What “Old-Style Witchcraft” Means to Me
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.
For a long time, I used the term Traditional Witchcraft to describe an aspect of my practice. But over time, I’ve found that it no longer fits what I am doing, it know longer lets others know what to expect from me as a practitioner. When people hear "Traditional Witchcraft," they tend to think of something specific—Cochrane’s Craft, the Witch Father and Witch Mother, or a strong emphasis on bioregionalism in magic. But none of these concepts align with my living craft in any meaningful way.
The parts of my witchcraft that fall under the umbrella of Traditional Witchcraft are structural—ritual elements that provide a framework allowing me to go beyond simply performing spells. My rites and rituals have been shaped by Traditional Witchcraft in the places where primary and academic sources related to my craft have left gaps, giving me a way to "fill in the blanks" where needed. However, the true foundation of my practice isn’t built upon the structures typically associated with Traditional Witchcraft.
What lies at the core of my craft is a deep commitment to the roots of the magic that brought me into witchcraft—ensuring that the spells, formulas, and rituals I create align with early grimoires, folklore, and historical magical traditions as well as honoring my ancestry and building a practice beyond the cunning charms and old wives tales my grandparents’ grandparents brought with them into our family. My goal is to walk the same path as the folk magicians of the past—specifically to reconnect with the folklore and folkways that were almost lost as my family left their ancestral homelands in search of better lives—practicing magic in a way that honors their traditions while remaining relevant to my own lived experience. I want my practice to reflect the methods and beliefs of the of my grandmother’s grandfather and of the other cunningfolk who came before me, not through modern interpretations, but by engaging directly with historical sources and reconstructing my craft based on what I learned from my family along with what other pracitioners left behind.
Because of this, I’ve moved away from calling my practice "Traditional Witchcraft" and have chosen instead to refer to it as Old-Style Witchcraft in my own grimoire and private life. I thin this term better reflects my approach—rooted in historical magic and the ways witches and cunning folk would have actually practiced, making my own supplies, using materials and methods that would have been present at the time the documents I research from were written. It acknowledges the past without tying me to a specific modern framework that doesn’t quite fit. By using "Old-Style Witchcraft," I emphasize that the heart of my craft is built upon the remnants of historical magic, folk beliefs, and practical spellwork rather than a particular contemporary tradition.
Language is powerful in shaping how we understand and express our craft. The words we use to describe our craft matter, and for me, this shift in terminology has been an important step in defining my path more clearly, both for myself and for those who seek to understand my practice.
