fangedeshana
July 19th, 2006, 12:59 AM
I found this on The Crooked Heath and found in iteresting. I appologise if it has been posted before!
Ofcourse, opinion welcomes. (As if I could stop you all? :hehehehe: )
Copyright © 2003 J. Faulk. All Rights Reserved.
The Hedgewitch is not a 'solitary' practicioner as promoted by brain-dead, so-called 'authorities' on witchcraft of today. But the hedgewitch is not just any witch. A Hedgerider practices very much like a shaman does - Hedgecraft makes use of psychotropic-induced states and is quite dangerous. The irony here is that many people think a Hedgewitch is someone who practices alone, but in reality Hedgeriders NEED to practice in groups so they can help bring each other out of the trance states.1
Hedgewitchery is a path, usually within the traditional path of witchcraft, and as stated above, uses psychotropic herbs and mushrooms to achieve a trance state, compared to those who use blood control and dancing to achieve the same desire. Hedgecraft isn't used as much today, than as it was when witches thrived. The reason being that most 'witches' of today are Wiccan, and do not use deep trance states to journey to the sabbat, but rather hold them in the physical.
But what is the "hedge?"
In physical terms, it was the hedge that seperated the town from the wilderness. Crossing the hedge was considered dangerous, as who knew what lived and brooded in the woods. In trance-work, the hedge plays a similar role. The Hedge is the great barrier that separates this world from the worlds beyond. The hedge is not a physical thing…it is a mental barrier. It is the line you have drawn between what is “this world” and the “next” and between what is “reality” and “dream." All the stories you hear of witches flying off on brooms "to the sabbat" or to Venusberg mountain are true--to a point. The Hedgewitch would annoint her besom, pitchfork, goat, distaff, or bread paddle, place it between her legs so that the ointment could enter her body via you-know-where, and "off" she went. Other methods were also used, but they are not worth mentioning for now. Now in our modern age, the term 'Hedgewitch' has become mistranslated. We can blame Rae Beth for this. Rae Beth goes to say on her website that:
"The work of the hedge witch is to take the insights of the wildwood mystic and apply them in the service of life, through spells that help and heal the land, other people or creatures, or our own selves."2
She also claims that the Hedgewitch is the "solitary" witch, which as stated in the first paragraph of this essay, is plain silly--if you know the true definition of the word. This woman obviously does not. There is no "alternative" definition of the word, and there never will be.
Rae Beth also goes to say in one of her books that men shouldn't be Wiccan, and wonders how that path appeals to them.
1. Phil F.
2. Rae Beth < http://www.knibb.org/rae/ >
Also credit goes out to: Robin Artisson, Hans Peter Duerr. Dreamtime: Concerning the Boundaries Between Wilderness and Civilization. English Translation 1985. Basil Blackwell Ltd., and Carlo Ginzburg. Ecstacies: Deciphering the Witches Sabbath. 1991 Pantheon Books. and The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. 1992 Johns Hopkins Univ Pr.
Ofcourse, opinion welcomes. (As if I could stop you all? :hehehehe: )
Copyright © 2003 J. Faulk. All Rights Reserved.
The Hedgewitch is not a 'solitary' practicioner as promoted by brain-dead, so-called 'authorities' on witchcraft of today. But the hedgewitch is not just any witch. A Hedgerider practices very much like a shaman does - Hedgecraft makes use of psychotropic-induced states and is quite dangerous. The irony here is that many people think a Hedgewitch is someone who practices alone, but in reality Hedgeriders NEED to practice in groups so they can help bring each other out of the trance states.1
Hedgewitchery is a path, usually within the traditional path of witchcraft, and as stated above, uses psychotropic herbs and mushrooms to achieve a trance state, compared to those who use blood control and dancing to achieve the same desire. Hedgecraft isn't used as much today, than as it was when witches thrived. The reason being that most 'witches' of today are Wiccan, and do not use deep trance states to journey to the sabbat, but rather hold them in the physical.
But what is the "hedge?"
In physical terms, it was the hedge that seperated the town from the wilderness. Crossing the hedge was considered dangerous, as who knew what lived and brooded in the woods. In trance-work, the hedge plays a similar role. The Hedge is the great barrier that separates this world from the worlds beyond. The hedge is not a physical thing…it is a mental barrier. It is the line you have drawn between what is “this world” and the “next” and between what is “reality” and “dream." All the stories you hear of witches flying off on brooms "to the sabbat" or to Venusberg mountain are true--to a point. The Hedgewitch would annoint her besom, pitchfork, goat, distaff, or bread paddle, place it between her legs so that the ointment could enter her body via you-know-where, and "off" she went. Other methods were also used, but they are not worth mentioning for now. Now in our modern age, the term 'Hedgewitch' has become mistranslated. We can blame Rae Beth for this. Rae Beth goes to say on her website that:
"The work of the hedge witch is to take the insights of the wildwood mystic and apply them in the service of life, through spells that help and heal the land, other people or creatures, or our own selves."2
She also claims that the Hedgewitch is the "solitary" witch, which as stated in the first paragraph of this essay, is plain silly--if you know the true definition of the word. This woman obviously does not. There is no "alternative" definition of the word, and there never will be.
Rae Beth also goes to say in one of her books that men shouldn't be Wiccan, and wonders how that path appeals to them.
1. Phil F.
2. Rae Beth < http://www.knibb.org/rae/ >
Also credit goes out to: Robin Artisson, Hans Peter Duerr. Dreamtime: Concerning the Boundaries Between Wilderness and Civilization. English Translation 1985. Basil Blackwell Ltd., and Carlo Ginzburg. Ecstacies: Deciphering the Witches Sabbath. 1991 Pantheon Books. and The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. 1992 Johns Hopkins Univ Pr.