Witchcraft, in its traditional form, may be the oldest religion known to man. The problem is people are still misunderstanding it and because of the old 'handing down from generation to generation' a lot of the true information has been lost because most people thousands of years ago were unable to read or write. Pagan festivals (also known as Sabbats) were adopted by the Christians. Ostara became Easter and Yule became Christmas. The Christians almost wanted to 'take over' the whole paganism faith because they feared it was becoming popular.
First of all, Traditional Witches follow neither Wiccan Rede nor Law of Three. Gerald Gardner made this up. We follow the ways that pre-date Wicca. Traditionalists believe that you take responsibility for your actions. Intent of action.
Traditionalists have Grimoires. Wiccans have a Book of Shadows. It's as simple as that.
Guardians/Watchtowers are a Wiccan concept, but Traditionalists might call on spirits and elements to protect an area. We usually call on spirits and/or ancestors.
Traditional Witches believe in the spirit world. Wiccans tend to believe in what they call the Summerlands. Although what you believe of the afterlife varies from person to person.
Traditionalists do not have any deities. We don't believe in a God and Goddess or any other gods/goddesses. We believe in the powerful force called nature. Although some Traditional Witches may accept deities and/or a God and Goddess, they tend to use them differently. They don't see them reigning over the Universe.
Traditional Witches do not cast circles. They are useless. We believe every place is sacred. We will call on spirits and/or ancestors to guard our sacred place though.
Traditionalist covens do not have degrees. They may have a leader who is more experienced, but there are no degrees. Traditionalists do not need to be initiated either. Wiccan covens will use degree levels and they will need to initiate someone into the Craft.
Correspondences are also the same for Traditional Witches as for Wiccans. Earth is associated with North, Air with East, South with Fire, and West with Water. Although, some people may choose to use Air with the North and Earth with the East.
Traditionalists do not believe in Karma, as this is an Eastern philosophy and not of Western Europe (where Witchcraft originated from). We do believe in fate though, we all have a fate.
Wiccans may have craft names; Traditionalists do not. Wiccans started this. Nature knows who you are; you do not need another name.
Our sabbats focus on the seasons. We celebrate the times of the year and how the light lengthens and such. Some Traditional Witches may not celebrate all eight sabbats.
Traditional Witches will perform curses and hexes if they feel it is necessary. ONLY if it is necessary. We feel that if it is in defense for our family or friends, we will perform them. We won't dare perform one on someone who has stepped on our flowers and such, that's just ridiculous.
Wicca is opposed to performing destructive magick or reflecting the negative energy. They may perform curses and hexes but then they would not be following their Wiccan Rede.
But the one thing is, nature is a balance of both positive and negative, you can't hit someone with a love spell hoping they won't beat up your friend again. If someone had beaten my friend up, you better believe I am going to perform a curse on him or her to realize what he or she has done.
It basically comes down to this: never mess with a Traditional Witch!
Traditional Witches may or may not accept deities. Most do not, as these are mother and father figures. But, if they do accept deities, they do not see them as reigning over the Universe. They tend to use them differently than a Wiccan would. Most Traditional Witches focus on using spirits.
Traditionalists may use blood magick, as this personalizes the spells. Menstrual blood and urine sometimes are used in spells. This is a Hoodoo tradition and has made its way into Traditional Witchcraft.
Sky-clad is not a part of Traditional Witchcraft. We either wear our regular clothes or a cloak, robe, etc. Sky-clad MAY be a practice if it's comfortable for the Witch. It's about being most comfortable, as this is important when performing spells and/or rituals. The Witch needs to be comfortable otherwise concentration won't come easy.
Here are some opinions of mine: I do not recognize any deities of any sort, as these are mother and father figures. It is our nature to look for answers from our parents. Our ancestors made up these figures of deities. The same is also true for creationism. Zeus, for example, is described as a father of all the gods.
I believe in the spirit world. These beliefs of the afterlife vary from person to person. I believe that once you die, your soul will dwell in the spirit world, for rest. Some Witches may believe that you continue your journey after this rest, either becoming a land spirit, melding with nature and becoming one with it, or you may be born into a new life. Some also think that you will remain as yourself in the spirit world. I guess we'll see when we die though.
I have performed curses, only in defense of my friends and myself. This one kid would NOT leave me alone; he was constantly bothering me and bothering me. One day he said I should just go slit my wrists and kill myself. Did you think I was going to take that?
And, of course, I was not going to get into a fight with him because then I would just hurt my school reputation. Plus, I have never started a physical fight with anyone, and I do not plan to.
Physical fights are useless; they are completely out of the question. So, I performed a curse on him for treating me like a piece of crap and taking away all the confidence I could ever need. It takes an army to build up your confidence, and it only takes one person to crush your progress.
I performed a curse that I had in my Grimoire for a while. You perform the curse and you forget about it. I forgot about it, he hasn't bothered me since. I guess his cruelty against others had caught up with him, with a little help of my magick.
Now, I have performed other curse-like spells, these could be considered curses or hexes, but I prefer to think of them as reflecting negative energy. And you better believe if someone were to mess with any of my friends, family, or even myself again, they are going to get one heck of a curse placed on them.
As I said above in the differences between Traditional Witchcraft and Wicca, it comes down to this: never mess with a Traditional Witch!
There are tons of books out there that refer to Wicca and Witchcraft as one! This is definitely not true. They are different. It's as simple as that! People need to realize that Wicca is not Witchcraft itself.
Even though we all have our own tradition of Witchcraft, we all share a core belief: nature is sacred and we are all children of nature. We should care for it as much as possible. Take care of our Earth!
**I found this article on one of the Trad's sites a year ago? Sorry I can't find the author or source**
