Topic of the Month: Hedgeriding

What is Hedge-Riding

Hedge witchery, or Hedge craft, is a combination of Witchcraft and Shamanism. For the most part, this path comes from the Traditional Witchcraft and Cunning Folk traditions of Europe from ancient to modern times. Hedge Riding may also be known as journeying, spirit flight or by a variety of other terms depending on the tradition.

Hedge-riding is the practice of riding the hedge between the physical and ethereal planes. When the hedge is crossed or jumped the rider moves partially out of this realm and into another. Witches that use this practice are often called Hedge Witches. Hedge witches seek wisdom, healing, assistance, teaching, honing of magical skills, manifest chance, and many other things in their journeys beyond the hedge.

Hedge riding is the main practice that separates hedge witches from other witches. Unlike meditation and path walking, hedge riding requires the witch to physically leave our realm to travel to others. This is not to be confused with visualization as you have no control of where your journey goes or who you may meet there. A true hedge crossing requires the witch to enter an altered state of consciousness. This can be done with drumming, singing, dancing, chanting, rhythmic movement, drugs, or whatever other means is effective for the practitioner. Many witches, both modern and of old, made use of flying ointments to help them achieve altered states. However, they should be used as an aid to your practice and not as a sole means to achieve an altered state. Hedge riding is shamanistic in nature and can be used in both solitary and group settings depending on the witches intent. Once you have crossed over the hedge, your consciousness enters another realm, generally referred to as the other world or the collective unconscious. The other world is most commonly thought to have three different realms; Upper, Middle, and Lower, each with their own levels. The most common version of this is the Norse World Tree, Yggdrasil. Hedge witches usually do not engage in psychopomp work which involves escorting souls to the afterlife or soul retrieval. Most hedge riding is used for healing, to search for knowledge, divination, or assistance in spell work. You can also meet your ancestors during hedge riding by moving into the past or future.

The History of Hedge Riding

When we look back into the past, most towns farms, and villages had hedgerows marking the boundary of the town. Often being used as a means to protect the town from the wild and unknown on the other side. These barriers were great tangled hedges made up of trees, shrubs, brambles, vines, and many other types of plant life. Smaller animals took refuge in them and they kept the wilderness at bay. For these people of the past, crossing the hedge meant walking into the wild, where predatory animals, and all manner of fae creatures lived.

In days long past, the wise woman (Hedgewitch) lived on the edges of the community. Most often closest to the hedge and the boundary that kept the wild at bay. They were even known to reside on the other side of the hedge, a curious thing indeed for people in those times. They often made their living through herbalism, midwifery, divination, healing, and magics. The Hedgewitch was respected, and likely a little feared, because of these abilities. This would have naturally made them a bit of an outcast in the places where they lived. A source of great healing and necessity for the lives of the townsfolk but was at the same time also feared.

There are two different translations of verse 156 of The Havamal in the Poetic Edda of the 13th century that talks explicitly about hedge riding:

I know this the tenth: If I see the hedge-riders magically flying high, I can make it so they go astray Of their own skins, and of their own souls. Nigel Pennick (Havamal, Complete Illustrated Guide to Runes, 2002) A tenth I know, what time I see House-riders flying on high; So I can work, that wildly they go, Showing their true shapes, Hence to their own homes. Henry Adams Bellows (Hovamol, verse 156, The Poetic Edda, 1936)

Both translations are a charm that can either cause the hedge rider to show their true self and return home, or cause the rider's spirit to separate from their physical body. Either way, these charms tell us that hedge riders traveled or flew to otherworldly realms, usually in another form. The hedge rider separates their physical and spiritual or energetic bodies from each others which allows the spirit form to essentially cross the hedge into the other realm. This verse, which is sometimes 154, 155, or 156 depending on the translation, goes into detail about what the witches do and serves as a warning against this activity with the witch being unable to reunite the spirit and physical body after separation. Specifically here, Odin being the direct reason the rider is unable to find their physical form.

Gateways to the Hedge

Meditation

The first practice that you should use as a stepping stone is meditation. A meditation invites you to focus on your breathing, your body, or your feelings. It also aids in creating a strong sense of yourself. The mind is a very powerful tool and learning to focus that tool is an important part of the process of reaching a successful hedge riding practice. Just like walking before you can run, for many a good meditative practice will assist them on the way to becoming a proficient hedge rider. There are many guides and books on meditation for beginners out there so we will just give you a few simple steps.

