Botany for the Witch
Hedgecraft
Join me for a cycle through the Witches Year.
Hedgecraft is the art of wortcunning; knowing plants not just by their botany, but by the currents of historical magic that runs through them. It is knowing how to find what you need to heal and nourish with that which flourishes just outside your doorstep. This class series will provide the student with a primer in the working knowledge of the cottage witch in Appalachia. By learning to identify, harvest and craft folk preparations that our ancestors used to treat common ailments and maintain good health, we will better understand ourselves through our relationship with the land.
By acknowledging the complex and often difficult history of this place called Appalachia and its many inhabitants, we will attempt to understand as best we can how to as respectfully engage with working with and growing medicinal plants in Western North Carolina, on Miccosukee, Yuchi and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi land. We will also learn the ways in which Black Southern folk magic and medicine has shaped Appalachian Folk Medicine and Magic. This class is focused on Appalachian Folk magic as well as Traditional Witchcraft while giving homage and reverence to the indigenous peoples that live here and the history of enslaved peoples in this unique bioregion.
Drawing deeply from the taproot of the Old World and Appalachian folk magic that we are immersed in, we will explore which plants have been used to cure and which plants to curse. We’ll create and empower amulets, talismans and wooden works from the forest around us to travel home with. We will craft potions and herbal remedies focusing on what is abundant and effective. We will eat and fix meals with the bounty of the Greenwood. Step back into the seasonal wisdom of the plants and trees around you to embody the ways of the Wild and the botany of the Witch.
In this class we discuss Appalachian history, cultural appropriation, reciprocity and try our best to craft medicine together to take home and nourish ourselves while also taking time to make medicine as a spontaneous community to gift to our BIPOC, disabled and other beloved community members.
One of the most powerful magics we can do together is to take care of one another!
Our tenth year Treading the Mill together in 2025…
Spring: Air (April )
As the snow melts and warmer winds begin to blow across our winter-rough faces, we hear the first whispers of Spring. After Candlemas on February 2nd, we see the days continue to lengthen as we head towards the Summer Solstice, yet the nights are still too chill to truly feel that we have left the cold behind. Plants like violet, nettle, chickweed, and trees like wild cherry bark, and birch will grace us with their food and medicine, as well as their magic. We will explore Appalachian Spring tonics, vinegars, teas and decoctions, the rituals of preparing the land for the new year of growth and the charms that people renewed each year for protection and fertility.
Summer: Water (June )
The Wheel has turned once more as we near Midsummer, Solstice, on June 21st or thereabouts. St. John’s Day. The Sun shines downwards and we squint our eyes up at its brightness, drawing growth from the leaves, flowers and fruits all around us. The bushes are laden with wine berries, blackberries, and raspberries.
We will explore the ancient and delicious healing of oxymels, the plethora of witches herbs of midsummer, and create charms and amulets for protection from meddlesome spirits who roam the lands at this halfway point in the witches year. We will also explored the Plantcraft of our region and have guest teacher Corby Hilscher teaching Tulip Poplar baskets to hold our foraged treasures.
Late Summer: Fire (August)
While we begin gathering the harvests of those Things we planted in Spring, we plant the Things we shall harvest in Autumn. Now we reflect on those seeds we planted, and what strange fruits they will bear. Lammas loaves are behind us, but the rites and rituals of the first Harvest are upon us.
We will craft tinctures and infused honeys from those plants that flourish during these warm days. We will also learn the art of wood carving from and ply blade to tree and learn the folkloric uses of our enchanted wood. The lore of late Summer in Appalachia is rich and wild, come and taste the dark fruits of the Elder mother.
Fall: Earth (October)
The pumpkins are orange, the squash are all harvested, and the red peppers hang in heavy bunches from the eaves, drying to warm us this winter. The Bone Mother, the Witch Father, they will soon run their icy fingers along the green stalks of goldenrod and Joe Pye, rendering them lifeless and crisp, to rot away in the soil and feed next year’s sproutlings.
This part of the year, when the veils separating the living and the dead are the thinnest, there are whispers in every wood and the smell of Grandmother’s perfume hangs in the air. We will delve into the world of ancestor ritual, select magical and medicinal herbs to dry and make our own herbally infused oils to soothe and delight the skin in Winter. Spirit work will call us over the hedge as we craft magical inks for rune and sigil rites.
Winter: The All- Spirit (December)
The Bone Mother will soon touch the Earth with her cold, iron blasting rod of frost. The green leaves have begun to die and the garden beds are sleeping. We will craft warming concoctions of plants like Pine and Spruce, Spicebush twig and mint. The art of Winter Solstice baking and kitchen witchery will end our five class series. After crafting herbed salts for magic both occult and culinary, we'll feast on baked goods crafted with the bounty we've stored from the warm months behind us.
Finally, rich salves of warming oils and fats will bubble on our stove top to be jarred up to heal the chapped skin we'll ward off in the chill times to come. We will peer back over the hedge at the old year and walk forward with the knowledge of the plants and trees we've met along this journey.
Guest Instructor:
Corby Hilscher (he/him)
Corby Hilscher has been teaching our Leather sewing, Spoon carving and Tulip Poplar Basket classes since 2019. He has practiced Earthskills since 2012and is a talented craftsman and hunter. He lives in Western North Carolina and is a member of the Lindera community since 2021.
