S: You're
listening to episode four - common types of witches. This is a topic we always have fun with because we just love learning about the different types of witches, what
type of magic they practice. So first off we should say you don't need
to fall into any one of these categories especially at the beginning if you
are one it will naturally overtime but if you never want to call
yourself any particular type of witch that were about to talk about that's
fine too, it's just a classification to let other people know a little
more about you because telling somebody what type of witch you are in instantly lets them know
about what you enjoy and believe in and practice but it's by no means a
requirement, this is just a purely fun podcast episode.
We're going to start with the main classification is something that we've already talked about which is secular versus religious. You can be any religion and practice witchcraft or you could be none and be considered a secular witch. You could
also hold a certain religious belief system and not even incorporate
that into your practice making your practice completely secular so we
already talked about that you already know that Tara is a religious
witch and I am a secular witch so hopefully you've got a good
understanding of that now.
T: And if you don't don't worry, there's going to be way more episodes
coming up.
S: And at the next broad category is solitary versus coven which is
exactly what it sounds like - solitary witches practice their craft by
themselves while coven witches belong to a group known as a coven
where they practice together and use their combined energies towards one
particular working and you could be any mix of the above, you can be religious or secular and solitary
or coven. So you know now that I am a solitary secular witch and Tara is
also a solitary witch but she is religious.
T: We are very
independent. Working alone works better for our individual practice, that doesn't mean that that's what you are going to find is your path.
S: From there you can break it down into these further additional types. We're just going to give you a few
this is not a fully comprehensive list it's just some of the most
common and I'm going to go in alphabetical order because that's who I am.
T: That is who she is to a T everyone.
S: We are
going to wait until the end of the list to tell you which kinds we are
and as a spoiler alert Tara took a BuzzFeed quiz to tell her which kind she was, that will
tell you how not seriously we take this.
So first up on the list is an air witch and air magic is practiced by people who
are closely associated with the air element either through their zodiac
sign or just an energetic connection. They use air in almost all
of their workings from incense work to breath meditations and they also often work with air deities.
T: The one thing about air that at least when I
first started was very misunderstood, is I thought if you were air you could not be anything else on this list. That is not true.
S: Correct, yes that goes for any of these. Obviously can't be both a secular and religious witch but out of all of these if you want to be an air witch and something else and you want
to be a religious solitary air earth witch you can do all of these
things.
T: Yes and just because you're a particular type of witch doesn't mean you can't do those
types of spells it just means that's not the focus of your practice.
S: Nope, definitely not restricted. The second one on the
list is cosmic - these practitioners work primarily with cosmic or
planetary energy. They work with the cycles of the moon and are deeply
connected with astrology.
T: This is not me.
S: I yes, cosmic witches, it's
not just knowing your astrological sign and working within that, they really they know the shifts of
the planets and they can tell you how planets are lined up at any given moment. I can't I don't
follow that. I do find the universe fascinating and I find it a particularly fascinating asset that they have to know all of those things, but it's just not in my wheelhouse.
T: Other than being still upset that
Pluto has been downgraded from a planet and taking that as a personal
insult I don't have much to do with the cosmic. I'm not good at sensing
energy like this and kudos to everyone who can though.
S: Next up is a
crystal witch. Now crystals are very common and very popular among all
witches no matter what kind of witchcraft they practice, but crystal witches take it to the next
level. They would not be able to practice their chosen form of magic if
you took away their crystals they use it for everything from Crystal
therapy to using charms to charging the crystals in the moonlight they
do it all.
T: I have a friend who is a crystal witch and she cannot she does
not feel right about her day if she's not wearing the correct Crystal
for that day and it just depends on the day, what she's doing how she's
feeling which Crystal she's wearing, but she always has at least one if not more crystals on her person and it helps her move through the day with Intention.
S: I love
crystals and I use them but I'm definitely not a crystal witch, they're next
level and they have beautiful beautiful collections.
Next up is a
draconic witch which means that the witch works with dragon spirits and I
have never worked with dragon spirit so I have absolutely no nothing I can offer you in intelligence in this realm but if you are interested in working with dragon spirits I can direct you to a very very good YouTube channel so reach out to me on
Instagram or send me an email all about.
T: I have nothing to add I also
do not work with these.
S: Next up is an earth witch and which is exactly
like air an earth witch is connected to the earth element. They do a
lot of nature workings and work with earth deities and they use a lot of nature, they use nature, herbs, tree sap, leaves, things they collect from the outside, the dirt, they're very connected to the earth.
T: They're also usually
very centered individuals and if they develop their practice they move
very naturally through both the natural world and just the day-to-day
world, they tend to be calmer people I'm not saying they don't get mad
but the people have known that I've worked very intensely and are earth witches tend to just find their center easier than the rest of us.
S: Next up is one of the most popular ones and probably the one you will
fall into it when you are a beginner witch is an eclectic witch. An eclectic witch just picks and chooses aspects of different paths and traditions to form her
own, his or her own I should say, unique practice. So any of the things that
we've mentioned picking and choosing between all of those would make an eclectic witch and no eclectic witch's path is going to look the same as anyone else's.
