h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Traditional witchcraft is the ancient form, more into craft skills, healing and a form of science, but with a little magic and ceremonial. As a religion it has one god, that it considers common with all others and that people just see different faces. Its members include pagans, Christians and others"


Firstly, let me agree with your last statement...true trad witchcraft -as opposed to trad wicca- is indeed not bound by religion: anyone of any religion can practice it.

Other than that, please! please! Traditional Witchcraft is concerned completely with magic! yes, we do not usually practice ceremonial or ritualistic magic, but the raison detre of a traditional Witch is magic. Healing and a little science do play their role but not more so than or even as much as magic.

As a religion -and then only when practiced by people who are pagan - it most definately is a POLYTHEISTIC philosophy: each god/spirit or archetype is seen as a distinct individual. One of the basic tenets of traditional Witchcraft is that very fact, that all gods are NOT one. Nor do we accept a theory of universal Mother god, or all gods being facets of one god. There are individuals whose opinion in this matter differs but that is the predominant belief by far.

In the case of those who are Catholic, or Christian, Hindi or islamic, Judaic or other, each individual brings the tenets of their own faith to bear on the issue. But one of the main points of traditional Witchcraft is that it's not a religion! it's a philosophy and occult art.


I won't comment on inaccuracies regarding other witchcraft paths on this page, leaving them rather to their own devotees to correct. But I would deeply appreciate your correction of the above inaccuracies about traditional witchcraft.

regards

Liossa

"Traditional Witchcraft is concerned completely with magic!"
I am a hereditary witch and I can say without a doubt that witchcraft is not concerned completely with magick.
Science is esential to magick, as with religion, all that which is unknown is essential to science as science is essential to the unknown.

As a religion, there is no witchcraft religion, there are people who combine their religious ideas or world veiws with witchcraft, however it is not in itself a religion, nor can religious ideas in how a witch practices be made.

Why is it
"most definately is a POLYTHEISTIC philosophy"
I know pagans who do practice witchcraft and are not polytheistic, how about Satanic witches, none-religious witches, christian witches?
Why can Pagans only be witches if they are Polyteistic?
Why can't they be witches if they are pantheists?
- Bare in mind Wiccans are pantheists, there esential foundations are based on witchcraft.

"One of the basic tenets of traditional Witchcraft is that very fact, that all gods are NOT one"
Funny, witchcraft is not a religion, it is a practice or a philosophy, so that sort of sweeping staitment can not be made to hold true to all witches, whether religious witches or otherwise.

"Nor do we accept a theory of universal Mother god, or all gods being facets of one god. There are individuals whose opinion in this matter differs but that is the predominant belief by far"
- oh is it? *WE* are all polytheists are we?
ALL Pagan witches are Polytheists, I thin you need to poll your fellow Pagans on that one.

"But one of the main points of traditional Witchcraft is that it's not a religion! it's a philosophy and occult art"
- Yet you have just set out the perimiters for ALL witches through religion, ie. "most definately is a POLYTHEISTIC philosophy"
You can't define it by religious prefrences then go on to say it is not a religion, keep your thoughts straight.

I'm curious was this a comment on Witchcraft or Pagan witchraft you were trying to write here?!

Sounds like a dragon (Pagan, anti-fluffy) with limited ideas on witchcraft to me, but then at least you aren't as bad as the person who wrote this page.

Liossa,
As I am sure you are aware there are many paths within the craft, and many who are traditional witchcraft groups, it would also appear a number who class themselves as traditional witchcraft who have different beliefs to the groups which have been working together. Some who have emailed me are from a preservationist tradition, who are trying to preserve what they see as local traditions as it was at a set time, others have various other views. I am not therefore surprised to find that you have a different view or background, and would not say that you are in any way wrong, its just the diversity that exists within the craft.

When you say ‘we’ it is not clear what group you are speaking on behalf of, or are a member of, other than you having an Irish background and you saying on your researchers page that “top of the dislike list would be intolerance and prejudice”.

If you would like to create an entry in h2g2 for what you call traditional or any other form of the craft and inform me of its location I will include it in the index. Can I also suggest you follow the index links to the academy of witchcraft site, and on to its web site, where your input would be welcome as the objective is to capture information on all forms.

Aqua

Hi Researcher 204626,

Difficult to know where you are coming from, I tried looking at your researcher page it says “ This is the Personal Space of Researcher 204626. Unfortunately Researcher 204626 doesn't seem to have found the time to write anything by way of an introduction yet, but hopefully that will soon change…………..”. Its much easier to answer people if we have some idea of what they know. I don’t know if I am replying her to a Christian fundamentalist who has read something on the craft, or one of the younger people off the teen board.

Satanic witches, really. Not a concept you will get any general agreement about.

When you get around to putting your page on the craft, or any aspect of it together let me know and I will add it into the index. All entries are included, and I am tolerant to those that differ from my view.

Aqua

I am going to produce an article on different craft forms (classification), so would welcome your input on this, for now I have modified the simple definition I had ion the index page.
Aqua