These thoughts are my own and you do not have to agree with them, although many do. I was raised in traditional southern witchcraft (non wicca, non hoodoo, non voodoo) and thus my opinions are based on that style of witching. That is where my occult travels began and where I would come to find the LHP
Witchcraft (pre Gardinerian wicca) was more about curing people based on traditional knowledge of the plants and herbal lore of the area and less on worship of the devil. The Devil became the “God of the Witches” when the Ctholic Church needed to incite mass hatred and fear against these people in the commoners. The Church makes up some dramatic stories of babies being eaten, smearing their fat on broomsticks or some other such nonsense and talks about how witches worship the Devil and voila, scapegoats.
The reality is far less sinister and makes much more sense than the fairy tales that the Church has born against us. We as witches do not worship any of the fluffy white light Gods and Goddesses of the wiccan and we do not worship the Gods or Goddesses of the Satanists and Luciferians. We witches see beyond those pantheons. We do not know whether or not there is a “Higher power” out there and we do not really care. We are concerned with the supernatural. The plants and seasons are our Gods.
We worship the changing tide, the falling rain, the fresh snow, the smell of spring, the fire in the hearth the blue sky above and the darkness of night. Not because we think there is some deity who deserves reverance but because we got some enjoyment from the season and natural event and we lift our spirit up in thanks and recognition. It is not out of some fear of death due to non worship that we dance around a sacred fire, it is because we enjoy dancing around a sacred fire in the moonlight.
Left and Right
Once you open your first book on the practice of witchcraft you will start to see some of what we call “Left” and “Right” hand path paradigms. Those books that focus on the Right hand path will always be filled with “WARNINGS” and “WATCH OUT” and :MIND YOU” this and that nonsense. It is easy to spot. They usually have names like “Scott Cunningham” or “Raymond Buckland” or Sailor Moon or some other shit. It is filled with white washed nonsense, meant to scare you into paying for more and more of their garbage books.
The Left Hand Path is usually filled with “Open your mind” and “rethink everything” and “the Church was wrong”. It has a much more scientific and logical approach to the world than that pussy footed white light crap. It also is usually filled with high and mighty opinions like this article. But that is a good thing it causes you to rethink the world. It empowers you and causes you to question the dogma you were brainwashed into thinking. It will open you up to some very liberating and intense emotions, ideas, and experiences.
Witchcraft
Witchcraft can be either one or neither or both. It is the backbone of many ancient belief systems and is used daily in many parts of the world to this very day. Even as I am writing this someone in Benin is having a chicken bone rubbed on them for good luck or lighting a candle in a cave in Russia to aide in childbirth. Witchcraft has numerous different paths and traditions mainly because all it takes for one of these traditions to be born is someone to disagree and then they take your resources and go somewhere else and found a new tradition.
“Antiyan Witchcraft” is an old tradition redone for the modern age. We do not worship Gods or Goddesses we simply revel in our life. We celebrate times and seasons and we hold life events like births, coming of age, marriages, and deaths. We revere our ancestors as an act of respect not worship. It is a time for us to speak with them and gain insight into our situations with tools of divination that we use to communicate with the dead. We believe in ghosts and spirits of living people who have died that are still around and this is the reason we hold offerings to the spirits of the dead.
I will make a post soon about the ancestor shrine / altar and its construction shortly. It is the first step to becoming a witch. I am starting classes soon in LHP Witchcraft for anyone interested look for the “Classes” page coming soon. Leave a comment to be included in the classes or send an email to fratershab@gmil.com and add me on Google+ I will invite you to a closed group where we hold classes online. In order to recieve initiation you must attend in person those cannot be done online. I do not mind self dedication and consecrations being done when the person is under age or not able to attend in person for some reason or another but that person is not a member of our Cabal they are only a solitary witch. In order to pass on knowledge and degrees that person MUST follow through with an in person initiation as soon as they are able. In some cases we will travel to you and your grotto but we need prior knowledge so we can arrange travel times and such
Shab 