Witches

"The Italians call them Strega. The Yoruba of West Africa call them Aje, meaning mother. Where my mother was from, they called them Häxa. And here, we call them witch. Over the centuries vampires have fought them and fought beside them, bedded them and burned them. Whether adversary or ally they have been a force to be reckoned with."

- Alex about Witches

Witches are people who are born with the power to affect change by magical means ("Witchcraft"). While many witches are the self-proclaimed "Keepers of the Balance," other witches have been known to work against the Balance and use their power for personal gain.

The Balance of Nature
The Balance of Nature is a spiritual belief system based around the observance of the Earth and reverence of Mother Nature. The goal of many witches is to honor the design of nature and to maintain balance within the natural world. The balance of nature is intimately tied to one's spiritual relationship with the Earth, and the idea that all living things (e.g. animals, humans, plants, etc.) are considered sacred, as they are all different aspects of nature. Contemporary witches would also agree that using modern ceremonies, rituals and shamanic practices is the best way to attune themselves with the natural rhythms of the universe in their efforts to obtain guidance and knowledge from wiser known witches called "The Spirits." However, according to Gloria, who referred to herself as "old-school voodoo," it is implied that not all witches follow this belief system, and have the free will to choose how they wish to practice their power.

History
All Witches descend from the very first Witches, Chazarrae Chamberlain and his three children Alexander Chamberlain, Christopher Chamberlain and Thomas Chamberlain, the progenitor of all werewolf, Vampires and Hybrids. Over the years their descendants procreated with eachother and the light powers and dark powers merged, the lines between light and dark became blurred and the collective power became known as Magic. Eventually Witches split into many different cultures and became the variety of Magic users on Earth today.

Magic
Main Article: Witchcraft

Magic is a practice of witchcraft that encompasses many different types of activities including astrology, divination, spell casting, and spirit communication. It includes the practices of many cultures, nations and religions as well as many books and writings from ancient times. Depending upon the individual, some witches practice their power by certain belief systems, such as Shamanism, Voodoo, Wicca, or any number of other magical practices from countries and cultures all around the world. Although the majority of traditional witches are commonly portrayed as being kind and selfless humans who use their powers to maintain balance within the world.

Spells and Rituals
One of the defining characteristics of a witch is their ability to cast spells; a "spell" being the word used to signify the means employed to carry out a magical action. A spell could consist of a ritual action, a set of words, a verse, or any combination of these. For reasons unknown, the majority of spells used by practitioners of Spirit Magicand/or Traditional Magic are spoken in an ancient language similar to Latin. However, witches who practice other forms of magic have been known to use spells in different languages; for example, the French Quarter witches of New Orleans performs many of their spells in language similar to French Creole, while the Travelers typically perform their spells in a language similar to Czech. However, the ancient witches Thomas and Christopher Chamberlain have been known to perform spells using a language similar to Old Norse.