Witch Patrons — Powers Behind the Craft
A patron is the supernatural power, intelligence or mystery that stands behind a Witch’s magic. Depending on tradition and edition, a patron may be a deity, spirit, fey power, outsider, ancestor or another otherworldly being.
Scope note: the God-and-Goddess model preserved later on this page belongs to the legacy Liber Mysterium material and to traditions that use it; it is not a universal law of witchcraft across the setting.
Different covens and solitary Witches may serve very different patrons, and the patron’s nature can shape spells, obligations, taboos, allies and enemies.
Choose a Patron
A patron should answer three questions for the character: what opened the door to your magic, what does that power want, and what happens when you disagree? Patronage can be devotional, contractual, familial, accidental, inherited or openly hostile.
| Deity | A god or goddess whose domain, cult or local manifestation teaches Witchcraft. |
|---|---|
| Fey Power | A sovereign, ancient fey being or court whose bargains shape the Witch’s magic. |
| Spirit | An ancestor, genius loci, elemental intelligence, household spirit or other incorporeal power. |
| Outsider | A celestial, fiend or stranger being from another plane. |
| Ancestral Patron | A dead Witch, founder, family guardian or collective lineage intelligence. |
| Unknown Power | A patron whose identity is deliberately hidden from the Witch at the start of play. |
Build the Relationship
- Gift: What did the patron make possible that the Witch could not do before?
- Price: What does the patron expect — service, secrecy, protection, knowledge, offerings or simply attention?
- Boundary: What will the Witch refuse to do even if the patron asks?
- Mystery: What about the patron remains unexplained?
Patrons by Edition
5.5e / 2024: the Witch chooses a Patron’s Gift at 1st level; the patron then remains a roleplaying relationship unless a Tradition says otherwise. Pathfinder 1e: the patron adds bonus spells to the familiar as the Witch advances. D&D 3.x Legacy: patrons also interact with Coven spells and older class restrictions.
Legacy God-and-Goddess model
Liber Mysterium presents a particular theological model in which many deities are interpreted as aspects of a God/Goddess pair. That model can still be used by covens that believe it, but it is not universal across Witch traditions or the wider setting.
Named Deities Used as Witch Patrons
The following deities can serve as patrons where their mythology, domains and campaign role fit the Witch. They remain distinct gods and goddesses with their own identities; they are not treated as interchangeable faces of one universal deity.
- Astartë
- Athena
- Bast
- Brigit
- Cardea
- Cerridwen
- Danu
- Demeter
- Diana
- Eir
- Gaea
- Hathor
- Hecate
- Hel
- Hestia
- Holda
- Inanna
- Isis
- Kali
- Lilith
- Lovitar
- Mabd
- Morrígan
- Rhiannon
- Tiamat
Tlazolteol
Aztec witches who worship Tlazolteol, the Goddess of vice, are often tantric or malefic witches. They spend a great amount of time on their appearance and try to look as desirable as possible. Once they have someone alone they will attempt to corrupt or kill them. Most prefer to corrupt others. Bards speak of a particularly successful witch of Tlazolteol who had been in the bedrooms of many of a particular country’s politicians. Single handedly she had nearly toppled the government through jealousy and deceit.
Tlazoteol is also seen as a necessary evil. She takes in filth and sin so it may be disposed of. It is this aspect that she is most often worshipped and served by her witches. Confessing ones sins to her or to her witches, one would be purified of those sins. Mothers in childbirth often called on her aid. Her witches, learned in all manners sexual, are also skilled midwives and nursemaids, after all birth is a natural consequence of sex. Her witches are believed to be adulterous and women born under her sign (The Ocelot) were believed to become her witches.
She is seen as lustful maiden, mother or priestess and crone, devourer of youth, depending on her mood. She is always depicted nude in all of her aspects, as the Mother she is seen having just given birth. She wears a gold and turquoise necklace and her temples are andorned with gold bells. Of note she is also sometimes depicted as wearing a conical “witch’s” hat.
Alignment: CE or CN
Areas of Influence: Chaos, Feritilty, Trickery, Vice
Name of the God
It is no secret that much of witchcraft is Goddess focused, there is though a God as well. Though he might get a secondary placement in some Traditions and ignored altogether in others, He is to most witches equally important.
Listed here are various Gods. Included in each listing are a description of that God, likely alignments and Domains as well as the Goddess they are consort to.
Other Patrons
Deities are only one possibility. Powerful spirits, ancestors, fey rulers, local powers, outsiders and other supernatural intelligences can all become Witch patrons when the relationship suits the character and campaign.
Spirit Patrons
Spirit patrons include ancestors, nature spirits, household guardians, elemental intelligences and powers tied to particular places. A Family Witch might serve a founding ancestor; a Faerie Witch might bargain with the spirit of an ancient wood; a Voudounista might maintain negotiated relationships with several local spirits while still recognising one principal patron.
Spirit power varies enormously. A river spirit might dominate one valley yet have little influence elsewhere, while an ancestral patron may be personally important without possessing divine-scale power. Choose the relationship for the stories it creates rather than trying to force every spirit onto one hierarchy.
Fiendish and Hostile Patrons
Demons, devils and other hostile outsiders can offer Witchcraft in exchange for service, corruption, information or access to the mortal world. Such bargains are dangerous because the patron’s goals are usually exploitative, not because any ancestry is naturally more likely to accept them.
A Malefic Witch may knowingly embrace that relationship; another Witch might be trapped in a bargain inherited from a family or coven. The interesting question is what the patron demands and what the Witch is willing to do about it.
While there are those that do worship and serve these creatures that are witches, most are just common people who wish to rise up from their lot in life and see the power of evil as a shortcut. To make matters more confusing, warlocks actively seek demonic patrons for their powers and some diabolic and demonic cultists call themselves “witches” even when they have nothing to do with witchcraft.
To add to the witch’s misery when a new religion moves into an area they often demonize the indigenous and pagan beliefs. So a Goddess worshiped by witches for thousands of years might suddenly become a demon or devil in the eyes of the new religion, as was the case with the Goddess Astartë and the devil Astaroth.
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