Posts Tagged ‘101’

This question has come to me either through email, PM, Facebook or on the forum so I thought it was time for a quick post.

How do I train in Hedgewitchery? How does one learn Hedgewitchery?

As Hedgewitchery is such a personal Path it is hard to tell someone how to find formal training. After all everyone is going to practice somewhat differently.

First, you might be lucky enough to find a teacher or another Hedgewitch to train and/or practice with. Of course we are all, always, students. For example I can only teach what I know, share what I have experienced and explain the mistakes I have made. My personal tailoring of Hedgewitchery may not be exactly what you are looking for either, just as if I met another Hedgewitch who has more experienced than I, there might be much of her Path that does not resonate with me. Some Hedgewitches are more interested in herbalism and botany, while I am more interested in animal healing and animal husbandry than others. Quite the conundrum eh?

This is one reason why I set up the website and forum, so folks can share what they have learned, what they are experimenting with, as well as what they are hoping to learn. So we can all help each other along the way. You can join the forum (The Wild Geek Hang) at my website and there are a few yahoo groups and such kicking around as well.

Well of course if you are lucky enough to meet another Hedgewitch or someone who follows a similar Path then you can learn a great deal from each other.

There are books than you can read. Some are better than others of course. Some may be more or less along the lines of what you are looking for. There are some great recommended reading lists on the Hedge that myself and others have posted, go to the “A Witch’s Studies” section and then into the “Reading Lists and Recommendations” category.

You don’t have to go to another Hedgewitch to study hedgewitchery. This may sound a little odd but hear me out. Hedgewitchery is a jack-of-many-trades Path, the main ones being: Some type of shamanism or seership, some form of healing, working with Nature in some way and folk magick. So decide which types of these subjects interest you and study them. For example you could take shamanism workshops or study under a seer or sied worker. You could take a course on herbalism or reiki; I am going back to school to study to be a Vet Tech (not only as a career path but also as part of my hedgewitchery).

It also doesn’t hurt to study other forms of Witchcraft and Paganism. You can learn a lot from a Wicca 101 course, or taking a course through a Druid organization. Many Hedgewitches study the Feri Tradition, Faery Seership or heathen traditions such as Asatru.

Don’t forget to read/study up on wise woman, cunning folk, conjure practitioners and folk healers throughout history. Also mythology and any other subjects that interest you and you wish to incorporate into your Path.

How else it this Path learned? From your spirits of course. One place all Walkers Between Worlds gain knowledge from are the gods, ancestors and other spiritual helpers and guides they meet along the way and build a relationship with.

This last Friday myself and Lady N were in charge of leading the Lughnasadh ritual for our Hedge Group. Lady N is newer to the Path (and thus doesn’t have mountains of ritual tools) and I am a terrible pack rat, who also just happened to be in possession of the Hedge’s Ritual Toolbox (or box o’ ritual tools and candles and stuff). Therefore, I found myself spending much of the afternoon beforehand going through the Ritual Toolbox, my own collections of items, making a list and checking it twice.

One item was nearly forgotten. This is the red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth I’ve had in storage for ages. Having been going through a phase these last couple of years I like to call my “The dirt is a great place for setting up my altar and to practice my rituals on because I am a hardcore Hedgewitch phase” my red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth has been sitting forlornly in storage for some time. I did remember it right before I left on Friday; as I figured this would be a good contribution to the groups’ Ritual Toolbox. I also felt kind of bad for neglecting the poor thing. So on my way out the door I pulled it, still folded, out of its place of storage and stuck it in the Ritual Toolbox.

After promising Brendan various sexual favours if he helped me get everything to the park without breaking, we arrived well before everyone else at the appointed place. I had planned to be there a good hour before the other members so that I could have everything set up and be all grounded and ready for their arrival. I talked Bren into hauling a large stone into the South to act as a hearthstone for my thurnble (thingy you burn stuff in) and then I decided the best thing to do was pull out the altar cloth and lay everything out on it so I could decide what will go where. This was also necessary as the Ritual Toolbox doubles as a Portable Altar, so you have to have everything carefully removed from the Ritual Toolbox and the lid closed before you can set up the Portable Altar.

