Walking the Hedge

A Beginners Laying the Hedge

An Excerpt from the Hearth Craft Class currently going on at Walking The Hedge’s Forum, feel free to join in, or follow along at your own pace.

This ritual can be preformed anywhere in your home or yard that has a hearth element to it. For the purposes of this lesson, the default will be the kitchen.

One can feel a tad exposed and vulnerable the first few times they attempt to contact the spirit world. So for this class, we will be placing a magickal protective barrier around our workspace. We will be Laying the Hedge.

A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and tree species, planted and trained in such a way as to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area. For this exercise, we will be creating a hedgerow around the ritual area both as a protective barrier and also to help us stand at the axis of the worlds.
Hedge laying is the term used by farmers and gardener for the creation of a traditional hedge, it is a complex and careful art, with many different styles, that requires much foresight, planning and patience.
The idea of sacred space or a circle is not a new idea and can be found throughout Ceremonial Magick as well as Wicca, witchcraft, and many magickal traditions. By raising or laying the Hedge, you can establish a sacred space or enclosure.
For some images of a hedgerow to inspire you, check out these links:

http://www.walkingthehedge.org/Images/24-hedgerow.jpg

http://www.derby.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AF5D791C-96FA-4A10-8E6F-21C233426284/0/Dscn3904_450.jpg

http://popgen.unimaas.nl/~jlindsey/commanster/Habitat/hedgerow.jpg

http://www.cornwall365.co.uk/cornwall_image/1,Hedgerow,PICT7538.JPG

http://www.uga.edu/fruit/image/trellis%20hedgerow.jpg

Once you have your tools gathered, your book and spoon ready; plan to have a little time in the kitchen to yourself. This may be after everyone has gone to bed or while they are at work etc. Try to get an hour of privacy in the kitchen if you can. If you have found your hearthstone, you may want to have it here, just to see if it “fits”.

This is best done after dark, but can be done at anytime of day. If you are doing this during the day, you may want to draw the curtains before you begin. You will also want to turn off as many lights in the house as possible before you begin.

Clean off the stovetop and place on it a candle in holder along with a smudgestick or incense and holder. You may also want to place your book and spoon and any items you use as ritual kitchen tools. Make sure the candle is centered on the stovetop; you may wish to place it upon your hearthstone.

Light the incense or smudgestick and get it burning nicely. You may want to take a moment to smudge yourself and to ground and center as well.

Now light the candle, saying “I invite the Sacred Flame of the Hearth into my home” as you do so.

Standing in the center of the room, facing north, close your eyes for a moment and picture in your minds eye a thick, deep, lush, green hedgerow. You might want to visualize some of your favorite trees and plants growing in the hedgerow. Perhaps some favorite birds and small wildlife live within this hedgerow. Perhaps you totem animals peek at you from between branches. Take your time and really make the image yours. Try your best to visualize the hedgerow running 360 degrees around you.

Now, slowly reach out with your heart, mind and spirit deep down to the Earth, connect with it as best you can. Put down roots like the trees in your hedgerow, deeper and deeper in the black earth, tracing the roots of your hedgerow. There, deep down, is a wellspring of energy, of the Earth’s life force, dip your own roots into this force. Allow the power of the Earth to move up through your roots and into your body. Breathe slowly and deeply and let this happen for a time. Wait until you are filled to the brim, or until you feel a rushing on energy from the land flowing into you and there is a need to DO something with it.

When you are ready, step forward and reaching out with your hand, your spoon or any preferred ritual tool, allow the energy built within you to pour out to the edge of your ritual space. Slowly let it flow out from you, become a conduit for the energy of the Earth, let it run up from far below you, into you, through you, and out your hand.

Now visualize your hedgerow growing up around you, being fed by the power you are sending. The trees spring up from the ground, blossoms bloom in brilliant color, birds sing, thorns grow sharp deep within the hedgerow. Let your and the Earth’s energy feed the hedgerow, making it “alive”. Take inspiration from time-lapse images of plants growing over time, fast-forwarded into mere seconds.

Once you feel your hedgerow is growing, once you can see in your minds eye clearly, begin to move around the room, making the hedgerow grow up to completely enclose the room. Use your instinct to choose your direction of travel, though desoil is most commonly used for protective work.

You may want to use and repeat words such as these as you lay your hedgerow:

“Blooms and birds let good spirits in
Thorns and bees sting the bad and drive them away
I lay this Hedge with this pledge
A witch’s work to be done
Here where the worlds do meet
Herbs and shrubs protect me and my kin
Vines and snakes keep ill-wishers at bay”

Go around three times, more if you feel the need, until your protective Hedge surrounds you.

Gently slow and stop the flow of energy from the Earth, but try to maintain that contact.

