An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present - Doreen Valiente 2018

Witchcraft

The subject of this entry could equally well, perhaps better, be called ’Wisecraft’; but witchcraft is the more familiar and time-honoured word. Even so, it is no older than Anglo-Saxon days, and there were witches long before the Angles and Saxons came to Britain.

The Old English forms of the word ’witch’ were wicca (masculine) and wicce (feminine). This shows that a witch could be either a man or a woman. The old plural form was wiccan. Later, the Middle English form of the word was wicche, for both masculine and feminine.

The word wiccan for ’witches’ occurs in the Laws of King Alfred, circa A.D. 890. It is found again in Aldhelm’s Glossary in 1100. The verb ’to bewitch’ was wiccian; and an Old English word for ’witchcraft’ was wiccedom, a word that evolved into ’witchdom’.

Dr. Henry More (1614—1687), in his letter which was printed in Joseph Glanvill’s Sadducismus Triumphatus (London, 1726), had this to say about the derivation of ’witch’:

As for the words Witch and Wizzard, from the notation of them, they signify no more than a wise man, or a wise woman. In the word Wizzard, it is plain at the very sight. And, I think, the most plain, and least operose, deduction of the name Witch, is from Wit, whose derived adjective might be Wittigh, or Wittich, and by contraction afterwards. Witch; as the noun Wit is from the verb to weet, which is to know. So that a Witch, thus far, is no more than a knowing woman; which answers exactly to the Latin word Saga, according to that of Festus, Sagae dictae anus quae multa sciunt. Thus, in general; but use, questionless, had appropriated the word to such a kind of skill and knowledge, as was out of the common road, or extraordinary. Nor did this peculiarity imply in it any unlawfulness But there was after a further restriction, and most proper of all, and in which alone, nowadays, the words Witch and Wizzard are used. And that is, for one that has the knowledge or skill of doing, or telling things in an extraordinary way, and that in virtue of either an express or implicit sociation or confederacy with some evil spirit. This is a true and adequate definition of a Witch, or Wizzard, which, to whomsoever it belongs, is such, and vice versa.

At the time when Henry More wrote this, witchcraft was still a capital crime in Britain, and the punishment was death by hanging. This quotation illustrates the way in which anyone, up to comparatively recent years, who demonstrated any psychic or mediumistic ability, was likely to be accused of being in league with Satan, or at least with evil spirits; even though Dr. More notes that this was not originally implied at all by the word ’witch’.

So ingrained in some followers of the Christian denominations is this idea that we still sometimes see condemnations of Spiritualism on these grounds; namely, that it is ’dealing with the Devil’. When the famous medium, Daniel Dunglas Home, was travelling in European countries where the Catholic Church was predominant, he was quite seriously accused of having a pact with Satan! The Witchcraft Act was persistently used to harass Spiritualist mediums. In fact, the last big trial under this Act was that of the medium Helen Duncan, in 1944; and it was not until 1951 that the Act was finally removed from the Statute Book. (See LAWS AGAINST WITCHCRAFT.)

The word ’warlock’ is sometimes used for a male witch; but as will be seen from the foregoing passages, this is a modern innovation. ’Warlock’ is actually a Scottish term. ’Wizard’, as Henry More observed, is simply ’wise-ard’, a wise man.

Charles Godfrey Leland regarded the alleged ’Satanic’ side of witchcraft as being the creation of the Churches, and grafted by them on to the old paganism. The darker hues of witchcraft, where they existed in the Middle Ages, he saw as being shadowed upon it by the misery and oppression prevalent in society at that time. In his Legends of Florence (David Nutt, London, 1896), he has this to say of the history of witchcraft:

