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The Traditional Craft
Compared To Wicca

Vive la difference!

In this article, the beliefs and practices of Trad Witchcraft and Wicca are compared. I admit my mind does ramble a bit in this article.

Some background to Wicca

Wicca was founded in England around 1954 by Gerald B. Gardner. Wicca contains a few elements from the traditions of old British Witchcraft, however Wicca is based primarily on a wide range of external source material such as the concepts and practices of the ceremonial magick of the Order of the Golden Dawn, the Freemasons, Ordo Templi Orientis, the Rosicrucians, as well as Eastern philosophy, and the teachings of Aleister Crowley.

Wicca is now divided into two basic types.

• Traditional Wicca comprises the original Gardnerian Wicca and its offshoots, such as the Alexandrian, Algard, Aquarian, Blue Star, Central Valley, and Georgian Wicca.
  
  Traditional Wicca followed a very narrow understanding of Wicca based on Gardner's practice. They are authoritarian and hierarchical with a degree-level system. Ritual nudity is widely practiced. Generally speaking, Traditional Wiccans are exclusionary in several ways. Dedication and initiation of outside Wiccan groups as well as self-dedication and self-initiation are not recognized as valid. Solitary practice is not allowed.


• Progressive Wicca is a rebellion from this stringency. These Wiccans vary a great deal from group to group on their practice and point-of-view towards other Wiccans.

Some background to Trad Witchcraft

The Traditional Craft or Trad Witchcraft, is an family of Nature-oriented old spiritual magical paths of Britain. Blue Moon Manor is a Trad, or tradition, within Trad Witchcraft. Some of these witchcraft traditions can be verified as existing in the seventeenth century, but some may have existed very much earlier. This is nearly impossible to confirm because witchcraft was illegal in Britain, so records were not kept. Traditional Craft Trads had to be handed down orally and secretly. Many witches were solitary or family-only and hidden in practice, mostly because of the fear of identification by authorities. Some Traditional Crafters (witches) would meet occasionally in groups to celebrate the sabbats (primarily the Full Moons).

Many Trads, representing solitary practitioners and groups, have an ethic of secrecy. Some believe this is necessary as a protection from the unwanted intrusion of outsiders, while others believe on principle, a self-taught seeker, or individual, should seek out their own knowledge without having it spoon-fed to them in a public venue. Those that taught the author obviously did not believe in this position.

Following are some key points of difference between Wicca and The Traditional Craft.

Basic Concept of the Gods

Wicca is a henotheistic religion. Henotheism is the belief in several gods with one god as supreme. The Wiccans name their supreme god "The One"; this is strictly a 20th century New Age concept.

Wiccans also uniquely believe that "all gods are one god." This is reflected in a merging of all gods into a duel concept of the God and the Goddess, the "Lord and Lady", a male-female set of gods that is the focus of much ritual and the center of the yearly eight-part telling of a Celtic-based mythic tale which is partly presented during each of the eight festivals (the "sabbats" of Wicca).

To personify the gods, Wiccans will commonly accept a variety of historically unrelated gods from unrelated cultures and use them to represent the God and Goddess' manifestations of "The One." Thus, individual historic gods become "aspects" of "The One." This in no way reflects the original aspects of these historic gods. Wiccans worship these various gods in a typically Wiccan manner with little or no regard to the traditional manner of worship within the god's original cultural religion. Thus, the gods are used mostly for their name and appearance, with little to no historically accurate context of the god's original attributes, powers, beliefs, or worship.

Traditional Witches predominantly believe in Naturalistic Spirituality, which is a form of pantheism. Pantheism is the belief that "god is everything and everything is god." Naturalistic Spirituality is more specific in the belief that Nature and god is the same thing. In this concept, god is in everything, including plant life, animals, humans, as well as in rocks and the earth. Thus, the earth is as sacred as any other person, place, or thing.

In pantheism, all life forms, whether physical or spiritual, are fundamentally equal. Thus pure pantheists do not believe in super humans or in gods as separate living entities. Some Trad Witches do take this view, but many take a "soft pantheistic" view that is tolerant of other god concepts.

Most notable of this is the very old polytheistic pantheons popularly worshipped in old Britain up through the Roman era. Polytheism is the belief in several gods. Trads of this influence would revere one pantheon from British history, namely, British Celtic, local British, Norse, or the Roman. At one time each of these pantheons of gods were widely worshipped by a significant number of Britains.

