What is a Hedge Witch?

I have always loved being in the kitchen. When I was a young girl my mother taught me a bit about cooking. She had a lazy susan full of different spices all different colors and smells. She never really measured them as she created dishes. She cooked old school and taught me to do the same: Pinch of This; Dash of That.
We had numerous apple trees in our back yard and she made our pies, apple sauce, apple cakes and many other foods my mother created along the way that she could use the apples for. She showed me how to cut an apple ‘just right’ to reveal the 5 pointed star hidden within. Our yard was filled with about ten of the most beautiful gardens you could ever see. She also knitted our sweaters and slippers and crocheted our afghans.
She was considered to be just a happy housewife. However, in my belief system, she was comparable to a Kitchen or Hedge Witch.

There are many definitions to a Hedge Witch. Some believe that a Kitchen Witch and a Hedge Witch are one in the same; the difference being that ‘Hedge’ is a British term and ‘Kitchen’ the American.
For the purpose of this article I will be using the term Hedge Witch.

Hedge Witches take great pride in their health and their homes. They often grow their own food and herbs. They also gather berries in the wild. They make their own clothes. They are strong believers in Mother Earth. They recycle.
Hedge Witchery or Hedgecraft is a combination of Shamanism and Witchcraft.
The Path descended from The Traditional Witchcraft and Cunningfolk traditions of Europe from ancient to modern times.

In ancient times Hedge Witches were Midwives and Healers. They also served their community and earned a living through Protection Spells, house, crop and livestock blessings, prophecy, divination and the selling of magickal charms and even curses.
For this reason they were both feared and respected in their community.
Hedge Witches often lived on the outskirts of town, blazed their own path and came from European ancestry. Their practice is based on the folk lore and traditions of Ancient Greeks, Romans, Vikings and Celts.

The typical deities of a Hedge Witch are The Witch Queen and The Master of The Craft, which very closely resemble The Wiccan Lord and Lady. This similarity makes many Wiccans fully comfortable with The Hedgecraft Tradition.

Hedge Witchery is something of a solitary path although those leaning towards The Shamanic side often have a trusted witch by their side “while their soul is elsewhere”.
Working with The Mighty Dead and their own ancestors are very important as Hedge Witches look to these spirits for inspiration. The Mighty Dead are said to be those practitioners of our religion who are on the Other Side now, but who still take great interest in the activities of Witches on this side of the Veil. They have pledged to watch, to help and to teach. It is those Mighty Dead who stand behind us, or with us, in circle so frequently. Hedge Witches also work with familiar spirits, plants and animal totems to assist them in their “other world” work.  They are often thought of having “Fire In The Head”, commonly known as Cunning Fires, which is “the awakened awareness within a magickal practitioner of an INNER awareness that the spirit of the gods (energy) exists naturally in all of nature.”

Hedge Witchery has no degree system, nor does it follow any particular moral code other than personal responsibility or ethics and a version of the credo “Do only what is needed…” and to “Know Thyself”. It does believe, however that sometimes to harm is to heal. It is considered to be an eclectic tradition, following The Crooked Path between The Right Hand and The Left Hand. They prefer the grey areas, believing that Magick is not only black and white or magickal and spiritual. They tailor the craft to suit themselves.

The MAIN distinction between Hedge Witchcraft and other forms of Witchcraft is that Hedge Witches often have less interest in the heavily scripted and ceremonial aspects of Neo-Paganism. Rather they have a highly individual and often unique way of relating to life, Magick, spirituality and creation.

“A Hedge Witch prefers the freedom and joyfulness of spontaneous workings that come from the heart. For The Hedge Witch, there is no separation between normal life and the Magickal life. The craft they practice strongly reflects this belief.”
They do whatever comes natural.

Source Material

Wikipedia

Louise Hayden: How To Be A  Kitchen Witch

Circle of Teaching: Cottage Craft and Wild Witchery

M. Macha Nightmare: The Mighty Dead, The Beloved and Us

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