Secrecy, Lineage and Witchblood
Witches and Cunning Folk
Secrecy and Ancestral Lineage
I have come across several Traditional Pagan websites and forums, where the idea of a Hereditary Witch or Hereditary Cunning Folk is met with much hostility. Sometimes it is met with simple arrogant denial or a fragile ego. This is usually on American websites. When I first discovered this (and this is only online, as the true Wise of Witchblood that I have met do not think this way) I was taken aback. It was such a natural thing to me, like the push and pull of the tide, that it required a shift in perspective to comprehend what was claimed. That is, I had to understand the Neo-Pagan movement of America and see things from the point of view of its members.
Sincere neo-Pagans attempt to reconstruct the Old Ways of their land (or even of a land they have never visited). Somewhere along the way, they gain the understanding that a certain way of being is passed through the blood. A small group then claims they are from a Family of Witches or Clan of Cunning Folk, or at least trained by a Family or Clan. I say claim, because in my opinion most are lying. I believe that this comes from insecurity – the feeling that neo-Pagans can only be an authentically spiritual person in touch with the Old Gods or with Nature Spirits, if one is a true Blood Witch.
The beliefs, traditions and practices of the ancient Pagans are amazingly beautiful. Both the human and animal sacrifices, and the Nature honoring, are beautiful both in their sensuality and strength of conviction. If these ways are lost or fragmented, the attempt to reconstruct them out of sincerity becomes a beautiful thing – there is no need to be trained by a Family or Clan. The connecting to the Old Gods or the Land is within you.
However, American Pagans should be aware that the reality of culture is not a tiny bubble called Britain or America. Millions of people around the world are living in the same fashion of their Ancestors of hundreds of years previously. Whether it is how the land is toiled, how the harvest is gathered, how the bread is baked, how meals are shared, how children are raised, or how houses are built. These ways are very old if not ancient. Many European cultures still sit around a hearth-fire or pool of water and tell the stories of the Ancestors and the Old Gods. Folklore and myth is not fairy tales in books, but communication of the Mysteries between Pagan generations. From the practical to the sacred, from the mundane to the superstitious, ways are passed down from elder to child. Unfortunately, much of this has not been passed on from Pagan Ancestors to contemporary American Pagans because of Christian oppression in America.
If you are a Traditional Witch or Traditional Cunning Folk, I challenge you to visit Europe and tell them that Witches are not born into families. I also challenge you to find a Blood Witch that is prepared to sell their knowledge in a book – that Witch would not be around for much longer. But it is more than the threat of retribution; it is against everything that we are.
Not all Witches in Families or Cunning Folk in Clans are of the blood, and yet, they are just as respected and honored. Yet if you are not of Witchblood, the Old Faith is not denied to you. The Old Gods will still hear you and Nature will still support you. What is required is not Witchblood - but sincerity and honor, surrender and respect.
When you have those things, you become secure enough to allow me, and other true Witches and Cunning Folk, part of your lives. Yes, I am of Witchblood, and there are thousands of Witches and Cunning Folk like me. We are not better than other Pagans, nor more spiritual. We are different. Different has always drawn hostility; we know that more than most. But it is not for me that I ask this, but for other Pagans. Arrogance is a wall between most contemporary Pagans and power. Deny who true Witches and Cunning Folk of Witchblood are, then half-wise Pagans add another stone in the path of their journey.
Sincere neo-Pagans attempt to reconstruct the Old Ways of their land (or even of a land they have never visited). Somewhere along the way, they gain the understanding that a certain way of being is passed through the blood. A small group then claims they are from a Family of Witches or Clan of Cunning Folk, or at least trained by a Family or Clan. I say claim, because in my opinion most are lying. I believe that this comes from insecurity – the feeling that neo-Pagans can only be an authentically spiritual person in touch with the Old Gods or with Nature Spirits, if one is a true Blood Witch.
The beliefs, traditions and practices of the ancient Pagans are amazingly beautiful. Both the human and animal sacrifices, and the Nature honoring, are beautiful both in their sensuality and strength of conviction. If these ways are lost or fragmented, the attempt to reconstruct them out of sincerity becomes a beautiful thing – there is no need to be trained by a Family or Clan. The connecting to the Old Gods or the Land is within you.
However, American Pagans should be aware that the reality of culture is not a tiny bubble called Britain or America. Millions of people around the world are living in the same fashion of their Ancestors of hundreds of years previously. Whether it is how the land is toiled, how the harvest is gathered, how the bread is baked, how meals are shared, how children are raised, or how houses are built. These ways are very old if not ancient. Many European cultures still sit around a hearth-fire or pool of water and tell the stories of the Ancestors and the Old Gods. Folklore and myth is not fairy tales in books, but communication of the Mysteries between Pagan generations. From the practical to the sacred, from the mundane to the superstitious, ways are passed down from elder to child. Unfortunately, much of this has not been passed on from Pagan Ancestors to contemporary American Pagans because of Christian oppression in America.
If you are a Traditional Witch or Traditional Cunning Folk, I challenge you to visit Europe and tell them that Witches are not born into families. I also challenge you to find a Blood Witch that is prepared to sell their knowledge in a book – that Witch would not be around for much longer. But it is more than the threat of retribution; it is against everything that we are.
Not all Witches in Families or Cunning Folk in Clans are of the blood, and yet, they are just as respected and honored. Yet if you are not of Witchblood, the Old Faith is not denied to you. The Old Gods will still hear you and Nature will still support you. What is required is not Witchblood - but sincerity and honor, surrender and respect.
