Spirit Work in Witchcraft and Paganism

Spirit work is the pagan and witchcraft practice of tending and honoring the spirits, meaning the ancestors, the spirits of the land and the house, the gods and goddesses, the dead, the Fae, and your guides. Spirit work is a practice of relationship rather than a single act. Offerings are set out, names are spoken, and a corner of a shelf is kept clean for someone. The practice is doing that over months and years.

There are many types of pagans and witches, and who they honor depends on the path they have taken. Heathen, Hellenic, Celtic, and eclectic pagans each have their own gods, spirits, and traditions. Atheist pagans may do other spirit work, such as keeping a familiar or communing with tree spirits. Whether solitary or part of a community, a pagan or witch may keep as many spirits and deities as they like. Deity devotion, ancestor veneration, offerings to the elves and the Fae, and the tending of the house spirit are some of the kinds of spirit work done in witchcraft and paganism.

Types of Spirits in Witchcraft and Paganism

Spirit Work Practices in Witchcraft

Spirit Work Terms A to Z

Resources and Gifts for Pagans and Witches

Ancestors are your own people who have died, blood or chosen, and the ancestors of the land you live on. Ancestor veneration, also called ancestor work, is where many pagans and witches begin spirit work. Some traditions call it ancestor worship, and many practice it at Samhain by remembering the ancestors and the dead.

The dead in witchcraft are the recently dead, the restless or unquiet dead, and the dead who are not your ancestors. Tending them is called death work, usually when the recently dead are grieved and helped on their way. The restless dead, who died badly or without rites, are settled or kept out with offerings at the threshold and the crossroads.

Deities and pantheons are the gods and goddesses of your path, Heathen, Hellenic, Celtic, or eclectic, and a pagan or witch honors them with offerings, prayer, and devotion, a practice called deity work.

The Fae, also called fairies, the Fair Folk, and the Good Neighbors, are the nature spirits of European folklore, elves, gnomes, and goblins among them, and nothing like the winged fairies of cartoons. Pagans and witches meet the fae folk with respect and offerings of cream, honey, and bread, and keep iron at the door for the ones they don't want in.

A familiar is a spirit that helps a witch with spells, divination, and protection, in the shape of an animal or in the body of a deeply bonded pet. An animal guide is a spirit animal that teaches and protects a person, and in witchcraft and paganism both rest on animism, which is the belief that animals, plants, rocks, and rivers each have a spirit, and everything is connected.

Land spirits are the spirits of a particular place, a forest, a river, a stone, or a hill. Land wights is the Norse name for them, and house spirits are the spirits of a home, the spirit of the building itself and the household guardian of folklore. Pagans and witches keep both with small offerings, good manners, and knowing whose land they live on.

A spirit guide is a spirit that helps a person with wisdom, protection, and insight rather than a claim on worship. In witchcraft and paganism a guide can be an ancestor, an animal spirit, a land spirit, or a god. The term "spirit guide" names the relationship rather than the type of spirit. A follower spirit that keeps to one person is a fylgja in the Norse traditions and a fetch in traditional witchcraft.

Offerings in witchcraft and paganism are gifts for the spirits, and an offering can be food, drink, flame, flowers, or simply spending time. Fresh water is the most traditional offering. Bread, honey, milk, and mead are also common, and so are songs, poems, and crafts. After a time, offerings are returned to the earth.

An altar in witchcraft and paganism is a surface kept for the spirits, a shelf, a table, or a windowsill, where offerings are left and names are said. An ancestor altar holds a photograph, a glass of water, and a candle, and an altar for a god, a land spirit, or the house holds much the same, along with whatever that spirit is known to like. Many pagans and witches dress the altar for each sabbat as the year turns.

Spirit communication in witchcraft and paganism is speaking with the spirits and hearing back. Communication can come through meditation and trance, divination practices like pendulums, cards, or scrying mirrors, or signs and dreams. It often begins with a quiet room, a clear intent, and a ward around the space, and may finish with a plain goodbye. Herbs for spirit communication open the way and keep it safe.

A psychopomp in witchcraft is a witch who helps the newly dead or the lost dead across, guiding rather than commanding them. Death rites in paganism are what is done for the dying and the newly dead, the washing, the vigil, the circle of mourners, and the words said at a green burial or a cremation. Pagans and witches hold death as part of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth rather than an end.

Mediumship in witchcraft and paganism is speaking for the dead, the gods, and the spirits, in trance or in a sitting, and passing on what they say. The word mediumship comes from nineteenth-century Spiritualism. Some pagans and witches are mediums, and some mediums find witchcraft through it, and the spirits who come are not always from the medium's own path. A practiced medium vets a spirit before letting it speak.

