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*The Hedgewitch lives in the space between the Village and the Forest. Between the mundane and the magical. S/He lives with a foot in both worlds. This column is dedicated to the Hedgewitches of the planet earth. The New Hearth Less is more: Moving Hedge I know this column is a bit off-topic for those who are knee-deep in holiday revelry. But for those of us who have recently moved, are in the process of moving or are contemplating a move, it is a relevant piece. My household has just completed the process of moving from the New Mexico high desert, where we have lived for the past 4 years,…

When had the chosen become intergrated with the ruling class? When he looked at the assembly before him, he realized he was staring at the daughters, nieces, and grandaughters of the council members of the ruling classes. This realization disturbed him. “Did you find the one who introupted our merge?” Asked the oldest of the chosen. She was in her 40th turn of the yearly sun and was designated the spokeswoman of the chosen. Randmier bowed his head slightly in difference to her station and answered. “I have.” “Good”. She answered and rose. “The council wishes to see this person immediately.” An older man rose and stood by the woman…

Northern Star Rite As we approach the Yule season, we are reminded that although we have been in the dark half of the season, we will always return to the light. The Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the return of the sun. Our days will continue to grow longer, and our nights will become shorter. It is a time of quiet reflection, but also joyous celebrations of winter. This rite is in honor of the North Star that brightens the winter night and offers its power of guidance to all that accept it. The North Star can be found in many traditional stories of the winter holiday season, so…

Growing up a Roman Catholic in a pre-Vatican II world, one of the last things that ever entered my mind was the very concept of “reincarnation”. I’d heard about it of course but it simply wasn’t something that I gave much thought  and even less credence. It was an alien concept. That changed dramatically one Saturday afternoon in the late fall of 1970. Apparently this isn’t the first time Sherry, my late wife, and I were/are together. When we were growing up we were raised by our grandparents. Her dad was a career Marine and my dad was a Ford Motor Company exec. They traveled all the time so they…

Gaelic Healing Water Spell Acquire equivalent portions of violet, rosemary, and lavender. After give power to them boil them in approximately one quart of water over a medium flame. Once the water has a rich color and the herbs begin to emit a scent throughout your kitchen, drain off the water off into a jar. An organic coffee filter works well for this. Leave the jar in the sunshine for an entire day to take in the glowing energies from the sun. (To add the healing powers of mercury to the spell do this on a Wednesday) Occasionally gaze into the jar to add your own energies to it. Just…

Experiencing the work:  How you treat others In the last column we talked about what happens once we have the experience of the Pagan divine.  What evidence do we have of that experience?   Does our outlook on the world change?  Does our behavior change? While laser beams don’t start shooting from our eyes and we don’t get assigned a Harry Potter wand (though often those show up anyway) we should change.  We should change because we have had a transformative experience, one that we seek to repeat, and often do repeat, over and over again. Last time we talked about what happens to our desire, a desire that changes from…

Gail adroitly spins a guide that presents the reader the ability to shape shift and navigate through time, thought, and space. The basic foundations of Shamanism and witchcraft in Gail’s book, “The Shamanic Witch” go beyond the fundamental concepts we have become accustomed to. Reminding one of their own inherent abilities in the Shamanic tradition and edifies just how to put these abilities into practice in Shamanic Witchcraft. Gail has fashioned a powerful practice that once embraced opens up the path between the worlds which leads to affirmative changes in all who follow it. Photo by: Dawn Van Hall Gail was gracious enough to allow us this wonderful interview probing…

Love and Warmth During this time of year everything all around is decorated cheerfully in red and green.  This is to bring happiness to our  hearts during the dark winter season.  We find earthly reasons to celebrate, bringing good cheer to one another with the joy of fun winter activities, and gift giving.  Done properly giving is as wonderful as receiving.  A stone which teaches us about both sides of this coin is rose quartz. With happiness and good cheer already in the air, rose quartz is a wonderful stone friend to share it with.  Its lovely soft pink color is warming and pleasant to the eye.  Its energy very…

Seed of Love Deceiving Autumn More of Monique’s artwork can be viewed at: http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20904

Once upon a time, I was hunting sheep.  It was a dark and stormy night!  Okay, actually it was a very nice sunny summer day.  It is just that bad things aren’t supposed to happen on very nice sunny summer days.  That is the way it should be anyway.  On the particular pleasant day of which I’m speaking I was having myself a sheep lunch.  It was so yummy!  Even after all it cost me I still remember that succulent meat with fondness.  Well fed and well cared for animals taste much better than those who are not. For the past week or so before I had the heavenly lunch…