I’ve gotten from local Traditional Pagans, include within them symbols that cause a person’s mind and soul and spirit to enter into a communion with the Land, and with all things seen and unseen. This is the Cunning Arte of the Cunning Folk, this is the meeting in which the human being enters into a wordless “depth” experience and becomes a familiar power to the Land and to the powers within it. They return the favor and come to the person, becoming Familiars or Fetches to them, and becoming the teachers and protectors of the human who has the mental strength and devotion to respond to them, without fear or hesitation.
Traditional Craft is like a dusty antique shop full of forgotten things, thousands of old shapes and hollow-eyed dolls, old cups and bowls, and clocks that stopped working a long time ago. But underneath them all is a great void full of noise, color, and mystery, just waiting to pour out and frighten and enlighten. It is a path for people who can understand and appreciate the ambiance of ruined cottages with just the chimney stones standing, and autumn woods after rain, or the power of the sky at night, in the middle of a field. There’s really no other way to express the essence of it. It’s a path for people who can see folklore and old stories as not “just stories”, but timeless realities all unto themselves, pieces of an eldritch puzzle that unlocks a door into what we are inside, unseen but potent.
There’s something going on. Something happening, hidden from most people, but right below the surface, for a person who can understand what I just said. For those who wish to gain a few hints and pointers to awakening this within themselves, I confidently point you to the huge body of folk-tales and myth that exists as a record of the beauty and spiritual power of our Pagan past. But also to your own heart, which forever speaks words you need to hear.
Second to those things, I offer you these words and writings, and wish you all the best of luck. I hope my words can help you, in some small way, to experience a path to wisdom and peace that is as lasting as the Land itself.
Let us live in wisdom, in day and in darkness.
The Nameless Arte of the Old Craft is a Nameless Arte of the Mysteries, Wisdom and the Cunning Mind. The Traditional Pagan worldview is a “way of seeing” that places the power of Nature, the unseen places within the Land, and the Otherworld. First in all a person thinks and feels, and the Old Craft is the craft of living in accordance with Nature, with the source of dreams, and the deeper urgings of Fate.
The Old Ways is a rather broad term that refers to the non-Christian and pre-Christian way of Pagan existence. In the sense we use it, it refers to our European Ancestors particularly; however, the path we discuss here is not limited to people of European Ancestry only. This is because the powers we believe in, the things we have experienced, and the values we treasure, are human powers, human experiences, and human values, before they ever were European.
The usage of the term traditional causes quite an amount of confusion on the part of some people, and quite a rebuke from others. It stands for a perspective on the Old Ways, and a perspective on modern day revivals of things such as the Cunning Arte, Pagan Sorcery or Witchcraft, which is not an outgrowth of the “new age” movement.
Traditional Paganism, and traditional forms of power manipulation or sorcery, or pre-Christian spiritual ecstasies, is “traditional” precisely because it is not born from the cradle of the New Age. It is not born from Theosophy, from selective aspects of liberal Christianity, from Ceremonial Magic, from Kabbalism, or the other “aspects” of the New Age mixture, including historical revisionist feminism, Eastern religion, Yoga, or any of the like. These paths, like Ceremonial Magic or Kabbalism, or Eastern religions, are all useful and powerful paths for those that utilize them with seriousness and with an eye for cultural context, but the watered down and haphazard mixtures that they normally appear in, in the “new age” movement, are actually quite insulting both to them, and to the other traditions they are oftentimes entangled with.
The Traditional Craft includes the Family Traditions of people who claim to have kept a pre-Christian tradition of some form of veneration or systematic manipulation of older powers and virtues, and it includes all the people out there who are alone, or just with a few close spiritual friends, living on the Land, and who see the Land as a sacred power that contains the memory of mankind. It includes people who keep a “ground-level” moral and ethical code, and who understand where the true Paganism of the past vanished off to. It vanished off into the souls of men and women, and into the Land. It re-emerged constantly through folk songs, folktales, Faery Tales, and Ballads - all of these things, as we shall see in this Gramarye, are the true wellsprings of the Hidden Tradition or the Secret Tradition of the Pagan Old Ways.
Traditional forms of Paganism worldviews are not flashy, not structured to the nth degree. They are as old as the ground under us, and they are as old as the souls within us. They have no appeal to those who are looking for flashy names, flashy ceremonial cloths, and false titles defined by those who are ego driven. They are not a fast road to having sex or orgies, nor are they a place that offers comfort to the rebellious ego, that only exists to please itself.