When you have those things, you become secure enough to allow me, and other true Witches and Cunning Folk, part of your lives. Yes, I am of Witchblood, and there are thousands of Witches and Cunning Folk like me. We are not better than other Pagans, nor more spiritual. We are different. Different has always drawn hostility; we know that more than most. But it is not for me that I ask this, but for other Pagans. Arrogance is a wall between most contemporary Pagans and power. Deny who true Witches and Cunning Folk of Witchblood are, then half-wise Pagans add another stone in the path of their journey.
Witchblood
Some Traditional Crafters talk of the Cunning Fire within, Witch-Blood and mythical descendants of the Watchers or faerie folk who fell to Earth and mated with mortals, producing a “race of witches and sorcerers”. This seems to be more common with Luciferian based traditions, than with the more native Pagan-Heathen traditions of Europe. Some contemporary Pagans-Heathens say that its purely a choice, that Witches and Cunning Folk are “not born”.
Obviously Traditional Craft is a learned Cunning Arte and the Nameless Arte is experiential and phenomenological. I'm not referring to those people who claim know everything they do through remembering and dreams, and therefore do not need to study or practice much. I'm referring to the concept of feeling the Old Persuasion, the inner calling and the sense that your drawn to something different (and feel different) from a young age, possibly with various natural skills and powers that need Awakening and shaping through ordeal. I believe that sorcerous Cunning Folk and Witches are born, that something in Fated Pagan-Heathen Wise Folk is awakened at an early age, a yearning, an attraction to that mysterious something that is not part of the norm.
I do believe in the concept of the Cunning Fire that is in Witches and Cunning Folk, which tends to burn brighter with development; but I also believe that Cunning Folk and Witches are also made. Fate, the Ancient Gods, and hard work go together, and are so dependent on each other that Fate can follow a different course if a person doesn't have the courage, the discipline, and the belief to move and work towards realizing that Fate. I strongly believe that a person who wants to get somewhere should work toward it. No pain, no gain. Talk does not stir the cauldron. Those who possess the Fires of Witchery stirring in the depths of their being, and the determination to work and practice their abilities, are those who become powerful beyond others.
If a person is born a powerful Witch or Cunning Man/Woman, with ancestral memory of magical lore and wisdom, but doesn't practice and study further would make a fair Witch or Cunner, and vice versa. Although, I think those who study and make themselves fit the mold are farther ahead of those who think they don't need to work for it. But those who are born to be Witches or Cunning Folk, and study hard in order to become the Witch or Cunning Man/Woman they were Fated to become, are the most powerful ones. To me, Celtic Cunning Folk and Witches of Heathenry are magickal practitioners who are not afraid to adhere to the darker aspects of a particular Pagan-Heathen culture. It is also suggested that Northern Heathen Witches were feared and hated, even in Heathen times, long before the Witch craze from Christendom.
I also think someone who simply practices a combination of spells, charms, philters, etc without this dark mysticism, spirituality, or religion are not True Heathen Witches and Celtic Cunning Folk. I also think Cunning Folk and Witches are unique to European and British tribal cultures. I believe that practitioners of cultural sorcery worldwide have their own functions and terms used to describe their practices, no matter how similar they are in comparison. People who practice Voodoo are not Witches or Cunning Folk. Ialso don't believe that neo-Pagan Wiccans are Cunning Folk or Witches either, since they follow modern and eclectic Paganism that is personal and not traditionally based off European indigenous tribes. Although contemporary neo-Pagans think they are linked, there’s a difference between being a Pagan-Heathen, being Cunning Folk, and Witches.
Witches, a bit more so than Cunning Folk, are adherents to Dark Gods, darker spirits, and Dark Artes, and the darker aspect of nature of native European Paganism-Heathenism. This is not my opinion, but accepted as truth by most Traditional Crafters. I cannot accept the concept of any practitioner of magic or sorcery as Witches and Cunning Folk. As far I'm concerned this is a very new-agey and “politically correct”, that “everyone is equal” concept. Many other practitioners of the occult would be highly offended to be referred to as a Witch and do not understand who the Cunning Folk of the Celts actually were, and are now. Since we refer to ourselves as Traditional Witches and Traditional Cunning Folk, then shouldn't we adopt traditional points of view instead of new-age or false anthropological ones?
For me, it's someone who is not only in touch with their darker self and Nature, but can use it as not only a tool and a weapon if need be. It was darkness that precedes the light, as believed by the Celts. Many Celtic Gods, like the Gods of the Cymry Celts, aren't well known about- not without years of research, waiting, and learning. They're hidden in Mysteries.
Although Witches and Cunning Folk are purely European, there are magickal practitioners in other geographic area that are both feared and sought after in times of need, but they are not Witches or Cunning Folk. They're practices aren't talked about, as it's thought it would bring the wrath of the Gods and spirits if they spoke of it. Being a Witch or a Cunning Man/Woman is keeping the secrets, not posting them all over the internet or in books for anyone to read. One has to be guided to a mentor or the information at least, and that's fundamental to the practice. Much like hunting itself, finding herbs in the wilderness, finding the secrets is also a key, but only if it is Fated to be so- not just by one’s will or desire. If it's spoon-fed, what have you learned? The lessons remembered are the ones hardest learned
No one can have all the abilities, the powers, the inclinations, the visions, etc. one wants- it doesn't make one a Witch or a Cunning Woman/Man. One becomes a Witch or a Cunning Man/Woman as a specific state of being and state of existence. One can be born intuitive as a psychic, but never be a Witch or Cunning Man/Woman. I agree that the Old Craft is something that must be learned, but the spirit of the Witch or Cunning Man/Woman is something one is born with and specific.
