Midsummer’s Eve By Edward Robert Hughes

A change in magic

Hello. You might be surprised to see this. I’ve been away for some time. Since the last you heard from Greya, she and I had moved. Since then, we diverged to separate paths, not of force; but of choice. We both remain good friends, but have new lives and new loves. Scrolling through the shared files we had, I ran across this: the Tumblr. Giving it some thought, (and asking for her permission and blessing) I’m renaming, and redesigning the page. I hope you will join, or continue to join me, in this magical, wonderful, but sometimes scary adventure through life.

My name is Gregory, Greg if you'd prefer. I was raised Catholic, and continue to use my beliefs in my spells and readings. I stand by the idea of an open mind and a kind heart, and ‘positivity’ is my common word. I preform spells and read tarot with some accuracy, for I am studying on my own. Besides magic, I am a photographer, writer, and graphic designer. I am currently dating my girlfriend, and living in my apartment outside the city.

I hope to make this a community of positivity. Spell-casters of all creeds and cultures are welcome, even if you aren't a witch or are new to magic, welcome.

I’m confident, with all of you, we can make life a little easier for those that struggle. Magic be with you.

.:: Defining Traditional Witchcraft ::.

What is Traditional Witchcraft?

According to Michael Howard, Trad Craft refers to “any non-Gardnerian, non-Alexandrian, non-Wiccan or pre-modern form of the Craft, especially if it has been inspired by historical forms of witchcraft and folk magic”.

Traditional Witchcraft, therefore, is not a single monolith. We can, in fact, distinguish between:

Operative Witchcraft or Folk Magic

Ritual(istic) Witchcraft

This first difference is taken from Margaret Murray; she used the first term for indicating the practice of magic, as carried out by cunning folk and folk magicians, and included the non-religious practice of spells, charms, divinations, etc. “whether used by a professed witch or by a professed Christian, whether intended for good or for evil, for killing or for curing. Such charms and spells are common to every nation and country, and are practised by the priests and people of every religion. They are part of the common heritage of the human race and are therefore of no practical value in the study of any one particular cult.” (The Witch-Cult, p. 11.)

The second term (also called “Dianic cult” by Murray) indicates, instead, “the religious beliefs and ritual of the people, known in late mediaeval times as ‘Witches’. The evidence proves that underlying the Christian religion was a cult practised by many classes of the community, chiefly, however, by the more ignorant or those in the less thickly inhabited parts of the country. It can be traced back to pre-Christian times”. Therefore we can say that Ritual Witchcraft is the cult of pre-Christian Deities or Spirits connected to the witches.

While the ideas of Murray about this cult have now been discredited, other scholars have reopened this field as a viable area of study, discovering many ecstatic witch-cults. The most known academics in this field are: Carlo Ginzburg, Éva Pócs, Emma Wilby, Claude Lecouteux, Wolfgang Behringer, Sabina Magliocco, Gábor Klaniczay, Gustav Henningsen and Bengt Ankarloo.

Relying on the work of these scholars, we can say therefore that Ritual Witchcraft was/is the religious system surrounding the Sabbath, the Procession of the Dominae Nocturnae from house to house, the spiritual flight, Elphame, the Wild Hunt, the Night Battles, etc.

As we can understand, even if the majority of the Ritual Witches were/are also Operative Witches (practitioners of Folk Magic), not all the Operative Witches were/are also Ritual Witches. The majority of Folk Magicians/Operative Witches, in fact, didn’t go to the Sabbath, didn’t astrally fly, didn’t astrally go with the Wild Hunt, from house to house with the Domina Nocturna, to Elphame/the Otherworld or to the Night Battles. Ritual Witches did.

We can say, therefore, that Operative Witchcraft is a practice, while Ritual Witchcraft is a religion.

Traditional Witches who are secular are, therefore, usually Operative and not Ritual Witches. While the distinction between Ritual and Operative Witchcraft is an established one in the Witchcraft community, I introduce a new, according to me useful, second distinction, inside Ritual Witchcraft (i.e. Witchcraft as a religion), by borrowing the terms “Revivalism” and “Reconstructionism” from Polytheism, in which it’s an already established terminology:

Hereditary Witchcraft

Revivalist Witchcraft

Reconstructionist Witchcraft

Hereditary Traditional Witchcraft brings together all the traditions that claim a lineage from the Witchcraft of the past.