Traditional Craft is one of quiet immediacy and deep seriousness, and it offers no great and simple code for you to thrust in the faces of other people during debates. It offers no great assurances past the greatest assurance of all - “You are one with the Land, and all is as it is Fated to be.”
The magic of the Old Craft is the Cunning Arte of the Land and Fate, and the Power of Cunning Folk and Nature. Its metaphysics are not simple to grasp, nor do they come easily to those who have their understandings of “magic” tainted by the new-age. All the same, those who can master the Crooked Path’s many tests and trials can come to a destiny that humans can scarce dream about or comprehend- the unfolding of the human being into the fulfillment of Fate itself.
But this is not possible without the “ground level” work of coming into a true reciprocal and conscious relationship with the Land and the Old Powers that dwell within. This is the first work of the essential human, and when this work is accomplished, the other will be, as well. Traditional Paganism, in common with many traditional “folk” religions around the world, is a spiritual existence that deals with the Land itself as the most sacred manifestation of a timeless reality, which is full of many great powers, including those worshipped as Gods by our Ancestors, and the spirits of the dead, who forever fill Nature and make her the repository of all the Wisdom and power of our shared past.
Any path that deals with direct, simple experience of the Thresholds between the human consciousness and the immense, eldritch powers and spaces that exist within the body of the Land all around us, and any path that can approach these powers with a respect born out of spontaneous and genuine love, can claim to be “Traditional”, on some level. The human mind can experience many things, and the language of symbol is the key to unlocking this latent power in the mind. Traditional Paganism, like all Traditional spiritual paths, relies on symbols found in myths, folktales and folksongs, and in oral lore, which lead the mind into the right “place” to undergo a transformative and rather indescribable experience, which is the heart of True initiation.
In the British Isles, which is the cradle of my own Tradition, and all of my most crucial understandings, balladry and myth- coupled with the stories and talks I’ve gotten from local Traditional Pagans, include within them symbols that cause a person’s mind and soul and spirit to enter into a communion with the Land, and with all things seen and unseen. This is the Cunning Arte of the Cunning Folk, this is the meeting in which the human being enters into a wordless “depth” experience and becomes a familiar power to the Land and to the powers within it. They return the favor and come to the person, becoming Familiars or Fetches to them, and becoming the teachers and protectors of the human who has the mental strength and devotion to respond to them, without fear or hesitation.
Traditional Craft is like a dusty antique shop full of forgotten things, thousands of old shapes and hollow-eyed dolls, old cups and bowls, and clocks that stopped working a long time ago. But underneath them all is a great void full of noise, color, and mystery, just waiting to pour out and frighten and enlighten. It is a path for people who can understand and appreciate the ambiance of ruined cottages with just the chimney stones standing, and autumn woods after rain, or the power of the sky at night, in the middle of a field. There’s really no other way to express the essence of it. It’s a path for people who can see folklore and old stories as not “just stories”, but timeless realities all unto themselves, pieces of an eldritch puzzle that unlocks a door into what we are inside, unseen but potent.
There’s something going on. Something happening, hidden from most people, but right below the surface, for a person who can understand what I just said. For those who wish to gain a few hints and pointers to awakening this within themselves, I confidently point you to the huge body of folk-tales and myth that exists as a record of the beauty and spiritual power of our Pagan past. But also to your own heart, which forever speaks words you need to hear.
Second to those things, I offer you these words and writings, and wish you all the best of luck. I hope my words can help you, in some small way, to experience a path to wisdom and peace that is as lasting as the Land itself.
Let us live in wisdom, in day and in darkness.
Left Hand, Right Hand and Center of Balance
Cunning Folk and Witches must use caution against dabbling in powerful enchantments until they are of such attainment and understanding to undertake such workings themselves with Wisdom. I remind them that no working goes without cost, and the coin to be paid for hexing is dear. There are situations when we who are the Wise have to "do what we must and pay the coin". What this is about is a facet of the Mystery of Wholeness and understanding balance of Fate.
Sometimes that means doing harm, even great harm, as part of our role as wise protectors and wardens of Nature. Just as death is necessary for there to be life, just as there can be no light without darkness, so benevolence to one thing often involves some malice toward another. Never fear the repercussions of a Left-Hand working. Know and understand them. This makes for wise magic. Balance the need against the cost, and discern the right action. That is part of what we do.