The witches and sorcerers of early times were a widely spread class who had retained the beliefs and traditions of heathenism with all its license and romance and charm of the forbidden. At their head were the Promethean Templars, at their tail all the ignorance and superstition of the time, and in their ranks every one who was oppressed or injured either by the nobility or the Church. They were treated with indescribable cruelty, in most cases worse than beasts of burden, for they were outraged in all their feelings, not at intervals for punishment, but habitually by custom, and they revenged themselves by secret orgies and fancied devil-worship, and occult ties, and stupendous sins, or what they fancied were such. I can seriously conceive—what no writer seems to have considered—that there must have been an immense satisfaction in selling or giving one’s self to the devil, or to any power which was at war with their oppressors. So they went by night, at the full moon, and sacrificed to Diana, or ’later on’ to Satan, and danced and rebelled. It is very well worth noting that we have all our accounts of sorcerers and heretics from Catholic priests, who had every earthly reason for misrepresenting them, and did so. In the vast amount of ancient witchcraft still surviving in Italy, there is not much anti-Christianity, but a great deal of early heathenism, Diana, not Satan, is still the real head of the witches. The Italian witch, as the priest Grillandus said, stole oil to make a love-charm. But she did not, and does not say, as he declared, in doing so, ’I renounce Christ’. There the priest plainly lied. The whole history of the witch mania is an ecclesiastical falsehood, in which such lies were subtly grafted on the truth. But in due time the Church, and the Protestants with them, created a Satanic witchcraft of their own, and it is this aftergrowth which is now regarded as witchcraft in truth.

I agree with Leland’s view, because it makes sense and can be supported by the evidence of history and folklore. If any witch ever ’renounced Christ’, it was in blazing resentment against a Church that supported the oppressors and stifled human liberty. If he or she ever indulged in ’devil worship’, it was because the Church had declared the ancient gods to be devils, and invested the Devil with the attributes of Pan.

In the second volume of the same work, Leland declares: “I could, indeed, fill many pages with citations from classic and medieval authors which prove the ancient belief that Diana was queen of the witches.”

Further on, he says:

It is worth noting that sundry old writers trace back the witch sabbats, or wild orgies, worshipping of Satan, and full-moon frolics to the festivals of Diana. Thus Despina declares:

“It was customary of old to celebrate the nightly rites of Diana with mad rejoicing and the wildest or most delirious dancing and sound (ordine contrario sen praepostero), and all kinds of licentuousness, and with these rites as partakers were popularly identified the Dryads of the forests, the Napaeoe of the fountains, the Oreads of the mountains, nymphs, and all false gods.”

If we add to this that all kinds of outlaws and children of the night, such as robbers and prostitutes, worshipped Diana-Hecate as their patron saint and protectress, we can well believe that this was the true cause and origin of the belief still extremely current or at least known even among the people of Florence, that Diana was the queen of the witches.

In a fresco of the fourteenth century in the Palazzo Publico in Siena, Diana is represented with a bat flying under her, to indicate night and sorcery.

There is no reason to believe that the witchcraft of Italy is basically any different from that of the remainder of Western Europe; though the more Celtic regions will naturally show an admixture of their own traditions, as will those where Norse ancestry is prevalent, and so on.

Witchcraft was not only the secret religion of the outcasts of society such as those mentioned above, however. It was also the cult of people who did not conform, in whatever walk of life they found themselves.

Because of its connection with moon magic, the number three is much associated with witchcraft. There are traditionally three kinds of witchcraft: white, black and grey. White witchcraft is used solely for constructive purposes. Black witchcraft is used for anti-social or destructive purposes. Grey witchcraft can be adapted either to good or to evil.

Again, there are three degrees of witchcraft, which somewhat resemble those of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craftsman, and Master Mason, as used by the Masonic fraternity. The existence of these three degrees is seldom mentioned in old literature dealing with witchcraft, as very little of real information was allowed to transpire. Nevertheless, there are some references.

One is to be found in an old French book about witchcraft, Receuil de Lettres au Sujet des Malefices et du Sortilege . . . par le Sieur Boissier (Paris, 1731). Boissier tells us that there were three ’marks’ which were bestowed upon witches, at three different times; but only the older ones had all three, and this made them magicians.

Another and earlier reference to this point comes from Portugal, in the days of the Inquisition. In the Confession of certain Witches who were burnt in the city of Lisbon, A.D. 1559, preserved in the Sentences of the Inquisition, it is recorded that “no one can be a witch (bruja) without going through the degrees of feiticeyra and alcoviteyra”.

