What is a Green Witch ?

A Green Witch is normally someone who practices Natural Witchcraft. Someone who works with the Earth and the Universe around them.
A Green Witch also works with the energies of natural objects like stones,gems,herbs,animals,and the elements. We also incorporate the Fey folks in our Magick. Like Faeries, gnome and yes even dragons just to name a few.

Some folks say that Green Witchcraft is not a religion at all. Just a practice magick, and then some people believes it is a very religious craft, a way of living their life.

Now,I believe it is as religious as the person who is practicing it. What I mean by this , is that if you want it to be a way of life and you want it to be your religion, then by all means live the way of the Green Witch. Green witches may worship many different Goddesses and Gods at any given time. Some only worship one or two.

Which is fine, your way is the right way. There is no right or wrong way with how many Gods/Goddesses, you worship, or pray to.

Green witches usually practice a traditional form of witchcraft in which the earth, trees, herbs, plants and flowers are consulted for their medicinal and magickal values. We will grow their own herbs or harvest them in the wild, and we are very good at making our own herbal remedies.

The Green Path is close the the Native Americans or even the Gallic Druids religious path. What I mean by this , is that we ask permission and their blessings before using anything from nature and we say thank you to the spirits of whatever plant or animal we use.
Whether it is for food, or for healing prospects. We also believe that the plants,animals,gems,and other natural elements have a spirit or soul.

I also have been asked if being a green witch means being a vegetarian or vegan. No it does not. That is a personal choice.
I am grey and I am a hunter and I eat meat. This applies to all witches .I feel as long as we ask permission and their blessings we are good to go.. Like I said it is a personal choice.

We were also Green Witches,before the word Green became so popular with recycling and saving the planet. We have always been around ( in secret mostly) trying to save Our Beautiful Mother Earth.

Whether or not you are Green Witch,or just a regular muggle or mundane, Please Recycle, Don’t Litter and Please Love Our Mother Earth!

She can use all the Love we can give her! 

Green Witchcraft

Green Witchcraft is a term often used interchangeably (albeit incorrectly) with the descriptor Hedge Witch. There are certain similarities between the paths but the fundamental core of each path is very different. Where the Hedge Witch is focused on journeying to the Otherworld and receiving wisdom from the spirits she encounters, the Green Witch’s focus is much more concerned with the physical realm and the Earth on which she lives.

The path of the Green Witch is a path of Nature and of growing things. The Green Witch will likely have a good understanding of plant life and herbalism and she will have acquired knowledge and experience in relation to both growing individual plants and herbs and using them to best effect once harvested. Many Green Witches dislike the idea of buying plants and herbs ready harvested as they believe the relationship between the grower and the plant is integral to the results that can be achieved with the plant or herb. To this end a Green Witch is likely to be a witch who enjoys gardening.

A Green Witch’s relationship with the Earth goes deeper than just the work she does with plant life. The Green Witch will utilise other natural objects from the world in her workings. She will use rocks, crystals, animal parts and even fossils to cast her magic. She is also likely to make use of the weather in the form of snow, bottled rain, hailstones, morning dew and parched earth. The Green Witch is likely to work with the four elements and this may take the form of using representations of Earth, Air, Fire and Water in her workings or invoking the spirits of the elements in her rituals. A Green Witch may/may not invoke deity depending on her personal conviction. A Green Wiccan will undoubtedly worship deity as this is a key element of what it is to identify as Wiccan. Some Green Witches choose to honour Pan (The Greek God of hunting) or Gaia (The Greek Goddess who according to mythology gave birth to the Earth and who is the source of the ancient inspiration for what we would now term as Mother Nature).

It would be incorrect to say that every Green Witch works with the fey but many of them do choose to. Fairies are often viewed as land spirits and offerings are made to them in return for their help in looking after plots of earth or woodland. A Green Witch may choose to develop a relationship with the land spirits on the area where she lives or works and may make gifts of honey or brightly coloured ribbon to keep the good will of the faery folk.

