Rae Beth

Embrace the old ways with the new as you develop your own vibrant hedge witchcraft tradition. Leading you beyond The Path of the Hedge Witch, Joanna van der Hoeven deepens your skills in herbalism, spellcraft, hedge riding (trance work), and more so you can truly live your Craft. Following Joanna's guidance, you will develop a daily practice that involves connection to deity, the Fair Folk, and your familiar. Explore a thirteen-month lunar ritual series and create your own divination set based on your local surroundings. With this book, you can expand your solitary practice and find your place in the world. 'A volume to refer to at every Moon, at each turning of the wheel, and whenever the Otherworld needs to be consulted.' Ellen Evert Hopman, author of The Real Witches of New England.

Rae Beth, author of the bestselling Hedge Witch, here blends the ancient traditions of hedge witchcraft with our modern concerns for the natural world. Working in liminal places and with wild spirits, she shows how we can both help to heal the human relationship with the natural world and cast spells of increase for threatened species. The Green Hedge Witch is based in the knowledge that we are part of nature, not apart from Her and that this gives us our power and potential as well as our responsibilities. And therefore, by the use of rites, spirit journeys and elven help, we can work heartfelt healing magic. This is a book for the budding spellcaster as well as the experienced hedge witch.

Village wisewomen and men, the community's witches, have always helped to heal wounded lives. When disaster strikes, such as serious illness or some kind of abuse or loss, or when we're struggling through things such as divorce or family conflict, today's hedge witchcraft can still give us the means to help ourselves or others. There are, for example, spells to banish the spirits of cruelty or injustice. There are ways of countering the ill effects of spiteful thoughts which others may hold about us. We can rebuild our sense of ourselves by magic that holds us true to our real life purpose, throughout any crisis. What is presented here is not superficial and not a shortcut. Rather, it is a powerful process, a method which can be adapted to any situation where help may be needed.

Here is a guide to the magical spirituality of the hedge witch, which describes a path that is profound and yet simple - uncluttered by complex ritual, a matter of the heart. The hedge witch is a solitary witch and natural mystic who practises wildwood mysticism, so called because it is the knowledge at the root of the tree of witchcraft. Explained in detail are the witch's prayers, spell-casting and communication with spirits and faeries, including those spirits travelling in the three realms of the magical otherworld. The values and ethics of this most ancient tradition may surprise and delight with their blend of common sense, compassion and wildness. (It is not a spiritual way for conformists!) This book opens the door to all those who feel they are natural witches but are, as yet, uninstructed. The Hedge Witch's Way is a guide for witches of either gender - potential wisewomen or wisemen - that presents the faerie-led practices of our ancestors, in a modern-day context.

At the dawn of a new era we are drawn to modern Goddess spirituality. Rae Beth feels the world can change by sharing our personal spiritual experiences with each other. She has gone within herself for this book of recollections, inner guidance and ancient teachings (which was originally published as Reincarnation and the Dark Goddess). She explains individual reincarnation as a microcosm of Earth's great cycles of existence and as a means of developing the love and wisdom needed to manifest the true beauty of the spirit realm. Along with instructions for recalling past lives and developing psychic skills, she gives descriptions of the Otherworld (where we go between lives) as the land of the Dark Goddess - the Queen of the Dead. This is not a fearsome place, but a joyful spirit land where healing flows, whether we approach it from its peripheries in dreams, in meditation, or between incarnations. Rae Beth also includes thoughtful interpretations of various myths of the Goddess in her many aspects - Isis, Kali, Mary Magdalene, Persephone and Tiamat - to name but a few. Lamp of the Goddess looks at reincarnation from the viewpoint of a present-day priestess who honours the Deep Feminine, or the Goddess, as Mother of Souls, as well as the Earth Mother of physical existence. This sharing vision is relevant to us all, in our process of discovery and rebirth.

As the millenium approaches, we are drawn to modern Goddess spirituality. By sharing our personal spiritual experiences with each other, Rae Beth feels the world will change. She goes within for this book of recollections, inner guidance, and ancient teachings. She explains individual reincarnation as a microcosm of Earth's great cycles of existence, as a means of developing the love and wisdom needed to manifest the true beauty of the spirit realm. Along with structions for recalling past lives and developing psychic skills, she gives descriptions of the Otherworld (where we go between lives) as the land of the Dark Goddess--the Queen of the Dead. This is not a fearsome place, but a joyful spirit land where healing flows, whether we approach it from its peripheries in deams, meditation, or between incarnations. Rae Beth also includes thoughtful interpretations of various myths of the Goddess in her many aspect--sIsis, Kali, Mary Magdalene, Persephone, and Tiamet--to name a few. This book looks at reincarnation from the viewpoint of a presentday priestess who honors the Deep Feminine, of the Goddess, as Mother of Souls, as the Earth Mother of physical existence. This sharing vision is relevant to us all, in our process of discovery and rebirth.

Written in the form of letters from an experienced witch to her two apprentices, solitary witchcraft is offered, not as a substitute for coven worship, but as a fulfulling lifestyle in its own right. Rae Beth explains the importance of the Goddess and her consort, the Horned God, as sources of spiritual strength and worship. The author extols the feminine principles of healing and regeneration as well as attacking greed and self-interest which jeopardize the planet's very future. Rae Beth provides spells for all the key festivals of the witch's calendar; describes and outlines the Pagan approach to finding a partner. Her lyrical letters, accompanied by delicate pen-and-ink sketches, bring the reader towards a deeper understanding of the solitary witch's lifestyle and beliefs.