Today, I want to start a blog series on types of witchcraft, beginning with hedge witchcraft, a path often described as walking between the worlds. A hedgewitch is someone willing to cross the edge of the known world, to move beyond the safe boundaries of daily life, and to find the liminal or thin places where worlds and realms overlap, allowing us to travel between human reality and the spirit realm. The skills required to be a hedgewitch can take practice, but they can really deepen your craft.

The Origins and History of the Hedgewitch

The term hedgewitch is relatively recent. I first ran into it in the 1980s, mostly in fantasy books, and sometimes heard it used in magical circles as a slightly dismissive term by some ceremonial magicians, meaning a “simple” green witch who works without complex ritual tools. I’ve always felt that this reflected class differences more than magical ones, since hedgewitches were often the people who helped their local villagers rather than serving nobility.

Historically, the word may be related to the Old High German hagazussa or the Anglo-Saxon hægtesse, both of which some people interpret as witch, spirit, or hedge-rider. More often in my limited research, I find historical sources associate those old words with forest spirits or even with demonic figures.

Hedgewitchery is closely related to the European traditions of night flight and flying ointments, which used plants that were extremely poisonous.

To me, hedgewitchery is really the same as journeying to other realms. This is something that has been practiced in many cultures. Sometimes using a drum, music, or just your own skills. Due to the rise of Christianization, in European magical traditions, there are only a few cultures that retained these types of practices long enough to be recorded as written knowledge, usually by outsiders.

Big sidenote here, I love that English experimental archaeologist and YouTuber Sally Pointer uses the phrase hedge bothering to describe going out to gather materials for cordage, weaving, food, brews, and teas.

And hedge rows as yard or road boundaries are much more common in western European regions than in the U.S. They were thick growths of naturalized shrubs and plants to keep livestock in or out, or to help protect yards and gardens.

The Path of the Hedgewitch

At its core, hedgewitchery is about traveling between the worlds. But recently, people have been linking it more to someone who might once have been called a cunning person, or a wise one. This might have included spirit-taught knowledge from nature spirits or, in Celtic regions, the fae. For those who define it that way, it is also rooted in tending the land, healing, and nature, but one of the main skills is still the ability to cross the hedge, the boundary between worlds, and return with insight.

Hedgewitchery, Jumping the Hedge, and Hedge Riding

So what skills do you need to be a hedgewitch? Let’s start with the part that is hardest to find clear information on: spirit travel.

To cross the hedge, you need the ability to alter your consciousness and let it travel beyond the body, either into another realm or to what some call the astral. For some people, leaving the body is the hard part; for others, returning is.

And returning safely is the most important part. This can take years to develop, and at its core, it relies on psychic skills and the ability to move into a softened state of consciousness. I’ll share more about that below

It can be helpful to work with an experienced practitioner for training, but not everyone lives where that’s possible. One way to start is to develop deep somatic grounding skills and learning to shift your awareness into a different level of consciousness.

Developing Intuition and Learning to Hedge Ride

It can be helpful to read books on intuition and learn to enter a softened brain-wave state if that’s something that doesn’t come naturally to you.

I always start by teaching grounding, feeling solid in the body, and slowly extending your awareness deeper. Put on soft, magical music and bring your attention to your body. Close your eyes and send your awareness down into the earth, imagining that your sight travels there too. Sense and feel what is beneath you. Then draw that energy up, and visualize your awareness rising into the starry realm while staying connected to the earth.

Trying to feel it somatically in your body is really helpful for actually traveling. If you can’t feel it, imagine it. You’ll get there. This practice can take time. Visualization and trance work both require patience and repetition.

When you return, imagine your energy contracting gently and your mind sharpening back into focus. Always come back fully. Try patting yourself down, saying your name, and drinking water or snacking

You can light a candle charged with the intention to travel only to places that are safe for you and to return safely. Carry rosemary or another protective herb, or call on any guardian spirits who watch over you. Animal guardians are especially helpful.

Practicing Hedge Walking

Once you feel comfortable going and returning, you could try to find a place in nature that feels magical, especially places where one thing meets another, such as the edge of a forest or where land meets water.

