Witch Woman aka Crystal Raven

I consider myself a Hedge Witch, not a Wiccan, so lets clarify that first. I'll use a well known religion for a comparison; imagine Christianity is a tree, Catholic is one branch, Anglican another branch and Baptist yet another. Now we have the Pagan tree, Wicca is a branch, Druid is another branch and Green, Cottage, Kitchen and Hedge Witchery (though all somewhat different) yet another branch. Pagans refer to the different branches as Traditions.

Now before I go any further, let me say that as with all things Pagan, the opinion and answers you receive will be different for almost every practitioner you ask, so these are my definitions which are probably different from someone else's.

Some believe that certain prerequisites must be met before one can call themselves a Hedge Witch, some of those are:

• one must be initiated by a coven and now be solitary
• one must be able to engage in spirit flight and journey into the Other World
• one must able to go into the Other World and call back the souls of those who are about to die or at the very least be able speak with those who have passed beyond
• one should be associated with a bird, usually a raven, crow or goose

if they are not met, which more and more frequently these days they are not, it is seen as a degeneration of the tradition, however, there are others that do not see a need for these prerequisites at all. Rea Beth is one of those in the latter camp and coined the term Hedge Mystic, a person who studies and practices the Great Mysteries of Nature.

The term Hedge Witch is generally believed to related to the village witches of old and comes from the fact that your average European village, in time gone by, was surrounded by a hedge or woods. Beyond that hedge was unknown land that was beyond their known confines and comforts. The village witches of this era usually lived just beyond or just before this hedge. The hedge was a seen as a barrier, both realistically and metaphorically, between this world and Other Worlds.

Now, I must digress for a moment and mention in passing that a common definition for Shaman is "one who walks in both worlds" or "a walker between the worlds". And there are witches and others who are not Shamans, yet use shamanic techniques, meaning they also do journeys and go into trance states to travel to Other Worlds.

So a Hedge Witch uses shamanic techniques, with the hedge as a metaphor, to travel to other worlds or realms.

This term didn't mean just that though. It also denoted that said witch was an herb worker, a healer, because they spent much time in the hedge or woods looking for the herbs necessary to heal or enchant.

So now you know where the term came from, but what does a hedge witch do?

A hedge witch may learn their trade or craft by word of mouth, some from a family member or another village/local witch or be self-taught. One may learn ways to learn from nature, such as listening to the winds or watching cloud formations or the movement of birds. Studying trees, flowers and herbs may also be done.

One would celebrate the sabbats by the change of the seasons and not by a Wheel of the Year or a date on a calender. More than likely they would have other Holy days besides the sabbats.
They may or may not worship Gods and Goddesses as hedge witches all view the Divine differently. I personally only focus on the female aspects and women's mysteries and worship only Goddesses. I also honour my ancestors by only dealing with the Celtic pantheon, again these are my personal choices and will be different for almost every witch.

Hedge witchery does have some common threads; one being that magick isn't just about spells and potions, it is in your morning coffee, in a gentle touch from your lover, in the complex beauty of a leaf, and in hundreds of thousands of other seemingly "mundane" things. This concept has been phrased as "Life is magick, and magick is life". I do craft spells and potions though, a healing pouch for a friend that is ill, a protective pouch for a family member who is going away or a spell to insure that all goes well and is on time for a move.

Another commonly accepted theme is practicality and simplicity. Hedge witches are a very practical group of people and from that practicality comes simplicity. I think in that simplicity, away from the athames, the pentacles, and silver plated chalices; we are able to connect more fully to the natural forces. All too often people get lost in the symbols and forget their meanings.
I know alot of pagans, when investigating a new path, that first want to know what toys (tools) a tradition uses. In keeping with the hedge witch way, a hedge witch uses a variety of tools, some ornate and fancy but most of them practical and useful.

My personal tool set consists of: an athame (dull knife), a chalice, a boline (sharp knife), a walking stick, and a stone. These tools I consecrated by earth (I buried each tool for a day), air(I left them out above ground during a full moon), fire (I held each in a flame for as long as the materials aloud), water (I submerged each in the bay) and for spirit i asked the blessings of the Goddess and Faeries upon them.

Most hedge witches, my self included, are very ethical people, though most do not follow any one Rede as Wiccans do. They usually have basic lines they, individually, will not cross.

Hedge witches are charmers, healers, and, priestesses and generally considered free spirits. Hedge craft is a very eclectic path, mostly because it depends on each witch as to how it is practiced.