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Witchcraft 101: Types of Witches

[Updated March 19th, 2026]

If you've read the other pages in this section, then you know that I am generally against the idea of picking a "witch type" and generally find the concept unhelpful and possibly restrictive. I do have reasons for talking about them anyway:

  1. They're brought up a lot in some witchcraft spaces
  2. They can be useful shorthand, it's much easier to say you're a hedge witch than to explain every single facet of your spiritual practice
  3. Building off of the previous point, many people just naturally end up falling into one type or another. I do not think it is useful for beginners to find one they like and try to force themselves into that box though
  4. Most important for this website: it gives an opportunity to get into specific practices witches engage in

I'm hoping that any beginners reading this use witch types to discover new practices and which practices might work well together, rather than trying to force a label to fit. Let's get into it.

A quick note: I am looking at multiple lists of witches from several sources to make sure I'm thorough. I will link them below, but they should not be considered recommended reading, nor should it be seen as endorsing the websites they're from. I'm trying to be pretty specific about why certain things are included. Okay, now let's get into it!

Eclectic Witch

Essentially, they just kind of do whatever. There is no specific tradition or practices associated with this type.

Arcane Alchemy summarizes it as follows: "An Eclectic witch is someone who pulls from various witchcraft traditions for their spellwork and rituals.  They rely on a variety of different cultures, beliefs, and systems to formulate their own personal witchcraft practice which may change and evolve over time."

The pros of an eclectic approach is that there is unlimited freedom (though, I'm sure other witches don't feel restricted either) and you can just...do whatever.

The cons of this approach is that cultural appropriation and taking practices out of context is very common.

Traditional Witch

A historically informed type of witchcraft that draws upon historical witchcraft practices, grimoire tradition, folk practices, et cetera. Traditional witches often focus on the land they live in. This could include looking at local folklore and historical practices and/or focusing on local land spirits.

Hereditary Witch

A person who is born into a family that practices witchcraft. They often learn practices associated with the traditions passed down by their relatives. Added to this list due to it often coming up in conversations in witchcraft spaces.

Solitary Witch

A witch that practices witchcraft on their own without a coven or other type of group. Included on this list due to it being a commonly used term and a label that applies to most witches.

Hedge Witch

Focuses on the liminal and spirits. Practices associated with hedge witchcraft would be astral travel, divination (maybe specifically dream interpretation?), and spirit work.

Kitchen Witch

Perhaps also called a hearth witch, though I'm hesitant to say that since this feels like something people would have a strong opinion on.

A kitchen witch (or hearth witch) focuses on witchcraft done in the home, such as incorporating spells into cooking by choosing dishes and ingredients that align with their intentions (just as an example!). Some may grow their own herbs. The consistent thing is that their practice is primarily about their home.

I've also seen this type of witch be called a "cottage witch", though I suspect the rise of cottagecore is at least partially responsible for the terms popularity.

A book recommendation I have is The House Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock.

Green Witch

Very nature focused. While witchcraft is often already nature focused, they're just incredibly nature focused. Often performing spells and rituals outside if possible, likely tend to a garden and practice herbalism.

I'd consider herbal witches to be a subset of green witch.

Cosmic Witch

Heavy focus on the planets and stars. Some things they may do are: astrology, astrolatry or star worship (not always though), using the alignment of the stars and planets to time spells, paying attention to moon phases or planetary hours.

Lunar witches and solar witches are subsets of cosmic witch.

Ceremonial Witches

While not very common, since most ceremonial magicians (as the name implies) do not consider themselves witches or their practices to be witchcraft, they do exist. They organize elaborate rituals, typically utilizing the same conventions as ceremonial magicians.

Faery/Fairy Witch

Focuses on fairies, if you can believe it.

Sea Witch

Focuses on magic related to the sea and water, however that manifests.

Secular Witch

It is often used to mean a witch that goes not worship any deities (or simply does not incorporate their religion into their witchcraft), however, witchcraft is by definition a spiritual practice and is therefore inherently not secular. I think we need a term that makes sense, or to just not make the distinction in the first place. There is nothing about witchcraft that implies worship of a deity, so it feels like distinction without a difference.

Storm Witch

From Eclectic Witchcraft, "Storm witches thrive on the raw and chaotic energy of storms and extreme weather."

Chaos Witch

A witch that practices chaos magic. I unfortunately do not know all that much about chaos magic, but I will link to a place to find more information in the future.

Tech Witch

A witch who primarily uses technology as their means of practicing witchcraft. This could include keeping a digital grimoire (which is a common practice generally), utilizing emoji spells, or create digital altars.

Death Witch

As you can probably guess, they focus on death as part of their spiritual practice. This could include communicating with spirits of the dead (e.g. necromancy), honoring death related deities, helping spirits move on, et cetera.

Spirit Witch

A witch who engages in spirit work. This is more my area, though I would not use "spirit witch" to describe myself (spirit worker is adequate). Somebody who is a spirit witch would engage in practices such as mediumship, divination with the purpose of communicating with spirits, et cetera.

I like how Eclectic Witch described this: "They focus on building relationships with benevolent spirits, ancestors, or deities. This type of witchcraft emphasizes respect, boundaries, and collaboration with the unseen world."

Left Hand Path Witch

Left Hand Path (LHP) is more often associated with more occult focused spaces, but it is used in witchcraft spaces as well. A Left Hand Path practitioner may focus on spells for self-empowerment or on more "baneful" magic, such as cursing. Banishing and binding spells are also common practice. Some Left Hand Path practitioners are also Satanists or Demonolaters.

Essentially, Left Hand Path includes what many consider to be "black magic".

The term "Right Hand Path" does exist for lighter, more benevolent (though LHP need not be malicious, to be clear) or "white" magic, but I don't think I ever see the term used as a personal label. It's actually possible that the term has fallen into obscurity by now, I haven't seen it in years. But I felt it was worth mentioning.

Conclusion

This is not every type of witch, but it should be a good sampling. I plan on revisiting this page at a later date to include lists of associated practices with each type of witch to make for easier research for newbies, if that is something that is feasible.

Sources