Spiritually speaking, how do you label yourself and why?

IheartTarot

Sulis said:
I also don't like things that divide people and put them in boxes
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That is the flip side of labels, there are pros and cons.
 

caridwen

IheartTarot said:
Despite a very liberal constitution (including freedom of religion), certain "witchcraft" practices including divination are illegal where I live.
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This is opening a whole can of worms that I'd rather not get into:D

In order to have some legal protection should someone decide to prosecute me for reading cards I will at least have a constitutional argument. Paganism is a recognized religion here, BTW the way that happens is when the government approves people representing a certain religion to act as marriage officers.
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So things haven't changed much since the burning times? Are the local villagers going to descend on you with torches and smoke you out?;) That's Christians for you:p


An occultist searches for spiritual truths by study and learning. Occultism is probably not a recognized religion, not in my country anyway. You need a critical mass for these things.
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Then everyone on this board is an 'occultist' - you learn a new thing every day:)
 

IheartTarot

caridwen said:
Then everyone on this board is an 'occultist' - you learn a new thing every day:)
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Yip. It may come in handy if anyone needs a label one day. ;)
 

GryffinSong

caridwen said:
...Then everyone on this board is an 'occultist' - you learn a new thing every day:)
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That's definately not a label I'd accept to describe myself.
 

Anna

I thought hedge witchery was to do with journeying to the otherworlds not herb-craft? It's called hedge crossing or hedge riding, because the hedge is the boundary between the worlds.

Anyway...

I don't have a label, but I am a Witch. To me it is not a label, any more than my being British is a label. It's a factual statement. I would still be a Witch if I did not call myself one.

Witch is who I am, it's not a choice. Just as being born British is who I am and not a choice.
 

The crowned one

Sulis said:
I'm me. I see no need for labels.
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Yes.

I label myself "Stephen" and all that encompasses when being precise in details otherwise "man of planet earth" is good enough. Both are wonderful things for me to be, and quite spiritual at times.
 

IheartTarot

When I was growing up we called anyone that didn't go to church a Bush Baptist. Does anyone else know that term?
 

caridwen

Anna said:
I thought hedge witchery was to do with journeying to the otherworlds not herb-craft? It's called hedge crossing or hedge riding, because the hedge is the boundary between the worlds.
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As far as I am aware, a hedge witch is so called because she lived on the boundaries of a village beside the hedge. At the crossing between what was known ie the village and what was unknown ie outside the village.

Hedge witches also worked with the hedge for berries, leaves and herbs. They are very early doctors helping with simple ailments and making ointments and lotions. They would help with birthing babies and probably made simple spells.

Hedge witches work with plants and are in all senses botanists. They would know plant names and their uses. They would be able to mix herbs and plants into medicine.

The term Hedgewitch comes from the Saxon word haegtessa meaning 'hedge-rider'. Some believe that the Hedgewitch is akin to a village shaman who crosses over the hedge into the unknown ie outside the village in order to bring back knowledge from spirits through the use of hallucinogens.

So the hedge was both a physical as well as mental boundary. The hedge marked what was known from what was unknown and the hedgewitch would cross the hedge in order to gather herbs and berries and plants for her medicine.

Hedgewitches learned their lore from a relative or another hedgewitch so it was an apprenticeship that was continued forward through lore rather than the written word.

They are solitary which means they do not belong to a coven of witches. Traditionally Hedgewitches practice wortcunning (skills with herbs/knowledge of herbs), herbalism, wildcrafting(harvesting uncultivated plants for their medicinal purposes), kitchen witchery, folk magic, healing, cursing, trance states, poppet magic (doll used to cast spells) and more but they are each unique in what they practice so it could be a mixture of all or one of two of these things.
 

yirabeth

For myself, I consider myself 'walking my own path' but if asked by others, I tend to just say Pagan, because *others* feel a need for labels, and it's just easier to say a word or two than explain my whole journey in detail :p

The 'technical' definition of Pagan is:

pagan [ˈpeɪgən]
n
1. (Christian Religious Writings / Theology) a member of a group professing a polytheistic religion or any religion other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam


(Emphasis mine)So it fits me as I'm not one of those three.
 

IheartTarot

Anna said:
I thought hedge witchery was to do with journeying to the otherworlds not herb-craft? It's called hedge crossing or hedge riding, because the hedge is the boundary between the worlds.
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caridwen said:
As far as I am aware, a hedge witch is so called because she lived on the boundaries of a village beside the hedge. At the crossing between what was known ie the village and what was unknown ie outside the village.

Hedge witches also worked with the hedge for berries, leaves and herbs. They are very early doctors helping with simple ailments and making ointments and lotions. They would help with birthing babies and probably made simple spells.

Hedge witches work with plants and are in all senses botanists. They would know plant names and their uses. They would be able to mix herbs and plants into medicine.

The term Hedgewitch comes from the Saxon word haegtessa meaning 'hedge-rider'. Some believe that the Hedgewitch is akin to a village shaman who crosses over the hedge into the unknown ie outside the village in order to bring back knowledge from spirits through the use of hallucinogens.

So the hedge was both a physical as well as mental boundary. The hedge marked what was known from what was unknown and the hedgewitch would cross the hedge in order to gather herbs and berries and plants for her medicine.

Hedgewitches learned their lore from a relative or another hedgewitch so it was an apprenticeship that was continued forward through lore rather than the written word.

They are solitary which means they do not belong to a coven of witches. Traditionally Hedgewitches practice wortcunning (skills with herbs/knowledge of herbs), herbalism, wildcrafting(harvesting uncultivated plants for their medicinal purposes), kitchen witchery, folk magic, healing, cursing, trance states, poppet magic (doll used to cast spells) and more but they are each unique in what they practice so it could be a mixture of all or one of two of these things.
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That is very interesting and helpful. I too had heard the term "hedge witch" in the context of shamanism before (in The Rune Mysteries by Nigel Jackson and SRW, under the rune #9 Haegl/Hagalaz). Here are some snippets from the book:

"Elder is the sacred tree of Haegl, which folk tradition describes as the dwelling place of the 'elder witch', Mother Holda. Its herb is the deadly nightshade, the toxic 'trance-berry' used in flying ointments throughout Europe, and a favourite for witch-bottles in America.

Haegl is the rune of Gothic witchcraft, and conceals the mysteries of the night-travelling hags and sorcerers. Among the Saxons, witches were called 'hedge-riders' (haegtessa), referring to the fact that the witch crossed over the boundary, or 'hedge', between this world and other realities."
 
Finding Oneself Sick of agnosticism, Judaic and Druidic studies