T: I would say if you're
new to the practice, if you have to if you feel the need to classify
yourself you do this because then there's less expectations on you to
either follow a certain path or know certain things or react certain ways
until you find your correct path or the need to classify yourself
otherwise, it's a good catch all.
S: Agreed. And the next up is an elemental
witch. We talked about air and earth and an elemental witch is someone who works
with all four elements and sometimes fifth, they consider spirit element
and use all of those throughout all of their workings. They are not more
associated with air or water or any of them, they use all of them.
T: The
majority of people I know that call themselves elemental are more
comfortable in covens and this may not be true of your practice you may
be a solitary practitioner who finds yourself drawn to all of them but the people I've know that have been really focused on all five elements, because the people I know who practice are also religious, for the most part they tend
to be working towards high priestessness so they usually fall within
coven structures and they like that. There's not saying you can't be an
elemental witch and not being a coven or solitary or but the ones I've
known that are really focused on that path tend to fall into covens.
S: The next one on the list is a faery witch and they work with the fae and
we will have an episode coming up that will talk all about working with
Fae and different spirits, spirit guides, ancestors, things like that, and
they see the Fae, they leave offerings for the fae, they have altars set
up for the Fae, they're very, there are pagan holidays associated with
when the Fae are considered to be on the move through your area and
they work closely with those days so when the Fae come they leave offerings for them to assist them in their magical workings.
Next up is that a fire witch which is just like air
and earth is that they work with fire, they do a lot of burning and
candle magic, wax readings, things like that.
T: Yes they tend to be very
intense or the ones I've known, but again I don't know that many that are
really that great or that focused on elemental magic so I only know one
person who considers themselves a fire witch and so that's based on one person
S: Next up is. going to try to say
this correctly, Gardnerian witches. So like we talked about before, wicca was started by Gerald Gardener, so Gardnerian witches are a sect of
wicca and it's actually a closed religion, you have to be invited to
be a Gardnerian witch, but that is one of the sects that Tara was talking
about in the last episode, we talked about the different sects of wicca.
Next up is a green witch which is what it sounds like, a Green witch is very closely with nature and
work with herbs and tree spirits of any nature gods and goddesses very
connected to nature, you can be a Green witch in a city environment you
just have to seek out you know lush backyards and city parks and things
like that but generally green witches are more out in the country where
they have more access to things that are green.
T: green witchery is also
usually quite connected to earth witches some people use them
interchangeably just because earth uses things of the earth from the
earth directed towards the earth and green again is growing things, and they're very connect.
S: Next up is a hearth witch, which is sometimes referred to as a cottage witch. And
this type of witchcraft is it surrounding the home and hearth and the
people within it so it's generally combination of green witchcraft and
kitchen witchcraft, hearth witches tend to be homebodies and their witchcraft, their practice tends to be only done in the home for the
people in the home and with materials found around the home.
Next up is the hedge witch. This is a very traditional type of witch and when
you look up a lot of stories of when witchcraft started when people talk about Salem witches and things like that, like that very traditional folklore type of
witch they're talking about, and essentially what it is is that they walk the hedge between the spirit
world and the physical world, hence hedge witch.
T: They tend to dabble in a lot of
different areas of witchcraft. It's different than the earlier one where
you're eclectic and you can just do whatever you want, these know a
little bit about everything rather than picking and choosing specific
traditions, they just know like a broadband generally of basically a
little bit everything.
S: Next up is hereditary. These witches have family members who are witches who have passed down their particular craft through their lineage. It doesn't just mean that you
were born a witch, it also means they usually, that they have spells, books of shadows
which we will get into also, that have been passed down through the
family.
T: When I first started practicing my babysitter the time was a
hereditary witch, her mom was, her grandmother was actually from England
so she had things that were passed down and she considered herself hereditary just because
she's grown up that way.
S: Next up is a kitchen witch and that is exactly what is sounds like they use their witchcraft in the kitchen. They use all of their, not all of
like Tara was saying previous episode, just make a sandwich and slap
together that's not witchcraft, but they do use a lot of spells and ingredients in their
cooking to serve the people in their home, people who are eating the food
for whatever type of working they would like to bless upon those people.
Next up is a
lunar witch and unlike the cosmic witch that is broad cosmos, the lunar witch is deeply connect with the moon and
lunar cycles and that includes things like the tides and being very aware
of that and they time their workings to the different cycles of the moon. There are some spells and
rituals that are better for a new moon as opposed to a full moon and they track all of those very closely and they are generally night owls they
feel very energized by the moon they stay up late, not morning people.
T: This again is tied to cosmic witchcraft but just closer to home, they're very focused on the Moon.
S: Next up on is very interesting one, is a pop culture witch and obviously this is something that's relatively
new but pop-culture witchess draw on pop-culture in their witchcraft
they use things like the Craft and Harry Potter and they use words and
sigils and things that are found in those movies and TV shows, sometimes specific spells and charms, and they make that work in their own practice.