The environment is an important concern for most Green Witches. This is true in both the respect of their own immediate personal environment and the state of the Earth at large. The Green Witch is likely to live in a dwelling with plants (ideally with a garden but if this is not possible you can usually recognise a Green Witch by the pots of herbs and plants growing on every window sill…) If she can, a Green Witch will favour natural materials over man made and use Earth friendly sources of building materials. A Green Witch is very likely to be environmentally aware and will limit her footprint on the Earth as much as possible. There is an echo of living in simpler times with Green Witchery – a link back to the traditional witches of old who grew their own produce and who tended their own lands and livestock.

The energy of the earth is utilised in the workings of a Green Witch and she may work with key sources of that energy such as ley lines or stone circles. She is unlikely to be inclined to work indoors as she sees the primary source of her power as the link between herself and the Earth. As such any ritual she takes part in is likely to be undertaken outdoors.

Creed of the Green Witch

I Acknowledge the Unity of the Divine, symbolized by the Divine Androgyne, aspected as fe­ male and male, Goddess and God, form and energy, lunar and solar powers, honored during the Wheel of the Year at Esbats, Sabbats, and sacred days.

I Acknowledge the immanence of the Divine, whose Spirit resides in all things and worlds creating a unity of All in Oneness and kinship through the Goddess and the God.

I Acknowledge that the Elementals Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are extensions of the Goddess and the God, both external and indwelling kith and kin, connecting all through Spirit.

I Acknowledge the immortality of the individual spirit, comforted by the God in Underworld, re­freshed by the Goddess in Summerland, choosing incarnation by form, place, and soul purpose.

I Acknowledge that the God lovingly demonstrates the life cycle in His yearly passage through the Sabbats. He is born as the Oak King of the Goddess as Mother at Yule; cleansed and carried by the Crone into the arms of the Mother at Imbolc to be nourished by the milk of Her love. At Ostara, the Goddess transforms as Maiden and joins the God that They may walk as the Lady and the Lord ofthe Wild Wood to awaken the Earth from the sleep of herself and Crone of Winter.

The God and Goddess unite at Beltane to bring renewal to the Earth, and at their Lithe. wedding, the God shows His face of wisdom and age, turning from Oak King to Holly King as He begets Himself of the Goddess. At Lughnassadh, the God enters into the Goddess aspected as Mother Earth, filling Her abundance with the life essence of His solar energy. He enriches the vines and barley, corn with the essence of His Spirit at Mabon.

He enters into Underworld. leaving the Goddess alone as Mother-to-be and Crone through Autumn and Winter, while He leads the Wild Hunt as the Horned Hunter, gathering the dead to His realm. He rules Under­ world as the Lord of Shadows, where He offers rest, solace, and release of burdens to spirits at the end of each incarnation. At Samhain, the God passes His Spirit through the Goddess, making thin the veil between the worlds by their union of shadow and light, turning the Tomb the Crone into the Womb of the Mother.

At Yule the God as Sage offers His blessing and farewell to the children of the world, then turns His face to join them as the Infant Oak King reborn. Through the Wheel of the Year is the path of perfect love and perfect trust in the Di­vine demonstrated, that we may walk with the Goddess and the God in the bond of love.

I Acknowledge the three great Mysteries: the Ancient God as Father and Son; the Maiden Goddess as Mother and Crone; and the Union of Tomb and Womb for the eternal cycle of life Immortal.

