Welcome to
THE VEIL
A blog by Mountain Hedgewitch
What does the Veil mean?
You may have heard of this reference before, probably around the time of Samhain and in the form of "the Veil thinning". For anthropologists, historians and archaeologists studying Celtic traditions, the evidence strongly suggests in the ancient belief that there was an afterlife, or an Otherworld, if you will. When a person died, they were not altogether gone; instead, their life cycle had simply been interrupted and they will travel to the Otherworld to watch and protect their descendants, and were even given special opportunities to come back.
Sounds a little spooky, right?
For religions involving ancestor worship, it might not be. In fact, for many of the Celts, there were certain times during the year wheel that the border between both worlds - or the Veil - would become thinner, allowing beings from both spheres to cross freely back and forth. One of those days is Samhain, the holiday that inspired what we now know as Halloween.
But what does this have to do with an internet blog...?
Like much of this site, there is a mixture of spirituality and practicality that will be going on in my writing. From gardening tips to safe wildcrafting and wortcunning to magical herbs to ritual traditions and to living a modern witch life. If you follow along, we will theoretically (and perhaps literally) be "jumping the hedge."*
*Hedge jumping refers to those, particularly Hedgewitches, who are practiced at passing back and forth through the veil through astral projection and magic without having to die.
What to Expect from the Blog
In The Veil, we will get to undergo the magic of the modern world: Maintaining free, open spaces for discussion. Much of the blog will be experiences, thoughts and interests of my own, certainly. But there will also be a fulfilling amount of room for readers like yourselves to bring the conversation to the blog. All around us are unique people with vast possibilities at their fingertips. To ignore what they can teach us would be foolish. So, as it has been noted, following The Veil Blog will give you perspectives on herbalism, wildcrafting, witchcrafting, vulture culture, small business ownership, spiritual theology, historical dissection, urban vs rural lifestyles, ritual work and so much more. Expect to even see some poetry, for magic is wrapped up in prose, remembered in oral traditions, and brought to life in song.
There will be a portion of the blog largely dedicated to THE MONTHLY WORT, in which an herb will be chosen as a showcase. Every week of that month will be split into categories regarding the chosen herb: History, Medicine, Magic, Growing/Harvesting. It will be an easy way to learn about herbs that you might never have considered before!
Don't expect boundaries to be found here. After all, we're all jumping the hedge to see with eyes unclouded.
Shop Grand Opening!
All of the products found in the Cunning Folkery Shop are focused on wildcrafting, ancient traditions and artisan pursuits. They are ethically sourced and maintained. What isn't made in my kitchen is a product of my garden; if I can't grow it, I go out and find it. If I can't build it, I find those that can. While the main focus of the site initially was for my own personal interests and belief systems, the people I've met along the journey have been so diverse that I couldn't help but open the door to such a vast world and let them all in. Which is why the shop is called the Cunning Folkery, to better enunciate that it is a collective.
The Mountain Hedgewitch brand is currently showcasing All That Remains - wildcrafted, ethically harvested animal products, including bones, furs, and other taxidermy pieces; Burnables - candles, burn bags, torches, incense, smudges; Goods from the Woods - materials sourced ethically from nature as supplies for mystical projects, spells, decoration and more; Health and Beauty - salves, bath teas, and even first aid kits, all meant to treat the body with love; and Antiques and Relics - items sourced and repurposed second hand, all one of a kind. Moving forward, I fully expect the shop to grow into more genres of product, including Hearth and Home, Ritual Crafting, online palm reading, and perhaps even selling seeds and plants themselves.
I cannot thank each individual patron for their support, no matter how little or fleeting. Business ownership runs in my family and I have always had the lovely perspective of seeing how strong a livelihood be with the community surrounding it. I look forward to being able to be part of such a vast one.
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
Meet the Maker
Alright, let’s get all the “me” stuff out of the way.
Sometimes I look like this...
But I MOSTLY look like this!
Dia dhuit! That's me, Mountain Hedgewitch. Why read a blog if you don't know who the heck is writing it? Well, here you have a 25 year old Irish Celtic Pagan working her way into becoming an entrepreneur. Colorado native, rancher by lineage, adventurer by spite, I have graciously been gifted with nature 360. This has enabled me to utilize my talents as an artist and bring nature to those who don't have it right outside their back door.
Wortcunning and Herbalism were skills I desired to achieve somewhere around nine years ago, while I worked in a health food store. Since, I have been shooting through as many courses and classes I can get my hands on. Learning is always the objective and the goal, which is an important mindset to have when aiming to work with plants. The inspiration to wildcraft mostly came from old childhood habits that never died. Mud pies? Let's make a mud bakery. Doll house? Let's make a fortress out of sticks, moss and cow patties. Don't have a toy? No problem, I'll use my hands and pretend my fingers all have different personalities. Is that roadkill over there or my next bone project?
Some call it crazy, I call it fantastical.
Strap all of that side by side with my inherited need to collect things and you have the perfect recipe for a witch shop. Just add a little spellwork and presto!
Magic lives inside that inner child in all of us. Even as we age, that little voice remains, calling for us to run through the fields and catch foxtails in our hair; it makes up songs to entice you to dance; it remembers that faeries and trolls and gnomes are all around you, so long as you look hard enough. For some, that voice gets smaller with every passing year and often lies forgotten there in the stomach, sending out a hopeful butterfly now and again. But not for me. And not for you: That's why you're here.
~ Fáilte ~
For further reading on the creators, artists and supporters of the site, visit the “About” section.
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Email: themountainhedgewitch@gmail.com