Green Witchcraft is one of the least documented Wiccan traditions, perhaps because its practitioners often also practice other main stream Wiccan Traditions or perhaps because most Wiccan practices are essentially Green by nature. Green Witchcraft is sometimes erroneously confused with Hedgecraft - perhaps because of the similarities that exist between these two traditions in their approach to the Craft.
Like Hedgecraft, Green Witchcraft incorporates the use of herbs in Magick and healing. Both also have a very practical and flexible attitude to practicing the Craft. They differ in that the Green Witch will rarely, if ever, be found worshipping within the confines of four walls, preferring the freedom and the closeness to Deity afforded by nature instead. It is not unusual for urban Green Witches to head out to a park or to the outskirts of a city - not only to worship - but also to re-establish touch with the divinity of nature.
Natural Master Herbalists
Cultivating herbs, vegetables, fruits and growing all sorts of flowers, trees and shrubs are quite usual for Green witches who are fortunate enough to have the required space at their disposal. Those who don't have that luxury, still manage to hold their own by filling pots with lavender, sage, rosemary and basil on their balconies and in their windowsills. They generally also know where to obtain those they cannot grow in the wild. An inherent part of being a Green Witch is an affinity with plants and includes the ability to speak to them and being spoken to by them in return.
It is also the belief of many Green Witches that if you grow and care for your own herbs, the herbs will reward you:
* By lending more power to the spells in which they are used;
* By offering enhanced fragrance if added as an ingredient to incense;
* By being more efficacious in healing;
* By adding extra flavor to any meal.
The affinity with plants means that Green Witches intuitively know how to use herbs in ways different to those you would typically find in herbal textbooks and grimoires. They understand the lore and the uses: Emotional, mental, psychological, physical, ritual and magickal. The also know how to dry herbs, how to create potions, lotions, oils and brews and how different herbs can be used together harmoniously for making incense, for healing and for cooking.
When harvesting leaves, twigs and flowers from plants, Green Witches believe that permission has to be sought from the spirit of the plant first, that the plant has to be in perfect health, that no more than fifteen percent should be harvested at a time and that a gift needs to be offered in return to thank the spirit of the plant.
Rose Ariadne
Author Bio
Rose Ariadne has been practicing ancient forms of Witchcraft for over 25 years. Get more info about green witchcraft here: http://www.askroseariadne.com/editorials/green-witchcraft-an-overview.html ...and ask her any question here: http://www.askroseariadne.com