Next up is a
Sea witch and they are very closely connected to the ocean and currents
and there are, you can be different types witches associated of specific bodies of water, river witch or Lake witch, so sea which is generally yeah if you live
close to a sea and you have a particular ocean that calls you that you
work with, you collect sea water and seaweed and seashells and use that in your
workings.
T: Being from Iowa there's not a lot of sea witches around
here, there's a lot of river witches.
S: yeah I was gonna say we're going through this list, you can pretty much figure
out what we are not and we are not sea witches, is we are landlocked
midwesterners. Lake Michigan grosses me out so I'm not that either.
Next up is a seasonal witch, now I call this seasonal because you can be a seasonal witch and do your workings, do your practice in correlation with any one of the seasons or you can be tied more particularly to a single one. I am closely tied to winter and that would mean, my energy is heightened during the winter, I feel a connection you know when it snows and things like that in similarly people who are spring witches, would use a lot of flowers blooming they would love rain stores and things like that do using the elements of the seasons and seasons changing in their witchcraft.
Next up is the sigil witch, this is a very
quick and simple form of witchcraft, we will definitely get more into
sigils in another podcast but a sigil is essentially like a little drawing, a little symbol that you
draw on things. There's a lot of intention behind it, you make your own but you do make them in
particular way but you do put some thought and effort behind. But
you either draw it on something that you carry with you, you draw on a
piece of paper to burn, you put Sigils across all of your magick.
T: So one
thing that helped me kind of make this clear in my mind is thinking of
runestones because the symbol that you're seeing is correlated to
something but it's not exactly what you're seeing that gives it meaning, so to me that's what sigils are kind of all about. What you're
seeing is not a direct correlation to the meaning behind it not what but
it helps you focus on the deeper meaning, the spell you're working, those
kinds of things.
S: Next up is a solar witch which is the exact opposite of a lunar witch. Solar witches work closely
with the sun, that they like to be up for the sunrise, watch sunsets, use
the sun in almost all of their workings.
Next up and one
that's super interesting is storm witch and they use the energy from
storms in their practice which I think is very cool.
T: Basically a storm
chaser.
S: Next up is a tech witch, which is a very interesting and really modern
form of witchcraft and that is using modern technology in your witchcraft, including they have apps now and maybe keeping your
book of shadows on your phone in someway in some sort of app or
something which is a completely modern way of doing things I think
that's super interesting.
We have two more to go, the second to
last one is an urban witch and we talked about a green witch being very connected to nature and often in an area that
has a lot of nature around. If you do not have that a lot of witches
turned to urban witchcraft and instead use their environment in
their witchcraft. If they are city dwellers, they use the city surroundings, the lights and sound of the city in their witchcraft as opposed to
relying on nature.
The last one we have a list is a water witch because
we couldn't forget that element either so like we went over air and
Earth and fire the last one is water. I am actually a water sign so I do feel more connected to water than any of the other elements, but I do not consider myself an elemental witch anyway, but water witches will use a lot of
water and oils and things in their practice.
So those are all
the ones that we have, there are many many more, like we said this was just for fun so now we
are going to tell you what types we are if they are on we're on this
list or not. Tara do you want to start?
T: So I'll start with the quiz that I
took earlier today aka like 25 minutes ago. Buzzfeed says that I am a Nordic garden
which which I had never heard exactly heard it before but a lot of what
the description is definitely fits me so I am an earth which practices
witchcraft in the center of nature using natural items I use natural
energies this part as much me - work closely with insects - and herbs to
care for your loved ones in your book a shadow contains recipes and flowers, that is all correct but I would consider myself more of a
hearth witch then necessarily a garden witch, because I care a lot about
the home I use a lot of witchcraft in the kitchen and in the home itself
so I don't think it's spot on but it was a fun quiz to take and I
highly recommend it.
S: So as far as this list goes, I am a hearth witch if you didn't know that already, if you haven't found me on Instagram. All of my witchcraft is related to the home and the people in it. I
really don't have anything outside of that, which is the definition of a hearth witch, really. And I am very much a frugal minimalist so in, I mean I do have some decks and
crystals and things but I don't go overboard so when it comes to doing
witchcraft I really do use the things that are already found around my
home I don't go out into nature, I do stuff in the backyard but that's a yes, I am a homebody.
T: Whereas I'm a hearth witch but I like to bring things into my home for use
usually nature inspired and or actual nature and I'm not good at keeping
plants alive sadly, I have a lot more plants in my place but the ones I
have are doing really well, but I do a lot of like cooking with natural
herbs and fresh herbs and I really cooking with intention a lot of times
for people are coming into my home to make them feel welcome and do a
lot of spell work that way but I do bring things in.
S: So that is all we have for you we hope you
enjoyed. Please give us a call or Instagram let us know what type of witch you are if any of these called to you or if we have some things that we
completely did not mention on this list we would love to hear that too.
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