HedgeWitch

by Silver RavenWolf

  Thanks be to the spirits of earth and sky;

  Thou art released to thy natural form!

  Peace with the gods

  Peace with nature

  Peace within.

  It always works.

  Always a blessing.

  Thank you!

  Smile.

  Allow all candles used this night to burn completely or light them every night for a few moments until the candles are all gone. Pour any remaining spring water outside, asking for blessings from Spirit. Sprinkle any remaining herbal mix on your doorstep to keep negative energies from entering your home. Put your HedgeWitch symbol representations in a safe place. If you drew them on notecards just for this evening’s ritual, burn them and scatter the ashes. Write of tonight’s experiences in your HedgeWitch journal, then draw a design, or sigil, that best represents tonight’s ritual. This symbol means sacred ceremony and the combined power of all the other symbols.

  You are about to embark on the wonderful life of a HedgeWitch! Open your arms, and welcome this positive energy. Spirit will teach you, if you only listen!

  Your HedgeWitch Sacred Symbols

  Over the past two weeks, you have created fourteen sacred symbols that are specifically meaningful for you. Here’s the complete list:

  First Night—Wind—My connection to Spirit

  Second Night—Fire—My personal creativity

  Third Night—Earth—Richness and abundance of the universe

  Fourth Night—Sky—My unlimited opportunity

  Fifth Night—Rain—My good health and healing

  Sixth Night—Mountain—My stability and treasures within the self

  Seventh Night—Lightning—My personal power, confidence, and balance

  Eighth Night—Thunder—My power of thought and action

  Ninth Night—Metal—My flow and harmony within Spirit

  Tenth Night—Stone—My gratitude

  Eleventh Night—Celestial Power—My light within

  Twelfth Night—Wood—Knowledge, wisdom, and education

  Thirteenth Night—Silence—The still point of manifestation

  Fourteenth Night—The symbol of my personal transformation and combined power of all my symbols

  We can now use our symbols in a variety of ways, such as meditative tools, divination lots, spell activators, and affirmation vehicles.

  Your Symbols as Divination Tools

  Inscribe your symbols on stones, small pieces of wood, or clay, and store them in a small bag. To divine, place a glass of spring water (this is your offering to the gods, spirits, angels—whatever you believe in), a small bowl of blessed water, your magick key, your magick bell, one white candle, and a bowl of your favorite herb mixture on a clean table top or divination cloth. Light the white candle. This represents bringing inspiration and peace into your life. Take your stones out of the bag and sprinkle them with a bit of the blessed water from the bowl. Roll the stones in the herbal mix, and brush off the stones. Place stones back in the bag. Ring your bell or chimes corresponding to your personal magick number. Repeat the following charm or incantation of your choice:

  HedgeWitch Divination Charm

  I close my eyes and touch the spirit

  Of things both seen and not.

  And in this place of perfect peace

  I bless and cleanse these lots.

  Then say three times:

  I receive and understand the answer.

  It always works. Always a blessing!

  Remember to smile! Finish with:

  Peace with the gods

  Peace with nature

  Peace within. Thank you!

  It always works. Always a blessing!

  Smile.

  Ask your question, and then draw a single sigil from the bag. For example, let’s say you are working on a very difficult problem that just refuses to resolve itself, and you are seeking to find the way to best handle the situation. The sigil you pull from the bag will tell you which HedgeWitchery correspondence will most help you find the right way for you. Once you pull the sigil, read over the work you performed in your journal for that night or check this book on the explanation. Sometimes, even though we think we know something, we overlook important information. Repeat the affirmations that match the symbol. If necessary, release the suggested item for that day (there’s always junk to remove in our lives), and if the situation calls for it, do that night’s ceremony as a mini spell. If you are concerned about timing, what day (first, second, third) did this sigil originally represent? That’s approximately how many days or months it will take to resolve your problem, or perhaps it indicates the time needed to build what you desire. I would be careful, though, in tying yourself to timing, because if you do, you could be stalling what you really desire. A single-draw sigil can be done each morning to help you better design your day or at night to help you with dream interpretation.

  You can also spill all your sigils like runes on the center of the table. Those lots facing up apply to the situation. Those with hidden sigils do not. Those lots facing up and in the center of the table are the most significant. Those to the right indicate energies that helped to create the present. Those to the left are helpful guides to the future. Cleanse the lots with the blessed water and dry them before you return them to the bag.

  Your Symbols as Spell Activators

  You can draw your symbols on candles, petitions to deity, or even work them into a stitchery design for a friend! Use the general HedgeWitch conjuration on page 107 as an empowerment charm. Refer to this book and your journal for what herbs you may wish to use for the working. Reword the affirmation to fit the circumstance. For example, if you desire to do a healing for a friend (let’s call her Margaret), first write down (in primal language) exactly what you want: “I want Margaret to enjoy good health.” Say this statement at least three times. Then, you could make something nice for Margaret—perhaps a card, bookmark, flower arrangement, or design a perfume, magickal oil, or soap just for her, somehow incorporating your healing rain sigil in the gift. Not only are you giving Margaret your good wishes, you are also sharing your talent, and therefore your chi, or personal energy of harmony. While you are physically making the gift, repeat rain’s affirmations, changing the wording to fit Margaret (adding her name, for example), or choosing an affirmation that is more suitable to her circumstances. Just remember, Margaret’s destiny will not be changed simply because of your efforts. To make any change in oneself, one must believe. You are merely a vehicle of assistance should she reach out for that energy.