The worship would follow traditional worship which is historically correct for that god, or thought to be correct by the Trad. There is virtually no mixing of this devotion and the rituals and spellcraft associated with witchcraft. Thus, the practice of witchcraft and the worship of the gods of the pantheons are kept completely separate.

Relationship to Ceremonial Magick

Ceremonial magick, also called 'high magick', is from the Western Esoteric Tradition, which is to say, the old occult secret fraternities that came about on continental Europe from at least the 12th century and possibly much earlier. These groups include Freemasonry, Rosicrucian Brotherhood, and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, among several others.

Arguably, Freemasonry had an influence in Britain after it arrived sometime around the Enlightenment, and even influenced some Traditional Witches. This is seen today in the wide range of acceptance of certain aspects of ceremonial magick, especially correspondences. While many Trads show little or no influence, such as Blue Moon Manor. Some Trads show more influence, and a few are dripping with ceremonialism that would make Gardner himself envious. Nevertheless, ceremonial magick is taken with a grain of salt by most Trad Witches and is generally not an important aspect of the traditional Magical Arts of Britain.

Wiccan magick is based to a very large extent on the concepts of Aleister Crowley's understanding of ceremonial magick, minus the evil spirits and demon conjuring aspects seen in Golden Dawn and some other societies.

Ethics 1 - Wiccan Rede

Wiccans subscribe to the "harm none" concept in the Wiccan Rede. This requires followers to do no harm to any living thing, regardless of intent.

Many Wiccans take this idea to an extreme that can, at times, be to their own detriment. An old saying says that "rules are made to be broken," The Rede is certainly one that is impossible to follow. Every time we breathe, we annihilate thousands of living bacteria. It is an impossibility to live our lives and not harm something.

Ethics 2 - Threefold Law

Wiccans also subscribe to the Threefold Law, in which an action or energy that is sent out will return to the sender three times over. Thus, good actions and bad actions are returned in threes.

Trad Witches believe this to be completely illogical. Let's suppose that a Wiccan school boy, who is mindful to "harm none," overlooks a bully that punches him. The Wiccan boy does nothing for fear of "harming" the bully. By this Law, Wiccan boy would be rewarded with three more attacks! This Law is preposterous.

Instead, Trad Witches subscribe informally to what some call the Law of Return, which is the law of cause and effect, or the ripple effect, which states that, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Not that I am condoning violence, however the Wiccan boy hitting the bully back might be a wiser reaction and reflective of the law of cause and effect. It is a question of Balance.

Ethics Principle of Balance

Trad Witchcraft subscribes to a idea that balance is always desirable. Re-storing balance is often the proper answer to a problem. This is a very down-to-earth, common-sense approach to protecting oneself.

Generally in Trad Witchcraft, a person's intent determines whether an action is "ethical" or not. We take the position that if we, our family or friends, are deliberately harmed with intent, then we have an ethical obligation to use magical self-defense.

Intent is the determining factor. If there is intent to harm, then there is culpability.

You can't have the light without the dark. Nature is always in balance. We can do no better than to emulate Nature and to bring balance into our lives and into our personal relationships. If we are wronged through intent, we need to stand tall, look adversity in the face and take responsible action. We need to confront our problems and resolve them in an ethical manner to restores balance.

Sacred Space

Wiccans believe that all ritual and spellwork should be done within a circle, which is in keeping with Ceremonial Magick practice. They believe a circle is necessary for the creation of "sacred space" so they may work with a higher charge of energy and in protection.

We have a different view.

To the Traditional Witch, all the earth and the air above it is sacred. Because all the earth is sacred, a compass round, as we call a 'circle', is not thought of as a "sacred space," but rather as a protective temple, a retreat to aid concentration. In practice, a compass is often not necessary except for training purposes and for special circumstances. Seekers are often encouraged to always use a compass, at least for the first year or so of training.

Ritual Nudity ~ Being "Skyclad"

Gerald Gardner, Wicca's founder, had been a nudist for decades in the warm climate of Asia before he retired to England. Years later, he created Wicca and, of course, he incorporated nudity, or "skyclad," into Wiccan ritual ceremonies.

