After prompting from a delightful Anon, I’ve decided to write up a small something on the enigmatic Witch Mother.
I certainly won’t say this is an exhaustive description, for She is too vast to contain in simple words.
Within many strains of Traditional Witchcraft, there is a Great Spirit known as the Witch Mother. The Witch Mother is the Mother of all Witches and creatures of old. She is one of the Great Initiators, helping to light the Witch Fire and teach new witches the ways of the Crooked Path. She is often seen as a consort or partner to the Witch Father, though She is certainly autonomous in Her dealings.
The Witch Mother can be seen two ways, either as an archetype that many spirits can fulfill (a hard polytheistic view, like saying the Witch Mother role is fulfilled by Lilith to one witch and by Melusine to another) or as a spirit that takes on many forms but it still one (a softer polytheistic view, like saying The Witch Mother is one spirit but she presents to people under different guises and names). She goes by names such as Lilith, Hecate, Babylon/Babalon the Great, Melusine, Frau Hulda, Nicnevin, etc. By simply searching these names, you’ll find rich mythologies and a common fulfillment of the Witch Mother archetype.
The following pertains only to my practices and is not universally shared by followers of the Crooked Path.
I personally see the Witch Mother as a Great Spirit that takes on multiple guises to best commune with Her children. In my practice, I engage with Her through a Gnostic lens. I worship the Witch Mother through two different guises: as the Dark Mother and Babylon the Great. The Dark Mother is the primordial predecessor of all things, She is the beginning and end forevermore. I see Her best personified as the entropy of the universe, the chaos found at the center of a blackhole. I don’t believe She can be reached by us, as She is so far removed from this world. Thus, I see Her other guises as emanations of Her we can readily access. This is a very Gnostic concept, indeed. My tags for the Dark Mother is #ourladyofthevoid
The primary guise of the Witch Mother I work with and worship is Babylon the Great. Babylon the Great can be found in Christian writings and is known as the Mother of Abominations. A quick search of Her name will give a better background of Her than I ever could. My tags for Her are #babylonthegreat #redmother and #redgoddess
On a personal note, the Witch Mother was not my Initiator into Traditional Witchcraft. Nevertheless, She holds a special place in my Craft. I do hope this was informative and as always, please feel free to send me more questions on the subject. I hope this finds you well, Anon