So, I gently pried open the wicker top of the Ritual Toolbox that doubles as a Portable Altar and unfurled the red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth. Which was to my horror, covered in DOG HAIR and LINT!!! Oh, the humanity! This is no doubt due to having spent the last couple of years in storage at my mother’s house where she fosters rescue dogs. I can only blame ADD for the reason why it did not occur to me that a red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth that had been stored in such a way might be covered in lint and dog hair.

All the contents of my purse and bag were then unceremoniously dumped on to the grass as I flailed about hoping beyond hope that I might just maybe have a lint brush or even some duct tape amongst my belongings. But alas, I did not. I tried rubbing the cloth vigorously to remove the offending grey lint and dog hair but to no avail. I shook it out repeatedly as Bren watched on unsympathetic to my plight.

Alas, nothing was going to remove the copious amounts of lint and dog fur covering the red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth. Especially the lint, which mocked me most cruelly, it said “Ha ha! Fancy yourself capable of handling a Priestess’s duties do you? You fool! Everyone will see how incompetent you really are now!”

I could have simply not used the altar cloth at this point; I could have given it to Brendan to take home with him. But I refused to be defeated by lint and certainly not to sarcastic, mocking lint! “There’s no use for it” I said to Brendan, “I will have to arrange the tools in such a way as to cover the worst of the lint.”

Brendan is a wise man and kept his mouth shut, though he did raise an eyebrow.

So I cleverly placed the lint covered red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth upon the Ritual Toolbox that doubles as a Portable Altar in such a way that the least-linty area was positioned on the very top. Then I curled the ends under and tucked them against the Portable Altar to hide them.

After strategically arranging the ritual tools upon the lint covered red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth I then sprinkled dried herbs and flowers all over the damned thing to fill in the space and hide the offending lint. Luckily, the ritual called for large quantities of dried herbs, leaves and flowers and had I brought extra. Taller ritual tools were placed on the ground around the Portable Altar and leaning against it, which also helped to hide the evil lint of death.

With an amused Bren looking on I waved my fist at the Sun, demanding that it sink quickly so as to help hide the evil lint of death from sight.

Just then, I heard voices! The other members of the Hedge were arriving. Would they notice? Would they laugh at me? Mock my ability as a Priestess? Would they ban me forever from the group for daring to bring a lint covered red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth to ritual?

No!

My cunning ass-covering worked like a charm. Instead the ladies gathered around and actually admired the beauteous creation that was my altar set up. They said things like “You have raised the bar for all of us with this” and they weren’t making snide, sarcastic fun of me either. They meant it!

One of them was so impressed with how lovely and elegant my altar was she took pictures. If you would like to see these pictures you will have to go to the As Within Blog, make nice comments on said blog, and ask Lis politely to make a blog post with the pictures. If you do just enough ass-kissing maybe she might be swayed to do so.

Of course, the lint covered red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth wound up back in the Ritual Toolbox that doubles as a Portable Altar, which was then handed over to the next person to Priestess a ritual. I really should have snagged the lint covered red (probably real, but may not be) velvet altar cloth and took it home so no one would be the wiser. I can just see her getting home, planning the ritual, opening up the Ritual Toolbox that doubles as a Portable Altar and saying to herself “Why the fuck is this thing covered in lint and dog hair?!”

Forever hiding the flop sweat,

Juniper

I am working on getting the workshop I did on at the Fest called Building a Personal Divination System up on the website and here on the blog. But I have discovered I need photographs to make it make sense. Must have visual aids! I also work weekends! So in the meantime, here are inks to some of the articles I have written on the subject so far and some other links of interest.

Dem Bones and Bits and Sticks and Stones

Collection Casting: Birthday

Collection Casting June 8

Throwing the Bones and Reading Other Natural Curios

Crystals and Tarot cards

STONE DIVINATION

Divination system update

Follow-up Friday

Solstice Thoughts on the Beach

I will be away for about a week as Bren and I are off to Kaleidoscope Gathering. Bren has a couple of workshops, a ritual drama to run and a concert and i am also involved in a couple of workshops. Plus there’s volunteering and vending to be done!

