[quote=@Vec]
<Snipped quote by ActRaiserTheReturned>

Do witches summon these spirits and cast their magic through them, or can they cast their magic without the aid of the spirit? I quite like the former, but not so the latter.
[/quote]

More so the former rather than the latter. Patrons are entities that half way exist in the universe and half way don't. Without access to the Patrons, the witch loses her/his power.