HedgeWitch

by Silver RavenWolf

Cotton

  Gris-gris bag

  ⅛teaspoon lemon peel

  ⅛teaspoon yellow sandalwood

  ⅛teaspoon wild lettuce

  ⅛teaspoon Irish moss

  Your desire written on a small piece of paper

  (with berry magickal ink—see page 258)

  A lock of your hair

  White or silver cord

  Mortar and pestle

  Choose a specific deity from the list provided on pages 193–194. Research this deity fully before petitioning. Using primal language, write your desire with berry magickal ink on a piece of paper. Place all items under the full moon for one hour.

  When you are ready to perform this working, light incense and pass over all items. Spread the cotton like a small nest. Grind herbs together to make a powder. Place the ground mixture in the center of the cotton. Put your hair on top. Roll cotton and herbs around your folded petition (fold very small, toward yourself). Secure with white or silver cord. Place in gris-gris bag. Sprinkle bag with full moon magickal oil or your enchanted perfume, as explained in Section 2.

  Place gris-gris bag beside white candle. Rub candle with sandalwood herb and hold up to the moon like a wand. Beckon, in your own words, the power of the full moon to enter the candle. Petition the deity chosen, paying special attention to your previous research. Light the candle and pass over the gris-gris bag seven times. Place candle in holder and repeat your desire seven times, remembering to use primal language and saying thank you when you are finished. Allow candle to burn completely. Carry gris-gris with you until your desire is achieved. Burn when your request has been granted. Note: Various flowers can be added to your altar along with favorite items associated with your chosen moon goddess to increase your connection with divinity.

  Did you know: In early times, the sun was attributed to the Goddess, and the moon attributed to the God?

  Full Moon Magick Water

  Magickal waters are used to cleanse and empower objects, people, and sacred areas. Try this great no-salt recipe using magickal herbs!

  Spring water (or white rum; see below)

  ⅛teaspoon water lily root

  ⅛teaspoon lemon peel

  ⅛teaspoon poppy petals

  1 clear bowl

  1 round mirror (about 6 inches)

  1moonstone

  Mortar and pestle, optional

  1white candle and candle holder

  On a full moon, either grind herbs to a powder with mortar and pestle or leave whole, as you desire. Place clear bowl of spring water on top of a mirror where you can catch the light of the full moon in the water. Add herbal ingredients and moonstone. Stir water with finger, wooden stick (type of wood can be chosen by magickal correspondence), thin copper tube, or braided sterling silver wire. Both types of metal (sterling is a mix) are excellent for energy flow. Stir water nine times in a clockwise direction. Take three deep, even breaths before blessing and empowering, making sure your feet are firmly on the ground, shoulders straight yet relaxed. Rub white candle with a little sandalwood herb. Light candle. Place candle in the water so that the flame burns safely out of the water. Hold both hands over the water and candle, then speak any of the herbal empowerment conjurations given in this book that match your intended desire. When you are finished, seal the work by ringing your magickal bell to match your personal lucky number. Store water in a fluted potion bottle in refrigerator until needed throughout the month. Make new water each month. This magickal water is to be used for adding power to any working, esbat rituals, or harvest spells, so you may wish to indicate your desire accordingly.

  Hint: Full moon water carries extra power if made in your own magickal garden. As a special touch, float carnations or moon flowers in the water for at least one hour.

  Note: Salt is unnecessary in this formula, as the lemon peel and water lily root are natural herbal cleansers. For a healing moon formula, add eucalyptus herb. For divinatory pursuits, add eyebright herb. To move a particular spell along, use white rum instead of water (just don’t put it near a fire!). If you use white rum, you can steep the herbs for an entire month to make the brew more magickal, but don’t drink it!

