Witch father in traditional witchcraft

[Eeeloxddx]

Hi, I have a question about the Father of Witches/the Devil. I’m directing this question to people who practice traditional witchcraft or have knowledge on the subject. In traditional witchcraft, the Father of Witches is a spirit with many faces and aspects; he is an archetypal being composed of figures such as Cain, Azazel, Lucifer, the Man in Black, Bucca, Puck, King Elphame, and others. Of course, not all witches in this tradition recognize every aspect of this horned god mentioned here, but I often encounter precisely these aspects of him; he is also commonly associated with the figures of Old Nick and Gwyn ap Nudd. Why have all these figures/spirits—which could be considered distinct—been incorporated into a single multidimensional being in contemporary tradcraft? Why is the spirit referred to in this tradition as “the Devil” a blend of many gods and spirits? I know, of course, that they could all be described as “the Devil” because Christianity has assigned them that status, but I view this as a label, a collective title, and I don’t think the fact that many entities bear this name means that the Devil can be treated as a single, multidimensional entity. Could someone explain to me why someone combined these figures and deemed it appropriate, and who did so? Why is this the case in contemporary traditional witchcraft? The same applies to the “mother of witches,” but my question pertains more to the Devil than to her. Nevertheless, why have so many figures been considered as one? There are certainly witches in the Tradcraft tradition who work with the specific god I’ve mentioned here and do not combine him with others, but in books devoted to this tradition, this very notion—regarding these many beings as a single god of witches—appears very frequently. Please recommend a few books, and even better—let me know if you know who shaped the image of the Old One and how.

 

[Angelkesfarl]

The Devil, in linguistic and Eastern terms, is indeed the father of all demons and rebellious spirits.

But he himself has only one name: “Iblis,” the Great Devil. The rest are not reflections of a single entity but rather followers of a single person; ultimately, they all imitate him in his way of thinking and his methods within the demonic realm.

They are all distinct entities, even in their names and titles, but in the end, they are all demons.
It is like saying “human”: there are many humans, but we all eat, drink, marry, and speak—even if our languages and lands differ.
Just as there are humans in the visible world, there are jinn and demons in the other world.
The view holds that the Great Father of all sorcerers is their shepherd and supporter—an ancient jinn entity created from fire who ascended to heaven and fell due to his disobedience toward God the Creator.
And because he possesses the ability to take on various forms and also has a physical body, he was able to sire his first offspring—the primordial demons—who are also beings of extremely long life spans. They practice magic, teach it, and serve human sorcerers.

They have different forms of worship and different myths; they do not rely on a single myth to support them, but rather on all their myths.

All earthly and satanic left-hand magic stems from their teachings.

Therefore, they are not all a single entity, but rather distinct entities and individuals—as well as kingdoms, nations, and tribes—inhabiting the earth, the air, the sea, and the depths.

The hierarchy of authority is a matter of dispute, and as for the nature of their existence, I believe I have already provided you with the explanation.

 

[Dyn Hysbys]

Hi, I have a question about the Father of Witches/the Devil. I’m directing this question to people who practice traditional witchcraft or have knowledge on the subject. In traditional witchcraft, the Father of Witches is a spirit with many faces and aspects; he is an archetypal being composed of figures such as Cain, Azazel, Lucifer, the Man in Black, Bucca, Puck, King Elphame, and others. Of course, not all witches in this tradition recognize every aspect of this horned god mentioned here, but I often encounter precisely these aspects of him; he is also commonly associated with the figures of Old Nick and Gwyn ap Nudd. Why have all these figures/spirits—which could be considered distinct—been incorporated into a single multidimensional being in contemporary tradcraft? Why is the spirit referred to in this tradition as “the Devil” a blend of many gods and spirits? I know, of course, that they could all be described as “the Devil” because Christianity has assigned them that status, but I view this as a label, a collective title, and I don’t think the fact that many entities bear this name means that the Devil can be treated as a single, multidimensional entity. Could someone explain to me why someone combined these figures and deemed it appropriate, and who did so? Why is this the case in contemporary traditional witchcraft? The same applies to the “mother of witches,” but my question pertains more to the Devil than to her. Nevertheless, why have so many figures been considered as one? There are certainly witches in the Tradcraft tradition who work with the specific god I’ve mentioned here and do not combine him with others, but in books devoted to this tradition, this very notion—regarding these many beings as a single god of witches—appears very frequently. Please recommend a few books, and even better—let me know if you know who shaped the image of the Old One and how.

An excellent question! And impossible to answer accurately.
If you consider witchcraft to be a 'current' rather than a path or tradition, then that current flows throughout all cultures and times. So too does the figure/spirit of a masculine benefactor, source, patron etc.
No one has actually combined these figures into one unless you take the psychological model which treats gods as archetypes or patterns (I don't btw). That is a horribly reductive approach IMHO.
The relationship keeps recurring in all cultures and so the 'Other' is invariably clothed in that culture.
Same with the various goddesses of witchcraft.
An excellent book on this is Song of the Dark Man by Darragh Mason.

 

[Eldros]

I believe it's more that people started to see them as separate manifestations of the same spirit, rather than that they were first seen as one entity...
So instead of being an old belief, the whole Witch-Father thing seems more like a later development./