Saturday, 12 October 2019

Who are Cunning Folk? Part One

By this point you may be asking yourself, what on earth is a Cunning Man/Woman anyway?  These days the term is not well known outside of occult circles.  In this post and the next I will attempt to define these now-rare beasts.  This is Cunning Craft 101!


CHRISTIAN MAGICIANS

The number one most important thing you need to know about Cunning Craft is that it is a Christian system of folk magic. Its practitioners were (and are) Christians, some Catholic, mostly Protestant. They were not underground pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, or any other current magico-religious movement you care to name. Not that I have anything against any of these paths you understand (in fact, I started out my magical career as a die hard Wiccan, then Druid, then Heathen, before discovering none of them were for me), this is just not what Cunning Folk were. In fact, this modern notion of painting them as pagans who hid behind a veneer of Christianity to avoid detection and persecution, would make them turn in their graves. Of course there were varying degrees of belief, as there are now. Some were extremely devout, regular churchgoers, some were less pious but still active in the church community, and others were Christian but opposed an organised clergy and church, preferring to worship alone. Still others were Christian in name only, rarely attending church or knowing little of church doctrine. But even these last would never describe themselves as pagans or witches.

We have a fine tradition here in the UK of what I will call secular Christians – that is, people who tick Church of England on the census, but who are largely ignorant of all but the most basic Christian theology, and only ever go to church for weddings, christenings and funerals (and maybe the odd carol service). I know dozens of people like this and I expect you do too. Usually this stems from the fact that they know they believe in something, but they have never taken enough real interest in religion to look into it, and after all, Anglicanism is ingrained in British society, and is probably what their parents ticked on the census too. My mum is a perfect example of this type of person. If this is you as well, that's fine!

But, you say, I'm not even a secular Christian, I am a neopagan/Witch/Wiccan (choose one), can I still practise Cunning Craft? The answer is no. The practises are built on a Christian world view, theology and scripture. The bible, holy family, sacraments and other Catholic holdovers (often dismissed as 'popish' superstition by historical authorities) are an intrinsic part of the work. If you cannot recite psalms or call upon the power of Christ sincerely and with passion and genuine intent, this path is not for you. If your appeal to Jehovah is a token gesture, or rushed through, or mumbled half heartedly, or recited drearily in rote fashion as a child in school, your workings will fail. How can you call upon something to aid you if you don't believe it is real? Your mouth will be saying one thing but your heart and mind will be thinking 'I don't believe in what I'm saying, these prayers and scriptures are bull', and this will cancel the effect of any magic you are trying to create.

Okay, you say. Well in that case I'll just strip out all of the Judeo-Christian bits from the practise and either leave them out entirely or substitute them for calls to pagan gods and goddesses. Fine, you go ahead. Just take a quick look at a small sample of the charms, spells and ceremonies in the handbooks and grimoires. That's a lot of rewriting to do.  The power behind the charms and ceremonies of Cunning Craft comes from God, the models of much of the spells are ecclesiastical rites, and the whole framework is based on Christian symbolism. If you strip all of this away, and I mean all, because you cannot just switch the word Jesus for Cernunnos, and the sign of the cross for the sign of Osiris slain and expect everything to make sense, then you are left with practically nothing, so you might as well practise something else anyway.

The short, blunt, perhaps painful truth for some of my readers is this – if you cannot identify as a Christian, be it Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, or Quaker, devout, secular or middle of the road, you cannot practise true Cunning Craft. You don't have to go to church, abstain from sex before marriage, and fast on a Friday, but you do need to be able to call on the Holy Trinity and believe in what you are saying and who you are appealing to. If you can't do this, Cunning Craft is not for you. If you self identify as a pagan of any kind, Cunning Craft is not for you. Take up something else because you will be frustrated in this endeavour. If this offends you, you might as well stop reading now because it's not going to get any better.

Sorry to make this point so long but it has to be said. I see so many self styled 'Cunning Folk' these days who when you look into their beliefs, they spout on about the Horned God and the Goddess, summerlands, reincarnation, rule of three etc., things which have NOTHING to do with true Cunning Craft. These people are trying to claim what is essentially a Christian practise as their own and twist it to make it pagan. As a result, there are so few people performing real British Cunning Craft now that it is in danger of dying out, and people are believing nonsense such as historical practitioners were secretly pagan and were the ancestors of today's witches. Thankfully a small revival seems to be taking place with the recent publication of some excellent and well researched books. I can only hope my writings will add to this revival, keep the spirit alive, and create some more Wise Men and Women.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

The next most important thing about Cunning Craft is that it is just that – a craft. It is a trade, a profession. Cunning Folk were (and are) professional or semi professional service providers. They didn't learn all those charms and methods to just benefit themselves or their immediate family and friends. While many ordinary folk would know a few common or family charms and practices, Cunning Folk were recognised as having more expertise and experience in the field of magic than regular people, and thus were consulted by all strata of society, from the poorest farm labourer to Kings and nobles. Cunning Folk gave a service, and charged accordingly for it. You often read in modern magic books that you must not accept payment for spells, for various reasons (one popular reason is given that accepting payment for a spell will nullify the magic) however there is no historical evidence to support this modern belief. Cunning Folk expected to be remunerated (whether in currency or goods) for their expertise, just as a lawyer or barber would be. They weren't like clergy who performed rites for free as a duty to the church. Neither should you be. If you fully intend to take up this path then you will need to provide your services to others, for a fair rate. Of course I don't expect you to do this straight away, so at first you will work only on yourself, then, once you gain experience you can start to work on willing family and friends. Only after practising and perfecting your techniques on them can you begin to work with the public.

There is so much more to working with clients than just knowing the spells and techniques. You have to have empathy, authority, control, discretion, accounting, marketing and organising skills, the ability to 'read' people's body language, to ask the right questions, timekeeping... the list goes on and on. Having a customer service background is an advantage. Some students are real people persons and really click with clients and understanding their needs straight away. For most people it takes a few years of time and practise. A small few will never manage it. I am going to discuss the 'mechanics' of working with clients in this blog – as in the consultation procedure, how to structure and cost different services etc. - but I will not teach business skills or people skills. Those you will have to learn yourself. I recommend a government funded business basics course, and a customer service course such as those offered to waiters or retail staff.

SEMI PROS

This brings me to the next point. Many Cunning Folk had second jobs or were semi professional. Often these jobs were from the middle trades sector of society, jobs like tailors, farmers and carpenters. Quite a few were also pub landlords, a handy thing as it kept them in the hub of local gossip, always useful for fortune telling and thief detection! So do not fret if you are unable to perform this work full time, you are still following in the tradition of offering Cunning services 'on the side'. By the way, on the topic of Cunning men as pub landlords, the role's usefulness in their work and how to replicate those advantages today, there will be more to say in a future lesson.

I still have a few more points to make but this is getting quite long and it is past my bedtime, so I will save them for the next post.

To be continued...

Q et I