Start by meditating only a few minutes a day.
Get comfortable and relax
Focus on your breath

It really is a simple as that. Don't expect too much of yourself at first and build up the time you meditate a little bit every week. You can also find guided meditations online if that is something that you feel may work for you. There are Podcasts and YouTube channels devoted to meditation both guided and those primarily used to aid in keeping your focus on breathing. Meditation, just like everything else, takes practice. Don't be frustrated with yourself, stay positive and keep working on your meditation practices.

Visualization

Next we move on to visualization practices. Visualization invites you to focus on specific images within your mind. Sometimes it tells a story or involves traveling through a landscape (real or imaginary); sometimes it is done with the intent of a specific outcome. For example meeting a spirit guide or creating astral space. Some simple ways to practice are:

Visualize a place in your minds eye and work on noticing the details
Visualize an object you familiar with. Focus on exploring this object's every detail: the texture and color, the weight, taste, feel temperature, use every sense and explore.
Look at an image for a moment and then close your eyes and try to recreate it in your mind
See a perfect outcome to a situation unfolding in your mind
Take a favorite image; a rose blooming for example, and replay it using visualization

Just like meditation, it will get easier with practice. You will be able to visualize in greater detail and for longer periods of time. For some people, they even begin to see their visualizations like a movie playing in their mind.

Trance Work

This kind of practice involves using trance inducing techniques to slip into a altered or trance state for the purpose of spiritual workings. For many this is the last step before achieving hedge crossing. It is the practice of shifting your consciousness and letting go. This can be a hard thing for many of us and takes a good deal of focus and practice to achieve. You can practice by:

Figuring out which trance inducing techniques work for you (Drumming, chanting, dance, singing, rhythmic movement, etc).
Working on the other skills listed above is a big help as they are the stepping stones to get to full trance work.
Practice, Practice, Practice.

The most important part with any of these techniques is staying positive and regular practice. People spend years developing this work and sometimes a lifetime on just one practice. No matter where you are at remember that everyone has to start somewhere. Do not become discouraged when your experience is not like another person's experience. Everyone experiences things differently. For one person, visual experiences may be their strongest sense, for another it may be touch, or hearing, or just a knowing. Take your experiences for how they come and don't discount them if they do not match another person's or are not what you expected. Progress, no matter how small, is still progress.

A Word Of Caution

Hedge riding is an advanced magical practice and should be treated with the respect it deserves. It takes many witches months and years to achieve true hedge crossing. If you are not already experienced in meditation and path walking, I do not suggest you attempt to hedge ride. Many witches shape shift while riding for added protection and/or travel with animal guides, spirit guides, or companion spirits to ensure their safety. Just like in the real world, there are positive and negative forces in every realm. It is important to go in prepared and ready to face what comes your way. This is why many hedge witches seek out animal and spirit guides in their first few journeys as they provide added wisdom and protection while you are in the other realms. Any hedge rider knows through practice that it is important that one be spiritually, mentally, and for the most part physically healthy when engaging in any sort of journey, trance, or hedge riding. That strong connection not only creates a thread that connects your physical and spiritual forms when journeying but also creates a protection against anything you may encounter when you journey.

There is a lot of literature out there on hedge crossing and visiting the other realms that can be a scary and intimidating read. As I stated before, this is a serious spiritual and magical practice and should be given respect and taken for the serious skill that it is. However please do not let that stop you from putting in the work and effort towards being a hedge rider if it is truly something that interests you. In my opinion, it is no more dangerous than crossing the street as long as you look both ways and are prepared for all possibilities. If you do your research, put in the practice, and prepare for what ever you may meet there, you have no reason to be afraid. Cautious, respectful, and aware but not afraid. I do not know anyone that has suffered negative or permanent effects from hedge riding. That is not to say that it is not possible to have those things happen but a proper education in the process is key to a successful and safe spiritual journey into hedge riding.

The Way Forward

Hedge riding is not a path for everyone so if you find that it is not for you, you are not alone. It is a unique path that the hedge witch walks with one foot in this world and one foot in the other. If you do decide that the way of the hedge witch is your path, we would love to hear from you about your journey and experiences. We are all on the path of further knowledge and what better way to grow in our practice than together!

Blessings and happy hedge riding!!

Resources Veronica Cummer, To Fly by Night: Craft of the Hedgewitch Emma Wilby, Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic Rae Beth, The Hedge Witch’s Way Poppy Palin, The Craft of the Wild Witch Christopher Penczak, The Shamanic Temple of Witchcraft Pagan Portals: Hedge Riding