Archive for the ‘Practice & Learning’ Category

Concerning Wildcrafting

Hints & Tips 

Also some common sense, and not so common sense, rules

 

Make sure you have all the tools and equipment you need before you head out.

Get to know as much as you can about your area, the weather, climate, the plant and animal life etc. It is very important you have intimate understanding of the land you gather from.

Take the time to learn about the area/land you will be gathering from, in all seasons. Also, get to know the plants at different phases of their lifecycle.

Start with only a few plants and learn them well before you begin to study and gather more.

Make sure you have the permission or the permits that might be needed for collecting at the site.

Keep a journal (and/or a map) and make sure to carefully note where you gathered each plant. Refer to this to ensure you do not gather too much from the same place. This also makes sure you can find again where you gathered a certain plant.

Taking pictures of each strand of plants before you harvest, and each time you revisit, can help you to keep track of how your gathering is affecting it.

Make sure to study any poisonous plants in your area, so you can recognize them easily.

Make sure to study any endangered plants in your area, so you can recognize them easily

NEVER gather an endangered plant.

If there be ten, leave seven. If there be five, leave three. If there be three, leave two. If there be less than three, leave them be.

Never take the best plants, leave those to seed the next generation.

Double and triple check every plant you identify. Many dangerous plants look a lot like harmless or medicinal ones.

If you can return the gift by spreading seeds (you can also replace crowns and plant roots) from nearby or from same-type seeds from your garden, please do.

Make sure the area you wish to gather from is not sprayed or chemically treated in any way.

Do not gather from fragile ecosystems, such as places that are protected or in danger of dying out.

Gather from places that are soon to be bulldozed and destroyed etc. You can re-seed nearby if possible, or let the strands live on in your garden, rituals and herbal remedies.

Take from the largest strand you can find, this will have less effect on the area.

If you find evidence of wildlife grazing on the strand, try to gather from elsewhere, or take much less. Those who rely on the strand for food get preference over us.

If you have noticed a decline of the plant in your area, go elsewhere.

Do your research on any plant you wish to gather, so that you collect at the right time and gather the right part of a plant. Make sure you know how to handle the plants and transport them properly.

Try not to disturb the native soil anymore than you have to.

Try not to disturb any sites that you know have endangered plants or wildlife there.

Be careful and respectful of the plant.

It is best to ask permission and give a gift or offering of some sort.

Explain your purpose for harvesting and give thanks.

Pay attention to what you are doing; be careful.

Clean up after yourself, do not leave trash and fill in any holes you make.

Do not be wasteful of your harvest.

• Start by reading Juniper’s article “What is a Hedgewitch?”

• And the older version of it called “What the Heck is a Hedgewitch Anyways?” on Witchvox or here at Mysticwicks Magazine

• As well as The History of “hedgewitch” by Juniper

• “Hallmarks of a Hedgewitch” by Juniper

• And “Hags and Hedges” by Juniper

• “Hedge Witchery” by Sarah

• “The Hedgewitch (Hagwychia variegata)” by Louise P.

• “What is a Hedgewitch?” from House Shadow Drake

• “Being a Hedgewitch” by Sally Morningstar

• Check out Hedge Magick

• Here’s a book list worth checking out

• Check out our fourm, where you will meet some great people, newbies, elder and in between.

That should get you started, happy reading!

Contact Juniper at juniper@walkingthehedge.net

Some Tips for Making Ritual Feel Real

Decorate your altar, shrine and ritual space with items that relate (in your mind) to the ritual purpose. Use colors, scent, images, and tools to their best effect.
If you are doing a very masculine working, do not put pink flowers on your altar. Put images and items that have a masculine feel and meaning to you.
If you are doing a hearth and home related ritual, put a dollhouse in the room, cut out images of fireplaces from a magazine and tack them on the wall.
Do not bother with placing items that will not be used or useful during the ritual, only use what is going to be really helpful. If there is a print on the wall that does not relate to your ritual, take it down, or hang a piece of fabric over it. Cut out the distractions as much as possible.
Do not worry about the proper correspondences as written in a book; think about what gives you the right impressions, thoughts and feelings. It is all about your mind connecting your surroundings with the ritual purpose.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Do not allow yourself to become distracted by silly little things, like almost tripping, almost spilling, slipping up a few words, and the clock ticking in the next room. Do not worry about making a fool of yourself, if your makeup is getting smeared, if your deodorant is holding up. These are all distractions. They do not matter.

