Types of Witches: 60 Fascinating Witch Traditions to Help You Discover Your Witchcraft Path
There are many different witchcraft traditions from all over the world.
Witchcraft Comes in Many Varieties
Those who find themselves drawn to witchcraft might be surprised to discover just how many paths and traditions are open to them. There is a witch tradition to suit every taste and interest.
I'm listing 60 of them here, but there are many more, as well as new hybrid paths. You may discover that you're interested in more than just one of these types of witchcraft, so I encourage you to explore and find the right one for you.
Am I a Witch?
If you have always been fascinated by the supernatural and always felt a bit different from other people, you might be a witch. Simply put, a witch is someone who uses energy to affect the world around them, someone who embraces the magical power that courses through our veins.
There are some telltale signs to look for that indicate you could be a witch, such as an attraction to the dark arts, a love of nature, and the ability to identify the energy of any place you visit.
How Do I Know What Kind of Witch I Am?
The best thing about being a witch is that you get to choose what kind of witch you want to be. Unless you have been born and raised in a particular tradition by your family, you are the one who decides on what aspects of witchcraft you would like to incorporate into your life. It's a personal decision.
Different Types of Witches and Witchcraft
Here is a list of all the traditions I'll cover in more detail. If you are just looking for a quick reference, you need not read further. If you want to know more, scroll down the page to find the tradition/s that interest you.
- African: an umbrella term for the many types of magic practised in Africa
- Alexandrian: founded in the 1960s in Britain by Alex and Maxine Sanders and based on ritual and ceremonial magic
- Ancestral: an ancient form of magic based around contacting the spirits of the dead and communicating with one's ancestors
- Angel Witch: a practitioner of magic who communicates and works with angels and other divine beings
- Animist: a witch who is in tune with nature and all living things on the planet; one who sees no distinction between humans, animals, plants, or any other physical object in the world
- Art Witch: a magical practitioner who works with art as their primary medium
- Arthurian Witch: magic based around the old legends of King Arthur
- Astarte: an occult order that worships the ancient Greek goddess of fertility and war
- Astrology Witch: a witch who uses astrology in their magical practice and lifestyle
- Augury: a witch who divines omens, signs, and symbols
- Axis Mundi: the belief in a central pillar that connects the earth to the heavens
- British Traditional Witchcraft: local traditions, superstitions and spellcasting that sprung up all over the British Isles
- Celtic Witch: based on the study and worship of ancient Celtic deities, mythology, earth magic, and ceremonial rites
- Ceremonial: a term that refers to practitioners of "high magick"
- Chaos Magic: a contemporary magical practice that blends all types of magic and is based on certainty in the magic used
- Chthonioi: a variation of the Alexandrian tradition that also includes the pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses
- Crystal Witch: a witch who focuses on using crystals in their magical practices
- Dianic Witchcraft: an offshoot of Wicca which focuses on female deities; named after Diana, the Roman goddess of hunting, nature, and the Moon
- Divination: a witch specialising in divination, such as tarot cards, scrying, or other such means of discovering occult and hidden information
- Dowser: a practitioner who uses the ancient art of dowsing to locate the ley lines that encircle the globe
- Druid: practitioners of the ancient Celtic religion
- Earth-Based Witchcraft; Gaia: nature-centric witchcraft based around old European traditions; practitioners focus on harmony with the earth
- Eclectic Witch: a witch who embraces all types of magic and magical traditions, refusing to restrict themself to one kind of magical practice
- Eco-Paganism: someone who is an environmental activist who uses magical practices to defend the earth and help raise awareness of environmental issues
- Egyptian Witchcraft: magical practitioners who incorporate ancient Egyptian deities and magic into their arsenal' may incorporate Wiccan traditions as well
- Elemental Witch: a witch who works with the five esoteric elements—fire, water, air, earth, and spirit
- European: an umbrella term for all of the witchcraft and magical traditions of Europe
- Faery: based on ancient folklore from the British Isles
- Fellowship of Isis: an occult order based around the worship of the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis
- Floral Witch: a witch who works primarily with flowers
- Folk Witchcraft: magical tradition is closely related to British witchcraft (and its derivations) and Faery
- Gardnerian: a version of Wicca based on the writings of Gerald Brosseau Gardner; highly structured (coven-based with a formal progression through degrees of initiation); secret practices
- Green Witchcraft: a witch who bases their magical practice around gardening and/or herbalism
- Healer: someone who uses healing magic
- Hearth Witch: a witch who focuses on working magic in the home
- Hedge Witch: a solitary witch who works with local plants and herbs
- Hellenic: a form of magic and paganism based on worshipping the ancient Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses
- Hereditary Witch: unique to each family and contains many aspects of traditional paganism; passed down through generations
- The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: an organisation devoted to studying the occult and ancient magic; founded in England in the early 20th century, the organisation helped revive interest in occult studies in Europe