  Prayer Beads

  Prayer beads are a vehicle used to focus the mind on a single intent by saying an affirmation or prayer as you touch each bead. Ideally, to focus the mind completely, the affirmations should be intoned for a minimum of sixty-five seconds. HedgeWitch prayer beads use twenty-eight beads on a string, with twenty-eight corresponding to one moon cycle (full moon to full moon). Your beads can be used in a variety of ways—there is no limit to their creative use.

  You will need:

  28 beads (your choice)

  2 5-yard pieces of hemp or cord (your choice of color;

  larger beads will require longer cord)

  Full moon water

  White candle

  Sandalwood herb or full moon oil

  A positive affirmation of your choice that fits your lifestyle

  Fold cords in half and make a knot, leaving four dangling ends. On a full moon, cleanse and bless all supplies. Rub white candle with sandalwood herb. Keep candle lit as you work. String one bead onto the two center cords. Tie a plain knot with the two outer cords so that the bead sits within the cords, stabilized by the knot underneath, or use a macramé knot such as the square knot. Each time you string a bead or add a knot, repeat your chosen affirmation out loud. Add another bead. Knot. Continue until your project is completed. Sprinkle beaded cord with full moon water. Place beaded cord in the moonlight. As the month progresses, you can use the beaded cord for a variety of prayers and spell work. Re-empower every full moon. Additional charms can be added throughout the year—you can even add buttons! (That’s an Old Pennsylvania Dutch custom.) Your beads can become a year’s worth of magick. Retire them at the end of the year, or continue to use them the following year.

  Note: Wooden beads with large holes work best. Add a sterling silver charm to the top or bottom (or both) of your newly made prayer beads. Hang beads on staff, over altar, or carry in purse or pocket.

  Dark Moon Prayer Beads

  Use only black or midnight blue beads. Use black cord. These beads are for banishing negativity and releasing our fears or worries. Touch each bead, saying: “I let go of _________,” naming whatever is upsetting you at the time. “I am free! I am filled with harmony, happiness, and peace of mind. I am cleansed! Thank you!” When you have finished touching all the beads and repeating your mantra, place prayer beads under the full moon to cleanse them after your working.

  Window Dressing

  Lengthen cord and add additional colorful beads and bells. Use as a decoration on windows, doors, or over altar. Beads with dots and wild patterns are thought to ward off negativity, confusing the evil energy, making it lose its power. Bells cleanse the atmosphere of anger and negative intentions.

  For Magickal Gardeners

  Make your HedgeWitch prayer beads while sitting in your garden, allowing the natural touch of Spirit to flow through your fingers. If your basil or hyssop is flowering, add those tiny petals, too!

  Full Moon Meditation/Affirmation

  For a full month, repeat this affirmation each morning and upon retiring at the end of the day, beginning on the first day of the full moon:

  In stillness, I find illumination.

  By looking within, I learn the mysteries of the universe,

  for therein lies the portal of understanding!

  As you look within yourself, you will discover an amazing gateway to divine energy! Practice filling yourself with white light many times during the day. After one month of practice, you may find yourself happier, calmer, and healthier! Consider this inner light the illumination of Spirit, as we see in the face of the full moon. You m
ay find that adding the sound of a singing bowl or tuning forks (particularly B, associated with the second chakra) is helpful in your full moon work. The “Om” sound also resonates well, whether you use a tuning fork or your own powerful voice.

  Full Moon Scrying Bowl

  Just like tea-leaf reading (see section starting on page 205), scrying bowls also use the intuitive mind and symbol association to find answers to questions, solutions, or creative ideas. Gazing calmly into a bowl of colored water or a black mirror is like looking directly at the still point of the universe, where opportunity always exists and the answers are always there. Scrying is normally done in a quiet place with low light and pleasant aromas—no interruptions to scatter one’s thoughts or intensify worries or negative emotions. The full moon and Wiccan high holidays are traditional scrying times. Before you begin, you may wish to invoke a particular moon goddess for assistance or focus directly on Spirit.