Green Correspondence

A list of correspondences you can find in nature and in the supermarket,

♡ WOODS

  • APPLE — life, longevity, fertility, fairies, the otherworld, afterlife, creativity, love, healing, harmony
  • ASH — water, strength, intellect, willpower, protection, justice, balance, harmony, skill, travel, weather, wisdom
  • BIRCH — cleansing, protection, purification, associated with children
  • CEDAR — healing, spirituality, purification, protection, prosperity, harmony
  • ELDER — protection, prosperity, healing
  • HAWTHORNE — fertility, harmony, happiness, the otherworld, fairies, protection
  • HAZEL — luck, fertility, protection, wishes
  • HONEYSUCKLE — psychic awareness, harmony, healing, prosperity, happiness
  • MAPLE — love, prosperity, life and health, abundance
  • OAK — defense, thunder, strength, courage, healing, longevity, protection, good fortune, fertility
  • PINE — cleansing, purification, healing, clarity of mind, prosperity, protection from evil
  • POPLAR — prosperity, communication, exorcism, purification
  • ROWAN — improving psychic powers, divination, healing, protection from evil, peace, creativity, success, change, transformation
  • WILLOW — moon, water, love, tranquility, harmony, protection, healing
  • WITCH HAZEL — protection, healing, peace
  • YEW — death, spirits, the otherworld

♡ FLOWERS

  • CARNATION — protection, strength, energy, luck, healing
  • DAFFODIL — love, fertility, luck
  • DAISY — love, hope, innocence, associated with children
  • GARDENIA — love, harmony, healing, peace
  • GERANIUM — protection, fertility, love, healing, courage
  • HYACINTH — love, happiness, protection
  • IRIS — purification, blessing, wisdom, peace, harmony, love
  • JASMINE — moon, feminine energy, love, meditation, spirituality, harmony, prosperity
  • LAVENDER — relaxation, sleep, peace, harmony, tranquility, love, purification, healing
  • LILAC — protection, banishing negative energy
  • LILY — protection, death and afterlife, rebirth, cycles
  • LILY OF THE VALLEY — concentration, mental ability, happiness
  • PANSY — divination, communication, happiness, love
  • POPPY — tranquility, fertility, prosperity, love, sleep, invisibility
  • ROSE — healing, divination, tranquility, harmony, love, psychic ability, spirituality, protection
  • SNAPDRAGON — protection, illusion, deception, reflect negative energy
  • SUNFLOWER — sun, happiness, success, health, abundance
  • TULIP — prosperity, abundance, protection, love, happiness
  • VIOLET — peace, hope, harmony, protection, luck, love, sleep, tranquility, fertility, abundance

♡ HERBS

  • ALLSPICE — prosperity, increasing energy, love, healing, luck
  • ANGELICA —protection, purification
  • BASIL — prosperity, success, peace, protection, happiness, purification, tranquility, love
  • BAY — success, wisdom, divination, making a wish
  • CHAMOMILE — prosperity, peace, healing, harmony, happiness
  • CALENDULA — happiness, prosperity, love, psychic powers, harmony
  • CINNAMON — energy (booster), money, success, action, healing, protection, love, prosperity, purification
  • CARAWAY — anti-theft, health, mental abilities, protection, fidelity
  • CLOVE — protection, purification, mental abilities, healing
  • COMFREY — health, healing, protection, travel, prosperity
  • DILL — good fortune, tranquility, prosperity, lust, protection
  • GINGER — energy (booster), kick-starter for love, finances, success
  • MAJORAM — happiness, protection, love, joy, family
  • MINT — prosperity, joy, fertility, purification, love, success
  • MUGWORT — prophetic dreams, divination, relaxation, tranquility, protection, banishing, consecration
  • NUTMEG —psychic abilities, happiness, love, money, health
  • OREGANO — love, courage, action
  • PARSLEY — power, strength, lust, purification, prosperity
  • ROSEMARY —protection, improving memory, wisdom, health, healing
  • SAGE —purification, protection, anxiety, wisdom, health, long life
  • VERBENA —divination, protection, inspiration, abundance, love, peace, tranquility, healing, prosperity, artistic skill, reversal of negativity
  • YARROW — courage, healing, love