The fact that these secret degrees existed shows that the society of the witches had knowledge to impart. So also does the widespread tradition (it is found in the countryside of England and among the peasants of Italy), that witches cannot die until they have passed on their witchcraft to someone else. What is passed on is the traditional knowledge and lore.

The number three crops up again significantly in the record of an English witch trial in 1672. An accused woman named Anne Tilling, of Malmesbury, Wiltshire, confessed that three witches acted together, and “each three with other threes”. This sounds like the breaking-down of the old coven structure into smaller cells, under the pressure of persecution, which was severe in the seventeenth century. If to every group of four threes, or twelve, there was appointed a leader, this would make the traditional thirteen.

There is no doubt that the old organisation of the witch cult has become fragmented by the years of persecution. There are pockets of witchcraft surviving all over Britain; indeed, all over Western Europe. Some retain one part of the old tradition, while others conserve other parts. My task has been to contact as many different sources as I can, and then to piece together what I have been able to learn from them.

There are regional differences of ritual and of ideas. Nevertheless, it is just these differences, this dovetailing of one fact with another, which to me makes this research interesting and authentic. If everything were smooth and uniform, it would probably be modern; but there are fragmentary traditions and rituals, hints, loose ends, that puzzle and intrigue.

Although in the old days people of all classes belonged to the witch cult, probably the greater number of its followers could hardly read or write. Also, written documents were dangerous evidence; so the traditions of the cult were transmitted by word of mouth from generation to generation.

When more of the common people acquired a little book learning, some of them started writing things down in private books of their own. They would allow their trusted friends to copy what they would from such writings; but the rule was that when a member of the cult died his written book must be secured and burned.

There was a practical reason for this, as with most witch traditions. It was done to protect the family of the deceased from persecution. The witch-hunters knew that witchcraft tended to be handed down in families. Hence all the relatives of a proven witch were suspect. And what clearer proof than a hand-written book?

Even after witchcraft ceased to be a capital offence, suspected witches often got rough treatment. They might be slashed or stabbed to draw blood on them, as a means of breaking their spells. They might be ’swum’ in the village pond, to see if they floated. Even if they were only shunned and whispered about, this was not pleasant in a small community; at any time it could break out into mob violence. So the traditional destruction of all written records is frustrating but understandable.

When the organisation of the Old Religion became very broken up, many witches ceased to be organised into covens at all. They worked alone; though they generally knew other witches, and sometimes joined forces with them for some special purpose.

Such lone witches still exist, shrinking from all contact with modern covens that seek publicity. They usually have a little secret shrine in their home, where they invoke the old powers and give thanks for work successfully accomplished.

The contents of such a shrine will vary considerably, according to the taste of the individual witch. They may include things handed down, either in the family or by older witches now passed away. There are almost sure to be some curious candlesticks, an incense burner and either a crystal or a magic mirror for clairvoyance. Some magic symbols, such as the pentagram, will be in evidence; and so will the old black-hilted knife, or Athame. Probably a pack of Tarot cards will be there, too.

WITCHCRAFT. Some tools of witchcraft, set out as if upon a witch’s altar.

Along with these things will be any objects, weird or exotic, that take the individual’s fancy. Witches have always liked to use strange and striking things, that would excite the imagination of those who saw them. They well know that the generation of atmosphere, the aura of the uncanny, is one of the most important secrets of magic. It contributes to “the willing suspension of disbelief”, the feeling that, within the magic circle, or in the presence of the magical shrine, anything may happen.

Witchcraft is not only a religion and a system of magic. It is a philosophy, a way of life, a way of looking at things. It is not an intellectual affair; a witch seeks to develop intelligence and perception, rather than intellectualism. He or she does not despise emotions and feelings, as many intellectuals do. On the contrary, a witch recognises that emotions and feelings may come from a deeper level of the mind than intellectual reasoning, and therefore seeks to develop and make use of them.

Nor does a witch despise the physical senses; because these, too, are gateways which can lead to inner realisation. So again, he or she seeks to make use of the physical perceptions, as a means of attaining psychic and spiritual perception. There are many misconceptions about what psychic and spiritual experiences really consist of. They are not states of dreamy credulity; on the contrary, they are states of heightened awareness, in which for a while we awaken out of the condition that we have come to accept as ’normal’. Some occultists will tell you that there are actually five states of human consciousness, corresponding to the five-pointed star, the witches’ pentagram. These are:

1) Deep, dreamless sleep.