I believe that there is something to the being “born and “re-born” with some signs that you will be “called” toward this kind of lore and wisdom. Unfortunately, I think that untrained exposure to these types of things can be dangerous. That is one issue with some of the neo-Pagan Wiccan teachings. The idea that Craft lore should be universally available without considering that it isn't universally accessible, due to the lack of any inherent ability to work with this wisdom, and that not everyone is truly equal and have the same Fated experiences or potential. So you get those with ability that do things without fully understanding and still unprepared, leading to damaged psyches and disruptive ancestral lineages in the magical altitude, or there are those with no ability doing things that are purported to be obtainable magic- enforcing the idea that all magical systems are illusion and fraudulent, failing to understand that they do not possess magickal power.
The Ancient Gods and Ancestral Dead of Europe have opinions and beliefs that are the foundations of specific ethnic-cultural tribal traditions. These concepts have been developed over generations, serve a purpose, and exist for a reason. As far as the Ancient Gods are concerned, it is important to understand that some of them as deities once lived, breath, and walked the land. If you have a relationship with any of the Gods, Goddesses or deities, it is a personal and private relationship; and the question of whether or not they are a figment of your imagination or some self devised manifestation does not exist. Perhaps the questions you should be asking are more along the lines of who and what are the Gods and deities? If one can answer those questions then it might bring a bit more clarity to one’s experiential situations.
There are a lot of people who will tell you, and argue the point, that the only valid Cunning Folk or Witches are those who have been initiated by another. I personally am an initiated Cunning man, and I believe the only valid Witch or Cunning Man/Woman is someone who has been initiated through Ancestral Lineage, not by an Initiatory Lineage as in Wicca. Although one can learn Pagan-Heathen esoteric arts on their own, that is not the same as ancestral lore, ancestral wisdom and ancestral power that is “passed on”. It is also forgotten by many people that some individuals bring skills and abilities with them from past lives. This is the reason for the so-called “natural abilities” which are displayed by individuals is actually power that they had from prior incarnations, which they now have from physical birth in their current incarnation.
The main purpose of being trained by someone who is greatly skilled in the True Old Ways is because it is always better and easier to learn from an individual greatly skilled in any particular subject, in combination with study and practice. A book alone will not be able to explain minute details, or physically demonstrate something to you, or lead you step-by-step through something experiential, or explain to you in great detail where you may have gone wrong. Many of the “canned Witchcraft books” on the market are composites of other material, are vague in their content, are a hodge-podge of materials, are infused with the authors personal beliefs and/or practices, or are simply put together in order to take advantage of the Witchcraft movement and make money. Hopefully all of this is weeded out by a practicing Cunning Woman/Man or Witch, although sadly this may not happen.
Everyone has the potential to actualize the spirit, but actualizing Witchblood is not in everyone's potential. If we're discussing a general spiritual awakening, then that's different. The fact that any human has this potential, and can actualize it, doesn't mean that every human will at this moment or even in this life. But the fact still remains that Witchblood is unique, and there is no formula which gives predictable results when it comes to awakening of the Spirit of Witches and Cunning Folk. There are three different versions to this, and we must be careful to differentiate.
A. Born into a Witchblood biological family or clan
B. Spiritually born into a Witch Family or Cunning Folk Clan
C. Born a Witch or Cunning Man/Woman
They are experientially unique. The first is any human happening to be born into a Family or Clan that happens to have Witches or Cunning Folk in it. There are no Biological Witches; there is no physical "Witch Gene". Traditional Craft is not based on genetics. The second is choosing a Family or Clan Tradition, and going through a process of awakening within yourself as well as integration into an established Tradition. The last is the Cunning Man/Woman or Witch that is a Cunning Man/Woman or Witch by spirit and by birth, has no choice in being what Cunning Folk or Witches are, but doesn't necessarily recognize it in herself or himself. The above mentioned conditions can combine, but are different. Nowhere did I mention anything regarding merit. Being born into a Witch Family or Clan of Cunning Folk doesn't make you a Cunning Man/Woman or a Witch. Having Cunning Folk or Witches in your past of your Clan or Family hardly qualifies as a Cunning Man/Woman or Witch.
I don't think anyone can use a “lesser” form of spiritual transformation to make oneself part of a Tradition. Spirit is not something you can use bits and pieces of- there is the True Spiritual Awakening, and that's it. Spirit is timeless, beyond our mortal reason. We can't play with it, apply it to our initiations in smaller or greater amounts if we like or choose. You can “spiritually orient” yourself towards a Family or Clan Tradition and its rituals and beliefs, choosing to consciously walk that path, and you can choose to describe that as a "spiritual transformation" if you like, but that transformation is of mind and spirit- not soul or holistic existence.
Now, to what you maybe thinking, for the sake of clarity, we must differentiate those that claim superiority and those that are simply honest about their ancestry. One who has Witchblood retains identity, even across the barriers of death. Being a person that belongs not purely in one world anymore, nor purely in the other, many Witches and Cunning Folk are Hedge Riders and "hedge crosser"- two feet straddling the river that separates the living from the dead. Many Witches and Cunning Folk are suspended in dusk, in twilight, in shadow, yet still in this world, still a human being in every way except having magical power, a high level of perception and wisdom- the qualities that define Witches and Cunning Folk, and which define their existence. But the Cunning Man/Woman and Witch is else as well. They are not simply mystics, psychics, shamans, or Pagans. Being A Cunning Man/Woman or a Witch is a very particular state of being and state of existence.
