Saxon Witchcraft & Magick

Part I: The Roots of the Craft

Chapter 1: The Legacy of the Saxons

“The past does not sleep. It breathes in our words, sings through our rites, and walks beside us in the woods.”

Introduction

To understand Saxon witchcraft, we must first understand the Saxons themselves—not merely as warriors or settlers, but as people deeply connected to the land, spirits, and the threads of wyrd (fate). Their magick was not separate from daily life; it was life, woven into farming, healing, kinship, and worship. This chapter explores who the Saxons were, what they believed, and how their worldview shaped the magical traditions we now call Seaxen witchcraft.

Who Were the Saxons?

The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes who emerged in northern Europe during the early Iron Age. Their name likely comes from the word seax, a type of single-edged blade they carried, and which later became symbolic of their people.

By the 5th and 6th centuries CE, many Saxons, along with Angles and Jutes, migrated to the British Isles following the decline of Roman rule. These “Anglo-Saxons” eventually formed the early kingdoms of England—Wessex, Sussex, Essex, and so on. However, Saxons also remained in continental Europe (especially in what is now northern Germany), where their traditions developed somewhat independently.

Pagan Beliefs Before Christianization

Before the spread of Christianity, the Saxons held a rich polytheistic religion grounded in:

• Deities of the natural world, such as Woden (wisdom, magic, kingship), Thunor (thunder, protection), Frige (love, hearth, foresight), and Eorðe (Earth Mother).
• A deep reverence for land wights (spirit beings), ancestors, and the cycles of nature.
• A belief in wyrd—an intricate, interconnected concept of fate that shaped all lives.

Rituals included offerings at sacred groves (hearg), seasonal feasts, divination through runes or animal signs, and invoking gods through chants and galdr (sung spells). The line between priest, healer, and witch was blurred.

The Saxon Witch: Seer, Healer, Spirit-Walker

In both rural villages and tribal courts, cunning folk and witches played a vital role. Some were called leechs (healers), wīcce (from which the word "witch" originates), or spae-wives (prophetesses).

These practitioners:

• Treated illness using sacred herbs (wyrtcraft), charms, and incantations.
• Served as midwives and death-guides, tending to birth and the passage into death.
• Communed with spirits, ancestors, and deities via dreamwork and trance.
• Preserved oral knowledge through riddles, kennings, and sacred stories.

Importantly, their knowledge was practical, ancestral, and animistic—they saw life in the forest, the stones, the weather, and the stars.

The Christian Campaign Against the Old Ways

By the 8th century, Christian missionaries—most notably St. Boniface—began converting the continental Saxons, often by destroying sacred groves and outlawing pagan rites. Charlemagne’s campaigns included forced conversions and even executions for practicing old rites (see the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae).

Yet, even after conversion, elements of Saxon folk magic persisted—woven into "blessings," saints’ tales, and “superstitions” still practiced in secret. Many witches of the medieval and early modern period inherited these suppressed traditions.

Survival of Saxon Magical Lore

Though much was lost or hidden, fragments of Saxon magical knowledge survived in:

• The Lacnunga, a 10th-century collection of healing spells, including the famed Nine Herbs Charm.
• Runic inscriptions, which reveal both linguistic and esoteric symbols.
• Folklore and riddles passed orally through generations.
• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, which, while political and Christianized, hint at older beliefs.

Modern Seaxen witches seek to revive this ancestral magick—not by copying history, but by reweaving it into living practice.

The Saxon Legacy in Modern Witchcraft

The 20th century saw a resurgence of Saxon-inspired witchcraft, most notably through Raymond Buckland’s Seax-Wica in the 1970s. Buckland sought to reconstruct a form of witchcraft that honored Saxon gods and rites while adapting to modern needs. Though not historically exact, it helped rekindle interest in pre-Christian Saxon spirituality.

Today, practitioners blend historical research, folklore, and intuitive gnosis to rebuild the craft of the Saxons—celebrating a legacy that survived centuries of silence.

To walk the Seaxen path is not to reenact history, but to honor it—to stir the old bones into new life. The legacy of the Saxons is one of resilience, earth-rooted wisdom, and quiet resistance. Their magick calls to those who seek the wild in the world, the sacred in the soil, and the whisper of gods in the rustling trees.

In the chapters to come, we will dive deeper into the spells, deities, herbs, and practices that formed the spiritual backbone of this enduring tradition.

 

Chapter 2: Paganism and the Old Gods

“Before the cross, there were trees. And in those trees lived gods.”

Introduction

The paganism of the Saxons was more than just a religion—it was a lived spirituality, woven into their farming, warfare, kinship, medicine, and magic. It honored the forces of nature and the unseen threads of fate. At its core were the Old Gods, divine beings who embodied aspects of life, death, knowledge, love, weather, and the land itself.

To understand Saxon witchcraft, one must first meet these deities—not just as historical figures, but as living archetypes and spiritual forces that continue to guide and empower magical work today.

The Nature of Saxon Paganism

Saxon paganism was polytheistic, animistic, and tribal in nature:

• Polytheistic: The Saxons believed in many gods and goddesses, each with distinct roles and personalities.
• Animistic: Spirits existed in all things—trees, rivers, stones, animals, and weather systems.
• Tribal and Local: Worship varied from one region to another. A village might favor one deity over another depending on local needs (e.g., agriculture vs. war).

There was no centralized "church" or scripture. Sacred knowledge was passed orally, embedded in stories, rituals, seasonal observances, and the wisdom of elders, seers, and witches.

The Gods of the Saxons

While the continental and Anglo-Saxon pantheons varied slightly, many core deities were shared or mirrored across Germanic traditions. Below are the most commonly revered gods in Saxon lore:

Woden (Odin)

• Domains: Wisdom, magic, war, kingship, poetry, the dead
• Symbols: Spear, ravens, wolves, the gallows tree, the eight-legged horse Sleipnir
• Role in Witchcraft: Woden is the master of galdr (sung magic), runes, and shamanic journeying. He sacrificed himself on the World Tree to gain secret knowledge.

Witches may call upon Woden for:

• Runes and divination
• Spiritual insight
• Journeying between worlds
• Guidance in the face of uncertainty

“Woden wanders the worlds with his eye on the unseen.”

Thunor (Thor)

• Domains: Thunder, storms, strength, protection, agriculture
• Symbols: Hammer (Miġenþryċe or “mighty force”), oak tree, goats, lightning
• Role in Witchcraft: A guardian deity who defends against chaos, illness, and harmful spirits. Farmers revered him for his control of the weather.

Magical uses:

• Warding charms
• Storm magick
• Strengthening spells
• Protection amulets

“Call Thunor when storms rise within or without.”

Frige (Frigg)

• Domains: Love, motherhood, marriage, hearth, foresight
• Symbols: Spindle, keys, hearth fire, clouds
• Role in Witchcraft: A wise goddess, patron of the home and hidden knowledge. Her spinning wheel weaves fate. Some witches see her as the matron of wyrd.

Witches may invoke Frige for:

• Domestic blessings
• Divination and foresight
• Love and fertility magic
• Ancestral connection

“Frige spins the golden threads that bind all things.”

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