  Here is a list of full moon goddesses:

  Aido Hwedo (Haiti)

  Amaterasu (Japan)

  Aphrodite (Phoenician)

  Arianrhod (Wales)

  Astarte (Semitic)

  Copper Woman (Native America)

  Demeter (Greece)

  Freya (Scandinavia)

  Hathor (Egypt)

  Hera (Greece)

  Hina (Polynesia)

  Ishtar (Babylon)

  Isis (Egypt)

  Kwan Yin (China)

  Lilith (Hebrew)

  Luna (Etruscan)

  Luonnotar (Finland)

  Mawu (Dahomey)

  Parvati (India)

  Selene (Greek)

  Tiamat (Semitic)

  Venus (Rome)

  When scrying, the practitioner often positions a candle near the bowl to capture the reflection. You may also take the bowl outside to capture the reflection of the full moon during the scrying process. As in tea-leaf reading, shapes that seem to float across the water are deciphered using word association; therefore, full moon scrying becomes a very personal endeavor.

  Here is a recipe for a divination water bowl, enhanced by the correspondences of empowered herbs. You will need:

  1clear bowl (about 3 inches in diameter works well)

  1bottle of India ink

  ⅛teaspoon water lily herb

  ⅛teaspoon poppy petals

  Spring water

  1cotton gris-gris bag or tub tea bag

  ⅛teaspoon eyebright (or one of the herbs listed in appendix 4

  associated with divination or mental acuity)

  ⅛ teaspoon ancestral grave dirt (optional—

  used to invoke the honored ancestors)

  Mortar and pestle

  Pen and paper

  Magick bell or chimes

  Directions: Grind water lily, poppy, eyebright, and grave dirt (from beloved ancestor’s grave) with mortar and pestle. Pour in cotton bag or tub tea bag. Tie or seal. Place in bowl of warm water. Set water under full moon for an hour (it is best if the moon is reflected in the surface of the water). Remove. Add India ink to water until water is completely black. Set under full moon for another hour (it is best if it can reflect the light of the moon). Seal the moon energy in the water using your magick bell or chimes.

  Instructions for scrying: When you are ready to use the water, light your favorite incense and the white candle. Call upon a moon goddess, Spirit, or your sacred ancestors for blessings and assistance. You may wish to use this simple scrying charm by holding your hands over the water and slowly speaking the following words:

  HedgeWitch Scrying Charm

  Magick water, speak to me …

  Tranquility (pause)

  Harmony (pause)

  Creativity (pause)

  Positive activity (pause)

  So mote it be. Thank you!

  It always works. Always a blessing.

  Smile. Now ask your question. Stare into the dark surface of the water. If your vision seems foggy, this is good! Write down any and all mental impressions, but don’t make any formulations at this time unless they are crystal-clear to you. Sleep on the information you have received, and the following day, when your mind is clear, in a quiet place, review the impressions. Review again the following week. Practice makes perfect! Do not store water; make it fresh each full moon.

  Note: Water formula without ink can be used to paint the back of a prepared magick mirror to heighten its power.

  To heighten your scrying experience, you may wish to employ other full moon correspondences, such as an oil or incense that relates to the moon; moon colors; or use moon powder (below).

  Full moon color associations: silver, dark blue, light blue, white, lavender

  Moon powder: Use this for scattering around magick candles and placing in poppets and gris-gris bags to enhance the power of any working. Grind together sandalwood, lemon peel (better if you have dried it yourself), and poppy. Add a pinch of bladderwrack. To increase fragrance, you can add three drops of any of the following full moon oils, as it suits your purpose: sandalwood essential oil, lemon essential oil, or lily fragrance.

  You might also like to heighten your experience by placing your personal magickal symbols created in your HedgeWitch rites around the scrying bowl, or choose one particular symbol to assist in activating the water.