For example, any human can play the piano. Not every human will be an artist about it, truly virtuoso. But this doesn't interrupt the fact that musical ability is there for everyone, no matter how non-musical they seem. Musical talent is like raw ore that has to be worked into precious treasure- music, like art, is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Someone who bangs on the piano is not playing it; but when you can make a song, read music, and be coherent, you are a pianist- even if others are better than you. A common perspective is that while anyone can play the piano, the essence, or spiritual quality that is “Musician” is not available to everyone. This is why we use words such as talent or gift. Because the ability is not simply perspiration and inspiration, it is provided for that individual from a realm that is mystical. In this world, what most people miss is the source of the “gift”. This drive, or, more accurately, hunger, can only be satiated with the actualization of living an authentic life. The pianist says, “I play because I can”. The Musician says, “I play because I must”. There is little or no difference between the practice of Traditional Craft and "being a witch" or “being a Cunning Woman/Man”- they are because they must.
If it is not biological, then how is it a Bloodline? The Red Thread doesn't just refer to blood; it also refers to a Strand of Fate that causes people who are of that strand to develop wisdom, second sight, and magical ability- it is as much a Strand of Ancestral Lineage as it is genetic relationship or other circumstance. There is far more to it than any genetics. It is a strand that manifests in a thousand ways, as ancestral lore, impulse, magical ability, attraction to traditional Pagan-Heathen cultural themes, discoveries, and the list goes on. It is the undying chain of reaction that came from a divine and ancestral source, and continues to mediate that source into the range of human awareness, through people and even events.
Although a person may be Fated for Witchcraft or the Old Craft, a person may walk around with potential and powers that they don't know about, or abilities that work, that they don't understand because they don’t remember. The powers and abilities of Witches and Cunning Folk is a matter of conscious awareness and acceptance. Witchcraft or the Old Craft is something you step up to, and consciously do. The “Devil” in the old days didn't initiate people against their will; you had to step up, take the mark, and accept him through Oath- all these things were essential.
Witchcraft, in its truest form, as a mystical path of the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribal peoples, complete with worldviews and symbols drawn from their culture, to act as glyphs of awakening in that manner. Brujos and Stregas and the Greek Goes... are mystics, but not Witches. Just being a mystic doesn't make you a Witch. Witch is a specific cultural term for something specific in the Northern Heathen group-soul and history. It's a terrible thing that modern English speaking anthropologists decided to use the term "Witch" to refer to all cultural users of harmful magic- they did both the Anglo-Saxons and all these other cultures a terrible dis-service. What is stated above also applies to the Old Craft and Cunning Folk of specific Brythonic Celtic Tribes (Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish, and Devon), although there are many similarities in the Old Craft to Northern Heathen Witches and Witchcraft, Brythonic Celtic Cunning Folk are not Witches.
Despite what some people have said, Witchcraft or the Old Craft are not a nature centered religions. Witchdom is another path within Paganism. Witchcraft or the Old Craft is a mystical craft and arte which has countless manifestations, all of which (if they are authentic) view the Land as a manifestation of a great power, and it looks to the Land as a portal to greater powers and wisdom. This perspective practically requires a deep respect for the Land itself, but the Old Craft or Traditional Craft is not a "tree-hugging religion" or anything simple such as that. Witchcraft or the Old Craft is indebted to the animistic and ancestral worldviews of the past, and can rightly be seen as a descendant of them. But what the Craft is, in the modern day, is not so easy to pin down. Cunning Folk and Witches need not be eco-terrorists nor environmentalists. Cunning Folk and Witches simply need to respect all the spirits that be, and the many forms of the "body of nature" are the means by which spirits manifest to us. Witchcraft or the Old Craft is clearly a very human-centered phenomenon, but you cannot "find" human beings anywhere except on the Land, in their existence as inseparable parts of nature itself.
Obviously Traditional Craft is a learned Cunning Arte and the Nameless Arte is experiential and phenomenological. I'm not referring to those people who claim know everything they do through remembering and dreams, and therefore do not need to study or practice much. I'm referring to the concept of feeling the Old Persuasion, the inner calling and the sense that your drawn to something different (and feel different) from a young age, possibly with various natural skills and powers that need Awakening and shaping through ordeal. I believe that sorcerous Cunning Folk and Witches are born, that something in Fated Pagan-Heathen Wise Folk is awakened at an early age, a yearning, an attraction to that mysterious something that is not part of the norm.
I do believe in the concept of the Cunning Fire that is in Witches and Cunning Folk, which tends to burn brighter with development; but I also believe that Cunning Folk and Witches are also made. Fate, the Ancient Gods, and hard work go together, and are so dependent on each other that Fate can follow a different course if a person doesn't have the courage, the discipline, and the belief to move and work towards realizing that Fate. I strongly believe that a person who wants to get somewhere should work toward it. No pain, no gain. Talk does not stir the cauldron. Those who possess the Fires of Witchery stirring in the depths of their being, and the determination to work and practice their abilities, are those who become powerful beyond others.
If a person is born a powerful Witch or Cunning Man/Woman, with ancestral memory of magical lore and wisdom, but doesn't practice and study further would make a fair Witch or Cunner, and vice versa. Although, I think those who study and make themselves fit the mold are farther ahead of those who think they don't need to work for it. But those who are born to be Witches or Cunning Folk, and study hard in order to become the Witch or Cunning Man/Woman they were Fated to become, are the most powerful ones. To me, Celtic Cunning Folk and Witches of Heathenry are magickal practitioners who are not afraid to adhere to the darker aspects of a particular Pagan-Heathen culture. It is also suggested that Northern Heathen Witches were feared and hated, even in Heathen times, long before the Witch craze from Christendom.