Any altar used could be the focal point of the working area and represent the World Tree or axis mundi, which is the center of all things and touches all realms. In this case, the place where we open a gate to connect the many worlds is the hearth flame.

Stand before the stove and just watch the flame and smoke for a few minutes, letting your body and mind relax and slow down.

Watch the smoke and flame play against the stove and on the walls of the kitchen. Think of how long before the modern oven, a home almost always was filled with flickering firelight and smoke from the hearth.

Spend a minute working through a visualization of an ancient hearth; something that feels right to your ancestry is best. Take inspiration from the ritual in Lesson One.

Return your thoughts to the flickering flame before you; say the words:
“Sacred flame of the ancient hearth, you brought warmth, comfort, food and light to my ancestors and their ancestors. For this, I thank you.”

Now reach forward so that your hands are over or near the flame. Say the words:

“Hearth fire, heart fire, home fire
You connect me to those who have gone before
and those who will come after
You connect the past and the future with the present
You connect the Underworld
and the Upperworld
with this one here in the Middle”

Now slowly part your hands wider and wider until your arms are outstretched. Try to imagine a portal, gate, rabbit hole etc opening up around and above the flame

“Here I create a gap in the Hedge,
a thinning in the Veil
A place that is no place
A moment that is timeless
A gate between
A threshold at the edge of everything.”

I find that standing with arms open and calling something along the lines of “Let the worlds meet, let this space be filled with the mists of time and space” or anything along those line, in a heartfelt manner to be effective.

Now you will invite the ancestors for a quick visit. With arms still open, now in a welcoming almost hugging gesture, fill your heart with warmth and love. For your ancestors should be welcomed like a favoured grandparent or some elder.

“Ancestors of mine,
I welcome thee
I invite thee
Come here in peace and love
To share knowledge
To receive this offering”

Now bring your liquid offering closer to you and using your spoon, gently stir the contents, filling the drink with your own energy as you do so. If you wish to say a few words of blessing here you may.

Now hold up the drink with both hands and offer it to your ancestors. These words should not be scripted but come from the heart. If you do not know what to say, do not be afraid to speak as though you are offering a carefully prepared beverage to a favorite aunt or uncle who you haven’t seen in a long time. Speak with love, warmth and respect.

The offering should be set out for overnight and then disposed of in the morning; the ancestors will take the spirit of the drink and leave the rest.

Spend a short time thinking about any fond memories you may have centered on the family and on your heritage. Think about what sort of knowledge you would like to learn from witches past, long dead relatives and such.

Now speaking from the heart, in complete honesty, tell your ancestors about your hopes and dreams and goals for the future as a spiritual person and witch. As wife and mother, as father and brother.

Humbly ask them for guidance, ask them to be a part of your practice, to share some of the wisdom they have. Tell them the kind of guidance you seek, of any problems you are having in your spiritual path right now. Do not show pride nor brag or boast, be open and honest. These spirits do love you; they came here with love. They want to help you. Do understand you have to be worthy of that aid. Ask for signs, hints, dreams, etc. Promise to work with them.

Once you feel you have nothing left to say. Bid farewell to the ancestors. Wish them many thanks and ask them to

“Go in peace and love and harmony
always welcome when you bring good tidings
and wisdom to my hearth.”

Now stepping back to your hearth flame, slowly close your hands around the place you created your gap, imagining it closing … closing … gone.

“Here I close the gap in the Hedge
I return this space to the present
I bid farewell to the Underworld
Farewell to the Upperworld
Farewell to the spirits
I bid welcome to the Middleworld and the mundane”

Using your spoon or knife or hand, you will now trim your Hedge back. Starting south and going around and around, make the Hedgerow sink back into the earth, a kind of reverse growth, let leaves fall and birds fly away. You may want to visualize a kind of autumn and winter happening in your Hedge. Let the energy you spent to create the Hedgerow return to the Earth.

“Blooms and birds now go to sleep
Thorns and bees rest for the day
I release this Hedge with this pledge
A witch’s work is now done
Here where the worlds did meet
Herbs and shrubs go underground
Vines and snakes can slither away”

Once you are ready, stand before the stove and holding your hands on either side of the candle say:
“Hearth fire, though you may be put out, you will always be a part of my home, a flame present in the heart of house, home and family” With respect, put out the candle. Turn on the lights and put out the incense.

You now may want a meal, a rest; a bath whatever works best for you to ground yourself after a ritual

Once done, please write a journal, however brief, on your experience with this ritual.

If you are doing this ritual with a partner, you may wish to take turns doing the ritual actions, or do them together.
Afterward, you may want to spend sometime talking about the ritual together, depending on your relationship, you may want to hold hands, snuggle etc while you do so, as this class is very much about the home and the home = love.

Related posts:

1. The Course of My Studies Part One
2. It’s All Rather a lot of Bother
3. Are You Scared Yet?