Crash the dog will be coming with us as part of a pilot project for allowing dogs at the fest. So please folks, don’t pet the dogs without permission and keep your puppies on leash

We will be bringing our recording device for the podcast with us and hope to get lots of content for the podcast.

I won’t be around to post on the forum but moderators will be lurking. People are always so well behaved at the Wild Geek Hang anyways!

In the mean time, here are some articles, essays, blog posts and even videos worth checking out:

Channeling Deity vs. Regressive Trance

Archaeologists have discovered a second henge at Stonehenge

Land Spirits, Ancestors and Gods, Oh My!

Practice Practice Practice Daily or Regularly

When The Drummers Were Women

Sacred Weeds

An American Witch Bottle

HedgeCrossing

Care for the caregivers

The Private Life of Plants

Zen: The Best of Alan Watts

Pagan Roots in the West

Emma H asked in a comment to another post:

Do you ever find when communing with land spirits, that the condition of the land around them affects the clarity of their answer?

There are some places here that I like to walk, that are a little abused (seriously, what’s the point of fly tipping?) and I figure if I tried to commune with the spirits there, they’d be more interested in trying to draw my attention to their own issues. Which, given the condition of their land, is fair enough!

Good question Emma!

Just as you find when visiting a friend who have endured some trauma or injury, when visiting a natural place that has been harmed it will have something of a “one track mind”

Which is, as you say, fair enough.

But also as with visiting a hurt friend, one you’ve visited a few times and listened attentively to their expression of pain, you will develop a closer relationship. Often once they realize how good of a friend you have been to listen to their hurts, they will happily open up their ears to you and reciprocate.

All relationships are a matter of give and take. Sometimes you have to give more than take at first. Especially when working with a damaged landscape.

When going into a place that has been harmed I expect anger, resentment, fear, hurt and the expression of such from the land. I cultivate a good bedside manner and I listen and validate just as I would for a dear friend laying in a hospital bed. Hopefully one day that landscape will be willing to hear me out as well, but if not, at least I have learned something and done a little good for the Land.

If I am seeking my own answers, to express my own thoughts, to do something like a casting or divination I will not go to a damaged landscape if I can avoid it. I will go to the local Nature Reserve or well tended park or a loved garden. Just as if I needed advice from a friend I would go to one who is stable, steady and not suffering from a lot of pain herself right now. A give and take relationship must still be built with even an unharmed landscape, but it often will be more balanced right off the bat.

Cheers!

I went for a lovely walk at a local nature reserve with a friend. We walked half way around the small lake then settled down to sit on the dock, give offerings and watch the geese try to con us out of food.

(Honestly folks don’t feed the wildlife and especially don’t feed them white bread!)

Since its rededication I have been dragging my bag of bits around everywhere with me. Its good to go through a bonding period and it also makes sure I don’t fall into a bad habit of just leaving it to collect dust on a book shelf.

After some pleasant conversation and giving the lake a couple of small pieces of rose quartz I decided to bring out my bag. Mostly just on a whim (it felt right) and partly because I’m always looking for an excuse to cast. We got the cloth directionally aligned and laying flat and as I pulled the collection out of the bag I said “Let’s see what the spirits of this place have to say”. Then without much pomp and circumstance (I did tell the bits to not fall off the dock) I cast them.

It was obvious right away this casting was not intended for me. Firstly there are certain motifs that always come up when the spirits are talking to me, about me, through the collection. Sort of like how when working with tarot, the same cards will often show up for the same person again and again. These did not show up in this casting at all. The second indication was the bright eyed interest of my friend.

When doing a reading I will try not to ask leading questions, such as “I see the romance/love stone is in the west, how is your love life right now?” I feel rather like this is cheating. I also don’t like to pry. If there is information that I need or that the client is willing to share, they will usually offer it to me without prompting.

My job is not to tell people what to do or how to do it. Nor is my job to tell people what is going on in their lives or impress them with my special knowledge or any such silliness, my job in not even to tell their fortune. The gods/spirits/ancestors use the collection to communicate, it my job to translate, to facilitate a dialogue between the client and the spirits. That is all.