Revivalist Traditional Witchcraft is inspired by folklore, trials and the figure of the witch without any presumption of hereditarity. Unlike the Reconstructionist one, it leaves ample space for personal initiative and the influence of other traditions, without slavishly following the history in every single detail.

Reconstructionist Traditional Witchcraft, finally, tries to resume, starting from the in-depth study of folklore, historical trials and documents, the exact practices and beliefs of Historical Witchcraft. For example, the pantheon of Spirits, the festivities, the structure of the Sabbath, the structure of the offerings, and so on.

An important aspect for those who practice Reconstructionism is the resumption of the names of the Gods (or it would be more correct to say, of the “Deific Familiar Spirits” or “Major Spirits”) forgotten and remained only in the trials papers and in folklore. The idea is to reopen roads, ways to these Spirits. Reconstructing therefore means paying homage to these Spirits and allowing those interested to re-establish a connection with Them.

We said before that Traditional Witchcraft is not Wicca. What’s the difference?

According to the Traditional Witchcraft author Lee Morgan:

“It could easily be said that one of the major differences between the modern revival referred to as “Traditional Witchcraft” and the other modern revival known as “Wicca”, is that Traditional Witchcraft draws on “folkloric material” and is largely “shamanic” whereas Wicca is more of a fusion of Western Occult ceremonial and natural magic traditions.”

(From: Lee Morgan’s “A Deed Without a Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft”)

Daily Oracle Reading for 6-6-16! <3 Atlantis: Atlantis symbolizes a rapid, quick energy that drives you to pursue your true calling in life, the thing that makes you happiest. She is symbolic of the healing aspect of water. She urges you to tap into that wonderful healing energy to heal yourself so that you may be able to do what you were sent here to do. She encourages you to connect with the divine feminine. Her energy will inspire you to be fearless and pursue your dreams! She works closely with crystals and sea creatures. Connecting with creatures and sea life can help you tap into this beautiful and feminine healing energy. Telepathy: The two beautiful twin mermaids symbolize a telepathic bond between two individuals. A telepathic bond enables people to send messages and energy to one another without using modern technology (even though tech is awesome). As we progress with the wonderful advances of digital and technological communication, sadly we tend to forget about or lose our natural gifts of telepathy and intuition. These mermaids are reminding you to connect with your emotional center, and trust your intuition. Send telepathic messages to a loved one far away, or connect with the energies around you. Be present. Re connect with your emotional self, and your delightful methods of non-verbal communication. Vulnerability: These merfolk represent tearing down your emotional walls, and letting yourself be vulnerable. In order to heal, we need to tear down our emotional blocks and walls so we can be open to healing. That requires being vulnerable, as difficult as that is. If we keep large walls up, and refuse to let healing in and others who are trustworthy and have our best interest at heart, we block our healing. These merfolk urge you to open up and allow yourself to be vulnerable. A guide, a therapist, or a trusted teacher, friend, or relative are a good place to start. This little spread is all about healing our emotional selves and becoming attune to our emotions in order to be able to find our true calling. If we do not heal, we do not have the strength or motivation to help ourselves and others and do what makes us truly happy. Oracle of the Mermaids by Lucy Cavendish (Blue Angel Publishing) Card descriptions are based off of the deck guidebook, but in my own interpretation and my own words.

Yessss!!! You got it!!!!!

Thank you, Barnes & Noble 👏🏼💜

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I don’t study genocides war crimes and human rights for fun. I study it bc my people have been at the foot from the very first genocide of the 20th century and previous attempts to exterminate my entire race. The fact that no one is speaking up when another genocide is at the brink of occurring to the ethnic Armenians living in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) is mind blowing. I have to say I’m not surprised by the lack of effort - Americans, especially, are the most self interested humans I’ve met. This isn’t about narrative, this is about rapid belligerent individualism. We can philosophize all day about it but at the end - people don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves. There is rarely any altruism left in this world. As Monte said, no ones gonna fight for us, we will have to fight on our own to survive. The alternative is not an option.

@sarinezeitlian on IG for the photos