♡ FRUITS

  • APPLE — health, longevity, love
  • CHERRY — love
  • PEAR — health, properity, love
  • ORANGE — joy, health, purification
  • LEMON — purification, protection, health
  • LIME — happiness, purification, healing
  • GRAPE — properity, fertility
  • KIWI — fertility, love
  • BANANA — fertility, strength
  • MANGO — spirituality, happiness
  • PEACH — spirituality, fertility, love, harmony
  • PINEAPPLE — prosperity, luck, protection
  • PLUM — love, tranquility
  • MELONS — love, peace
  • STRAWBERRY — love, peace, happiness, luck
  • RASPBERRY — strength, courage, healing
  • BLUEBERRY — tranquility, peace, protection, prosperity
  • BLACKBERRY — prosperity, protection, abundance
  • CRANBERRY — protection, healing

♡ VEGGIES

  • GARLIC — healing, protection, banishing, purification
  • ONION — protection, exorcism, healing, prosperity
  • LETTUCE — fertility, peace, harmony, love, protection
  • CARROTS — fertility, health
  • PEAS — love, abundance
  • CUCUMBER — fertility, healing, harmony
  • POTATOES — fertility, protection, abundance
  • CELERY — love, tranquility, concentration
  • SQUASH — abundance, harmony
  • MUSHROOM — strength, courage, healing, protection
  • LEEK — protection, harmony
  • CAULIFLOWER — protection, prosperity
  • BROCCOLI — protection, abundance
  • BEANS — love, family, protection
  • CABBAGE — protection, prosperity
  • TOMATO — protection, love

Collecting Herbs for Magical Workings

Plants and herbs are a common ingredient in many forms of magic. Whether you are making incense, stuffing a sachet, or brewing a folk remedy, if you practice long enough, you’re eventually going to have a use for them. When that’s the case, you’ll want to use the best possible ingredient.While store bought herbs will do in a pinch, I prefer to harvest my own. This way: you can be confident of freshness, you can establish a relationship with the donor plant, and you can harvest with intent, contributing to the power of the destined spell. Your spell work begins with the gathering of components, so treat the activity with the focus it deserves.

Your Toolkit

The first thing you will need is a cutting tool. Some traditions recommend the use of a sickle-shaped tool with a white handle, called the Boline. Here’s an example of what one looks like:

Personally, I don’t recommend the use of a Boline. Here’s why:

  • They tend to tear the plant instead of cutting it. The jagged edges this leaves behind are more prone to infection, and susceptible to insect attack.
  • They’re conspicuous, and the layman may mistake it for a weapon. Enjoy explaining to a cop that it is a “special knife for witchcraft”.
  • They require considerable care to keep sharp

If your beliefs don’t specifically demand the Boline, I instead recommend a pair of garden pruning shears with white handles. They are affordable, inconspicuous, and designed to do as little damage as possible to the plant.Once you’ve chosen your knife, you should consecrate it. It should never be used for any purpose other than the harvesting of plants. When it isn’t in use, store it near your altar.Next, you’ll need something to carry your herbs in. I use a large linen hip bag with an over the shoulder strap. You’ll also need some twine or string to divide the herbs you’ve collected, and a “harvest journal” so you can take note of the location of plants you find.Finally, you need an offering to thank them for their gift. In magic, there is nothing without sacrifice. In the store, you pay with money. In nature, you can pay with fertilizer. I generally carry around a re-purposed water or soda bottle filled with fertilizer mix.

Finding Your Herbs

Some of us are lucky to live close to forests or natural fields on public land, but for many it can be a challenge to source wild herbs.If you live in a city, find out if there are any nature trails or reserves in your area, then check what their policies are. You can also search for vacant lots, or neighbors with a green thumb. Make sure to ask before helping yourself! Sometimes you can find areas beneath power lines where herbs and flowers are allowed to grow freely. Taking plants from those areas is usually allowed.You should try to avoid harvesting near a road (where the plants will have taken in a lot of pollution), from very small plants, or plants that appear to be sick. You don’t want to eat a sick plant, and you don’t want to kill a plant by taking from it. A good rule of thumb is to never take more than 25% of the plant’s total growth.