I will ask the client if there are certain groupings or pieces that have a stronger draw or that feel more significant to them. I will also ask if they feel that any pieces or grouping are connected to each other.

I also encourage the client to tell me their own impressions of the casting. What a grouping might mean to them. I will give them a brief description of the meaning behind the pieces and a general idea of what a combination of pieces might mean and allow them to come to some of their own conclusions, should they have any. Allowing the client’s thoughts and feelings help to direct the reading can be very helpful. Many of the pieces are self explanatory and people will often know what their meaning is without needing me to tell them. A key means more or less the same thing to everyone, as does a wedding ring, a coin or a turtle.

I don’t allow them to do the actual casting as I find it requires a certain amount of practice to cast a collection that contains pieces of varying shapes and sizes properly. It is much easier to cast lots or stones that are roughly the same shape and size.

I do not actively encourage the client to touch the bits, but I do allow it. I watch carefully which pieces in collection the client seems most drawn to touch, poke, shift and pick up. This can give me additional information that will help me with the reading.

My friend touched a few pieces, especially the grouping in the southwest and the centre grouping with the rabbit bone. The pieces she touched the most were the acorn, the thorn stick, the key and the rabbit bone. The antique ring is the only piece she actually picked up to examine.

Turtle facing away from centre but looking towards amethyst means “Hurry up towards spirituality/religion”. This is in the north and therefore in the physical realm, the here and now, the mud between your toes reality. But it is also at the edge of the circle, meaning that this is not something totally vital, or something at the edge or just outside.

The Goddess Charm is combined with the Stone with a Silver Stripe in north. This says something like “women/goddess will bring the light at the end of the tunnel/be the silver lining in a dark cloud” that this is in the north tells me that this is something very real that will affect my friends life not just some esoteric mystical hocus pocus.

In this reading my friend felt that the pieces in the west were connected strongly with the grouping that bordered the west and south. We both agreed that the whole of the groupings in the centre were strongly connected to each other and possibly also associated with the other pieces and groupings in the west and southwest.

The whole clump of objects in the centre reads something along the lines of “Commitment of resources (both emotional, physical and material) is at the foundation of your otherworld journey to find what you seek. The ancestors, heritage and tradition along with arts and crafts (and possibly commitment to a certain Witch and Stitch group) are what lie below and at the very heart of the matter. Journey with/to find the goddess/feminine can be dangerous and you must be cautious, however doing so will lead you to the male deity that you seek. This male deity is associated with magick, witchcraft, the otherworlds/shamanism and nature. (My friend took a look at that grouping and decided it was probably Odin and I had to agree. Another possibility would be the Horned One) Searching for your animal totems and familiar spirits is what surrounds the matter and will bring you spiritual/magickal purification/clarity.”

(This all seems reinforced by the Goddess Charm and Stone paring previously mentioned)

The objects in the west and southwest point towards the objects in the centre, this is what they say:

“That which fuels you emotionally, as well a romance, is either causing a blockage or causing you to create a protective blockage. Once this protective blockage is removed it will lead you to unlocking a change that will be like a bolt out of the blue, a flash of insight and inspiration that leads to all the things spoken of by the pieces in the centre.”

Exactly how my friend goes about removing this blockage is up to her. Will she be open to these emotions and the romance she is blocking/protecting herself from, or will she remove the person involved so that she doesn’t have to protect or block? Only she knows what its best for her. I find with these readings people usually know what needs to be done, they just need that validation or the kick in the ass to make it happen.

Another thing worth noting is the Jingle Bell and the Bloodstone together in east. Perhaps this means something like “Intellectual creativity and artistic pursuits can lead to a connection with the land”

Also in the east is the Tooth of Communication: “Communicating intellectually” or “Intelligent communication” or “Talking about it is smart” possibly associated with this is the Tiger Eye in the north: “Think about the land”, “Study the Earth” or “Learn about what is physical”

Well, that’s it!

EDITED TO ADD: Check out Emma’s updates on building her own system! I don’t have a livejournal account so I can’t post comments but I thought I’d send you her way.