It is important to know what other types of witches exist so that you can understand your own craft and power. Knowing what kind of witch you help you play to your strengths and your magic will be stronger.
There are a lot of different types of witches and it’s great to know what kinds and what they believe in how they go about their magick.
The most important thing to remember is that you do not have to limit yourself to being one type of witch. I certainly do not. This guide is a celebration of witches in all their forms.
Table of Contents
What Kind of Witch Are You?
This guide will help you find out more about the kinds of witches there are and may help you find a new direction for your craft.
If you are reading this to find out about what other kinds of witchcraft appeals to you, read on to see if any other witchcraft calls out to your witch’s self, you may feel drawn to another kind of craft. This guide could make you want to find out more and increase your powers, practice, and connections to your craft.
It may be that only parts of each description appeal to you, and that’s ok too.
If you haven’t already, take our magick ability test and find out our innate magick strengths.
Why Bother to Know The Different Types?
For a few reasons, it is important to know what types of witches exist:
- It is helpful to understand the different types of witches so that you can understand the wider world of witchcraft.
- This will help you understand other witches better who perhaps practice different magic and have different interests.
- It helps you extend your own practice.
- It can also help you understand which coven you might belong in.
- It can help ease your mind about your practice and beliefs to know you are not alone.
- It may help you explain your own witchcraft to others
- It helps you keep your book of shadows better, you can experiment more with it.
- It might lead you down a path of discovering new magic within yourself, and a different craft.
Only when I started to get to know so many witches outside my own coven did I discover the range of witchcraft and the beliefs different witches have. This led me down a deep and personal journey of discovery and widened my craft enormously. Without looking around you can limit your craft and your powers.
I am hoping to clear up a few basics that many witches are afraid to ask and to make many more of you curious to understand other witches and how they develop their practices. For instance how many of you will cast spells as well as use tarot cards? How many of you will be practicing magic that is dominated by the moon?
My guess is lots of you mix it up a little, and that increases your connection to your powers.
Does a Witch Have to Be Wiccan or Pagan?
The simple answer to this is no. You don’t have to be pagan or Wiccan to be a witch, and you don’t have to be a witch to be pagan or Wiccan, but there is a certain amount of crossover.
Interestingly, the United States Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found 342,000 Wiccans and 340,000 Pagans in the United States in 2008, and a survey by the Pew Research Center found that between 1 and 1.5 million – identify as Wiccan or Pagan, so the numbers are growing!
It is important to remember that many witches are also Christian, and this is perfectly ok, there is no need to change religion to be a great practicing witch.
At least we are no longer burnt at the stake or drowned for being a witch as they did in times gone by, perhaps that’s why a lot more of us will identify as Wiccan openly if that is what we believe.
Before I get on to list and explain the main kinds of witches who practice their craft today, I am going to talk about my own brand of witchcraft which is the eclectic witch.
The Eclectic Witch
One of the wonderful things about being a witch is that it is incredibly liberating. There are no rules that say you can only practice one form of magic. I am writing first about the eclectic witch because, he or she practices all kinds of magic, and feels unbounded by rules. The eclectic witch can believe in the power of the moon, be connected to the earth, and be Wiccan or not. Any mix of witchcraft can work well with others.
The eclectic witch will generally also be a ceremonial witch, a witch who uses rituals regularly and will use a lot of herbs and moon blessed artifacts in their magick practices.
There are many eclectic witches, male and female, and Wiccan and non-Wiccan, those who are a fan of paganism and those who are not.
I am a proud eclectic witch, I practice a whole range of witchcraft, and I find this increases my breadth and my powers.
The craft a witch will practice is driven by what they believe in. A witch may be drawn to divination and earth magic at the same time, a witch may be Wiccan or not, may connect to the Goddess and the earth, to the Divine and to the sea.
We as witches all respect each other and eclectic witches use whatever they are drawn to use, they dip into lots of different kinds of witchcraft.
The Different Types of Witches
I have beliefs that match with a number of the different witches and sources of power, and it is likely as you read them that you will too. If any of them pique your curiosity I hope this leads you down a path of discovery for your craft.
At least it may help you understand different types of witchcraft you tune into around you and give you the language to start asking questions and exploring this for yourself. We are a strong sisterhood and brotherhood and knowing more about each other will strengthen our alliance and therefore our power in the world.
I will group them together where possible in a way that makes sense to me and hope that I explain it well in that way to you.
There are four main groupings of witches:
- Wiccan witches
- Shamanic witches
- Earth witches
- Elemental witches
Wiccan witches
There are 4 main different types of Wiccan witches:
- Garnerian
- Alexandrian
- Correllian
- Dianic
Wiccan beliefs are broad, all are based on a strong connection to nature, honoring the Goddess and many, though not all practice magic.
“An it harm none, do as thou wilt.” or “Do what you will, so long as it harms none” is a wonderful precept of Wiccan belief, it is known as the Wican Rede, and should help anyone who is wary of Wiccans to understand they are a force for good.
It is quite possible you have Wiccan beliefs and you practice them in your magic. I am going to explain the different branches of Wiccan Belief briefly. it may be you fall into one of these, or your beliefs fall from their origins but you are less rule-bound than these groups.
Gardnerian Witches
Gardnerian witches are followers of Gerald Gardner. It is a very British form of witchcraft. Gardnerian witches are forbidden to speak about their membership or disclose the names of others in their coven. This can sometimes cause people to speculate as to their rituals and intent, many thinking that it is related to the occult. This is unfounded.
Gardnerian witches believe in The Mother Goddess and Cernunnos, the Horned God (it’s an ancient Celtic name), they are deeply tied the male and female worship.