I also think someone who simply practices a combination of spells, charms, philters, etc without this dark mysticism, spirituality, or religion are not True Heathen Witches and Celtic Cunning Folk. I also think Cunning Folk and Witches are unique to European and British tribal cultures. I believe that practitioners of cultural sorcery worldwide have their own functions and terms used to describe their practices, no matter how similar they are in comparison. People who practice Voodoo are not Witches or Cunning Folk. Ialso don't believe that neo-Pagan Wiccans are Cunning Folk or Witches either, since they follow modern and eclectic Paganism that is personal and not traditionally based off European indigenous tribes. Although contemporary neo-Pagans think they are linked, there’s a difference between being a Pagan-Heathen, being Cunning Folk, and Witches.
Witches, a bit more so than Cunning Folk, are adherents to Dark Gods, darker spirits, and Dark Artes, and the darker aspect of nature of native European Paganism-Heathenism. This is not my opinion, but accepted as truth by most Traditional Crafters. I cannot accept the concept of any practitioner of magic or sorcery as Witches and Cunning Folk. As far I'm concerned this is a very new-agey and “politically correct”, that “everyone is equal” concept. Many other practitioners of the occult would be highly offended to be referred to as a Witch and do not understand who the Cunning Folk of the Celts actually were, and are now. Since we refer to ourselves as Traditional Witches and Traditional Cunning Folk, then shouldn't we adopt traditional points of view instead of new-age or false anthropological ones?
For me, it's someone who is not only in touch with their darker self and Nature, but can use it as not only a tool and a weapon if need be. It was darkness that precedes the light, as believed by the Celts. Many Celtic Gods, like the Gods of the Cymry Celts, aren't well known about- not without years of research, waiting, and learning. They're hidden in Mysteries.
Although Witches and Cunning Folk are purely European, there are magickal practitioners in other geographic area that are both feared and sought after in times of need, but they are not Witches or Cunning Folk. They're practices aren't talked about, as it's thought it would bring the wrath of the Gods and spirits if they spoke of it. Being a Witch or a Cunning Man/Woman is keeping the secrets, not posting them all over the internet or in books for anyone to read. One has to be guided to a mentor or the information at least, and that's fundamental to the practice. Much like hunting itself, finding herbs in the wilderness, finding the secrets is also a key, but only if it is Fated to be so- not just by one’s will or desire. If it's spoon-fed, what have you learned? The lessons remembered are the ones hardest learned
No one can have all the abilities, the powers, the inclinations, the visions, etc. one wants- it doesn't make one a Witch or a Cunning Woman/Man. One becomes a Witch or a Cunning Man/Woman as a specific state of being and state of existence. One can be born intuitive as a psychic, but never be a Witch or Cunning Man/Woman. I agree that the Old Craft is something that must be learned, but the spirit of the Witch or Cunning Man/Woman is something one is born with and specific.
I believe that there is something to the being “born and “re-born” with some signs that you will be “called” toward this kind of lore and wisdom. Unfortunately, I think that untrained exposure to these types of things can be dangerous. That is one issue with some of the neo-Pagan Wiccan teachings. The idea that Craft lore should be universally available without considering that it isn't universally accessible, due to the lack of any inherent ability to work with this wisdom, and that not everyone is truly equal and have the same Fated experiences or potential. So you get those with ability that do things without fully understanding and still unprepared, leading to damaged psyches and disruptive ancestral lineages in the magical altitude, or there are those with no ability doing things that are purported to be obtainable magic- enforcing the idea that all magical systems are illusion and fraudulent, failing to understand that they do not possess magickal power.
The Ancient Gods and Ancestral Dead of Europe have opinions and beliefs that are the foundations of specific ethnic-cultural tribal traditions. These concepts have been developed over generations, serve a purpose, and exist for a reason. As far as the Ancient Gods are concerned, it is important to understand that some of them as deities once lived, breath, and walked the land. If you have a relationship with any of the Gods, Goddesses or deities, it is a personal and private relationship; and the question of whether or not they are a figment of your imagination or some self devised manifestation does not exist. Perhaps the questions you should be asking are more along the lines of who and what are the Gods and deities? If one can answer those questions then it might bring a bit more clarity to one’s experiential situations.
There are a lot of people who will tell you, and argue the point, that the only valid Cunning Folk or Witches are those who have been initiated by another. I personally am an initiated Cunning man, and I believe the only valid Witch or Cunning Man/Woman is someone who has been initiated through Ancestral Lineage, not by an Initiatory Lineage as in Wicca. Although one can learn Pagan-Heathen esoteric arts on their own, that is not the same as ancestral lore, ancestral wisdom and ancestral power that is “passed on”. It is also forgotten by many people that some individuals bring skills and abilities with them from past lives. This is the reason for the so-called “natural abilities” which are displayed by individuals is actually power that they had from prior incarnations, which they now have from physical birth in their current incarnation.
The main purpose of being trained by someone who is greatly skilled in the True Old Ways is because it is always better and easier to learn from an individual greatly skilled in any particular subject, in combination with study and practice. A book alone will not be able to explain minute details, or physically demonstrate something to you, or lead you step-by-step through something experiential, or explain to you in great detail where you may have gone wrong. Many of the “canned Witchcraft books” on the market are composites of other material, are vague in their content, are a hodge-podge of materials, are infused with the authors personal beliefs and/or practices, or are simply put together in order to take advantage of the Witchcraft movement and make money. Hopefully all of this is weeded out by a practicing Cunning Woman/Man or Witch, although sadly this may not happen.
Everyone has the potential to actualize the spirit, but actualizing Witchblood is not in everyone's potential. If we're discussing a general spiritual awakening, then that's different. The fact that any human has this potential, and can actualize it, doesn't mean that every human will at this moment or even in this life. But the fact still remains that Witchblood is unique, and there is no formula which gives predictable results when it comes to awakening of the Spirit of Witches and Cunning Folk. There are three different versions to this, and we must be careful to differentiate.
