Ancient followers of earth-based spirituality who were the precursors to our modern day herbalists.
A Hedge Witch Defined
According to the book The Wiccan Path (The Crossing Press, 1990) by Rae Beth, a hedge witch is “…a lone priest or priestess of natural magic, open to requests for healing spells or for advice or divination from the people who live near them.” Other scholars argue that the path of a hedge witch is a nature based neo-pagan religion combining elements of divination, herbal healing and natural magic.
The hedge, or some type of fence or wall, once signified the boundary of ancient villages. As pertains to shamanism this boundary also represents the border which exists between the world of the living and the under-world of spiritual beings. Hence practitioners of this type of magic were often referred to as hedge witches and were thought to be able to talk with spirits in addition to being experts in the use of natural magic and herbal remedies.
The View of the Church
During the late middle ages and early Renaissance, the church felt that illnesses and diseases were a punishment from God that could only be treated through prayer, a persons faith in God or administered to by monks that grew their own medicinal herbs. The church viewed any other forms of healing as undermining the churches influence on the people.
The church was suspicious of self-trained healers with their seemingly magical healing plants. They didn’t see the difference between being able to use herbs for healing purposes and being able to use herbs to poison someone. Many of these nature based healers were accused of being witches even if they were only growing and harvesting the herbs for culinary purposes or their own self-medication.
Unjust Accusations
“At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue ‘she is a witch’ or ‘she is a wise woman.’”
- Reginald Scot, Discovery of Witchcraft, 1584
Hedge witches, also known as the village wise woman or cunning man, were the people habitually accused of practicing black magic and were labeled as being demonic witches and sorcerers. In reality they dispensed a wide variety of herbal remedies to their fellow village inhabitants for healing and magical purposes. Wealthy city and town dwellers had access to the services of formally trained physicians while the poor masses and country dwellers most often had to rely on these local herb men and women for a selection of herb based remedies.
The majority of these natural healers were men and women living solitary lives at a distance from the rest of the village inhabitants. They collected and harvested a variety of plant materials from their personal gardens and the surrounding forests which they used to make a multitude of lotions, ointments and poultices which were used for their healing and magical abilities.
Hedge witches are practitioners of earth-based spirituality and don’t follow any particular path of witchcraft. They employ a variety of herbs and other natural objects in their magical and healing endeavors. They perform magic on an as needed basis and aren’t strict followers of the traditional witches holy days otherwise known as the sabbats.
See the article Wicca Defined for information on how the modern-day practice of Wicca got started.
Resources:
Buckland, Raymond. The Witch Book; The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca and Neo-paganism. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press, 2002.