Gardnerian Wiccans are initiated into their coven and graduate through the coven over three stages each stage takes at least a year and a day, often much longer. This coven is often led by the High Priestess and often a High Priest of her choosing. The coven, often consisting of 13 members works as one with the rituals conducted inside a very traditional magic circle, these are kept secret by all the witches in the coven.
In the past, it was suggested that the works were performed ‘skyward’ or nude as you might know it, but that has all changed!
Alexandrian Wiccan Witches
Alexandrians are more eclectic than the Gardnerian witches, they share some beliefs for instance in the male and female deities, however, they are less formal and have more of an open approach to ceremonial craft and other traditions.
They believe as the Garnerians do that only a witch can make another witch, and so they too have the three levels of initiation into the coven. They do have neophytes though, usually young believers who learn their craft and then go forward to become initiates.
The covens meet during new moon full moon and sabbat festivals.
Correllian Nativist Witches
Witches following this tradition didn’t start to consider themselves part of the Wiccan tradition until about 50 years ago. A mix of Scottish witch and native American, this blend of belief systems is all about a personal connection to the Deity or Goddess.
All things happen in accordance with the will of Deity, and in the innate goodness of that Deity. Connecting to the diety and goodness through the spiritual practice of magic is at the core of their beliefs.
Cornellians believe that we come to know ourselves and our powers in part through practicing magic, this is how we delve into our own beings.
This is all about the spirit and connecting to that spirit and all living things. Correllian witches respect all traditions and feel a connection to the universe.
Corellians believe strongly in reincarnation and astral projection.
Dianic Witches
Are witches who worship the Goddess, named after the Roman Goddess Diana, this is a female-only coven. The focus is on healing practices, womanhood and folklore. Men are not admitted to the covens.
Shamanic Witches
Augury Witches
An augury witch is often a diviner witch and will read signs and symbols and prophecy. Some will have a gift that works without tools, some will use tarot, oracle, numerology, angel cards. Many will use animals and the earth. Some will use scrying tools.
The augury witches bear some similarity to ancient shamanic tradition. They are connected to past present and future are in tune with all three. This is a very spiritual practice.
The tools of the augury witches often go way beyond the tarot, they will walk among the earth tuned to sights and sounds that to them are symbols of change and future happenings.
The augury witch becomes highly intuitive and connects with objects as well as nature. The augur is a foreseer, the tools they use help them guide people on their journeys.
Hedge Witches
The hedge witch has a few other names, they are known as shaman or seidh, and seer. This witchcraft focuses on those who walk between worlds, and those who communicate with the spirit. The practices associated with these witches are astral projection, lucid dreaming, and spirit work.
There is a crossover in both augury and hedgewitch work at times, this groups them under the shamanic banner.
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Nature Witches
There are 6 main kinds of a nature witch:
- Cottage
- Kitchen
- Garden
- Green
- Sea
- Moon
Cottage Witches
These witches are centered on the home, and garden, and often foraging. A lot of the magic is about the protection of the home and growing herbs for protection and healing. These witches will often focus their energy close to home but have a strength that relates to nature and protective spirits and energies.
Kitchen Witches
The kitchen witch is interesting in that a lot of work is naturally in the kitchen and is about food preparation, the food is often restorative and healing. The kitchen witch will imbue their food with their spiritual powers and intentions and will fill their kitchens with smells of the earth and create magic through their skills.
Kitchen craft often involves making potions and healing lotions, bringing in the herbs and spices, warming them for use in spells and magic rituals.
The kitchen witch, garden witch and the green witch are close in their practices. The Kitchen witch will be strong in their knowledge of herbs and teas and will be able to lay their hands on just the right herb mix for the right spell and ritual.
Green Witches
The green witch lives in a world of herb flowers and essential oils and uses these as a core part of their magick. The green witch and kitchen witch and gardening witch often crossover. It may be that the green witch doesn’t grow or distill the oils but they will know exactly how to use them in magic ceremonies.
The green witch is a child of nature, deeply connected to the earth and to the alchemic practices of healing and magic.
Sea Witches
The sea witch will draw their magic from the sea, and all things connected to it. The sea witch is often connected to the moon and weather and the brine of the sea. Many rituals are conducted beside or on the sea, seaweed and sand and stone all smoothed by the sea are often part of their rituals.
The sea witch is drawn to the ocean and the beach and finds their powers reinforced and cleansed by being near it.
Moon Witches
Witches connected to the moon and the phases of the moon believe that the powers of transformation and change depend upon the phase of the moon. They bring down the power of the moon harnessing it in all their spells and magic.
Moon witches believe each phase of the moon can be harnessed to bring about different manifestations. Often the moon phase is used to determine when to cast spells and carry out rituals.
The power of the moon is often called upon to imbue and cleanse other tools at the witches’ disposal. Moon witchcraft is often used in combination with other witchcraft, particularly all nature witchcraft, green and sea especially.
The sea witch and moon witch are often strongly connected. The strength of the tide and the moon combined means that many sea witches follow the moon phases closely.
Ceremonial Witches
A ceremonial witch is simply one who believes in the powers of rituals. These rituals may be about healing, love, wealth, protection, a whole range of intentions and manifestations.
Often the ceremonial witch will be combined with any of the witches listed above. They will use the moon, tides, crystals, herbs, belief in a Goddess, one or all, to perform their magick. Often the ceremonial witch will use candles and will be in possession of a grimoire as their key reference book.
The ceremonial witch will often their book of shadows as a way of recording all their rituals and how they work for them.