A. Born into a Witchblood biological family or clan
B. Spiritually born into a Witch Family or Cunning Folk Clan
C. Born a Witch or Cunning Man/Woman
They are experientially unique. The first is any human happening to be born into a Family or Clan that happens to have Witches or Cunning Folk in it. There are no Biological Witches; there is no physical "Witch Gene". Traditional Craft is not based on genetics. The second is choosing a Family or Clan Tradition, and going through a process of awakening within yourself as well as integration into an established Tradition. The last is the Cunning Man/Woman or Witch that is a Cunning Man/Woman or Witch by spirit and by birth, has no choice in being what Cunning Folk or Witches are, but doesn't necessarily recognize it in herself or himself. The above mentioned conditions can combine, but are different. Nowhere did I mention anything regarding merit. Being born into a Witch Family or Clan of Cunning Folk doesn't make you a Cunning Man/Woman or a Witch. Having Cunning Folk or Witches in your past of your Clan or Family hardly qualifies as a Cunning Man/Woman or Witch.
I don't think anyone can use a “lesser” form of spiritual transformation to make oneself part of a Tradition. Spirit is not something you can use bits and pieces of- there is the True Spiritual Awakening, and that's it. Spirit is timeless, beyond our mortal reason. We can't play with it, apply it to our initiations in smaller or greater amounts if we like or choose. You can “spiritually orient” yourself towards a Family or Clan Tradition and its rituals and beliefs, choosing to consciously walk that path, and you can choose to describe that as a "spiritual transformation" if you like, but that transformation is of mind and spirit- not soul or holistic existence.
Now, to what you maybe thinking, for the sake of clarity, we must differentiate those that claim superiority and those that are simply honest about their ancestry. One who has Witchblood retains identity, even across the barriers of death. Being a person that belongs not purely in one world anymore, nor purely in the other, many Witches and Cunning Folk are Hedge Riders and "hedge crosser"- two feet straddling the river that separates the living from the dead. Many Witches and Cunning Folk are suspended in dusk, in twilight, in shadow, yet still in this world, still a human being in every way except having magical power, a high level of perception and wisdom- the qualities that define Witches and Cunning Folk, and which define their existence. But the Cunning Man/Woman and Witch is else as well. They are not simply mystics, psychics, shamans, or Pagans. Being A Cunning Man/Woman or a Witch is a very particular state of being and state of existence.
For example, any human can play the piano. Not every human will be an artist about it, truly virtuoso. But this doesn't interrupt the fact that musical ability is there for everyone, no matter how non-musical they seem. Musical talent is like raw ore that has to be worked into precious treasure- music, like art, is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Someone who bangs on the piano is not playing it; but when you can make a song, read music, and be coherent, you are a pianist- even if others are better than you. A common perspective is that while anyone can play the piano, the essence, or spiritual quality that is “Musician” is not available to everyone. This is why we use words such as talent or gift. Because the ability is not simply perspiration and inspiration, it is provided for that individual from a realm that is mystical. In this world, what most people miss is the source of the “gift”. This drive, or, more accurately, hunger, can only be satiated with the actualization of living an authentic life. The pianist says, “I play because I can”. The Musician says, “I play because I must”. There is little or no difference between the practice of Traditional Craft and "being a witch" or “being a Cunning Woman/Man”- they are because they must.
If it is not biological, then how is it a Bloodline? The Red Thread doesn't just refer to blood; it also refers to a Strand of Fate that causes people who are of that strand to develop wisdom, second sight, and magical ability- it is as much a Strand of Ancestral Lineage as it is genetic relationship or other circumstance. There is far more to it than any genetics. It is a strand that manifests in a thousand ways, as ancestral lore, impulse, magical ability, attraction to traditional Pagan-Heathen cultural themes, discoveries, and the list goes on. It is the undying chain of reaction that came from a divine and ancestral source, and continues to mediate that source into the range of human awareness, through people and even events.
Although a person may be Fated for Witchcraft or the Old Craft, a person may walk around with potential and powers that they don't know about, or abilities that work, that they don't understand because they don’t remember. The powers and abilities of Witches and Cunning Folk is a matter of conscious awareness and acceptance. Witchcraft or the Old Craft is something you step up to, and consciously do. The “Devil” in the old days didn't initiate people against their will; you had to step up, take the mark, and accept him through Oath- all these things were essential.
Witchcraft, in its truest form, as a mystical path of the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribal peoples, complete with worldviews and symbols drawn from their culture, to act as glyphs of awakening in that manner. Brujos and Stregas and the Greek Goes... are mystics, but not Witches. Just being a mystic doesn't make you a Witch. Witch is a specific cultural term for something specific in the Northern Heathen group-soul and history. It's a terrible thing that modern English speaking anthropologists decided to use the term "Witch" to refer to all cultural users of harmful magic- they did both the Anglo-Saxons and all these other cultures a terrible dis-service. What is stated above also applies to the Old Craft and Cunning Folk of specific Brythonic Celtic Tribes (Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish, and Devon), although there are many similarities in the Old Craft to Northern Heathen Witches and Witchcraft, Brythonic Celtic Cunning Folk are not Witches.