- Kitchen Witch: a witch who practices magic in the home and the kitchen in particular
- Law of Attraction: witchcraft based on the now-popular Law of Attraction
- Left-Hand Path: witches who reject standard magical conventions and engage in the breaking of taboos
- Lounge Witch: a witch who restricts their witchcraft to the home
- Luciferian: those magical practitioners who invoke and worship Lucifer, who is revered as the bringer of light and the morning star
- Lunar Witch: a witch who works with the lunar cycles
- Musical Witch: a witch who expresses feelings and thoughts through music
- Neo-Pagan: an umbrella term that refers to the resurgence in all kinds of witchcraft and the 'new' earth-based customs
- Norse: Known as seiðr or seidh, Norse witchcraft derives from the ancient religion of Scandinavia
- Satanic: a cult of defiance against the constructs of a dictatorial society, the church, and traditional magic
- Scandinavian: a type of witchcraft practised in Northern Europe and derived from ancient Norse magic
- Sea Witch: practitioners of water-based magic who typically live in coastal areas
- Secular Witch: a practitioner of magic that does not worship any deities
- Shaman: a broad term used to describe a magician who works magic by deliberately entering an altered state of consciousness
- Shinto: an ancient Japanese religion based around the worship of spirits known as Kami
- Sigil or Word Witch: a practitioner of magic who uses sigils and weaves words into their magic
- Solitary Witch: a witch who generally conceals their witchiness and works alone
- Stregheria: an Italian form of witchcraft that has a lot in common with Wicca
- Tech Witch: someone who uses modern technology to aid in their witchcraft, such as using a microwave instead of a cauldron
- Thelema: founded by famed occultist Aleister Crowley; centres around ceremonial rituals and interpretations of ancient Egyptian traditions
- Wicca: a form of modern paganism founded in England in the mid-20th century
1. African Witchcraft
On the continent of Africa, witchcraft varies hugely from country to country. It is way too complex to be summarised simply as 'African Witchcraft.' There are healers, fortune-tellers, and practitioners of black magic. There are also witch-finders whose job is to seek out and imprison, torture, or kill anyone suspected of witchcraft.
In some areas, locals revere the witch as a healer and all-around good person. In other places, to have 'witch' whispered about you is a death sentence.
It's a big subject and, if you are interested, I recommend you research on a per-country basis.
2. Alexandrian
Alexandrian Witchcraft is a tradition that began in Britain in the late 1960s. Taking Gerald Gardner's reinvention of witchcraft, Alex and Maxine Sanders created their version. It changed and morphed throughout Alex Sander's lifetime. Based on formal ritual and ceremonial magic, Sanders described it as 'somewhat eclectic.' Students are expected to study as required and undergo initiation ceremonies.
Stuart Farrar, a student of the Sanders, wrote a popular book, still in print today, called "What Witches Do", based on the workings of the Alexandrian coven. Farrar refers to the type of witchcraft they practice as Wicca, and I particularly like this quote:
Within Wicca there is much variety of emphasis on the factors I have mentioned. But the strength of Wicca is its flexibility. Rigid dogma, conformism, and monolithic organization are foreign to its spirit. The basic unit of Wicca is not any particular sect, but the individual coven and the people who compose it. Each coven has its own way, its own character, its own emphasis—and its own contribution. The mine of tradition is so rich that each coven can work its own seam.
— Stewart Farrar, What Witches Do
3. Ancestral Witch
A branch of folk magic varying from country and continent. Ancestral Witchcraft focuses on working with ancestors, both family and more generally. A practitioner of Ancestral Witchcraft performs rituals designed to connect them with the spirits of the dead. Witches, in general, only do this at Samhain (All Hallows, Halloween).
4. Angel Witch
The name might sound a little contradictory, but an Angel Witch works with the energy of angels. It's also the name of a UK heavy rock band.
One person who works with angels is the author, Doreen Virtue. She would probably deny anything to do with witchcraft, but she does espouse working with angels to achieve your aims and improve your life.
There is another branch of angel magic, and it is a little more serious, focused, and less 'fluffy.' This is the type of work practised by the writer Damon Brand. He probably wouldn't describe himself as a witch either. This energy practice works with the names of angels and their sigils (special symbols that represent them).
5. Animist Witch
Animism is the belief there is living energy in all things. The term comes from the Latin' anima,' meaning 'breath of life.' An animist sees no distinction in the hierarchy between humans, animals, plants, or any other physical object.
They also believe that words hold their own life energy.
The animist witch sees the Universe as a whole, connected, living entity. Continually changing and evolving. When they do magical work, they tune into the pulsating live force of the 'all.'
6. Art Witch
An Art Witch works through the medium of art. S/he expresses magic through work and uses art to manifest desired outcomes.
7. Arthurian Witch, Isles of the Blessed, Avalon
An Arthurian Witch takes the mythology of Britain's King Arthur and creates a whole way of being based upon it. However, the problem with this is that it is only a fantasy because there is no evidence that the events described in the story happened. The King Arthur myth is based chiefly on Geoffrey of Monmouth's imaginative retelling of history. In other words, he made it up. In reality, we know very little about the real King Arthur.