Practice grounding there, eyes half-closed, and just notice what’s present beyond the ordinary. Are there things around you that feel shiny or suggest beings? Don’t edit. Just sense. If something draws your attention and feels safe, let yourself explore it.

You can also train your awareness by walking a clear, gentle trail in nature. Offer water at the start and ask permission to travel the magical side of the path. Soften your gaze and walk slowly, letting your skin, feet, and breath take in information as much as your eyes and ears. It’s good to have a check-in person who knows where you physically are as a safety buddy anytime you do something like this outside your home.

Another method is to ground yourself and then gaze up into the night sky. Imagine yourself rising until you are surrounded by stars. Feel yourself turning, and see if a path presents itself. If it feels safe, let yourself follow the path and see where it takes you.

Returning Safely

Set a timer if you need to, or just notice when the experience feels complete. Imagine yourself retracing your steps back along the path. Open your eyes. Pat your body down, say your name three times, eat, drink, or wash your hands and face.

You may feel a little disoriented after spirit travel. Don’t make big decisions until you feel fully grounded.

Once you gain confidence traveling and returning, you can begin to ask for insight or messages, or record what you’ve seen. One reason we cross the hedge is to bring back knowledge for healing or guidance, for ourselves or for others.

Working with a Group

If you have a group of witches you are comfortable working with, there is a practice that might help you travel out of ordinary consciousness more easily. And you can do this work with each of you in your own homes. Agree on a time when you will all start and end.

Pick a place on this earth that you all have been to. Somewhere that feels special and agree to meet there psychically. Create whatever protections you work with for yourself. Again, maybe set a timer.

It helps if it’s a gentle-sounding alarm. Imagine your body connected to where you are, and then let part of yourself travel to the place you are meeting. It’s often the same part of the brain you use for daydreaming.

When you arrive, notice what's there, and notice if you can sense or see your group. Try to make it as real as possible, and when you feel ready or the timer goes off, come back.

The process can be a very light shift in consciousness or very deep. It’s a good idea to have a snack and drink water upon your return. Give it some time to integrate, and then you can start texting each other with your experiences. Showering after is helpful.

Be patient with yourself. These skills can take years to develop, or they might come more quickly than you expect. One of the hardest parts is shifting out of the analytical mind and into the direct experience of a living, magical world.

Cautions

If you struggle to stay grounded in daily reality, or if you are in a mental-health crisis, it’s best not to attempt hedge riding. Wait until you are more stable, or work with a magically oriented therapist, if they feel it’s safe for you.

Remember, altering consciousness is as much about returning as it is about traveling. Both require self-knowledge and care.

If you ever feel like something is off afterwards or not yourself, do a thorough clearing of yourself and your home. Burn blue vervain, agrimony, or rosemary as incense or create a steam. You can also take a salt bath or shower.

Learning to Travel the Hedge from Someone

When I guide people over the hedge in trance work, I don’t tell them what they should see. I might give a destination and lead them in. Then I mostly just offer cues for breathing, softening, staying focused, and returning.

The goal is to let their own spirit find its way and interact with the path and beings that are right for them.

Deepen Your Relationship with Nature

Hedgewitchery is closely related to green witchcraft and animism. Being connected to the magic of this realm helps you recognize the magic of other places.

Begin by getting to know your local plants and herbs, not only their medicinal and culinary uses, but also how they can be used for dyeing, weaving, carpentry, or cordage making. Seeing the totality of who they are.

Knowing the full uses of a plant allows you to see its personality, to understand it as a magical being in its own right. Over time, this awareness opens your eyes to how everything is alive and connected. You begin to perceive gates, pathways, and liminal spaces, which are the thin edges between worlds.

Let yourself explore with curiosity. Go back into your child-mind and play.

Final Thoughts

Hedgeriding and moving outside normal reality is something that can really deepen your craft, and it needs to be treated with respect and care. It takes a lot of time for Westerners to move outside of our regular mindset and to remember what it feels like to see the world as a magical place with infinite realms surrounding us.

If it doesn’t work for you, that’s fine. There are so many practices that witches can do. Be patient with yourself and trust that you will find what’s right for you.