Each and every one of us who Treads the Mill continuously interpret the goings-on of this world and use our awareness to understand the underlying Fate that influences them. To the truly adept cunning folk who have achieved the understanding of existing as a functional part of the workings of Fate and not just a casual outside observer, we see and strive to understand as much as possible. Everyone who used the Cunning Arte is (or should have been) taught the necessity for discernment and caution in how we use our power to influence Fate; because Fate is a fabric, not just individual threads.
We are not justified in seeking vengeance. But when we were justified, when justice is the issue, we are fully within our rights to seek it. Justice is not vengeance. Justice is justice, and the Old Craft never lacked a belief in Witches or Cunning Folk doing what they needed to do, to protect Nature and their loved ones. If that means using the “Dark Artes”, so be it. Self-defense is self-defense, and it is every entity's right, and justice is justice.
Some people think that people who hurt others are "sick and in need of help", but this isn't always true. Some people are just vicious bastards, and if they will not change, and if they endanger us and our families, they must be separated from us, by whatever means necessary. I personally support non-lethal ways of separating them from us, but when my family's life or Natures existence is on the line, and non-lethal ways aren't working, then I'll do what I have to do. Those who love their families will agree with me. I am prepared to take whatever consequences come from my actions, where my family and Nature is concerned - very prepared.
Protection is one thing, but sometimes you have to go further. Protection doesn't always work. Fate forces us into difficult situations at times, and in my own life. I always look at difficult situations as tests of character. What are we intended to learn? Life and Death are small matters in the face of what Fate is trying to teach us using them.
Justice is not vengeance. Those who see it as vengeance are in the grip of foolishness. Justice is justice, and we love it because it is justice. It is something that accords with a universal "rightness". And when I am wronged, I will seek justice, in whatever form is right. If you look into the studies of Traditional Shamanic Tribes, then you find it. They protected their families and their Tribe/Village. If another tried to attack them, they attacked back. Look at the Germanic Tribes and their Blood Oaths and Blood Friths. If I have to use magic to protect my family, or when one of them is wronged, then that is what I do.
Sometimes that means doing harm, even great harm, as part of our role as wise protectors and wardens of Nature. Just as death is necessary for there to be life, just as there can be no light without darkness, so benevolence to one thing often involves some malice toward another. Never fear the repercussions of a Left-Hand working. Know and understand them. This makes for wise magic. Balance the need against the cost, and discern the right action. That is part of what we do.
Each and every one of us who Treads the Mill continuously interpret the goings-on of this world and use our awareness to understand the underlying Fate that influences them. To the truly adept cunning folk who have achieved the understanding of existing as a functional part of the workings of Fate and not just a casual outside observer, we see and strive to understand as much as possible. Everyone who used the Cunning Arte is (or should have been) taught the necessity for discernment and caution in how we use our power to influence Fate; because Fate is a fabric, not just individual threads.
We are not justified in seeking vengeance. But when we were justified, when justice is the issue, we are fully within our rights to seek it. Justice is not vengeance. Justice is justice, and the Old Craft never lacked a belief in Witches or Cunning Folk doing what they needed to do, to protect Nature and their loved ones. If that means using the “Dark Artes”, so be it. Self-defense is self-defense, and it is every entity's right, and justice is justice.
Some people think that people who hurt others are "sick and in need of help", but this isn't always true. Some people are just vicious bastards, and if they will not change, and if they endanger us and our families, they must be separated from us, by whatever means necessary. I personally support non-lethal ways of separating them from us, but when my family's life or Natures existence is on the line, and non-lethal ways aren't working, then I'll do what I have to do. Those who love their families will agree with me. I am prepared to take whatever consequences come from my actions, where my family and Nature is concerned - very prepared.
Protection is one thing, but sometimes you have to go further. Protection doesn't always work. Fate forces us into difficult situations at times, and in my own life. I always look at difficult situations as tests of character. What are we intended to learn? Life and Death are small matters in the face of what Fate is trying to teach us using them.
Justice is not vengeance. Those who see it as vengeance are in the grip of foolishness. Justice is justice, and we love it because it is justice. It is something that accords with a universal "rightness". And when I am wronged, I will seek justice, in whatever form is right. If you look into the studies of Traditional Shamanic Tribes, then you find it. They protected their families and their Tribe/Village. If another tried to attack them, they attacked back. Look at the Germanic Tribes and their Blood Oaths and Blood Friths. If I have to use magic to protect my family, or when one of them is wronged, then that is what I do.
