Author Topic: Hedge / Green / Kitchen Wiccan (Read 1556 times)

kginpur · « **on:** September 13, 2016, 01:54:33 pm »

Would someone be able to clarify the difference between the hedge, green and kitchen Wiccan? I have been researching and they seem very similar to me. Are they the same, just different terms? I feel I fall somewhere into this category, but am not sure. TIA!!:lub:

Jenett · « **Reply #1 on:** September 13, 2016, 02:40:34 pm »

Quote from: kginpur;196218

Would someone be able to clarify the difference between the hedge, green and kitchen Wiccan? I have been researching and they seem very similar to me. Are they the same, just different terms? I feel I fall somewhere into this category, but am not sure. TIA!!:lub:

So, there's a distinction between 'Wiccan' here and 'witch', so let me untangle that part first: people use the word Wicca to cover a really wide range of things, which gets very confusing. (There's an essay on my website that breaks this down in more detail).

More commonly, you'll see the terms with 'Wiccan' be about a specific tradition with particular practices, shared ritual experiences, etc. rather than just a general tendency towards some things. (i.e. Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca, etc.) People who are using something like Kitchen Wiccan together are probably using a fairly eclectic and non-initiatory-focused definition of 'Wiccan' (somewhere in definitions 3-5 on my list)

The terms 'hedge', 'garden', and 'kitchen' witches have a lot of overlap, but people use them in some varying ways, so it's one of those things where if someone mentions they identify as one, you may want to ask some more details about which they mean if it becomes relevant.

Roughly, people who identify as hedge witches often have more of a focus on liminal spaces - the idea of the hedge being a place where our physical world and the otherworld meet, and doing magical and ritual work that has something to do with that. There's a good thread on on old archived part of The Cauldron that talks about some different uses, and especially how it can be used differently in different places.

Green witches, as you might guess, often identify as having a stronger focus on living green things, so they might have a big interest in having a garden or growing plants, or in using plants as part of their magical and ritual practices.

Kitchen witches, similarly, focus on kitchen practices: use of food and kitchen materials (but not necessarily just plants) as part of their practices in a very deliberate way. I do also agree with the archive forum link above that sometimes hedge witch is used to imply more magical work in a particular way than green, kitchen, or cottage witches.

SunflowerP · « **Reply #2 on:** September 14, 2016, 02:04:07 am »

Quote from: Jenett;196220

Kitchen witches, similarly, focus on kitchen practices: use of food and kitchen materials (but not necessarily just plants) as part of their practices in a very deliberate way. I do also agree with the archive forum link above that sometimes hedge witch is used to imply more magical work in a particular way than green, kitchen, or cottage witches.

Unless they are so old-school that they use it in a way parallel to 'kitchen chemist' (if you put 'kitchen chemistry' into Wikipedia's search box, it'll redirect you here, which covers it reasonably well, and in a way that's IMO easy to correlate to this usage of 'kitchen witch')

.

And then there are these sort of kitchen (or cottage) witches....

:

Sunflower

Noctua · « **Reply #3 on:** September 14, 2016, 10:14:04 am »

Quote from: Jenett;196220

Green witches, as you might guess, often identify as having a stronger focus on living green things, so they might have a big interest in having a garden or growing plants, or in using plants as part of their magical and ritual practices.

This is me, and basically why I consider myself a green witch. I love to garden, it's where I feel centered and closest to the divine. I work with a LOT of plants, not just traditional herbs, and when I feel like I need a spell to move something along it's usually a spontaneous thing, going out and picking a sprig of this or a bit of that as I feel is appropriate. Every year I expand my garden, and eventually my goal is to have no grass at all to mow.

:

Now I still do a lot that people might label as "kitchen witchery": I love to cook, bake homemade bread on the reg, and make lots of tisanes from the herbs I grow. But other than occasionally putting a little extra intention into a tisane for a specific purpose I don't feel like what I do in the kitchen has the same connections and energy as what I feel when I have my hands covered in dirt.

