A long overdue update

It seems like forever since I've managed to post an update. It has been a very busy summer. With Wyld Fire I've been running around the country dressed as a viking... and honing my craft skills. I've gotten more involved with Gordon's side of "Hedge-Witchery & Wyld Fire", and I've started doing more and more work with the traditional horn products and making some jewelry that ties in with what Gordon is trying to achieve with Wyld Fire. We certainly seem to be heading in the right direction and have recently received notification that we have been nominated for a Countryside Alliance Award. It's lovely to see the feedback we are getting, and great that people seem to really appreciate the lengths we go to with the traditional manufacturing processes and materials.

I've been pretty busy with my own side of the business too. My second book "Quick & Easy Tarot" has recently been released and is receiving some very nice reviews. One of the major things I've been working on is establishing Hedge-Witchery as a membership site. The new site, www.hedge-witchery.co, offers both a free membership area and a full membership area, that costs from £4.99. All of the articles and information that was free still is, so don't worry about that disappearing. What it does mean is that the Full Membership area offers online courses, books and meditations for people to use whenever they like. I'm still spending a lot of hours building content in there, and am currently editing the videos for the online "Introduction to Magic Ritual" course. There is already a "Tarot Part 1: The Major Arcana" course, and a "Introduction to Journeying" course on there, as well as ebook versions of "Witchery" and "Quick & Easy Tarot", and several guided meditations, the most recent of which is exclusively available to members.

Between all this I've been writing my third book "The Modern Haegtes" which will be released next year.

We have been doing a lot of events recently, which is fantastic, as it gives me a chance to hang out with like-minded people and have fun as well as working. We have been excitedly looking forward to "Meet the Other Folk", the Samhain event we host at Bede's World, there are still tickets available and it looks set to be a fantastic night.    

Book Review: A Witch's Mirror, by Levannah Morgan

A Witch's Mirror: The Art of Making Magic offers you an overview of traditional witchcraft as practised in Devon. The book stays away from complex and ceremonial rituals that are often found in modern magical practices, and focuses more on the simple ways in which witchcraft can become part of your everyday life. The back cover reads:

“Magic is something that should be lived. Much of the magic in this book is about apparently simple things, it is the author's belief that these things, experienced with all the senses, and done with intent, can be deep forms of magic and have the most profound effect, and be just as powerful as complex rituals, if not more so.”

The book is largely the author, Levannah Morgan's, personal accounts of different spells and rituals. Sometimes books based mainly on one persons personal experience can be slightly limited as to what the reader can take away and relate to their own practice, with this book however this is not the case. Due to the large focus of the book being how to connect to your natural surroundings and building an intimate relationship with magical energies, the personal slant delivered by this book works perfectly.

The book is certainly an interesting read, especially for those who frequently visit the South West of England. It makes frequent reference to many landmarks as well as the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle.

On a practical level this book is brilliant, all of the general advice given is very clear and easy to understand. One of my favourite sections was on “Sitting Out”, this is a practice that is sorely lacking from a lot of similar books and notoriously hard to describe, however Levannah manages to convey the essence of it with the same clear cut ease she applies to everything else in the book.

The other thing that I love about this book is the fact that all the spells in the book are very adaptable and could work for a number of different situations. They are also ones that can be completed using things that most people would have in their house already, or could easily find. A lot of other books make claims to deliver such spells, but rarely do.

For the those more experienced with witchcraft this book offers some interesting information and fascinating perspectives on a number of points, particularly on working with the Moon and the Sea. I've practised for a number of years and still found it a very engaging read with a lot of stop-and-think moments.

All in all I would thoroughly recommend this book to magical practitioners both new and old.

Book Review: Hedge Witchcraft, by Harmonia Saille

“Hedge Witchcraft” is written by Harmonia Saille, and published by Moon Books as part of their Pagan Portals series.

The description reads:

“This book will guide readers to read more about hedge witchcraft as a pathway, or are already following such a path and wish to progress. It only has a little about hedge riding as this book has too small a scope to include it. Please read the accompanying book in the Pagan Portal series, Hedge Riding.”

This is a really nice little book about traditional British witchcraft. It ties all the information together with personal accounts from the author which heavily adds to the readability of this book. I enjoyed the section about tree lore, and liked the healthy does of folklore that was included in it. I also really liked the section on "Spirit of Place". This is a topic woefully overlooked in lots of similar books, and Harmonia does a fantastic job of eloquently, but unpretentiously, describing this. 

However, I can’t help but feel quite disappointed with this book, simply because it isn't specifically about Hedge Witchcraft. As the description indicated, it made little mention of hedge riding, referring you to another book by the same author. Given that neither book is hugely long I don't see why they weren't integrated, especially given the importance of hedge riding to this path. Although it made the very truthful claim that all hedge witches will follow a slightly different path, it didn’t highlight the key points that unite them. 

If you are after a short guide to traditionally based witchcraft then this is a really interesting little read, it will provide you with a general overview of  pagan festivals, and examples of how they are practiced. It also goes into elemental correspondences, and how these tie the everyday world to the magical one. But, if you have a decent background knowledge of general traditional witchcraft and modern pagan spirituality, then you may be left feeling a let down by this title.


The book market really needs some good titles about true hedge witchcraft, and if can be in a small, easy to read format like this, then so much the better. Unfortunately I don’t think this book does that. It will however keep it’s place on my bookshelf, due to the traditional folklore facts, interesting personal antidotes, and the style of writing, with turns this from a reference book, to an enjoyable quick read.

Catch up...

Hello,
        Thought I'd put up a quick post as it's been a hectic time lately and I've been unusually quiet on here!
Well, on a personal level we had a car crash and a house move to contend with just before Yule, and although things are pretty much settled down now, things are still as busy as ever!

       I'm just about keeping www.Hedge-Witchery.com up to date, and am in the process of bringing back the "Rocemmended Books" page. Hedge Witchery Books, is growing, we've got some fantastic new titles and some new writer coming on board, and even with Ricky joining the team things are mega busy, expect a website over-haul and some great new titles soon.

      Hedge Witchery Tarot, launched last month and we - (ok Ricky) - is in the process of making contact with all the psychics who've expressed an interest in joining the team. We're still looking for webcam psychics but expect to see the cool wall of live video streams - (and yes you can chat to them all at once... for free, lol) - to be growing soon.

     The follow up the Elemental Guided Meditation I released last summer is well in the works and should be being released around the end of February. The next handy little guide I'm writing, on divination using symbols through medative states, will land around June.

     We're hitting as many events as we can this Summer, there's an events page on Hedge-Witchery.com that they'll all get put on, and I'm hoping to catch up with as many people as possible. However, in order to do that the next few months will have to be spent firmly behind my computer desk... although I'm not complaining, the manuscripts I have the great pleasure of publishing are fantastic, and working with the writers who created them is an absolute pleasure.

    If I'm off facebook for more than 3 days, send caffiene!

Lily x