What Is Traditional Withcraft?

The term traditional witchcraft is a loaded one and needs a proper context. The term traditional witchcraft really arose out of the rise of Wica, now called Gardnerian Wicca, in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In response to the rise of Gardnerian Wicca a series of articles were published in Pentagram, the newsletter of the Witchcraft Research Association, by Robert Cochrane and W.E. Liddell (under the name Taliesin) giving a very different image of witchcraft. To this day these two stand as counter images of two very different approaches to Witchcraft.
They are significantly different but it is not so simple as to describe traditional witchcraft as ‘older’ or more authentic. In all honesty both Wicca and traditional Witchcraft can be looked on as modern syncretic traditions, both sourcing from older streams that can reasonably be called Witchcrafts. The term traditional witchcraft is a loose term for a non-wiccan way of working that does not claim historical accuracy, archaic lineal descent, or any other trappings inferred by the term traditional witchcraft. This said, the practices of traditional witchcraft draw on historical mystical and magickal practices including the hedge riding of the Anglo Saxon Witch, the work of the Cornish pellar, the work of the cunning man, the wortcunning of the wise woman and the historical accounts of the Witch trials. The revival and development of these threads is in a sense a continuation or previous ‘witchcrafts’.
Still there are significant differences between these two which will become clear as we go on with these posts. 
An initial definition of traditional witchcraft comes to us through Daniel Schulke of Cultus Sabbati - "[Traditional Witchcraft] refers to a coterie of initiatory lineages of ritual magic, spellcraft and devotional mysticism"
Initiatory lineage in relation to traditional Witchcraft can also refer to lineage from spirits and Gods. Andrew Chumbley makes this clear in the article Hekas (The Cauldron no. 74 & 75) and in The Golden Chain & The Lonely Road (A Study of Initiatory Traditions in the Sabbatic Tradition).

Another definition comes to us through Michael Howard who in his Children of Cain describes traditional witchcraft as "any non-Gardnerian, non-Alexandrian, non-Wiccan or pre-modern form of the Craft, especially if it has been inspired by historical forms of witchcraft and folk magic"
Though the definition of something through what it is not is less than ideal, it is an important distinction to make in a post-modern World where the words Witchcraft and Wicca are used interchangeably, even though Wicca is a single tradition in a wide spectrum.
Historical forms of Witchcraft might be said to include traditions like vodoun, rootwork, Palo, Huna, Seidr and more, and though these are ‘traditional witchcrafts’ and have a lot of correlations with the traditions we practice, traditional witchcraft as we use the term refers primarily to European traditions. Even within this definition there is a lot of wiggle room that could be made even more specific, so Strenga (Italian traditional witchcraft), though a traditional witchcraft, is not the immediate association with this term. The term refers more specifically to folk practices most obvious in Britain and Northern Europe, though correlations can be found elsewhere, in other Witchcraft traditions.
Some popular streams, though these are by no means complete listings or exclusive realms of practice include: 

Folk Magic and Cunning Folk – witchcraft, in its traditional sense was an operative craft and many practitioners of folk magic and cunning were nominally Christian. Folk magick is found in various recensions including the pellar of Cornwall and the East Anglian magick espoused by Nigel Pennick. The work of cunning folk included work with grimoires; being books of Western magick. Though there were grimoires of local traditions, cunning men could also be found using texts like Agrippas Three Books of Occult Philosophy and Francis Barrett’s The Magus. Cunning folk were magic workers for hire and had a repertoire of magical methods, including folk magick and more hermetic or high magic methods described in some of the books mentioned above. Some high profile cunning folk included Old George Pickingill, Arthur Gauntlet, and James Murrell amongst others. The convergence of methods, based on the practicalities of working continues in the syncretic work of modern traditional witchcrafts. 

The Wild Hunt and Via Nocturna – A regular account in witch trial accounts is ‘flight’ to the sabbat. In recent years academic attention has turned to these accounts, particuluarly through the work of Carlo Gizberg, to suggest the sabbat was a hallucinatory or ‘astral’ experience. There is significant historical precedent for trance practices, particularly in form of the Wild Hunt. The theme of trance work to fly to the sabbath is found in hedgewitchery and the work of Nigel Jackson. These techniques of ‘flight’ have often been enhanced by the use of entheogens and witch ointments to aid the astral flight (see the Poisoners Path) 

The Poisoners Path and Wortcunning – Traditional witchcraft draws heavily on the work of wise women, herbalists and traditional healers, yet the witch’s use of herbs also extended to a unique knowledge of baneful or harmful plants and herbs. Many of the poisons were used to affect altered states of consciousness in controlled quantities. This often took the form of salves or ointments applied to the skin. The work with plants and more specifically with plant spirits or familiars forms an integral part of traditional witchcraft. 

Cochrane Derived Witchcraft – Robert Cochrane, mentioned above as one of the definers of ‘traditional witchcraft’ ran a cuveen in the 1960’s that represented a unique and important transmission of traditional witchcraft today. It has spawned many derivative groups and ways of working that though growing and different, hold a core impulse that is unique and different from other contemporary witchcraft and which, in its various manifestations, is probably one of the most significant streams in traditional witchcraft today. See the recommended reading list for resources on this tradition. 

Andrew Chumbley and The Cultus Sabbati – The Cultus Sabbati is a modern traditional witchcraft ‘Order’ (for want of a better word) working with the symbolism of the medieval witches sabbat. It is also a repository for several streams or lines of traditional witchcraft. The work and transmissions of the CS have had a strong influence on several views on traditional witchcraft.
The above will give some definitions and themes to be found in traditional witchcraft. This is a definition of streams, and more practical notes on the practices will come later...