Aerik ArkadianCraig Spencer and Witchcraft Unchained – Ep. 12
Craig Spencer is a Lancashire-born Anglo-Italian witch who practices traditional Lancashire witchcraft. He recently wrote a book, Witchcraft Unchained, which explores the history of British craft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBr2cu6kAWI
In this interview, we discuss his background and writing, compare our local forms of witchcraft, and have a great chat about besoms—yes, besoms. We have very different conceptions for what a besom is.
As always, this is just the written highlights for those who prefer to read, but I’d strongly encourage you to watch the full episode so that you can get all of the juicy details and hear Craig’s own words. Are you ready? Let’s go!
Background
Craig says that he first started studying witchcraft at the tender age of five. That’s much younger than many of us are able to begin, but he grew up with it in the home—and for him, it was part of his family dynamic. He even started his first coven sometime in his teens with some friends from school.
Outside of being a witch, Craig is an integrated therapist and Reiki teacher. And I have to also tell you that he’s a great sport. In our attempts to record, we encountered the highest number of technical difficulties that I’ve ever experienced to date. Craig must have answered my opening questions 3 or 4 separate times, only to be met with some sort of glitch that rendered our session unusable.
But each time, he did it with a smile. Thanks, Craig!
With a passion for learning and for teaching, it was probably inevitable that he eventually write a book or two.
Witchcraft Unchained
Before this book was even conceived, Craig remembers reading something online that was very misleading—something he knew wasn’t true, but was going to convince plenty of other people that it was. This is probably a situation we’ve all been in several times. I’m usually just in the habit of just rolling my eyes and scrolling when I encounter such things, but Craig decided to take action. He planned to write a post that cleared up the misinformation.
But one post wasn’t enough room. Maybe it should be a series of posts? In the process of outlining what he wanted to say, he realized he had so much more to talk about than he originally planned. And what eventually followed was Witchcraft Unchained: Exploring the History & Traditions of British Craft.
It’s a fascinating blend of history and practice, covering a wide range of topics from magickal tools to sacred sexuality. There are biographies on famous witches, a glossary with important terms, an overview of the holidays, an introduction to Qabalah, and much more.
Craig says he wrote it for anyone who has a seriousness about the craft. It goes beyond what you might find in a typical overview, but most importantly, it cuts out so much of the fluff that frequently fills the pages of Wicca 101 books. Witchcraft Unchained goes straight to the facts and presents them in a well-written, well-research fashion.
I’ll have to agree with Craig’s assessment—anyone who is serious about their practice can gain something from this read. Beginners will find a wealth of information, but there are still gems to uncover for folks who have been practicing for a while. I’ve been studying and practicing for at least a decade… and I learned new things! Definitely pick up a copy for yourself.
Lancashire Witchcraft
“I describe witchcraft as a religion of change,” Craig said to me about halfway through the interview. I really dig that definition. Regardless of what flavor of witchcraft we practice, most of us hold that principle in common. We don’t usually write a ritual because we want to keep things exactly the same as they are. We do magick because we want to change something. Whether we’re changing our surroundings, our situation, or ourselves, we’re still seeking to make something different.
Differences always intrigue me. And on that note, I was curious about what might make Lancashire Witchcraft stand apart from, I don’t know, the type of witchcraft that I regularly pursue here in Florida. After all, there’s a great big ocean between us. Maybe that changes things? Who knows!
Craig says that his practice is “baked into the landscape.” The spirits are local. If, for example, I wanted to be initiated into Craig’s tradition, I would have to travel there to be introduced to them. By contrast, my tradition is much less tied to the local land spirits… and I could theoretically travel to any part of the world to initiate someone.
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Additionally, Lancashire witches have their own legends and mythos. One in particular involves a nameless deity—and if you try to name him, you’ll be in trouble (he spirts fire at you).
The Besom
“Besom, besom, witch’s broom…” Craig looked at me with wide eyes, perhaps in absolute horror, as I recounted the opening line of the besom chant.