As Jennett mentioned, hedgewitchery to me is more dealing with liminal spaces. Traditional English gardens were always enclosed by either a wall or a hedge (or both) creating a clear demarcation between the "tame" plants and the wild, as well as protecting the garden from people or animals that might steal from it. The hedge functions as a border between the domesticated and the wild, and therefore is also symbolic of the border between the mundane and the magical.

kginpur · « **Reply #4 on:** September 18, 2016, 04:32:11 pm »

Quote from: Jenett;196220

So, there's a distinction between 'Wiccan' here and 'witch', so let me untangle that part first: people use the word Wicca to cover a really wide range of things, which gets very confusing. (There's an essay on my website that breaks this down in more detail).

I did not know this. All of the reading I have done and books I have seem to use the two interchangeably. Thanks for the website. I have been on your website a few times since and have found it very helpful.

CoraFrost · « **Reply #5 on:** September 18, 2016, 04:46:38 pm »

Quote from: kginpur;196218

Would someone be able to clarify the difference between the hedge, green and kitchen Wiccan? I have been researching and they seem very similar to me. Are they the same, just different terms? I feel I fall somewhere into this category, but am not sure. TIA!!:lub:

I agree with much of what Jenett said. I tend to lean Green/Hedgie.
Hedgewitchery, was explained to me, as one who communicates/works within this realm/plane, as well as others (as facilitated through ingested, or meditative means. Personally, I use meditation + sage and rituals like fire/drum/singing bowl circles.

The Green Witch part for me, means understanding and feeling connection to nature. What does that look like? I try to consider the earth in my daily life. I tend to lean towards naturopathy for ailments and whatnot. I also like to keep an herb garden.

Vitkyng · « **Reply #6 on:** September 20, 2016, 10:29:28 pm »

Quote from: Jenett;196220

So, there's a distinction between 'Wiccan' here and 'witch', so let me untangle that part first: people use the word Wicca to cover a really wide range of things, which gets very confusing. (There's an essay on my website that breaks this down in more detail).

More commonly, you'll see the terms with 'Wiccan' be about a specific tradition with particular practices, shared ritual experiences, etc. rather than just a general tendency towards some things. (i.e. Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca, etc.) People who are using something like Kitchen Wiccan together are probably using a fairly eclectic and non-initiatory-focused definition of 'Wiccan' (somewhere in definitions 3-5 on my list)

The terms 'hedge', 'garden', and 'kitchen' witches have a lot of overlap, but people use them in some varying ways, so it's one of those things where if someone mentions they identify as one, you may want to ask some more details about which they mean if it becomes relevant.

Roughly, people who identify as hedge witches often have more of a focus on liminal spaces - the idea of the hedge being a place where our physical world and the otherworld meet, and doing magical and ritual work that has something to do with that. There's a good thread on on old archived part of The Cauldron that talks about some different uses, and especially how it can be used differently in different places.

Green witches, as you might guess, often identify as having a stronger focus on living green things, so they might have a big interest in having a garden or growing plants, or in using plants as part of their magical and ritual practices.

Kitchen witches, similarly, focus on kitchen practices: use of food and kitchen materials (but not necessarily just plants) as part of their practices in a very deliberate way. I do also agree with the archive forum link above that sometimes hedge witch is used to imply more magical work in a particular way than green, kitchen, or cottage witches.

Jenett is absolutely correct regarding the distinction between wiccan and witch. Though the two do overlap, most wiccans will define themselves as witches, but a very large percentage of witches will not even closely define themselves as wiccan.

As a witch who was trained as wiccan initially, I am not uncomfortable being called wiccan, but there are many that would be upset at that label.

As for the hedge/green/kitchen witch distinction, they are different, but also overlap. There are those blurred lines again. The best practice is to simply ask the person you are talking with that defines themselves by a given label, what exactly you mean by that label. I have met many that define themselves by one, or several of these labels, and especially with the hedge or kitchen witches the reply has had a focus on the practice of old folk magic.

I myself practice multiple forms of magic, but the magic pf the liminal calls to me very strongly. I often work magick deliberately within a liminal space or time, though my own personal magick usually focuses on rune work I believe in kitchen witchery and green magick, but am a poor cook and a worse gardener. so instead assist the friends in my circle who do practice those crafts. we each have our specialties and strengths, just because you are weak in something does not mean you do not have to believe in it.

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Author Topic: Hedge / Green / Kitchen Wiccan (Read 1556 times)

kginpur

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