By traditions we mean the variant branches or different beliefs within witchcraft. While this happens in all belief systems, and a quick look at the history of Christianity in Britain will show that Christian churches split, new groups form and later some remerge, the effect in witchcraft is much wider.

As for many centuries witchcraft has had to be carried on in secret, yet is a living growing belief system, taking in new knowledge, and staying relevant to each generation, there has been a lot of divergence. 

Any early writings were largely destroyed, as have other cultures religious teaching by less tolerant ones, and much was handed down from one generation to another by people who could not read or write. 

Prior to all of this, there were a number of specialist groups or specialties, not all of which survived, as well as geographical differences.

By this point you may feel that the spread of practices and beliefs should be so wide as to be beyond recognition, however they are not, most have the same basics, and differ largely in minor detail and ideas on  ritual. 

Lets look at the main branches:-

Hereditary 

Hereditary witches are those where the knowledge and skills have been directly passed down through the family. You cannot join, but only be born directly into this family. It s usually very secretive about its beliefs, and in some cases do not look on it as witchcraft but family inherited abilities, perhaps with instincts, plants, or when dealing with animals. Many hereditary witches, whose family have hidden the abilities in the past, do not realize the abilities they have until they become involved in some other way in some other group. Some say that a mother having a child who is hereditary also by the process becomes a hereditary themselves, and I would go along with this. A few groups have adopted people into their family, but this is often a last resort, and are really in my view then switching to the next group we will look at.

Traditional.

Traditional is similar to hereditary, but where the coven has passed down its teachings from one generation to the next. You can join a Traditional coven if you can find one and convince them you would make a valid addition. They do not seek to convert you, so it is you who have to prove it would benefit the coven by allowing you to join. Having said this, all covens need to take in some new people occasionally if it is to survive.

Instinctual.

Many Witches believe in multiple lives on earth. This follows therefore that some people in a past life will have been involved in witchcraft at some point, and while most people cannot openly remember past lives without hypnotic help or pathworking, you may have instinctive abilities, that you just know without being taught. Often this only comes to light after someone becomes involved, however sometimes it shows initially by someone seeking out the knowledge and then as they learn more recognizing the truth in what they see. Some say its a little like coming home.

New-age

A group or coven formed based on a set of beliefs, but without any direct history or information handed down. Many of these groups, are based on information from books  and should you and a group of friends decide having picked up some information from this course to set up your own coven this is the classification you would fall into initially, unles you also fallowed the rest of the knowledge that exists.

Hedge

A hedge witch is one that specializing in herbal or similar cures, perhaps helping animals as well as people. Often they work alone and are not a part of a coven, and often they use little ritual, and would call themselves a herbal healer or similar rather than a witch. Some people also call a solitary witch a hedge witch.

Solitary

A solitary witch is one that works and practices the craft on their own, rather than as part of a coven. A lot of new witches are by necessity solitaries as they have not yet either gained the knowledge and confidence to get involved in a coven and often have great difficulty finding one that will admit them. Sometimes a number of solitaries will  get together and form a new coven that way.

Combinations

This is in many ways far to simplistic in that many will join a traditional group or set up a new-age group and then discover some have instinctive abilities or that they attract a member from one or more traditional or hereditary groups. As each group evolves it creates its own path.

Next let us look at some of the more common traditions, or perhaps we should say the most widely publicized.

We start by looking at the Wiccan groupings, in the next section we will look at the traditional groups, including water witches.

Gardnerian

Gerald Gardner was the first author off the mark, when witchcraft ceased to be a crime in Britain, He together with Doreen Valiente created what many think of or read about as modern witchcraft. They were part of a coven and Gerald was previously part of an older coven based in the New Forest area. 

We could if we wished look deeper, at some of the discussion around the history and background of this older group, and discover the influence of Wales and India and the far east. The Gardnerian form of witchcraft is a mixture of craft, with a sprinkling of far east, and a pinch or naturist, and Masonic type ritual. It is quite formal with a lot of formalized ritual.

To become a Gardnerian you need to be initiated by one already of this order and have access to a copy of one of the original Gerald Gardner books of shadows, however most of this has been published, and you can see a copy at www.witchpages.com if you wish.

This brand of witchcraft meets the need of the person looking for a witchcraft equivalent of a formal church, but cannot be so easily made relevant and tailored to the individual.

Alexandrian

Alex Saunders was a gardnerian, and devolved his own form in the 1960's and 70's, which is less formalized, is more of a free form religion that can be tailored more to the individual. The ritual and some other information has been published. You will find many of the authors on witchcraft are evolved from this group. Theire original book of shadows you will also find at the web site I mentioned above.

Many people new to witchcraft expect rules, formulas and rituals, and to be told what to do, and when, but at the same time want some flexibility and the Alexandrian brand meets these needs.

Women's movement.

Some groups, particularly in the USA seem to be more about the women's struggle as they see it, than craft, and these groups often do not allow men to participate as a part of their coven. Some groups however like the Fire Angels are a women only tradition, but definitely not politically correct or of the women's movement.

Ecologists.

Similarly some groups have evolved from those concerned about the planet, green issues and similar areas and have mixed a little earth or new age  religion in as well.

When you go looking at covens and paths, many are mixtures of the above or mixtures of some of this and some traditional, so that you are faced with very many other types or brands of Wiccan and other witchcraft paths. 

You will hear terms like eclectic, which just means you choose the parts that suit you, to goddess groups that are more akin to a female god, some groups have become commercial and concentrate largely on publishing a magazine or running course, while many are secretive.

Of the groups we have covered so far, the most interesting I find are the Power Wiccans, probably the most power full of all the Wiccan groups. 

In the next section we are going to look at one specific traditional group, how they came about, and how new members can join. 

Even if you think you are a Wiccan, don't skip the next section, as you will need some of what we are covering there to understand the magic later. You should also remember that it is the two traditional groups that information came from that provided the magical element to Wicca in the first place, so the more you understand this the more you can get out of all paths.

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