Sabbatic Craft: A Religion of Early Modern Witchcraft?

A Brief History

When most people think of Witchcraft, at least if you're living after the 1950s (immortal vampires don't count...), they often default to one of the many Neopagan movements derived from Gardnerian Wicca. 

The term "witch" is heavily abused in countless contexts, but historically is derived from the Anglo Saxon wicca, which was the word for the local village Wise Woman, or wicce signifying the traditional Cunning Man. Both of whom were figures who used a mixture of folk remedies, local lore & oral village tradition to heal or maim people, find lost property, calm animals, change the weather or acquire love among other things, often for a price.

Known under countless names, Traditional Craft, Old Craft, the Elder Faith or Sabbatic Witchcraft, what we may dub as "Traditional" comprises the vast array of folkloric and witchcraft practices that predate Gardnerian Wicca in origin, whether that be by decades or centuries that have been passed on in traditions or families that have no established connection to Neopagan belief systems.

More so than any unique practice or ritual type, Traditional Witchcraft is defined by its "feel". It is a practice very connected to the Land, Nature & its cycles. You'll mainly be celebrating seasonal rites, using natural materials like herbs that you'll forage for, or even animal bones (or the occasional deer skull) that may be found out in the fields. If you aren't comfortable getting down and dirty in the soil, face to face with the Land and everything in it, Traditional Witchcraft isn't for you!

Importantly, while the Cunning Folk have been known historically to borrow from grimoires or the traditions of Ceremonial Magick, it is not a literary or learned tradition. 

Unlike Wicca -which draws more from the Ceremonial Tradition than it does traditional folklore, Traditional Craft is essentially a praxis of personal experience. It is unique to each practitioner & is derived directly from their personal encounters with the raw powers of the natural world. These experiences contribute to the collective memory, experience & "tradition" of the Craft, and it is therefore a living, growing & vibrant path, fuelled by ancient village lore & individual expression or exploration.

There is actually no direct word for "witch" in Latin, as the concept of sorcery was not held in the same regard. Krammer's infamous Maleus Malificarum, while often using the world Malificarum to mean "witch", actually translates as "wicked" and has no tinge of "magick" attached whatsoever. The word wicca itself is attested only as early as 1086.

In its broadest sense then, "Witchcraft"  can be defined as those practices, beliefs & traditions derived from European folk village magick from the 11th century up until the Late 17th. The Cunning Folk's magic has been defined as being "concerned not with the mysteries of the universe and the empowerment of the magus [as ceremonial magic usually is], so much as with practical remedies for specific problems".

An Evolving Tradition

Outside of a few well known practitioners from folklore & legend (Isobel Gowdie, Andro Mann, Tamsin Blight etc), Traditional Craft has no "founder". It cannot point to any one figure as its origin. For as long as there have been stories told around the hearth fire on cold winter's nights, Traditional Lore has been passed on from individual to individual, with little knowledge -or care, for its origin. 

There is a clear distinction between the rhymed or alliterated charms or cantrips of the Cunning Folk and the traditions of learned magick as seen in Goetia & the PGM. 

The cunning folk often produced written charms for their clients, which would be used in many ways, such as to protect from witchcraft or to help procure love. These typically contained a series of words that were believed to have magical powers, and which were commonly drawn either from grimoires or from the Bible (usually Psalms). These might be produced on paper, which was the cheaper option, or, in certain cases, parchment, which according to certain magical texts should have been made from the skin of a virgin or unborn calf.

Ceremonial Magick as a whole was confined to the upper classes who could read & write. Traditional Craft is handed down often between families or occasionally covens, where things are seldom written up in books. Practically speaking however, we find a tradition rooted in the use of herbs, dolls, images, adapted household goods & other materials accessible to village life. 

Familiars & Elfhame

Some cunning folk were said to employ supernatural entities known as familiar spirits to aid them in their practice of magic. These spirits, which were also believed to work for witches as well, are referenced in many of the witch trial records from the Early Modern period.

The familiar spirit was often believed to take the Cunning Person on a visionary journey to a place called Elfhame (literally meaning "elf-home"), which is now often referred to as Fairyland. In these trips, the Cunning Folk's soul was typically believed to go with their familiar on a journey into a hill, within which they would find a great subterranean fairy hall. In the hall, they would find a company of fairies, led by a king and queen, and would take part in feasting, drinking and dancing. 

An Elder Faith?

A question that frequently arises in the context of Witchcraft is whether the set of practices dubbed "Sabbatic" (that is, deriving from folklore around the Witches' Sabbat) can be considered a religion, with its own beliefs & deities. While Wicca certainly is a religion, you'd have a harder time identifying Traditional Craft as such.

On the surface, Traditional Craft does have a unique & beautiful array of folkloric deities & practices that could constitute a religious practice, however what distinguishes it from modern Wicca is that practitioners of Sabbatic Arts do not worship their gods. Respect, devotion & practice form part of common ritual, but there is no room for worship, as deities are frequently seen as patterns of energy or emanations of various archetypes of consciousness in an energetic universe that we all partake of. 

More so than any particular ritual or deity however, the defining characteristic of Traditional Craft is its connection to the Land itself. It is firmly rooted in centuries of folklore that has been passed on from community to community, generation to generation & takes note of the spirits that dwell within the landscape, the forces that animate it, the seasonal tides & rhythmic flows and of course, the local myths & folklore of any given place.