  Other Ways to Use Your Magickal Symbols

  You can meditate on a specific symbol to continually align your mind and body with the harmonious powers of the universe. Turn your symbol into a beautiful painting, stitchery, or other creative project, repeating the affirmations that match the symbol or creating your own affirmations. Carry the symbol with you throughout the day to continually keep the pathway to that energy open. Make a mandala of all your symbols for meditation out of fiber art or canvas. You could even design separate drum beats (for drummers) or dance moves (if this is your talent). Into car parts? Fine. Match a car part to each symbol.

  Your symbols can also be used as talismans to draw a specific desire to you, as all the symbols you created follow the law of attraction. Let’s say you need to pay a bill, and you don’t have the money. Activate the earth symbol, using its affirmations, and draw it on a dollar bill. Rub it with chamomile herb (inexpensive and plentiful—you could even use chamomile herb tea from the grocery store). Roll the dollar bill toward you, speaking the affirmations several times. Clearly formulate in primal language exactly what you want, and then repeat what you have formulated aloud three times. Remember to say thank you, and smile. Put the dollar bill in your pocket and carry it with you until your desire is me
t.

  Use your symbols to continually encourage harmony in and around the home. Create stepping stones for your garden or outdoor altar area that carry each individual symbol, or make a mini altar with a stepping-stone mold and concrete, and decorate it with your personal sigils. Decorate indoor and outdoor flower pots, garden flags, or tools with your sigils. Because you have designed your symbols, they carry great personal power!

  [contents]

  section

  HedgeWitchery

  Within and Without

  All of the recipes in this section use organically grown herbs. Your formulas will be especially powerful if you have grown most or all of the herbs yourself in your own herb garden, but if this isn’t possible, look for the highest-quality herbs and spices during your magickal shopping. Use primal language to find the best selection!

  HedgeWitch Brews

  A HedgeWitch brew is a combination of herbs, spices, salts (sometimes), essential oils, and water. These brews are for cleansing the body and freshening the air—they are not for ingestion. You may wish to empower the herbs with the following charm, written in primal language (remember, primal language uses the fewest amount of words possible, still gets the point across, and is positive in nature):

  Remember, remember, the oldest of herbs

  The fruit of the vine, the root and the words.

  You have the power of infinity.

  You have the power of healing and good health.

  You have the power to attract abundance and good fortune.

  You have the power to move in any direction.

  Awaken, awaken! Bring my will to perfection!

  It always works. Always a blessing!

  Sunshine Brew

  This amazing formula has many uses! The liquid can be added to soaps and floor washes, and the dried herbs can be included in your own incense recipes or burned alone on an incense charcoal tab. I created the formula to vibrate to good health, wealth, and success. Be sure to empower the finished brew with your magickal bell (tuning forks) and your own special prayer.

  2tablespoons dried chamomile

  2tablespoons dried bergamot

  2tablespoons dried ginger

  2tablespoons dried rosemary

  Mortar and pestle

  1cup distilled water

  1paper coffee filter

  1clear glass bottle or jar

  Grind the herbs with mortar and pestle just enough to break them up and release their aroma, not enough to pulverize them. Boil one cup of distilled water. Take one half of your herbal mixture and place in center of a paper coffee filter. Twist filter tightly. Place filter in the cup of hot water. Remove after one hour; throw soaked herbs away. Refrigerate sunshine brew, and be sure to label do not drink. To use, empower at sunrise or at noon. Add a crystal to the brew for more power.

  Ginger, chamomile, rosemary, and bergamot are all considered body-safe herbs; however, anyone can have an allergic reaction to an herbal additive. Always check a small area of your skin first before using any herbal product.

  Spring Sunshine Brew Floor Wash

  To one gallon of warm water, add:

  1cup sunshine brew

  Juice from one squeezed lemon

  Juice from one squeezed lime

  1herb bouquet of your choice

  (see page 254)

  Excellent as a spring-cleaning floor wash to encourage good fortune and harmony in the home.

  HedgeWitch Tub Teas

  Relaxing in a warm, magickal bath does wonders for the body and mind! Tub tea formulas consist of botanicals, bath salts (sometimes), and a large tea bag made for the bath (these are available from many herbal suppliers on the Net and in some health-food stores). If you don’t have these paper bags, use a small, clean cotton drawstring bag. Here are some great recipes to encourage magickal stress relief!

