Traditional Paganism and Witchcraft

The Meaning of "Traditional"

The Art and the Way of Traditional Paganism and Craft

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The Lasting Path

The "Art" of Traditional Paganism and Witchcraft is an art of the spirit; the Traditional worldview is a "way of seeing" that places the power of the Land, and the unseen places within the Land, first in all a person thinks and feels" and the "Craft" is the Craft of living in accordance with the Land, with the source of dreams, and the deeper urgings of Fate.

"The Old Ways" is a rather broad term that really just refers to the non-Christian and pre-Christian way of thinking, which was so vital a part of the lives of many peoples all over the world. In the sense I use it, it refers to my European ancestors particularly; however, the path I discuss here is not limited to people of European ancestry only. This is because the powers I believe in, the things I have experienced, and the values I treasure, are human powers, human experiences, and human values, before they ever were "European".

The usage of the term "Traditional" causes quite an amount of confusion on the part of some people, and quite a rebuke from others. I began to use the term when I realized it stood for something very important- it stands for a perspective on the Old Ways, and a perspective on modern-day revivals of things such as paganism and pagan sorcery or witchcraft, that is not an outgrowth of the "new age" movement.

Traditional paganism, and traditional forms of "power manipulation" or sorcery, or pre-Christian spiritual ecstasies, is "traditional" precisely because it is not born from the cradle of the New Age- it is not born from Theosophy, from selective aspects of liberal Christianity, from Ceremonial Magic, from Kabbalism, or the other "aspects" of the New Age mixture, including historical revisionist feminism, Eastern religion, Yoga, or any of the like.

These paths, like Ceremonial Magic or Kabbalism, or Eastern religions, are all useful and powerful paths for those that utilize them with seriousness and with an eye for cultural context, but the watered-down and haphazard mixtures that they normally appear in, in the "new age" movement, are actually quite insulting both to them, and to the other traditions they are oftentimes entangled with.

The Traditional Path includes the legendary "family traditions" of people who claim to have kept a "pre-Christian" tradition of some form of veneration or systematic manipulation of older powers and virtues, and it includes all the people out there who are alone, or just with a few close spiritual friends, living on the Land, and who see the Land as a holy power that contains the memory of mankind. It includes people who keep a "ground-level" moral and ethical code, and who understand where the true "paganism" of the past vanished off to- it vanished off into the souls of men and women and into the Land. It re-emerged constantly through Folk songs, folktales, Faery Tales, and Ballads- all of these things, as we shall see in this work, are the true wellsprings of the Hidden Tradition or the Secret Tradition of the true Old Ways.

Traditional forms of paganism and Traditional worldviews are not flashy, not structured to the nth degree. They are as old as the ground under us, and they are as old as the souls within us. They have no appeal to those who are looking for flashy names, ceremonial robes, and titles. They are not a fast road to having sex or orgies, nor are they a place that offers comfort to the rebellious ego, that only exists to please itself.

The Traditional Path is one of quiet immediacy and deep seriousness, and it offers no great and simple code for you to thrust in the faces of other people, during debates. It offers no great assurances past the greatest assurance of all: "You are one with the Land, and all is as it must be."

The "magic" of the Traditional Path is the magic of the heart of the ground, and the unseen spirit of mankind and Nature- and its metaphysics are not simple to grasp, nor do they come easily to those who have their understandings of "magic" tainted by the new-age. All the same, those who can master the Traditional Path"s many tests and trials can come to a destiny that humans can scarce dream about or comprehend- the unfolding of the human being into the fulfillment of Fate herself.

But this is not possible without the "Ground level" work of coming into a true reciprocal and conscious relationship with the Land and the Old Powers that dwell within. This is the first work of the essential human, and when this work is accomplished, the other will be, as well. Traditional Paganism, in common with many traditional "folk" religions around the world, is a spiritual path that deals with the Land itself as the most sacred manifestation of a timeless reality, which is full of many great powers, including those worshipped as Gods by our ancestors, and the spirits of the dead, who forever fill Nature and make her the repository of all the Wisdom and power of our shared past.

Any path that deals with direct, simple experience of the "gateways" between the human consciousness and the immense, eldritch powers and spaces that exist within the body of the Land all around us, and any path that can approach these powers with a respect born out of spontaneous and genuine love, can claim to be "Traditional", on some level. The human mind can experience many things, and the language of symbol is the key to unlocking this latent power in the mind. Traditional Paganism, like all Traditional spiritual paths, relies on symbols found in myths, folktales and folksongs, and in oral lore, which lead the mind into the right "place" to undergo a transformative and rather indescribable experience, which is the heart of True initiation.

In the British Isles, which is the cradle of my own Traditional Path, and all of my most crucial understandings, balladry and myth- coupled with the stories and talks I"ve gotten from local traditional pagans- include within them symbols that cause a person"s mind and soul and spirit to enter into a communion with the Land, and with all things seen and unseen. This is the art of the Seer, this is the meeting in which the human being enters into a wordless "depth" experience and becomes a familiar power to the Land and to the powers within it. They return the favor and come to the person, becoming Familiar to them, and becoming the teachers and protectors of the human who has the mental strength and devotion to respond to them, without fear or hesitation.

The traditional path is like a dusty antique shop full of forgotten things, thousands of old shapes and lumps and hollow-eyed dolls, old cups and bowls, and clocks that stopped working a long time ago... but underneath them all is a great void full of noise, color, and mystery, just waiting to pour out and frighten and enlighten.... it is a path for people who can understand and appreciate the ambiance of ruined cottages with just the chimney stones standing, and autumn woods after rain, or the power of the sky at night, in the middle of a field. There"s really no other way to express the essence of it. it's a path for people who can see folklore and old stories as not "just stories", but timeless realities all unto themselves, pieces of an eldritch puzzle that unlocks a door into what we are inside, unseen but potent.

There"s something going on... something happening, hidden from most people, but right below the surface, for a person who can understand what I just said. For those who wish to gain a few hints and pointers to awakening this within themselves, I confidently point you to the huge body of folk-tales and myth that exists as a record of the beauty and spiritual power of our pagan past- but also to your own heart, which forever speaks words you need to hear.

Second to those things, I offer you these words and writings, and wish you all the best of luck. I hope my words can help you, in some small way, to experience a path to wisdom and peace that is as lasting as the Land itself.

Let us live and love in Wisdom, in day and in darkness.

Robin Artisson
Lammas 2005

Site last updated: November 2, 2005