A Grimoire for Modern Cunningfolk A Practical Guide to Witchcraft on the Crooked Path

by Peter Paddon

A practical manual of Traditional non-Wiccan Witchcraft. While there are a lot of texts that cover advanced and academic subjects of interest to traditional Crafters, all of the introductory books tend to focus on Wicca... until now.


In this Book Peter Paddon - Magister of Briar Rose and host of the popular Crooked Path podcast — covers his particular path of Witchcraft from scratch. He goes over the basics of his personal Path, along with examples of alternatives from other traditions, covering philosophy, lore and practical techniques. The Crooked Path is a way of Crafting based on experiencing the Mysteries of Ancestors and the Sacred Landscape first-hand, and Peter guides the seeker through the basics with competence and humour.

Genres: Witchcraft, Spirituality, Paganism, Crafts, Occult, Nonfiction, Magick

ebook

First published May 1, 2010

About the author

Peter is a British Witch living in Los Angeles. In addition to being the autor of two books on the Egyptian Mysteries and editor of the Crooked Path journal, he is also the creator of the popular Craftwise spellcrafting DVDs and host of the Crooked Path Pagan Podcast."

Reviews

[Hilo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicht schlecht. Eines der ersten Bücher die ich kenne, die sich mit traditioneller Witchcraft auseinandersetzen und nicht mit Wicca. LEIDER mehr auf Gruppen und Gruppenrituale fixiert. Was ich aber mochte, waren die erstaunlich unkomplizierten Übungen, wie eine Gött*innen begegnet ^^

[Patick Kyteler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for Ex-Wiccans

There are several things I like about the late Peter Paddon’s work on Modern British Traditional Witchcraft (not to be confused with British Traditional Wicca). His tradition’s theology as presented in the book is truly polytheistic and deviates from the typical dualistic faith presented in a lot of works within the genre. That is not to say there isn’t some mention of the Witch God and Goddess, but the emphases is on the individual Welsh deities and their mythic cycles. Several of the exercises, Riding the Dragon in particular, look promising for developing and strengthening the witch power. The last chapter in the special hardcover edition on the use of bodily fluids was thrilling (I saw at least one application that I’m keen to try) and the companion dvd is helpful in getting the postures right.

Alas the book is far from perfect. Let’s start with the title, which is inaccurate. Cunning Folk were Christian folk-magicians prevalent in England during the early modern period. They didn’t survive past the industrial revolution and would have been horrified to be lumped in with modern neo-pagan witches. I guess Paddon gets around this by using the word “Modern” in his descriptive. In my opinion Traditional Witch is more accurate and avoids the confusion.

Moving on, the best parts (last chapter and companion dvd) are omitted from the paperback edition, which at this time is the only edition in print.

Both myself and another member of my traditional craft study group felt the book lacked structure and could have benefited from the use of a decent outline. The same member of the study group also observed there isn’t anything useful in the remaining work that can’t be found in other, better written books on the subject. Lastly, we both felt the book was too Wiccan in parts and recommended removing it from our reading list.

Now to be fair another craft colleague liked the book better overall. He observed Peter Paddon discloses early on in the work that he came from an Alexandrian coven and this experience colored his new tradition. My colleague felt the work serves as a nice bridge between Wicca and the Traditional Craft: something that might appeal to those seeking a more deeper version of the Craft without being too radical.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, I read it because it was recommended and I think the person who recommended it misunderstood what I was looking for so although I was slightly disappointed, it was not the fault of the book itself.
It is basically what the title describes, a grimoire or a manual of Peter Paddon's version of Traditional Witchcraft and although I am a practitioner of what I consider to be Traditional witchcraft (as opposed to Traditional Wicca), this version differed quite a bit from my experiences and practices apart from the very last couple of pages that are concerned with initiation and it is here that I found some common ground.
Throughout, I found the practices described had more in common with Wicca than what I consider or practice as Trad craft but that's ok, it doesn't pretend to be the all inclusive guide to all traditional witchcraft practices but if I were to give one criticism, it's that this book is obviously a collective from Peter Paddon's pod casts and this is clear by the text being written the way one speaks as opposed to the way one might sit and write. It's an ok book if you want to follow THIS SPECIFIC tradition but it's too specific if you don't.

[Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that is highly recommended in the traditional witchcraft community. I personally think it’s alright. There are a few sections that get confusing but it’s a really interesting look into a traditional coven structure. I also appreciate that Paddon was initiated into Alexandrian Wicca before changing to Traditional witchcraft and points out the differences between traditional Wicca and traditional witchcraft throughout the book.

[Ruby Hollyberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really remarkable how much of the material and advice here I had worked out for myself over the years. It's very validating to see these things in print. Parts of the outlook are the same as mine, which is unusual for me to find in a book, and there are a number of practices in it that I somehow figured out on my own, very similarly. There are differences, of course. For an obvious one, I don't use any Welsh deities or mythological figures - my pantheon comes from the Jotunbok - and my 8 gates are more than a little different. Although certain experiences I've had beyond them have been very similar, some of those that do resemble the material here I found by going in a different direction.

The outlook is not exactly the same. For one thing, I do consider that I really "worship" what are really "gods", but the distinction is tricky in Paganism, as people have noted before. (i.e. is Merlin a god? what about Arthur?) I guess it depends on how you define "god" and what you actually do when you "worship". I have a relationship with my patron that works not unlike how some Protestants I know of here in the South think of their Jesus, so I figure I'm as entitled to use those terms as they are.

All in all, this is a book that could have been very useful to me ten years ago and is still useful to me now, and I really respect the author for writing it. Unfortunately, the worst thing about the book is the writing. There is pretty much a major problem with the grammar in every paragraph if not every sentence. Not to mention, the book is just loaded with typos. As a result it reads like hastily written blog entries, internet-decent possibly but substandard for a book. Was there an editor? Oh well, just my peeves. Most importantly, I can tell this gentleman is the real thing, and I look forward to reading more of his work.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to rate it poorly, since it is full of useful information, but it's poorly structured and organized. I think it might actually be more confusing that not to someone who doesn't already have a background in the subject, at which point they do not need this book.

[Mary Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Easy to follow and understand.

[Zerikai Lament · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Clear and easy to understand. Perfect book for someone just starting on the crooked path and new to Traditional Witchcraft. Highly recommended!