2) Sleep in which dreams occur.

3) What we regard as normal waking consciousness.

4) True self-awareness.

5) Illumination.

An important point about witchcraft is that it is a craft, in the old sense of the word, the Anglo-Saxon craeft, implying art, skill, knowledge. The word ’witch’ means ’wise one’; and a person cannot be made wise, they have to become wise. There are arts and skills and traditional knowledge which, used in the right way, will help you to become a ’wise one’. This is the real meaning of witchcraft.

It should by now be superfluous to say that modern witches do not make pacts with Satan or celebrate the Black Mass. But nor are they followers of the rather shallow and sugary philosophies that so often pass for ’higher teachings’ in the more popular forms of occultism. Witches are not ’do-gooders’, or purveyors of ’uplift’. They are practical people interested in the serious study of occult powers and the exploration of the Unknown—remembering that ’occult’ only means ’hidden’.

Although they accept gifts, they do not work for hire. Nor will they very often undertake to do the many things people write and ask them to do, such as enabling someone to win sporting bets, or to gain the love of some particular person, or to compel an errant husband or wife to return.

Sometimes, even darker requests are received. I myself have on more than one occasion been asked if I would harm or ’get rid of’ somebody. One woman wrote to me saying that she did not want a certain relative killed, only made fairly ill!

The unpalatable truth, which people do not care to hear, is that they can only change their lives by changing themselves. This the study and practice of witchcraft can undoubtedly do. But the concept of modern witches that many people have, as a sort of combination of Universal Aunts and Murder Incorporated, is a false one.

Nevertheless, I have seen some remarkable results achieved by witches’ magic. Sceptics, of course, may dismiss such things as coincidence, when a ritual is done to achieve a certain result and that result follows. Nothing can be proved either way, as the event happens apparently by a fortuitous combination of circumstances; but the point is that it happens.

Rituals are not always successful, of course. The technique employed may be wrong. The operators may have misjudged the situation. The conditions prevailing at the time of the ritual may be adverse. However, I have seen a sufficient number of successes scored, to believe in the power of witchcraft.

I have seen, too, enough happenings to give grounds for belief that witches are ’kittle cattle to meddle with’. People who commit acts of aggression against the Old Religion or its followers, or deliberately set out to harm them, always have such behaviour followed by ill luck to themselves.

The situation for witchcraft today is in many respects very different from what it was in centuries past. Now that medical services take care of the less wealthy and privileged people, they no longer go to the village witch for her services as a midwife, or for herbal remedies. Many of the arts that she practised have now become quite respectable, and are known as hypnotism, psychology and so on. At the same time, the witches’ persecutors have had their powers severely curtailed. Apart from smear campaigns in the sensational press, the witch-hunter’s occupation is gone, too.

When Gerald Gardner wrote Witchcraft Today, he regarded witchcraft as something that was dying. However, subsequent events have proved him wrong. We have seen in the last twenty years an amazing renaissance of public interest, not only in witchcraft, but in the occult generally. Formerly forbidden subjects are now freely discussed—very often with the use of forbidden words! Times are changing at a rate which alarms and bewilders the older generation. And witchcraft is changing with them, and coming into its own as a popular form of pagan religion, based on sympathy with Nature; while its creed of “Do what you will, so long as it harms no one”, has become widely and seriously accepted as being more truly moral than lists of “Thou shalt nots”.

Nevertheless, witches do not seek for converts. They ask only acceptance and freedom to be what they want to be and to do what they want to do. They know that a pendulum which swings one way will swing back. They have had the swing of the pendulum against them, and seen the horrors of the years of persecution. Now, the swing is in the opposite direction—for the time being.

But even so, the Craft of the Wise keeps itself a little apart. Nor does it tell all of its secrets. It guards the flame of the lantern, like the Hermit in the Tarot cards, so that those who are able to will and know, and can dare and be silent, may go their way by its light.