Welcome to AllFaith.com's Ancient Ways!
Ancient Ways for a New Day
I was introduced to the Crafte of the Wise in my teens. The training I received from my Welsh Traditionalist teacher, known fondly as old Man Witty, had a profound influence on my life and spiritual beliefs. Although I no longer practice the Crafte, I hope the information you find here will help you on your way.
The Ancient Ways include countless paths and diverse belief systems gathered from around this world and beyond. For the most part, the actual Ancient Ways were forgotten with the rise of Christianity and Islam. Practicing them resulted in torture and worse and eventually the practitioners of the Old Religions either embraced Christianity or merged into the greater heathen communities, those who practiced no religion systems but quietly held the Church in contempt. The practitioners of many of these Ancient Ways sought to maintain their beliefs in private, however with the passage of time their ancient beliefs became little more than obscure traditions and superstitions. Portions of their beliefs were incorporated within Christianity and re-cast in the light of the New Religion, but most was forgotten or became the subject of demonology. What is the origin of the Yule log? Why are the major Christian holidays celebrated at the solstices and equinoxes? What is the significance of the number 13 or the peril of having a black cat cross one's path? Why shouldn't one walk under a ladder, step on a crack, or tarry at cross roads? What do bunny rabbits and painted eggs have to do with the birth of Jesus? Why do we decorate Christmas trees? Most of our modern holiday traditions have their roots in the Old Ways. Around the beginning of the 20th century, many serious researchers sought to rediscover these Ancient Ways. Some spiritually hungry people adopted their findings into unique spiritual beliefs and practices. These rediscovered Ancient Ways constitute the fast growing religion of Paganism and much of what is commonly referred to as the New Age Movement. Proponents of these new/ancient religious practices are known by so many names, but the umbrella title Paganism is largely the reintegration of ancient spiritual traditions and practices, coupled with 21st century beliefs and attitudes. Most of these new Pagans, Witches, Druids etc. are practicing spiritually eclectic new paths based on ancient religions. In almost every case Pagans freely formulate their beliefs as they go, refusing to be locked into any sort of orthodoxy. There are of course exceptions to this as well! Gardnerian Witch Crafte for instance maintains a very strict system of beliefs and rites. The Revival of the Old Religion is in many ways a reaction to the failures of the contemporary Christian Church to accept and empower people. Another cause is a general desire to regain myth and mystery in our heavily secularized lives. Whatever the reason, a growing percentage of the population is embracing the diverse spiritualities of the New Age or Neo Pagan Movements. I grew up in a Missionary Baptist family and church in North Georgia. We had no knowledge of any familial ties to the Welsh Crafte, nor did any of my Georgia predecessors desire any such connection. As most people of European decent however, our ancestors converted to Christianity from the Old Religion generations ago. As I came to understand the history of Christianity and the Old Religion, I sought to uncover my family history and had some success, though eventually I could go back no further. Cadifor ap Colwyn, known as Cadifor Vawr, was my most distantly known ancestor. When studying with various Pagan groups over the years I have often used this pseudonym as a link to my past. Cadifor ap Colwyn was the Lord of Dyfed (Pembrokeshire) and Prince of Pembroke in South Wales. As he was one of the 15 ancient Peers of Wales, he was dubbed Cadifor Vawr or "Cadifor the Great." His origins were from the same tribe as Vortigern, King of Britain and he was paternally descended from Maximus, King of Britain and Emperor of Rome (all that and sixty bucks will buy my next tank of gas!). Cadifor made his home in Blaenkych, in the northeast section of Pembrokeshire. Near his home one can still find his shrine to the Welsh Goddess, known as Cadifor's Oven. There is also, nearby, the Church of Kilrhedyn, which he founded and endowed. He crossed the misty sea (passed away) in 1089 CE. and is buried in the Priory of Carmarthen in Wales. Is this true? Well, one of the recorded observations about Cadifor the Great by Burke is that: "Welsh genealogists ascribe to this chief a most illustrious descent, but whatever doubts may arise as to the authenticity of his Pedigree from the obscurity of ancient MSS. and traditional accounts, it may be conceded that his possessions and connexion(sic) amongst a people so tenacious of the antiquity of their families afford reasonable proof of the nobility of his birth and station." -- History of the Phillips family, Harry Phillips, 1935, 1971, Heritage Press Inc. Washington D.C."
I believe that Cadifor Vawr was a life long Pagan who, realizing the power of the Church, believe it possible for the two religions to coincide. The charitable works he did for the Church were appeasements and acknowledgments that we all worship That Which Is. In time of course, the Welsh Crafte, as other forms of the Ancient Ways, was crushed by the Christian Church. Old Man Witty claimed that his family had maintained the core of their beliefs since the Burning Times. I believe him, in part because his teachings lacked so much. I don't say this to insult him, but to praise him! The idea that any complete system of practice survived is harder to believe than that certain families past on central truths from generation to generation. Old Man Witty was already quite old when I met him. He was also a homosexual with no offspring to whom he might pass his wisdom and family tradition. At the time I knew him, Old Man Witty had two surviving sisters who he felt sure would pass their family traditions on. Such traditions are almost extinct however. I wrote "Dark Days Come to Blaenkych" and "To Be Wiccan or not to be Wiccan: That was the Essential Question," while at JFK U. Both pieces are copyrighted and listed in the library of that university. If you like them, and I hope you will, I must request they not be reproduced elsewhere without my written consent, though you are invited to link to this page of course. The Old Religion Reborn
To be Wiccan or not to be Wiccan: That Was The Essential Question
- A Study in the Old Religion by Cadifor ap Colwen
- A True Fiction by Cadifor ap Colwen
This story can be viewed in my video section
- Be it was not always such: Ancient Christianity
The Dawning of the New Age
- A study in contemporary religion by John of AllFaith
- A Universalist study by John of AllFaith
Remember: We Are Not Alone
The Very Model of a Modern Esoteriscist
by Bill Beattie, from Shadowplay
This is funnier if you're familiar with Gilbert & Sullivan.I am the very model of a modern esotericist,
A seasoned astral traveler and an edifying exorcist,
A sparkling star astrologer, a dead adroit necromancer.
A dab hand as a palmist and a card as a Tarotmancer.
I've folk tradition lineage-both Celtic and Germanical;
I've channelled Robert Heinlein and I've busted cults Satanical;
Elusively mysterious in Eleusinian Mysteries,
I've proven eighty-three per cent of Velikovsky's histories.
My patent aphrodisiacs would make a satyr hornier;
I've manufactured unicorns in northern California.
In short, in matters magical I'm manic as a terrorist;
I am the very model of a modern esotericist!I am the very model of a modern esotericist.
My mystic methodology's inherently empiricist;
I've tread the Cretan labyrinth on pathways that I travel on;
I won't deny the rumors that I ghostwrote Mists of Avalon.
A truly great Great Riter and a master of tantrickery,
I'm up the Shining Pathways til the Guardians are sick of me.
I dazzle Neo-Pagans as I breakdance round the Wicca ring
And, miracle of miracles, I even stop them bickering!
I've raised the ghost of Crowley in a Gnostic Mass invoking in
Sumerian, Bavarian, Etruscan and Enochian.
I'd sing another chorus, but I have to see my therapist;
I am the very model of a modern esotericist!Taken from the Green Egg vol. XXIV no.95.
Reprinted with thanks to Amy Lawrence
On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur.
E'essential est invisible pour les yeux.
Antoine de St. Exupery
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