Folk Belief & Spirit Lore: How I Use Witch Trial Testimonies to Inform my Spirit Work
Author’s Note: The content of this blog reflects my personal experiences and perspectives on magic. Witchcraft is a deeply individual practice, and my approach may not align with everyone’s beliefs or traditions. I encourage readers to explore, question, and adapt what resonates with them. Nothing shared here is meant to serve as absolute truth or professional advice. Trust your intuition, do your own research, and walk your own path.
One of the key elements of my spirit work practice—especially when it comes to familiars, initiators, and guardians—is ongoing academic study of folk belief and spirit lore, particularly as it appears in historical witch trial testimonies.
It's not glamorous work. Although no actual witches were hunted or killed in these trials, the records that document them are heavy with injustice, violence, and fear; rife with the persecution of women, the poor, the disabled and others who stood outside of the '“norms” of society. But scattered among the horror are traces of how ordinary people once viewed the witch’s relationship with the spirit world, how they understood the nature of unseen powers.
When I read these testimonies, I’m not searching for facts in the historical sense. I am not operating under the assumption, for example, that Ursula Kemp was a practicing witch who called on her spirits to torment her neighbors into giving her money. I’m searching for patterns in the lore that appears throughout the forced testimonies and confessions. I am looking for the common beliefs that people held at the time related to spirits, including:
Familiar spirits who aid and teach
Initiatory spirits who test and transform
Guardian spirits who protect and guide
In trial after trial, accused “witches” spoke of spirits who came to them in dreams, in the woods, at lonely crossroads. Some appeared as animals, like cats, dogs, hares, or toads. Some appeared as human-like figures—sometimes monstrous, sometimes beautiful. Some were nameless; others were given names like Pyewacket, Vinegar Tom, or Thom Reid.
I don't believe the trial records describe literal, one-to-one experiences—certainly not after torture and immense pressure to fit into the cultural scripts of the time. But I do believe that these forced confessions identify themes in the popular beliefs about “lower classes” of spirits; spirits that taught, tested, healed, and sometimes demanded loyalty.
In my own practice, I use these old patterns of folk belief to inform how I work with spirits today.
The Familiar Spirit: The Ally and Teacher
From the lore we find in trial records, familiar spirits often appear as close companions. They assist in spellwork, provide knowledge, and sometimes act as intermediaries between the witch and greater powers.
In my work, the familiar spirit is the teacher, the helper, the translator between my world and the spirit world. They are the ones who whisper, who nudge, who offer tools or insights. When a spirit comes to me offering practical aid, magical techniques, or personal counsel, I recognize them through this lens—not as something to "command," but as a companion whose respect must be earned and kept.
The Initiator Spirit: The Tester and Challenger
Initiatory spirits are often the ones who appear suddenly, dramatically, demanding a choice. In trial lore, these are the spirits who offer pacts, knowledge at a price, or who appear during a crisis point in someone’s life.
In my work, initiators are the spirits (and, yes, sometimes deities) who test the mettle of a witch. They bring about trials, transformations, and liminal moments. When a spirit confronts me with a challenge—a personal trial, a necessary sacrifice, a moment of deep change—I see them through this lens. Initiators are not always "safe," but they are necessary if I am to grow as a spiritual being or in my practice.
The Guardian Spirit: The Shield and Guide
Guardian spirits show up in stories as protectors—spirits who guard against other spirits, warn of danger, or shield the witch from harm.
In my practice, these are the spirits I turn to for protection, grounding, and guidance.
They often arrive quietly, their presence felt rather than loudly announced. When a spirit steps forward to shield my work, offer warnings, or close a door that needs to be closed, I recognize the hand of a guardian.
Stitching the Past to the Present
I don't recreate witch trial testimonies verbatim—that would be neither wise nor respectful. But I listen to the treads of lore that those records carry. I let the old beliefs inform the shapes my practice can take. I treat the lore as a conversation that I’m having with voices speaking across time, offering clues, warnings, and reminders that spirit work has always been about relationship, trust, and reciprocity.
Today, my spirit work feels richer for it. It’s not just me, reaching blindly across a vast distance. It’s me, with a patchwork map stitched from a thousand stories, reaching back and being reached for in turn.
There’s no one right way to work with spirits. But for me, anchoring my practice in the echoes of folklore keeps me oriented—and keeps me moving forward with eyes wide open.