  How the Void Moon Affects Your HedgeWitch Workings

  Many HedgeWitch practitioners pattern their magickal work and daily tasks by the phases and the signs of the moon, following a magickal almanac for their information. From setting posts in the ground to breeding animals, from baking to canning, from hair cutting to going to the bank for a loan, the almanac and its advice are considered invaluable. These “best times” were calculated on the position of the planets in the heavens on a given day/night and the phase of the moon, as well as the sign the moon might be visiting. The moon passes to a new astrological sign approximately every two-and-a-half days, allowing the moon to visit each astrological sign at least twice a month. The moon’s path isn’t calculated by a calendar but by precise mathematical data, which means the moon switches signs any day or night according to her predestined movement. As the moon moves through the heavens, she communicates with the other planets (called aspects) while visiting the various signs. From the last conversation she has before leaving a sign to the first conversation she has in the next sign is called moon void-of-course. The moon is putting a busy signal on her phone, if you will, and isn’t taking any calls. This window of dead air (so to speak) can last from a few minutes to several hours. It, too, is mathematically calculated. In classical astrology, a void moon means “nothing will come of this”—meaning actions taken during this time will most likely result in nothing. Important actions begun during the void moon are often based on poor judgment, missing information, inaccurate evaluations, and wasted effort. Daily tasks, however, don’t seem to be affected by the moon void, other than producing an irritating delay or false starts, affecting our patience more than anything else.

  Moon voids can be extremely useful. For example, it is a time when loopholes can be found and used. If you really don’t want to go to Aunt Susie’s house on Saturday, make your plans during a moon void. Most likely, something will occur later on to prevent you from going. Moon voids are a great time for meditation, reflection on goals, and a good old-fashioned power nap!

  Try to avoid scheduling important meetings or signing sensitive documents during these times unless you want these things to come to nothing. Pay particular attention to phone calls and other missives received during moon voids—this will tell you the importance of the information, as well as the outcome of the issue. Try not to purchase any important items during a moon void, as the items may either be broken, torn, missing pieces, or break easily in the next few week
s. Spell work, magickal recipes, and formulations are best done with an eye on moon voids. If the void lasts only a few minutes, this won’t affect your working; however, if the void lasts several hours, you may wish to reschedule making that special love or healing formula!

  Start Your Day the HedgeWitch Way!

  Sunrise provides perfect timing for communing with Spirit. Greeting Spirit with the sun puts you in a positive psychological mindset that will help you move throughout the day. It seems that no matter what goes wrong, if you have connected with Spirit each morning, you can handle whatever comes your way. As you did on the first night rite, use the spiritual affirmations given for that day at the moment of sunrise for at least thirty days, or try the quick sunrise meditation below. You will be amazed at the results!

  Quick Sunrise Meditation

  Supplies: One glass of clear water; one white candle; your magick bell; your chosen affirmations for the day; your morning drink (coffee, tea, juice).

  Timing: Sunrise; if you are unsure of the time, check your local newspaper, an almanac, or the Internet for the exact time.

  Position: Best done if outside, facing the rising sun; however, as this is not always possible, at least face the east, with a view of the sun.

  Preparation: Mornings can be super busy, so a bit of forethought may be in order to fit your meditation into your schedule. You might have to get up a little earlier than usual, move your shower time around, or set out your clothing the night before rather than searching for it at the last minute. College students may wish to have everything packed for their first class of the day the night before rather than rushing around in the morning. Maybe you are a person that is stuck in transit as the sun rises—that’s okay. Work around this by doing your meditation while it is still dark, but facing the east. When the sun does rise, silently repeat your affirmations. You can always welcome the energy of the sun into your life, no matter where you are!

  Meditation: Settle yourself comfortably, facing east. You can be sitting or standing; the choice is up to you. Light the white candle and place the clear glass of water beside the candle. The candle represents your willingness to connect the flame within yourself to the living flame of Spirit. The water represents the ocean of possibilities for the new day. Root Witches say that if bubbles appear in the water throughout the day, Spirit will grant all your wishes and is pleased at your observance.