Asking Permission

Before you cut the plant, you should take some time to connect with it. Examine it to see if it is healthy. Take your time identifying it. Feel the plant’s energy and let it get to know you. Once you’ve determined that the plant is a good candidate, you should ask its permission to take it.This process is intuitive. Some believe you should ask aloud, others that you can ask silently, communicating with the plant by focusing your intent. Let the plant know what you want to use it for, and invite it to participate with you. Then, wait a few minutes and listen for a response.You should get an impression on whether or not it is okay. This could come in the form of a sensation, such as an inviting warmth, or a chill that turns you away. It could just be a sense of satisfaction. Trust yourself and go with what you sense is right. If you feel unsure or anxious, find another plant.

Harvesting

Using your sharp implement, make a clean, angular cut near a joint. This will make it easier for the plant to heal and regrow. You will want to choose a portion of the plant that is not the oldest (dark and woody), and not the youngest (the lightest with the most budding leaves). A good middle-aged branch is best. Be sure to never take more than 25% of the total plant growth.While you are harvesting the plant, you should focus yourself on the intent of the spell you’re collecting it for. If you’re gathering chamomile for a healing tea, visualize yourself getting well. If you’re casting a money spell, see yourself getting that big cheque! If the goal is a love spell, see yourself with your ideal partner.No specific goal? If you’re harvesting for general purposes or to replenish your stock, you can focus on the properties of the plant, and enforce your intention that it should lend strength to your work.Tie the plants that you have collected into a bundle so that they wont get lost in your other herbs when you put them in your carrying bag.

Giving Thanks

Having taken from the plant, you should give thanks for the gift. Tell it that you’re grateful, and assure it that it wont be misused. Then, provide payment!Pour the fertilizer you brought at the roots of the plant. If you stumbled upon the plant accidentally and don’t have your fertilizer with you, make some other form of offering. Traditionally, a small coin at the base of the plant can show your willingness to give. Don’t litter! The scrap of paper or cloth in your pocket is probably not a suitable offering.Before you go, spend a moment tending to the plant. Clear debris from around it, untangle it from choking weeds and pluck off any dead matter. Practice respect by leaving it in better condition than it was when you found it!

Storing and Preparing for Use

To use the herbs fresh, simply wash them in cool water and pat them dry. They can be kept lively for a few days by putting them in a vase of water and keeping them in a cool area (if your fridge isn’t too cold, that’ll do nicely).If you wont be using them within a few days, or want to put them in a sachet, tea or incense, you will probably need to dry them.Tie a string around the base of a bunch of the washed, dried herbs and suspend them upside down in a warm place with good ventilation. To avoid collecting dust, I like to tie brown paper bags over them. Check them once a week, and take them down when they are dry and brittle, but before they turn to powder beneath your thumb. The length of time they’ll take to dry will vary widely based on your climate and the thickness of the plant.When they’re dry, keep them in a labeled, airtight container for up to six months.

Use Them!

Record any observations you make while working with the herb along with it’s location in your harvest journal. If the plant is particularly fragrant or effective, write it down so you know to go back! If it doesn’t work well for you, make note of that, too.