While Christians have long pictured witches nude in the visual arts, there is zero evidence that nudity had ever been practiced in old British Witchcraft. Ritual nudity is not part of Traditional Witchcraft in Britain today.

Traditionalists have several reasons for this.

1) Some believed ritual nudity to be insulting to the spirits and to at least some of the gods.

2) Another concern is the comfort level of the practitioner. Most people are uncomfortable when nude in public. This discomfort can become a problem when it comes to concentration during ritual and magical workings. Therefore, skyclad can be problematical.

Ritual Sex

Wicca's prime ritual is "The Great Rite," which is performed on their "sabbats." In the "highest" form, full sexual intercourse between the High Priest and the High Priestess is performed. The fact that they could be married to other people is irrelevant.

While we acknowledging that all sex between humans is innately sacred, nevertheless, Trad Witches take exception to this rite for several reasons.

1) Sex is a private matter that should only take place at a private location for private reasons.

2) Sex should be between people that care about each other, not just to fulfill a religious obligation.

3) Performing public sex is insulting to the spirits and to some of the gods.

This rite would NEVER take place among Traditional Witches.

I should make clear that many liberal or progressive Wiccan covens only perform this rite "symbolically," using a dagger and a cup in a symbolic sex act.

Female Dominance

Most Wiccans recognize a state of superiority of the Goddess over the God, which they reflect in the elevated status of their High Priestesses over their High Priests. This is blatant sexism and it is a belief we take exception.

To the Traditional Crafter, gender equality has always been a cornerstone in Traditional British Witchcraft. It is extremely sad that after centuries of gender equality within British Witchcraft, now a new form of witchcraft, Wicca, institutionalizes female dominance in their traditions. This is preposterous.

We note that a few, but only a few, liberal Wiccan groups do oppose gender bias and maintain equality of gender in their groups and rituals.

Orientation to Magick/Magic

Wicca places great importance in the use of correspondences, a concept taken from ceremonial magick in which the use of colour, scent, and objects are though of as a vital aspect in performing their elaborate ritualistic magick. Wiccan use ceremonialism in their magick and ritual.

Paradoxically, many in Wicca perform little or no magick of their own in their homes. Wicca is primarily a religion of ritual worship.

Traditional Witches believe that while ritual ceremonialism is entertaining, but is not relevant. Correspondences are nice but they are considered to be not of much importance.

PLain and simple is the rule in Traditional British Witchcraft, with a very heavy emphasis on magic, rather then ritual. Some Trad Crafters perform only occasional ritual, of which none is worship.

There is a saying that "While Wiccans spend most of their time preparing for magick, Trad Witches spend most of their time DOING magic."

To the Trad Crafter, inner preparation is of far greater importance than 'things', so the Trad Witch will use meditative techniques and visualizations. We utilize the Cunning Fire, that Invisible Fire that is vaguely defined as the universal energy that is found in life. THAT is the essence of Traditional Magic of the British Isles. The primary guiding energy of any spell comes from the mind of the individual with the help from the spirits, and not from a ritual, a ritual tool, the colour of the candle, or the collection of props.

Much of our focus in magic is the use of co-operative spirits, such as land spirits, spirit guides, and other friendly spirits that come to our magical workings. Their energy also helps us, but our energy must collect and guide the energy to its intended goal. That is a mental activity, not a ceremonial ritual.

The Traditional Craft is a spiritual path that honours and reveres Nature, the traditions of our ancestors, the gods and the spirits. We acknowledge the equally of all, we protect and encourage the development of the individual, as we honour our past, and perform our rituals and magical workings with integrity for the benefit of our friends, family and, of course, for ourselves.

Perspective

While there are significant differences between The Traditional Craft, or Trad Witchcraft, and Wicca, both spiritual paths are deserving of recognition and respect. I believe that all responsible Pagans should agree on the need to support the general Pagan community in every way possible and to take a proactive role in making the world a better place to live.

Being exclusionary in our support of our own Tradition or myopic in our acceptance of only the people in our own Tradition is ultimately detrimental to us, to our Trad, and to the greater Pagan community. Of course, I do not mean to imply that we should not be vigilant in maintaining our Traditionalist beliefs and Trad practices. Such vigilance is essential. However, we need to recognize that every path leads ultimately to a common spiritual goal. I think it is incumbent on us all to help each other along the way.

May The Gods Be With You.

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