Don’t rush! Slow down and take your time. Rushing through a ritual will not give it that deep meaning; you will gain nothing from it. If your rituals are too long, cut the fat. Trim it down to only what is really important, so that you can spend the proper amount of time focusing on that.

Move! Dance, clap, stomp, sway, and wave your arms around. Just standing there shuffling your feet does not help to build energy, it also does not help you to feel the ritual. It may seem a tad silly, but if you are finding a lack of emotion, a lack of meaning in your ritual, try doing an interpretive dance, act out your ritual. Tap your foot in time to the words you are speaking.
Do your own personal sign language. If you are saying something about the moon, draw a circle or crescent in the air with your hand or ritual tool. If you are trying to connect with the feminine divine, touch your breasts (if you are a woman), draw the shape of a woman in the air, hold you arms as if stroking a pregnant belly or as if you are holding a baby. When contacting a god, touch your crouch (if you are a man), or draw a hammer, a phallus or horns or oak leaf in the air in front of you.
Stand up straight, lie down, sit up, lean to one side and then the other, hop on one foot, and use those hand signs and body postures found in Paganism 101 books.

Say it like you mean it. One of my best teachers was into drama and acting. She used to shout at us during ritual “Emote dammit! Say it like you mean it!” don’t just read off of some page in a monotone, say it with feeling, drama, and meaning.
When you are inviting entities into your ritual, speak with welcome in your voice, say it as if you were inviting a friend in to your home.
Do not rush through a prayer, chant or poem as quickly as possible. Take the time to carefully speak each line, with feeling. Repeat if necessary.
Pretend you are an actor on a stage where your audience is hard of hearing and far away. Emote and project. Speak from the heart and use your belly voice, as acting and singing instructors would say.
Singing and chanting rather than speaking can also help you to inject emotion into your words. So try it, even if you do not have a great voice.

Use your imagination. That’s what visualizing is all about. Using your imagination will help you to connect with your creative side, the right side of your brain, the part of you that does not worry about logic, but that relies on feelings and intuition.

Practice, practice, practice. Do not give up if things just don’t feel like they are working the first time. Try it again; try everything at least three times before moving on to something else. The first couple of times you perform a new ritual, you will feel rather awkward, that’s perfectly natural. You cannot truly find that spiritual connection until you have become somewhat comfortable with what you are doing.
Do not expect results right away, the very first time. This rarely happens for people.
Also it can be a good idea to practise at home, alone a couple of times before you go and join in a group ritual.

Feel it, really feel it. Don’t just go through the motions. If you feel that you are, stop! Take a few deep breaths and remind yourself what you are doing and why. Find your motivation. Say it out loud, think it, picture it in your mind, and really feel it. Draw it, paint it, and write poetry about it.
Do whatever you need to do before a ritual to make sure the purpose of the ritual is fresh in your mind and filling your heart. At each step along they way during a ritual, stop for a second and reaffirm what you are doing and why.
Keep the ritual purpose in the forefront of your mind and heart.
A good ritual, a really truly good ritual should bring you to the brink of tears, happy or sad. People have often made fun of me for getting choked up or actually crying during ritual. They don’t get it, not at all.
If you really want results, you need to bring your heart fully into it. If you want a ritual to have meaning, you must give it meaning. You must really feel it, you must put that feeling into it.

Laugh, cry, shout, sing, dance, smile, and do it like you mean it! If you do not mean it, you shouldn’t be doing it. If you do not mean it deep in your mind, heart and soul, you will never have that special spiritual experience you seek.

Good luck!

~ Juniper

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.

Comparing our selves to others. Your spiritual path is not a race against other people, nor can we truly use other people’s paths as a proper measuring stick. We waste far too much looking over other people’s shoulders and worrying about whether or not we are as advanced or enlightened as others. We are all individuals, our souls all have different ages, and we are all walking our own path.

