The Modern Witch, a contemporary reclamation of a derogatory word saturated with generations of fear and hate. Branching off circuitously from the same roots as the words ‘hag’ and ‘hex’, ‘witch’ connotes a particularly feminine hedge-dweller and edge rider. In Europe and in the UK, ancient hedgerows are still abundant with medicinal plants. The hedge is the rich boundary between the cultivated and the wild. Literally and metaphorically, the ones who lived off the hedge, lived on the edge.
Witches continue to live on the edge, to dip into liminal realms that blur the lines between opposites and upturn the boxes of the status quo. Dwelling at the edge has its own suffering: intense feelings of fundamental difference, of being an outcast, unseen and alienated. Yet, there is a potent magic at the edge. Like in the hedgerow itself, there is medicine at the boundaries. To know what is medicine, the witch must pay close attention to the environment, watching the cycles and the interplay of species and spirits. The witch must also cultivate deep self reflection, to understand her/their/his motivations. The edges of this reality are the fertile edges of consciousness which wants to grow. Witches weave the discoveries of the edge back into the fabric of culture. If those discoveries are medicine, there is healing.