I have put off writing about hedgewitch craft and hedge-riding as it can be kind of confusing. I believe if you are interested in this side of witchcraft, it is better to study, read a lot, and then make your own path.
Ask several hedge witches what a hedge witch is, and you will get several different answers!
In fact, you don’t have to be a witch. There are hedge druids, hedge priests, and priestesses.
There are also so many different paths you can follow, for example, Celtic, Druid, or shamanic. I am not going to go into too much detail; I am just going to try and give you the basics!
So what exactly is a hedgewitch?
Rae Beth brought the term Hedgewitch to the mainstream in her book Hedgewitch: A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft. However, the word has been used in many forms over the years.
The term hedgepriest was used for someone who had no established congregation or church. These priests usually practiced from the hedgerow, hence the term hedge priest.
There is also the German word ‘hagazissa’ meaning ‘hedge sitter’. Then we have the early Saxon word haegtessa’, which means hedge rider’. Both of these words refer to hedgerow, a symbolic term that describes the divide between the everyday human world and what is beyond it.
A hedgewitch is not part of a coven or group; they are usually solitary. This doesn’t mean they don’t occasionally get together with others. They do not usually follow any set rules or guidelines. Which suits me just fine, thank you!
When it comes to the spellcasting and hedgecraft side of things, hedge witches don’t have set tools they use. Basically, they use what they have, which again suits me!
A hedgewitch may incorporate green witchcraft into their path and work with the natural world, partially with herbs and plants. They may also choose to work with crystals.
Any of these things can be balanced with the main focus of a hedgewitch: working beyond the veil. For a hedgewitch, this is known as hedge riding.
What is hedge-riding?
Hedgeriding is the journey a hedgewitch takes into other realms. To take these journeys, a hedgewitch may use mild trance, deep meditation, or astral travel to visit the otherworlds. The otherworlds consist of different realms; however, this does depend on which path you follow. Many work with the three realms of upper, middle, and lower. I will look more into hedge-riding in another post.
For hedgeriding, I recommend Pagan Portals-Hedge Riding by Harmonia Saille. But do read her first book, Pagan Portals Hedge Witchcraft. Both books are beautifully written and easy to follow.
Craft of the hedge witch: A Guide to the Solitary by Geraldine Smythe
Hedge Witch: A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft By Rae Beth
The Hedge Witch’s Way: Magical Spirituality for the Lone Spellcaster By Rae Beth