In the days of traditional witchcraft, if you wrote down anything, you could be killed. So witches rarely wrote down their spells or recipes. Although women were more knowledgeable about life in general, men were the ones who were trained in reading and writing in most countries.

The Wiccan Rede states that “As long as you harm no one, do as you will”. This was not a part of Traditional witchcraft. Many witches used their powers to hurt others as well as help others.

They did what people requested them to do, even if it hurt another. Traditional craft is part of the land and its history. In each area where it was practiced, it was based on the cultural norms and local flora and fauna.

Neo-pagan practices, however, may use a mix of deities, spells, herbs and types of magick from all over the world in one ritual. Traditional witchcraft could easily focus on the darkness or horror in life as well as the goodness of life, but in Wicca, we emphasize the positive, the goodness in our minds. This is so that we can always see the sunlight and not focus on the shadows.

In the traditional craft, the belief was that after death, the spirit enters into another phase of existence as a guardian spirit amongst the relatives or return as part of nature, a tree or an owl. The idea of re-incarnation existed in only the certain parts of the world. There are many differences in traditional witchcraft when compared to Wicca.

However, just as the cultures that existed in ancient times and who came up with their own version of witchcraft, we have to respect all traditions even after we make our choice.

That is a true witch’s way.

To get the full “The Truth About Traditional Witchcraft” article you’ll need to download it here.