Cunning Witchcraft

The arts of the cunningfolk are long-established on the British Isles, in particular in the folklore of Essex country and thereabouts. Strange men and women, often living at the fringes of society, they were still sought out for their occult powers: the ability to heal, to harm, to lift and place curses, to find what was lost and to prevent such loss in the first place.

The work of the pellar, or cunningman, has transformed greatly over the years. Indeed, its practitioners believe that it has died out and revived itself many times, for they believe that the true steam of cunning is found beneath the realms of men, in the place of dreams. Many men and women, touched near to madness, have found themselves at the True Sabbat, a witches' gathering in the dreaming world, where they circle 'round a tree atop a hill beneath a night-black sky awhirl with strange, unknown stars. When they wake, they return with these strange lores.

Over the years, many strains of folklore that found its way to the British Isles has been absorbed into cunning practices: Biblical apocrypha, lore about the dead, faery stories and all manner of odd folklore. For example, so-called "toad witches" who were said to gain their powers from casting the bones of a natterjack into a river and snatching up the sole bone that shrieked as it floated upstream are considered part of the cunning practices, as were those initiates of the Horseman's Word, a fraternal esoteric brotherhood that purported to gain their powers from meeting the devil at a crossroads and learning a word that allowed them to command horses.

Part of the lore comes from Biblical stories, particularly those that found their way to Britain with gypsies. In this lore, they hold Cain as the first of the witchblooded, and his teachers Lilith and the Grigori, or certain fallen angels who taught their occult secrets to mankind through the witch-father Cain. Such legends also conflate him with Tubal-Cain, who is said to have been the first human to forge metal, taught by the fallen angel Azazel.

Tradition Skills

• Crafts: Cunningfolk make things with their hands, including small twig-dollies, magical symbols painted or carved on surfaces, wax effigies and similar household crafts. Many cunningfolk are also smiths.
• Medicine: A great deal of Cunning work involved the healing arts.
• Occult: Understanding the nuances of the world of spirits and the strange is vital and unsurprising for cunningfolk.
• Persuasion: A pellar must be swift with words, singing the praises of man and spirit alike, in order to achieve their ends.
• Survival: The wilderness is the greatest source of magical tools available to cunningfolk, so the witch must be comfortable in the out-of-doors.

Praxis

• Angels, Devils & Edenic Lore: X
• The Charm: X
• The Dead: X
• Dreaming & the True Sabbat: X
• Faerie Lore: X

Correspondences

• Blacksmithing & Handicrafts: X
• Bones: X
• Charming & Imprecations: X
• Crossroads: X
• Divinations: X
• Herbalism: X
• Horsemanship: X
• Toad Witchery: X

Patrons of Cunning Craft

The cunningmen have invoked and called upon a wide variety of spirits over the years.

The Black Man

The core patron of cunning-craft, a sinister shadowy figure, often seeming to wear a cloak and hat, who is called upon to make an initiate into an adept. He is met at a crossroads, and carries with him the chill of the grave, though those who are ready to receive his blessing also regard him with an unusual sense of excitement. His exact identity, connection to the other spirits of Cunning work or similar associations are wholly unknown.

Cain & Lilith

Cain is the First Murderer, and the mark placed upon his brow is the mark of the outcast. Sent into the Land of Nod, he encountered Lilith, who taught him the ways of witchcraft, and introduced him to the Grigori. He is the First Farmer and the First Smith, and considered the patron of witches who craft things with their hands.

Lilith was the First Woman, and made out-cast for her refusal to be subordinate to Adam. Cast into the Land of Nod, she found there the Grigori, who taught her their forbidden arts, and she was cared for by the owls, who love and serve her. When she found Cain, she took him in and taught him to survive, as well as the arts of witchcraft.

The Grigori

These are the leaders of 200 angels in 1 Enoch that are turned into fallen Angels because they took wives, mated with human women, and taught forbidden knowledge. Their children were a race of giants called the Nephilim.

• Araqiel (also Arakiel, Araqael, Araciel, Arqael, Sarquael, Arkiel, Arkas) taught humans the signs of the earth.
• Armaros (also Amaros) taught men the resolving of enchantments.
• Azazel taught men to make knives, swords, shields, and how to devise ornaments and cosmetics.
• Gadriel taught the art of cosmetics.
• Baraqel (Baraqiel) taught men astrology
• Chazaqiel (sometimes Ezeqeel) taught men the signs of the clouds (meteorology).
• Kokabiel (also Kakabel, Kochbiel, Kokbiel, Kabaiel, and Kochab), instructs mankind in astrology and the commanding of spirits.
• Penemue "taught mankind the art of writing with ink and paper," and taught "the children of men the bitter and the sweet and the secrets of wisdom."
• Sariel (also Suriel) taught mankind about the courses of the moon (at one time regarded as forbidden knowledge).
• Samyaza (also Shemyazaz, Shamazya, Semiaza, Shemhazi, Semyaza and Amezyarak) is one of the leaders of the fall from heaven, and taught men the governing of others and the skills of leadership.
• Shamsiel, once a guardian of Eden, teaches the signs of the sun.

Spirits of Cunning Craft

Though less in power than the Patrons, these spirits are often worked with by Cunning witches.

• Crossroads spirits, which aid in magical workings by reducing the Gauntlet. These are Artifice spirits.
• Toad spirits, for laying hexes. These are all Nature spirits.
• Owl spirits or crow spirits, for dealing with ghosts and the dead. These are all Nature spirits.
• Landwights, for dealing with the health of the local area's land. These are Nature or Artifice spirits.
• Wort spirits, for invoking various plant-based occultic powers. These are Nature spirits.