Core Beliefs

This page briefly outlines our beliefs and practices, and links to some of the more important overview papers.
To learn more slowly and in detail, visit our Step By Step course.


The Landweird

England has forgotten its gods. We have lost their names - if they ever had them. All we have left is an incredible sense of awe, a reverence - and terror - whenever we walk abroad. We refer to this collective uncanny as the Landweird. Even non-Fencrafters have a sense of the Landweird, if you leave them alone in the centre of a wood at midnight, or cast them adrift in a dinghy on the open sea. It is here, and we have no idea what it is - but we are trying to perceive it more clearly.

We do not worship the Landweird per se, but we recognise its presence as the root of what we do. Fallible memory, a half-remembered dream, and a palimpsested book are three important metaphors for understanding its nature. We typically refer to the gods, spirits, magic, and lore as "part of the Landweird" - part of that sense of ancient England that sneaks up on you in the forests and the fields and the fens.

Learn more about the Landweird

The Great Court

Landcrafting is a spirit-based path. We feel very strongly that this land is haunted by spirits, fairies, forgotten gods; and we sense their presence when we walk in the wild. It recognises no "gods", but many mighty Powers (some of whom may also be gods). Some of these Powers are written about in myth, history, legend and tradition - we look at the folklore of Britain for clues of spirits to interact with. Most are not - we rely on our sense of wonder to guide us to places where we feel a great peace and beauty, to work with the many nameless spirits of the land.

The Great Court refers to all the Powers collectively. Everyone has their own understanding of the Landweird, and therefore everyone also has a Personal Court: the Powers which you intuitively accept as present. Our faith recognises many potential pantheons, and so empowers each person to develop a unique pantheon reflecting the places they have found beauty and awe. We are unconcerned if these pantheons contradict and conflict. We are pop-culture positive, and encourage Walkers to seek out and develop unique Powers they may have found in the local landscape, or favourite folklore.

Probably the fastest way to get the flavour of what we do is to skim read the following two pages:

An Incomplete List of The Powers
Some of the standard pantheons and Powers celebrated in Landcrafting

Reading List: The Great Court
Our cobbled-together "holy book", of recommended books, films, and songs featuring our Powers


Cosmology

Landcrafting draws together various post-Wicca traditions, including: reconstructed historic Paganism, earth-spirituality and animism, spirit work, eclectic Wicca and traditional witchcraft. It was originally developed as a Wicca alternative, without "artificial" concepts such as the 4 Elements, the Gender Binary, or Western Esoteric Kabbalah. In their place, we use concepts which draw either from the natural world, or the lore of the land. This allows for more formal/technical magic - such as circle-casting, correspondence charts and arcane magic - but in a way that matches our aesthetic.

The Unearthly Powers

Our three basic energies are Solar, Lunar and Stellar. Solar energy is communal, outgoing, and drawn from the natural world. Lunar energy is secretive, self-interested, and occult or artificial. Stellar energy is un-mapped, intuitive, and cthonic. We use these energies to cast circles, develop correspondences, summon things, and so on. In place of elements, we have 3 worlds (one assigned to each of Sun, Moon or Star), and each of those contains 3 elements (influenced by each of the Unearthly Powers)

Tides and Times

Witchcraft and Paganism recognises spirits who are doubling, mirroring, or transforming: the Triple Goddess of the moon, the Dying God of the winter and spring, and so on. As seekers of the old ways, we also encounter figures who re-appear under different names, stories which seem to combine two older traditions, and the legacy of "all gods are one god" in the modern New Age.

We have emphasised these ideas: we generally see all our Powers as changeable, with different affinities, epithets, appearances and personalities in response to the weather, season, environment, or movements of the heavenly bodies. We describe energy in terms of seven states: Rising, Apex, Falling, Absence, Inversion, Constant, Centrifuge. An obvious example would be the movement of the sun: the nature of Solar energy is different at morning, midday, afternoon and night. By extension, we might understant a Solar god as fundamentally different depending on the time of day he is encountered - and wholly absent on a grey day.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Practicioners can use this framework to work across pantheons, and with unknown spirits: simply assign a solar/lunar/stellar correspondence, and a cycle of change. These tools can be used vaguely, as in Paganism: when it rains, the rain goddess is there. Or, they can be used with a high level of precision for occult, arcane and high-magic: assigning the rain goddess a planetary hour, where she is compelled by unseen energies regardless of the weather. Landcrafting is flexible: individuals can develop their own system, or re-introduce the 4 Elements, Binary, Kabbalah and so on.

Sun, Moon and Star
An overview of the Unearthly Powers, their correspondences and uses.

Tides and Times
Hub page for calendars, clocks, a full explanation of the Seven States, and how to develop your own cycles

You can read more about the development and history of Landcrafting, and its underlying ideas here


Practical Landcrafting

Our gods are lost: we believe that we can find them, and thus place great emphasis on immanence and being present in the world. Walking, and seeking experience and sensation, are roads. They lead us to the places and the states of mind where the Landweird can influence us, and the Powers are encountered and discovered. Our Powers are not omnipresent: so direct observation of the natural world is key to determining their presence.

As important is seeking culture: books, films, songs, local history, and your own works of imagination are all maps which guide our way. A unique Landcraft tool is the Uncommonplace Book, a kind of personal "Bible" where we gather images, quotes and poems revealing the Landweird to us. We place great value on Reading Lists - which collect imagination-feeding recommendations, from myths and folklore to favourite albums.

These practices are a particularly core focus of Landcrafting. Beyond this, most of our practices are identical to other traditions you have heard of. We are magpies: we echo the Landweird's overlapping, contradictory, unclear, disorganised combination of ideas, as a source of strength.

The Three Paths

We divide our practice into three paths:

  • One can dedicate to a single Path, travel each in turn - or walk a different Path depending on your need and the spirit involved. Each path functions as a kind of "filing cabinet" for different kinds of practice. Grimoire work, demon summoning and making sigils is Lunar. Baking bread, celebrating Thanksgiving and going for a walk is Solar. Fasting then dosing in the forest at midnight is Stellar. Landcrafting functions as a kind of framework for eclectics - you don't have to choose - and as a buffet table for combining post-Wiccan traditions. It also offers community for those who desire a tradition, heritage, and network of peers - but also personal freedom and flexibility.

    Foundation Beliefs

    Our spiritual tradition is underpinned by core values of inclusion, individuality, and flexibility:


  • The Practical Landcraft index explains our values in more detail, and provides tutorials and ritual outlines