The concept of lineage has caused great confusion for many people in the magical community, especially in South Africa. There has been quite a bit of misunderstanding about what it is and how it works. This is understandable, as British Traditional Witchcraft, as far as is known, has only come to South Africa relatively recently.

Note that this statement does not refer to the many diverse new traditions and lineages that have sprung up on South African soil over the years, nor to those that may be loosely based on the outer structures of Traditional Craft. This is specifically referring to legitimate Alexandrian and Gardnerian lines.

The thing is, if you are a practising Witch or Pagan but have not been initiated into a lineaged form of Witchcraft, there is no problem. This does not mean that practices of a more eclectic persuasion, within the great big world of modern Witchcraft, are any less valid for those who practise them. Lineage, however, does become important when some claim to be practising initiates of traditions to which, quite frankly, they do not belong.

But what is lineage, anyway?

At its most simplistic level, lineage is a way of confirming who initiated whom and tracing that line back to the founders of a tradition.

In Alexandrian Witchcraft, lineage is transmitted through the initiation rites and is further established through subsequent training. These are specific rites containing the core liturgy and the particular rites of initiation belonging to the tradition. Lineage implies that a person was brought into the Craft by an initiated member of that tradition and that the initiator was, in turn, brought into the mysteries of the tradition in the same way. As already mentioned, this also implies that the line of descent can be traced back to the founders of that tradition. In the case of Alexandrian Witchcraft, that would be Alex and Maxine Sanders. For Gardnerian Witchcraft, this would be Gerald Gardner.

Now, in theory, this should be simple, but in practice, it can cause quite a bit of confusion.

For example, let us say Witch A was initiated by Alex Sanders into Alexandrian Witchcraft. A works the Craft for a couple of years and then initiates Witch B. B works the Craft for a couple of years but eventually goes on to form a completely new tradition. B changes the initiation rites, changes the names of the Gods and alters the components of the rites to such an extent that the resulting tradition barely resembles Alexandrian Craft, if at all. B then initiates Witch C into this new tradition.

Now, although B originally has Alexandrian lineage, C does not, as she was not brought into the original tradition but into a completely new one. In this case, B would be the founder of a new tradition, with its own distinct lineage.

A good real-world example would be Raymond Buckland, who brought Gardnerian Witchcraft to the USA and later founded Seax-Wica. A person initiated into Seax-Wica cannot claim Gardnerian lineage simply because Raymond Buckland himself had it. The same principle applies to the Ordine Della Luna and Alexandrian Craft.

Another important aspect of lineage that is often not realised, or perhaps not known, is that when it is transmitted properly, it also transmits the magical current of the tradition to the initiate, which can then be passed on in turn. Without digressing into this topic, anyone with some understanding of occult principles and the workings of occult groups and traditions should recognise the significance of this matter and understand why it would be important within a tradition.

I hope this clarifies some of the questions surrounding what lineage is and how it works.

At this stage, there is one line of Alexandrian Witchcraft in South Africa and no Gardnerian lines.