Green Witchery and Mother Earth

The green witch is a naturalist. She or he harkens back to the old days of healing magick with herbs, spices, and such. The green witch has studied labouriously all their witchy lives to know their flowers, herbs, woods, leaves, spices and how they are to be gathered and used. Just like the healers in medieval times. But not only that, the green witch has always “worshipped” Mother Earth and has always been keen to preserve her and to show the utmost respect and kindness to her. Many are the green witches whom are intent upon not only being in communication with Mother Earth but also to bring others into this way of thinking. No, I certainly do not mean that green witches go about trying to bring others into witchcraft per se, but he or she will try their best to influence others to be kind to Mother Earth, probably more so than the average witch. The green witch is a student, a healer, and a teacher all in one. I can’t say it any better than this:The green witch can show us all a way to maintain Mother Earth more effectively. It is now a time of desperation, in a sense; still, it is a time of pushing forward with all the green ways we can. I would like to think it is not too late, even though the melting ice at the Poles and horrific hurricanes, cyclones, fires and floods can surely make us think differently. But I have never known a witch to say never. And here is where I would like to try to be a service to all, if I can. Whenever possible, I wish to share my knowledge with you via ideas or recipes or whatever I learn in order to help you treat Mother Earth more respectfully and, to save you money in the doing of it. Below, I have listed my favourite recipes for earth-friendly household cleaners. You may already have ones of your own and that is good! Carry on, if you do. This is mainly for those who do not know where to begin as I always try to write to.Window and Mirror CleanerOne half cup of white vinegarOne half cup of plain tap waterTwo teaspoons of boraxTwo or three drops of washing up liquidMix thoroughly to dissolve Borax. Add washing up liquid after. Pour into an old window cleaner spray bottle [you can buy a new one if you please, but I much prefer to use a repurposed spray bottle I already have].The most effective way to get the cleanest windows and mirrors ever is to spray, then wipe clean with bunched up newspaper. You’re killing three birds with one stone – repurposing a plastic bottle what might otherwise end up in our tips or oceans, creating an environmentally friendly household cleanser that is most effective, and you’re not binning an old newspaper…at least, not straightaway.**Ingredient amounts can be halved or doubled as you need.Household Spray CleanerOne Half cup white vinegarOne half cup plain tap waterTwo tablespoons of boraxTwo teaspoons of bicarb of sodaSeveral drops of either Lavender oil or Peppermint oil.Mix the white vinegar and plain tap water, then add the bicarb only one teaspoon at a time. Make sure you are mixing in a large bowl as once you add the bicarb it will fizz up and over the edges of small bowls. Mix continuously with a wooden spoon to slow fizzing and to mix the bicarb sufficiently. After the first teaspoon full has settled, add the second one, and continue mixing entire time to keep fizzing down. Once the bicarb is sufficiently mixed in, add the two tablespoons of borax. Mix well til dissolved. Once you have the mixture dissolved as best you can [do try to get all dissolved to prevent clogging of spray head], add several drops of either Lavender oil or Peppermint oil. Both have anti-bacterial properties. Funnel into a repurposed household cleaner bottle. This is a perfectly safe cleanser to use on any surface, countertops, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, cupboards, appliances. Do not use inside of microwaves. No kind of household cleaner is good to clean microwaves with. There is a better, cheaper, and easier method:How to Clean Your MicrowaveOne cup of plain tap waterOne LemonCut the lemon in half and squeeze juice into water. If there is room in the cup without overflow, toss in the halves if you wish! Sit cup in your microwave and set for five minutes. Carefully remove the cup of water because it will be boiling. Using a clean sponge or clean dampened cloth, wipe down the inside of your microwave. Old food and grease will come off a treat! And, this is safer because you are not putting chemicals inside your microwave which may linger and get into your food.Vegetable and Fruit CleanerOne half cup of white vinegarOne half cup of plain tap waterTwo teaspoons of bicarb20 drops of Grapeseed ExtractMix the white vinegar and plain tap water, then add the bicarb only one teaspoon at a time. Make sure you are mixing in a large bowl as once you add the bicarb it will fizz up and over the edges of small bowls. Mix continuously with a wooden spoon to slow fizzing and to mix the bicarb sufficiently. After the first teaspoon full has settled, add the second one, and continue mixing entire time to keep fizzing down. Once the bicarb is sufficiently mixed in, add the twenty drops of grapeseed extract. It is crucial to add this ingredient as it helps to kill any and all bacteria left on your fruit and veg after normal cleaning. Pour into a clean spray bottle never used for harsh household cleaners. Here is a good time to purchase a new spray bottle but take care to always use it and not buy a new one each time.**melon fruits must still be cleaned properly before cutting because although the inside is protected from pesticides and bacteria, the outer rind is not. You can use this to clean it with before you cut it open as the knife can and will drag pesticides and bacteria into the fruit if you don’t. The easiest way to clean small berries such as blueberries is to place them in a bowl and pour some of the cleaner over them, allow it to sit about five minutes and then pour into a colander / sieve and rinse thoroughly.