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Bringing together the craft of old, to serve mankind.

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History

History of the craft is, shall we say difficult to prove, there are many snippets, clues, rumors, stories and legends, a few records and a variety of people who will say that within their family or area craft skills have been practiced for a very long time.

We have a wide range of sources, and snippets of information, as well as current knowledge that can be matched up to decode some of it in part.

If we were to look back a few hundred years, then everyone in Britain had to attend the Christian church and as witches, sorceress, wizards and wise people, were not among the  people who canvassed for changes in this, we have to assume that they were at the very least token Christians.

Christianity for the majority of its existence also involved spells, talisman and other magical activities. Many monks and others involved in Christianity were also involved in producing herbal cures, and in a wide range of other practices, which today we nay feel is more in the arena of the witch. Many people then as now would go along with the public presentation of Christianity while having a personal view that included knowledge handed down, particularly in country areas, and personal experience, but would not discuss this with the church clergy who were mostly the younger sons of the well off, and a part of a different class. The class system of Britain meant that most only mixed with their own class, and while those with wealth may have controlled the law, and religion, the country people could still talk amongst themselves and hand down their cures and other practices, and to a large degree lived within a small world that was most relevant to them. Christianities answer has been over the years to put its name over older traditions, so a healing well became a holy well, and the church was at least from a token degree involved in many traditions. The people of the countryside however managed to keep many of their traditions alive, and would know what was really behind it, so saw no problem in appearing to allow the church to become involved. In more recent years some traditions have been recreated for tourism such as well dressing.

Over the centuries you find two main strands, the country crafts, being handed down from one generation to another, isolated to a large degree from the outside world, often by people who could not read or write and the inventor, scientist, alchemist, astrologers, and others who were on the forefront of opening areas of knowledge, often when it was difficult and dangerous to do so. 

In addition to this from the 1400's to today we have friendly societies. While today these are largely insurance or finance organizations the early ones were local community groups that helped each other towards medical costs, survival if sick and unable to work and funeral expenses. By the early 1800's there were in excess of 7,000 of these, and many also held feast days and other activities, parading insignia on poles etc. Some but not all also provided cures coming from handed down craft skills. While many of these were disbanded when the national health service came about some organizations also still exist and some have been kept alive by small groups who still hand down traditional cures. This is an enormous topic in its own right.

If we go back far further to just before the Romans came to Britain, some will say that the original form of Christianity came to Britain and was at the time compatible and easily merged with Celtic and druidic beliefs, and that these beliefs in turn came from far older beliefs that shared a common origin with the Jewish/Christian, and many of the world other religions and belief systems. A second wave came after that was a merger of the Roman and a form of Christianity that the modern day form of Christianity has grown from.

Some may say there is little evidence of the craft in older times and all we have is a collection of unrelated traditions, often observed by outsiders, and written about  by people who did not have a full understanding. In addition that at various points, bits or parts have been created, or made to look older than they are. Also that old techniques, have been given later scientific explanations. All of this we acknowledge. We have at best an incomplete jigsaw puzzle, where there are large holes in many places and extra pieces that at the present do not fit. However having said that only by attempting to put the jigsaw puzzle together and to then search for missing parts will we get to see the whole picture.

In many ways we are playing a detective game, where we are  researching a wide range of skills from a range of cultures at varying points in history, working out the common parts and expanding our knowledge as we go. Using the knowledge in some areas then to attempt to unravel other puzzles. In some parts we have to formulate theories and test these, or to try experiments to see if different effects produce the same results.

This is in some ways made more difficult as a large amount that has been written has not been done by people with open minds. Archaeology likewise has suffered over history from people with a bible in one hand and trowel in the other. The German interest in archaeology in the 1930's likewise was done with an agenda, and other information has been suppressed or changed to suit the philosophies of the group or time. Even today current discoveries are fitted into the pattern handed down from suspect work.

Much of what was known at times has clearly been lost, and the exact means of using some skills likewise misled. However we also have to remember that not everything is as it first seems, in that in some cases people may have used a belief to present something that did not actually exist, as a means of controlling people or giving a group a common goal. In which case we may search in vain to understand the lost magic of a site or belief.

Although many groups within the association would class themselves as traditional or instinctual witches, some are more folk or historic study groups, and perhaps their craft areas is more restricted.

The history of the creation of Wicca, is not in itself of great interest to us, more so than the invention or development of all religions are as a section of social history, while the identification of the routes the knowledge came from for Wicca is, as is following up the background of these sources and and what can be learnt from them. 

Most traditional groups are living in our time, and although having a history and collecting knowledge from before where it is available, our applications are for our time, and our studies to  expand our skills for tomorrow, and from this viewpoint we do not need to prove a pedigree from any particular group, or culture. Most groups likewise have not found the need to create elaborate rituals, or define a form of dress,  jewellery, or rules, but allow a level of variance or tolerance to prevail so that members feel able to put forward ideas, or interpretations in the knowledge that their ideas will be considered and views respected.

The history of the association is included within the introduction page and has not been duplicated here.

An article on the history of the craft can never be completed as we are constantly adding new skills and knowledge and struggling to recapture knowledge that has been lost.

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