One of the most fascinating things to me about this interview was that it provided an opportunity to compare bits of practice with someone thousands of miles away. And while we both practice something we call “British Traditional Witchcraft,” there are some differences. And some of those differences are fairly surprising.
To most of us here in the US, a besom is a magickal tool. It’s a special broom that we use to energetically sweep our ritual space before casting circle. We have a cute little chant to say as we perform those actions. Some of us even “jump the besom” at what we would deem a “traditional handfasting” — and yes, Selene and I hopped over one at ours.
Our coven had a crafting night recently where we all made our own mini besoms. It was great fun!
But in Craig’s neck of the woods, besom are malevolent hill spirits. Oh, and there’s a bit of a pronunciation difference, too. I say “bee-sum.” Craig says “beh-sum.” But seriously, these aren’t spirits you want to mess with. You’re better off just leaving them and their spaces alone. Luckily, there’s a tool to ward against them — a besom brush! And yeah, you guessed it, it’s basically a broom.
Similar? Yes. But very, very different in practice.
Over the course of the episode, we discussed other surprising things — some of them were just differences in practice, but others were misconceptions that needed to be dashed. Be sure to give it a watch to find out what they were!
Craig’s Books
If you dig the sound of Witchcraft Unchained, be sure to check out Craig’s other book, Aradia: A Modern Guide to Charles Godfrey Leland’s Gospel of the Witches.
I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I’m really looking forward it. We spent a bit of time discussing it in the second half of the episode. Craig says that Leland’s original gospel touched so many parts of the modern witchcraft revival that it deserves special attention today. He says it’s a book that is always relevent, regardless of whether or not you’re a witch, due to its themes of empowerment, liberation, and overcoming oppression… most of us could use a healthy dose of that right now, couldn’t we?
In Craig’s Aradia, he presents a new translation and interpretation of the work, plus he adds in 40 lines of text that were left out from the original book. Should make for a very interesting read!
Finding Craig Spencer
If you’re looking to find Craig Spencer, you can catch him online:
- LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/craigspencer
- Instagram: @WitchcraftUnchained
- YouTube: @craigspencer90
- Twitter: @craigspencer90
Craig says he’s kind of a quiet person. He doesn’t really seek out interviews or in-person events. Well, I sure feel special then that he accepted my invite!
Don’t miss out. Here’s what’s coming up…
More InfoSound in Practice
When faced with the signature question, Craig describes chanting, drumming, rhythm, and lots of other standard things that you’ll find in most rituals.
But then he told me something he was taught. Water, fire, sound, and spirit—if you have those four things, then you can work any type of magick. I absolutely love this approach to sound, grouping it next to the Elements and Spirit. And in my own mind, I also treat it much like I would treat any of the other Elements.
He later described how silence is a part of sound. Be sure to tune in to the full episode to hear his complete answer!
Conclusions
I had a most excellent time chatting with Craig Spencer. This is another example of how my show mysteriously connects me with people all of the world, who I would never otherwise have the opportunity to meet or interact with.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider subscribing to my website or to my YouTube channel. Drop a comment on the video or check out my Patreon page. Consider preordering my book. There’s lots of ways to help support, even if it means just sharing my content with another human.
If you follow these episodes… uh, episodically, well then you’ll know that this is the second to last for Season 3. There’s only one more for this entire year. Who will it be? I probably spoiled it on Facebook already, but if you missed that, then you’ll just have to wait and see.
Stay tuned for more soon!
Friends, you’ve finally reached the end of the article. That means you are more than overdue for the fine print. Have you ever wondered why fine print always comes at the end of something? Why don’t we ever put it at the beginning of a post? I don’t know. I’ll probably never know. I leave that to greater men than me to decide. Anyway, back to the point: there are some links on this page… to books and such. If you use one of those links to make a purchase on Amazon, they will pay me a tiny commission. That’s all. Now we can go back to waxing philosophically about the order of things…
#aradia #britishTraditionalWitchcraft #craft #craigSpencer #history #interviews #m3 #occult #season3 #spirituality #witchcraft #witchcraftUnchained
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