Despite what some people have said, Witchcraft or the Old Craft are not a nature centered religions. Witchdom is another path within Paganism. Witchcraft or the Old Craft is a mystical craft and arte which has countless manifestations, all of which (if they are authentic) view the Land as a manifestation of a great power, and it looks to the Land as a portal to greater powers and wisdom. This perspective practically requires a deep respect for the Land itself, but the Old Craft or Traditional Craft is not a "tree-hugging religion" or anything simple such as that. Witchcraft or the Old Craft is indebted to the animistic and ancestral worldviews of the past, and can rightly be seen as a descendant of them. But what the Craft is, in the modern day, is not so easy to pin down. Cunning Folk and Witches need not be eco-terrorists nor environmentalists. Cunning Folk and Witches simply need to respect all the spirits that be, and the many forms of the "body of nature" are the means by which spirits manifest to us. Witchcraft or the Old Craft is clearly a very human-centered phenomenon, but you cannot "find" human beings anywhere except on the Land, in their existence as inseparable parts of nature itself.
"You cannot solely choose to be Witch; you are either born of the Blood, or you are not."
If you are not of Witchblood, you will learn much, but you will never have the full “Knowing”, “Wisdom”, or become Awakened. If you are of the Bloodline, then knowledge and understanding will trigger your old memories and reconnect the Ancestral Stream. Witchblood is not just passed through a biological line, just as the talent for art or music is not passed this way. You are either born a genius of music, with music being your breath, or you simply play an instrument.
How do you know if you are of the Bloodline? You will feel the hunger within you, and when a Mentor begins your studies with you, you will hear the call and hear the Ancestral Memories within yourself. Many Pagans say that they feel a calling to Nature or even to magic, but are unsure if they are Witch. Not every Pagan needs to be Witch. There is a plethora of people wanting the Witch knowledge of the Ways of the Witch, when they may be fulfilled in other Pagan Traditions. The Crooked Path of Witchdom cannot be chosen to those who are not Witch, therefore, other Pagans should not waste their efforts trying to be who they are not.
Although linked, Witchblood is not entirely the same as the Bloodline (the Red Thread). Spoken greatly by many Traditional Witches, the Bloodline is not easily understood. The wisdom that the Red Thread is the Bloodline is not incorrect, but it is not complete. Within Traditional Witch Families, Households or Clans, the Bloodline is the understanding they came from their ancestral source, and have an origin of the Witch Mother - the Old Veiled One.
What was once Truth, has had the perceptions of others who are not Witch put upon them, rather than what is. In this way the Ways of the Witch have been changed, interfered with, and bastardized - until now. Traditional Witches and Cunning Folk have a situation where, although many seek the Truth and Awakening of being Witch, it is not easily accessible. The Red Thread Witch became hidden from the unworthy a long time ago.
Each person who has the Bloodline of Ancestral Heredity and born with Witchblood has within them the capability of an Awakening to Witchdom, a small seed which lies asleep. It is when the seed begins to grow and make itself known, does the individual begin to search for a way to satisfy the yearning to attain Wisdom and Awakening. Therefore, the Awakening to Witchdom is also of choice, one’s Will, and not solely Fate. Unfortunately, searching through what is available today brings much confusion, many Pagan Traditions, and many ways. But, those who are meant to find the way to Witchdom will always come home in the end. The Witch Mother, Witch Father, other Ancient Gods, and the Ancestors sees to that.
If you ask a Traditional Witch for proof of Witchblood and the Bloodline, this is something a Traditional Witch cannot easily give to you. The Bloodline is proven, but not by written word, because being Witch is active and is not passive. Being Witch is a state of being. Academia is of limited use to the Witch, it is practical workings that will bring about the proof others desire, that are made full use of within a Tradition of the Old Craft. If the seeker was in a Household or Clan of Traditional Witches, the seeker would have all the proof he or she needs. Traditional Witches have no need to lay proof before anyone, their Bloodline is legitimate, and is proof in itself, for those who are within the Household or Clan experience the required validity.
There are those who believe that to pass someone knowledge will bring about what is desired - this is not true. For without understanding that leads to Wisdom, knowledge is useless. Understanding comes about from the self, from experiencing the Old Craft. Knowing is not enough, it is but the key that opens the portal to Truth and Wisdom.
The Red Thread is but one thread of four. The other three are hidden, but it is only when all four come together to weave the web tight and true, does Wisdom come to be. The Red Thread comes directly from the Witch Mother, for she binds the Witch to her, and to each other with the Old Thread. While we are still a part of humanity, we are also a race apart, for our understandings and way of being makes this inevitable that we never sit comfortably with others who are not of us.
The greatest confusion is that of those who claim to be hereditary, passed by physical blood, is of little relevance. There are those whose granny was a Witch and passed the understandings to her grandchildren or children. Such peoples can be Awakened by this method. To say that it is impossible to pass the Bloodline by birth would be incorrect, there is a genetic marker that can be of use which is inherent in around 50% of people of British decent. Those who claim to be Traditional Witches have just as much claim to Witchdom as anyone else, all depends on if their Wisdom have truly awoken the Witch within, or if they are under a self-created illusion of what they think they are.
Within Traditional Witch Households and Clans there are those who have walked Middle Earth before many times, and have those who walk for the first time, and are, and have been Awakened. Their Bloodline is their Red Thread, and yes, from a long way back - from the source. Their Bloodline has been intact for a long time, waiting in silence and in darkness, until such times as the time is deemed to be correct to allow those who seek to once more hold the Truth, Wisdom, and Power of what is to be had. There is a rising tide towards the need of mankind to search for the Witch within, for many are beginning to Awaken. This is why Traditional Witchcraft Households and Clans are now becoming less secretive and hold an open doorway for those who seek the source, and have what is necessary to be deemed worthy. It matters little to them that people will mock, question their legitimacy, question their ways, because those who are Fated will find their way. Traditional Witches refuse to change what is to “fit in” to society. This is how they keep their Bloodline potency.