  Aura-Cleansing Tub Tea

  Lavender

  Rosemary

  Lemongrass (shred to release aroma)

  Chamomile

  6–10drops lavender essential oil

  Sea salt

  Mix equal parts of dried lavender, rosemary, lemongrass, and chamomile. Add lavender essential oil, and fluff herbs. Fill remainder of bag with sea salt. This is an excellent recipe for aura cleansing, especially for a ritual bath before an important ceremony. This mixture can also be used in a cleansing ritual.

  Healing Salts & Minerals Tub Tea*

  ¼cup Epsom salts

  ½cup sea salt**

  ½cup European mineral salts

  **Note:To scent any sea salt mixture, add twelve drops of body-safe fragrance to one cup of salt mixture.

  Body Toning Tub Tea

  1cup dried chamomile

  ½cup dried peppermint

  ¼cup dried comfrey

  ¼cup dried lemon peel

  ¼cup dried rose hips

  ¼cup dried rosemary

  ¼cup dried sage

  ¼cup dried, crushed ginger

  Note: In some areas of the United States, comfrey is considered illegal because, if taken internally, it is now thought to damage the liver. It is still sold for topical use in many states. Substitute dried rose petals if this applies to you. For more power, scent with body-safe patchouli fragrance.

  Zen Tub Tea

  ½cup dried lavender buds

  ½cup chamomile

  ½cup oatmeal

  ½cup green tea

  ¼cup orange peel

  ¼cup rosemary

  ¼cup lemongrass (shred to release aroma)

  8bay leaves (minced)

  HedgeWitch Soap Making

  Making your own soaps with empowered herbs can be an extremely rewarding and magickal experience. The recipes in this book rely on melt-and-pour soap bases that can be purchased at your local craft store or online. This type of easy carrier allows you to make lots of fragrant soaps in a single afternoon and can be a great magickal project practiced with a circle of friends or your children (as long as you monitor the hot soap and you do the pouring). When shopping for a glycerin soap base, look for formulas that permit good suspension of herbs, as most herbs will sink to the bottom of the mold unless the soap is poured just at the moment of setting (which can be tricky). Here are the general supplies you will need for all of the recipes:

  Soap cauldron (can be purchased at local craft store) or microwave (if soap directions say you can use this)

  Desired fragrance (sweet scents help to instill good feelings and harmony within the body)

  Small plastic baggies or shrink-wrap system for packaging after soap has cooled

  Sharp, smooth-blade knife (for cutting soap base into small, 1-inch blocks)

  Pyrex measuring cup (4-cup size)

  Wire whisk (only to be used for soap)

  Droppers (for adding scent and color)

  Rubbing alcohol in spritzer bottle (removes bubbles from the poured soap)

  Ladle (if using a soap cauldron)

  Mortar and pestle or spice grinder

  Soap molds (you can also use silicone muffin molds)

  X-Acto knife (for trimming soaps if you over-poured the mold)

  Wire curing rack (for handmilled soaps)

  In soap making, timing is essential. If you whisk too long, then your soap will begin to gel in the measuring cup to the point where you won’t be able to pour it. If this occurs, it must be re-melted before pouring. Re-melting soap with fragrance can destroy the integrity of the aroma. Expect to make a few mistakes when first learning to make your own soap; however, you will quickly get the feel of this super-simple process! Goat’s milk, coconut, and shea butter bases do not have good suspension and req
uire that you whisk your formulas until they thicken but are still warm enough to pour.

  Basic Melt-and-Pour Soap-Making Instructions

  Heat your soap base as indicated by manufacturer. (Be careful not to overheat or you will destroy the integrity of the soap base.)

  Add color per manufacturer’s instructions.

  Add fragrance or essential oils per manufacturer’s instructions. Hint: For every pound of soap use three teaspoons of fragrance (this does not apply for essential oils).

  Add herbs.

  Add any other inclusions—water for handmilled, jojoba carrier or other oils; vitamin E (a preservative), etc.

  Whisk mixture until it begins to thicken.

  Pour into molds.

  Spritz each soap while still warm with alcohol to remove bubbles.

  Allow to cool completely in mold.

  Remove from mold.

  Air-dry (length of time depends on what type of base you are using). Glycerin can be packaged after one hour.

  HedgeWitch Body-Safe Dried Herbs for Soaps

  There are a large number of body-safe dried herbs that you can include in your soaps, although some of them, such as chamomile, sage, and teas, will bleed over time. This doesn’t hurt the soap but may make your soaps unsightly. Adding ¼ teaspoon of vitamin E to each pound of your soap mixture will help to retard this process by preserving the herb. Although some individuals add rose petals to their soaps, I don’t recommend it because rose petals have a tendency to turn black over time. Here’s a list of herbs you can include in your magickal soaps!

  Allspice

  Almonds

  Barley

  Basil

  Bergamot

  Bladderwrack (sea kelp)

  Brown sugar

  Calendula (marigold)

  Cardamom

  Chamomile

  Chocolate

  Cinnamon (just a bit!)

  Coffee

  Coriander

  Cornmeal (for garden and deep grime removal soaps)