tymologically speaking the word Witch means: someone who has knowledge, from the Germanic/Anglo-Saxon ‘Wit’, what ‘question, quest or a thing (ding) that needs to be answered’ means. Also the Germanic word ‘wet’ what ‘law’ of ‘outcome of a (legal) matter’ means.

When someone had a burning question, or something that needed to be answered as a law about a matter, they went to the ‘ding’, a wise one usually set under an oak- or other holy tree to speak out on the matter, the one who was the spokesperson (woman or man) than decided on the ‘wit’. So that’s why that wise one was called a witch or wizard, both fro the same root word ‘wit’

Knowledge was transferred from parent to child or if the child was unfit to another family member of a student. That took years.

One thing was knowledge of wisdom in various matters like fertility, cattle, crops, scrying, counseling the spirits, ancestors etc. There were family ‘covens’ or ‘groves’, circles, but in traditional witchcraft we often find solitary practitioners with are specialists in matter. We also provide solutions to determine if someone is cursed at provide a counter curse. Specialist in counter curses are called ‘pellars’ in Cornwall and neighboring regions.

There is nothing like ‘black’ or ‘white’ magic, because that’s a dualistic concept that is alien to the Old Craft.