Telling other people they are wrong. It’s none of your business. How someone else practices in the privacy of his or her own home does not affect you. Get over it. Concentrate on yourself, your path, and your spirituality. What do you gain from telling other people they are wrong? You get a reputation for being an asshole and you get to hurt the feelings of others. Anyone who enjoys this must be some kind of sadist or bully and needs to get their head examined by a professional.

Bragging and showing off. Put your money where your mouth is. Don’t talk the talk unless you walk the walk. Don’t act like you’re the coolest person in the world because you’re in a coven, or have 10 years under your belt. And do understand that people generally only pretend to be impressed because that is the polite thing to do.

Worrying they need and Elder and/or Teacher in order to progress. In our culture, we like to have our hands held. This is witchcraft folks, not kindergarten.

Arguing and worrying about proper terminology. Yes, it’s helpful when we can speak the same language and therefore understand each other better. But when you are spending large amounts of time and energy in debating the exact meaning and proper use of a word, you are wasting resources that should go into the practice and study of your path.

Fighting amongst our selves. There are better places to put that time, energy and such into. You know it, and I know it. We do our community no service by fighting over petty bullshit. We should be building bridges, not starting witch wars.

Being afraid to try stuff. Oh, just do it already. What’s the worst that can happen? You accidentally turn your husband into a frog? Satan steals your soul? Everybody has to start somewhere, that includes you, its time to take the plunge.

Faking it. Just plain stupid, and trust me everyone can see right through you.

Trying to catch people faking it. Oh, grow up already. Get your own damned life.

Arm chair pagans. Okay, so you’ve read a million books. That’s great. But you’ve never cast a Circle? Get off your ass. Until you’ve actually done something, and I mean more than a couple of half hearted tries, you don’t know shit.

Please come and join the wild geeks of Walking the Hedge in a fun and informal Hearth Craft Class lead by Juniper and Broom Ridin’ Vikki!!

Each class will be posted in the Hedge’s Classroom in our Forum, on Mondays. It will run 6 to 8 weeks.

Join for the whole class, or drop in when you can. All are welcome and debate and discussion are as well.

Some of the topics will include:

An Introduction to Hearth Craft

Who Practices Hearth Craft?

Home and Hearth Folklore

Tools of Hearthcraft

The Witches Spoon

Kitchen Safety

Hallowed Hearth

The Hearthstone

Creating a Sacred Kitchen

Cleaning Naturally & Spiritually

Hearth & Domestic Deities

Living and Working with Household & Hearth Spirits

The Makings of a Kitchen Shrine

Finding the Ancient Hearth in a Modern Home

Hearth Flame Ritual

A Beginners Laying the Hedge

We Are What We Eat

The Spirit of Culinary Herbs

The Spirit of Fruits, Roots, Berries & Vegetables

The Spirit of Meat & Dairy

The Spirit of Grains & Cereals, Nuts & Seeds

Correspondences: Figuring it Out For Yourself

Sacred Gardens On a Small Scale and a Tight Budget

Around the Wheel in Eight Hearths

Daily Rituals

What is this Hallowed Place?

Hearth stone, Heart stone

My Home: a Map to my Spiritual Path

Smooring

Dance, sing, laugh, live. PRAY

Working with Ancestors

Honouring Family, Hearth and Home

Spirits in the Hearth

Gifts and Goodies

Offerings and Giving Thanks

Spirit Guides and Guardians

Making Ritual Real

Dining With Spirits

The Energetic Home

Path Meditation

Meal Blessings

Preparing a Magickal Meal

Ritual Meals and Meals as Rituals

Witches Bottle & Ball

What is to be done with these leftovers?

Cauldrons and Pots

Saining

Household Divination

Protective Charms

The Witches Ladder, Dream Catchers and More

Corn Dollies, Brigid Crosses and More

Fire Lore

Spontaneous Ritual

A Witches Life

Arts and Crafts

Just for Kids

Just for Teens

Just for Parents

And more….