A to F

Ancestor, one of your own people who has died, by blood or by choice, and the first spirit most pagans and witches tend.

Ancestor altar, a shelf or table kept for the dead of your line, with a photograph, a glass of water, and a candle at the least.

Animism, the belief that animals, plants, rocks, rivers, houses, and the things people make each have a spirit, and the ground every kind of spirit work stands on.

Banshee, the wailing woman of Irish folklore whose cry foretells a death in the family she keeps to.

Brownie, the house spirit of Scottish and English folklore who does the chores at night for a bowl of cream and leaves if he is thanked or clothed.

Death work, tending the dying and the newly dead, from the vigil to the grave.

Deity work, honoring a god or goddess with offerings, prayer, and devotion over time.

Domovoi (duh-muh-VOY), the Slavic house spirit who lives behind the stove and moves house with the family.

Draugr (DROW-gur), the walking dead of the Icelandic sagas, a corpse rather than a ghost, who guards its mound and harms the living.

Dryad (DRY-ad), the spirit of a tree in Greek tradition, and the word now used for any tree spirit.

Elemental, a spirit of one of the four elements, earth, air, fire, or water.

Elf, the hidden people of Norse and Germanic folklore, kin to the Fae and older than the Christmas kind.

Evocation, calling a spirit to come to you, into a space or a circle, as distinct from calling it into yourself.

The Fae (FAY), the Fair Folk of European folklore, elves, gnomes, goblins, and the sídhe among them, met with respect and iron at the door.

Familiar, a spirit that helps a witch with spells, divination, and protection, in animal shape or in a bonded pet.

Fetch, the follower spirit of one person in traditional witchcraft, often seen in animal form.

Fylgja (FILL-gya), the Norse follower spirit that goes with a person through life and appears before a death.

G to N

Genius loci (JEE-nee-us LOH-sy), the Roman name for the spirit of a place.

Ghost, the spirit of a dead person still present where it lived or died, neither an ancestor nor a revenant until it is known which.

House spirit, the spirit of a home, the building's own or the guardian who came with the family.

Invocation, calling a spirit or a god into yourself or into a rite, as distinct from calling it into the room.

Land wight, the Norse name for a land spirit, the spirit of a hill, a stream, a stone, or a stretch of ground.

Lares and penates (LAIR-eez and peh-NAY-teez), the household spirits of the Roman home, the guardians of the family and of the store cupboard.

Libation, a drink poured out for a spirit or a god, on the ground, on a grave, or at the altar.

Mediumship, speaking for the dead, the practice of Spiritualism and of witches and pagans who do it.

Necromancy, speaking with the dead to learn from them, the old name for a practice most witches now call ancestor work or death work.

Nisse (NISS-uh), the farm spirit of Norwegian and Danish folklore, small, bearded, and paid in porridge at Yule.

Nymph, a spirit of a spring, a river, a mountain, or a wood in Greek tradition.

O to Z

Offering, food, drink, flame, or time set out for a spirit, and the plainest act of spirit work there is.

Petition, asking a spirit or a god for something, spoken or written, and usually with an offering.

Psychopomp (SY-koh-pomp), a guide of the dead across, a god, a spirit, or a person who does that work.

Revenant (REV-uh-nunt), one of the restless dead who returns in body or in spirit because of a bad death or a missing rite.

Séance (SAY-ahnss), a sitting held to speak with the dead through a medium, from nineteenth-century Spiritualism.

Sídhe (SHEE), the people of the mounds in Irish tradition, the Fae by their oldest name.

Spirit guide, any spirit that helps one person with wisdom, protection, and insight, whatever kind of spirit it is.

Tomte (TOM-teh), the Swedish farm spirit, the nisse by another name.

Veneration, honoring the dead or the spirits without worshipping them, the word for what an ancestor altar does.

Warding, keeping unwanted spirits out of a place or a person, with iron, salt, thresholds, and spoken bounds.

The Wild Hunt, the host of the dead that rides the winter sky in Norse and Germanic folklore, led by Odin in most tellings.

Explore Witchcraft and Pagan Practices

• Spellwork, the spells and rituals a spirit or deity can be asked into
• Herbal Witchcraft, the herbs that can open spirit communication and keep it safe
• Pagan Divination, the readings that can carry a message from the ancestors or the gods
• Energy Work, the grounding and shielding that steady a witch before and after the spirits are called
• Animals in Witchcraft, the familiars and animal spirits that keep a witch company
• Kitchen Witchcraft, the house spirits and the hearth offerings kept at the stove
• The Four Elements, the land, water, and fire that the spirits of place live in
• Wheel of the Year, the eight sabbats, with Samhain the night the ancestors are remembered

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