Traditional Witches practice the Old Ways with honesty, truth, and honor being of great virtue who earns respect. The seeker who comes to a Traditional Witch Household or Clan are treated with respect, until such times as they abuse it, at which time they will reap the consequences of their actions. Many seek the Ways of the Red Thread Witch. Through writings alone you will not find them, for their Ways of the Witch are never written entirely down. They may tutor those who seek the Old Craft and the Ways of the Red Thread Witch, but what lies within the inner Wisdom of the Household or Clan is protected by silence, only passed by word of mouth and by experience.
How do you know if you are of the Bloodline? You will feel the hunger within you, and when a Mentor begins your studies with you, you will hear the call and hear the Ancestral Memories within yourself. Many Pagans say that they feel a calling to Nature or even to magic, but are unsure if they are Witch. Not every Pagan needs to be Witch. There is a plethora of people wanting the Witch knowledge of the Ways of the Witch, when they may be fulfilled in other Pagan Traditions. The Crooked Path of Witchdom cannot be chosen to those who are not Witch, therefore, other Pagans should not waste their efforts trying to be who they are not.
Although linked, Witchblood is not entirely the same as the Bloodline (the Red Thread). Spoken greatly by many Traditional Witches, the Bloodline is not easily understood. The wisdom that the Red Thread is the Bloodline is not incorrect, but it is not complete. Within Traditional Witch Families, Households or Clans, the Bloodline is the understanding they came from their ancestral source, and have an origin of the Witch Mother - the Old Veiled One.
What was once Truth, has had the perceptions of others who are not Witch put upon them, rather than what is. In this way the Ways of the Witch have been changed, interfered with, and bastardized - until now. Traditional Witches and Cunning Folk have a situation where, although many seek the Truth and Awakening of being Witch, it is not easily accessible. The Red Thread Witch became hidden from the unworthy a long time ago.
Each person who has the Bloodline of Ancestral Heredity and born with Witchblood has within them the capability of an Awakening to Witchdom, a small seed which lies asleep. It is when the seed begins to grow and make itself known, does the individual begin to search for a way to satisfy the yearning to attain Wisdom and Awakening. Therefore, the Awakening to Witchdom is also of choice, one’s Will, and not solely Fate. Unfortunately, searching through what is available today brings much confusion, many Pagan Traditions, and many ways. But, those who are meant to find the way to Witchdom will always come home in the end. The Witch Mother, Witch Father, other Ancient Gods, and the Ancestors sees to that.
If you ask a Traditional Witch for proof of Witchblood and the Bloodline, this is something a Traditional Witch cannot easily give to you. The Bloodline is proven, but not by written word, because being Witch is active and is not passive. Being Witch is a state of being. Academia is of limited use to the Witch, it is practical workings that will bring about the proof others desire, that are made full use of within a Tradition of the Old Craft. If the seeker was in a Household or Clan of Traditional Witches, the seeker would have all the proof he or she needs. Traditional Witches have no need to lay proof before anyone, their Bloodline is legitimate, and is proof in itself, for those who are within the Household or Clan experience the required validity.
There are those who believe that to pass someone knowledge will bring about what is desired - this is not true. For without understanding that leads to Wisdom, knowledge is useless. Understanding comes about from the self, from experiencing the Old Craft. Knowing is not enough, it is but the key that opens the portal to Truth and Wisdom.
The Red Thread is but one thread of four. The other three are hidden, but it is only when all four come together to weave the web tight and true, does Wisdom come to be. The Red Thread comes directly from the Witch Mother, for she binds the Witch to her, and to each other with the Old Thread. While we are still a part of humanity, we are also a race apart, for our understandings and way of being makes this inevitable that we never sit comfortably with others who are not of us.
The greatest confusion is that of those who claim to be hereditary, passed by physical blood, is of little relevance. There are those whose granny was a Witch and passed the understandings to her grandchildren or children. Such peoples can be Awakened by this method. To say that it is impossible to pass the Bloodline by birth would be incorrect, there is a genetic marker that can be of use which is inherent in around 50% of people of British decent. Those who claim to be Traditional Witches have just as much claim to Witchdom as anyone else, all depends on if their Wisdom have truly awoken the Witch within, or if they are under a self-created illusion of what they think they are.
Within Traditional Witch Households and Clans there are those who have walked Middle Earth before many times, and have those who walk for the first time, and are, and have been Awakened. Their Bloodline is their Red Thread, and yes, from a long way back - from the source. Their Bloodline has been intact for a long time, waiting in silence and in darkness, until such times as the time is deemed to be correct to allow those who seek to once more hold the Truth, Wisdom, and Power of what is to be had. There is a rising tide towards the need of mankind to search for the Witch within, for many are beginning to Awaken. This is why Traditional Witchcraft Households and Clans are now becoming less secretive and hold an open doorway for those who seek the source, and have what is necessary to be deemed worthy. It matters little to them that people will mock, question their legitimacy, question their ways, because those who are Fated will find their way. Traditional Witches refuse to change what is to “fit in” to society. This is how they keep their Bloodline potency.
Traditional Witches practice the Old Ways with honesty, truth, and honor being of great virtue who earns respect. The seeker who comes to a Traditional Witch Household or Clan are treated with respect, until such times as they abuse it, at which time they will reap the consequences of their actions. Many seek the Ways of the Red Thread Witch. Through writings alone you will not find them, for their Ways of the Witch are never written entirely down. They may tutor those who seek the Old Craft and the Ways of the Red Thread Witch, but what lies within the inner Wisdom of the Household or Clan is protected by silence, only passed by word of mouth and by experience.
