Hedgewitch

For the second year in a row yours truly is working through Silver Ravenwolf's fourteen day Hedgewitch ritual "program". I started it Monday, one year to the day since I started it last year. Why am I doing it again? Well, I am glad you asked. Because last year I was in a really bad place mentally when I bought the book. I had had my eye on the damned thing for nearly two years at that point but I always had other obligations to fulfill when my always-much-needed student loans came but last year I was finally able to scrounge up the fifteen bucks or so to get it. And like Silver's books always seem to do, it came into my life at just the right time. By the time I performed the last ritual I had my head straight. I knew what I needed, what I wanted from my life. I had the clarity I needed so much. And for the past year I have been happier, more in tune with my spiritual self, than I can remember being since childhood. I have no doubt that this is due, at least in part, to the workings I did last year with Hedgewitch. So if it worked, of course I'll do it again. 

I have a very long history with the work of Silver Ravenwolf. I know that there are some witches who do not like her. Of course there are. No one can agree on everything. We're not supposed to. But for me, Silver was like a teacher through the past fourteen years. Her books, along with the work of Scott Cunningham, taught me many of the things I know today about magick, about Spirit/the Gods, about Wicca and to be honest I feel as if she is an old friend. As I said before, her books always seem to come to me at the right moment, teaching me whatever I need to know at that time. Then again, I found that is true about most magick books. However, she does more than write books that guide me and many others who, for whatever reason, can not find physical teachers or who study both with teachers and alone. She writes in such a way that it is as if she is there physically. In addition to this, I was eleven the first time I read one of her books (To Ride a Silver Broomstick...it was the third Craft book I ever read following Scott Cunningham's Wicca and Living Wicca) so I have, in a sense, grown up with her in my life. I remember reading her books when her kids were still...well...kids. Now they are grown and she is a grandmother. Because her life, her personality, is evident in each book she writes I almost feel as if she is not some stranger a state away who writes books I enjoy but rather as if she is, like I said, a dear old friend.

But I've completely gotten off topic, haven't I? We were talking about this book in particular...

I recommend it, clearly. If you are Wiccan and you've been practicing awhile and you are looking for something new, this might be something you want to look into. You can preview the book on google. It was actually through the preview I stumbled upon that I first decided I HAD to have the book. 
http://books.google.com/books?id=0ANO1oe_aBsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=silver+ravenwolf+hedgewitch&source=bl&ots=kFikMci-GJ&sig=rzhyNniOXs5kCgeh0L-vQiVxktE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gTtIULC4D-fk0QGTtoDADQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=silver%20ravenwolf%20hedgewitch&f=false

If you preview it and you decide you also HAVE to have it, there are a couple of options for you. You can get it pretty cheap on ebay depending on when you look. For instance, right now you can pick it up for less than six bucks. But who knows what the average price will be a month from now.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=silver+ravenwolf+hedgewitch&_sacat=0

If amazon is more your style, you can also look there. That is where I purchased mine last year. In addition to that, there are always Wiccan shops with websites that sell the book and things of that nature. 

Some of the things you will learn from this book are things like stating what you want in primordial language. Silver explains in the book that the universe doesn't speak as we do but rather in simple terms. It does not understand words like "not" so if you are constantly sending out the message 'I do not want to lose my job' the Universe will hear only 'I want...' and you will, in effect, bring toward you the very thing you did not want. The book also teaches you that in order to bring new things into your life, whether they be material or things like accomplishments, you have to get rid of things you no longer need to make room for it. 

The rituals themselves (the above mentioned things are from the introduction) are all related to nature and using nature to enhance yourself. The first night is the Rite of Wind; Night two is the Rite of Fire; Night three is Rite of Earth; followed by the Rite of Starry Sky; Rite of Rain; Rite of the Mountain; Rite of Lightening; Rite of Thunder; Rite of Metal; Rite of Stone; Rite of Celestial Power; Rite of the Enchanted Wood; Rite of Silence; and the final night, the dedication. If you are a nillionaire like me and you can't afford the herbs and things needed, you can do what I've done and switch it up a bit using substitutes with the same magickal properties and things of that nature, tailoring it to fit your needs. 

The reason I am posting about this is because it is something that really helped me this time last year when I was at a cross roads and I wasn't sure what path to take. This year things are better...much better. Not perfect, no, but I am happier, I feel wiser and yet I know that I have a lifetime of learning ahead of me, and I feel like I am closer to being who I want to be than I was twelve months ago. If it worked that well for me, perhaps it will work well for you too. 

I hope all of you, my beloved blogger pals, have an amazing week and that you remember to smile. And I will leave you with a quote that has become part of my life motto thanks to the lessons and the results of Hedgewitch...