Traveling within the World
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They may just be ‘Hedgewitches’.
What the Heck is a Hedgewitch Anyways?
Hedgewitchery, or Hedgecraft, is a kind of combination of Witchcraft and Shamanism. This Path is based on the Traditional Witchcraft and Cunning Folk traditions of Europe from ancient to modern times. It is an something of an “eclectic” tradition, but just how much so depends on each individual practitioner.
The shamanic aspect being the most important, in fact to call oneself a Hedgewitch is to call oneself a shaman, with out having to steal a word from another culture (should you be a white-skin not from Siberia). With herbalism, healing, and a deep love for, and understanding of Nature added to the mix.
Hedgecraft is loosely based on the old wise women (and men), cunning folk, herbalists, faith healers and actual witches throughout history.
If you think “Hedgewitch” and picture the strange old lady who sold herbs and magickal charms, acted as midwife and healer in the ancient times, you are not far off. Nor are you far off if you picture the wise sage who would cast bones to divine the future or journey in the Otherworld to heal members of his community.
Throughout history “medicine man” or “wise woman” type traditions have risen and fallen all over the world. These kinds of traditions never truly died out, and in recent years, more and more modern people in the Western world are turning to them and adapting them to modern times. Modern Hedgecraft is the study, adaptation and practice of these ancient nature-based, spiritual and healing traditions in our modern lives.
Most Hedgewitches look to their own heritage to find inspiration, lore and knowledge. Hedgewitches can come from any background, but the majority of Hedgewitches seem to come from a European ancestry. Meaning that most Hedgewitches will practice based on the folklore and traditions of the ancient Celts, Vikings, Roman, Greeks and such.
While most study the traditions of their own ancestry, some may be drawn to the traditions of other cultures. Or they may seek to learn from other cultures to gain a better understanding of their own heritage, as well as a greater respect for others.
Hedgewitches are not opposed to the study of modern tradition as well, for they strive to bridge the gap between old and new. To blend old traditions with a modern lifestyle in a workable and practical manner is a hallmark of Hedgecraft.
The word “hedgewitch” is, as far as we can tell, a fairly modern term. Though its true origin may never be known, it likely comes from Great Britain and may have started to be used in its English form only within the last 100 to 50 years. It is, as far as we can tell a “modern Anglo-Saxon” word.
“Hedgewitch” most likely comes from the Saxon word haegtessa, which translates to “hedge-rider”. The Old Norse lay Havamal refers to “hedge-riders, witching aloft”.
Although Hedgewitch is a modern word, that does not make it illegitimate, just a modern word, for a word does not have to be old to be legitimate. English is still a young language; it is changing and growing all the time. Our ancestors had their own names, in their own languages, for such traditions. Hedgewitch is for our culture, in our language.
The basic modern definition of Hedgewitch would be comparable to another ancient culture’s definition of wisewoman, cunning man, medicine man, shaman, herb or faith healer etc.
There is a fair bit of variation in spelling, such as “hedgewytch”. A few other names often used for this Craft: Hedge-Rider, Night Travelers, Myrk-Riders, Gandreidh (wand-rider), Cunning Folk, and Walkers on the Wind.
For the Hedgewitch, “the Hedge” is a metaphor for the line drawn between this world and the next; between reality and dream, between the Upper, Middle, and Lower Worlds. In short, the Hedge is what many "Pagans" refer to as the Veil.
It is also simply the boundary between civilization and the wild.
This concept of a boundary hedge in a spiritual and magickal sense is from the European (especially British) tradition of hedgelaying. Going back even to the Iron Age, the European landscape has been crisscrossed by hedgerows. Hedgerows are carefully grown and landscaped intricate layers of plant-life. These often-large rows of shrub, bush and tree were boundaries for farmsteads, pastures, villages, ditches and such. Often times, at the very edge of a human settlement was a sturdy hedgerow keeping the wilderness and wildlife out of field, pasture and garden.
Crossing a hedge often meant crossing a boundary of some sort, such as walking into the wild, going from wheat field to cow pasture, or entering another person’s property. A hedgerow is not just a boundary but is also a protective home and shelter to all kinds of wildlife, such as rabbits and birds, as well as providing shade and acting as a windbreak. Hedgerows were also very important in keeping the herds in and the predators out, as well as marking the territorial boundaries of human settlements. Often berry and fruit bearing trees and shrubs are grown in hedgerows, making them a source of edible and healing plants for both animal and human alike.
The more one learns of the tradition of laying hedgerows and the tradition of Hedgecraft, the more the use of “hedge” for this way of perspective becomes clearly appropriate.
Throughout history and in many cultures the “Hedgewitch” (wisewoman, cunning man, shaman etc) lived at the edge of the community, often amongst the outlying hedgerows. They scratched out a living through herbalism, understanding nature, prophecy and divination as well as magick and healing. They served the community in many ways including but not only; midwifery, healing, protection spells, house blessings, crop and livestock blessings, through the selling of magickal charms and even curses.
A “Hedgewitch” might sell one member of her community a small curse or ill-wish one day, and then charge its victim a fee to break the curse the next. Therefore, people who followed such traditions were respected, and likely a little feared, because of these abilities, and because they had such a close relationship with nature and the spiritual world.
In modern times, a Hedgewitch is usually (but not always) found outside the city, perhaps on an acreage or farm, often practicing by her self or within the family. They work much as the Cunning Folk of old, helping neighbours, friends and family with ailments, shamanic healing and even blessing the odd field. Hedgewitches will work a lot in cultivated fields, gardens and farmsteads, but often prefers time spent in the woods and other wild areas.
A Cottage/Hearthwitch, Greenwitch or Kitchenwitch works mostly in her garden and in her home. Hedgewitch will practice largely in the home as well, but will likely spend more of her time gathering her herbs and practicing her craft in rural or wild places than many other Witches. A Cottage/Hearthwitch, Greenwitch or Kitchenwitch may use some trance or shamanic techniques in her practise, but has probably not have received the call from her spirits to Shamanize. A Hedgewitch has “fire in the head” also commonly known in this paractice as the Cunning Fire.
Although many of the traditions that a Hedgewitch draws from have changed, after all lore is lost and knowledge changes over the centuries, you will find most Hedgewitches prefer to practice as close to traditionally as possible but still in a manner practical for these modern times. Hedgewitches are very adaptable. You may find a Hedgewitch casting an old-fashioned prosperity or fertility spell on a modern tractor as a favour to a neighbour, for example.
Hedgewitches use herbs and herbal concoctions known as flying ointments, as well as shamanic techniques such as drumming and meditation, to induce altered states of consciousness. They work with familiar spirits, their ancestral dead, plant and animal Totems and the like, to assist in their Otherworld work.
Hedgewitches often refer to shamanic journeys as “Walking the Hedge”, “Riding the Hedge”, “Oot and Aboot” or “Crossing/Jumping the Hedge”. They also have a tendency to spend much of their lives with one foot on either side of the Hedge, which makes them eccentric to say the least.
A Hedgewitch walks freely into caol ait (Gaelic), the “thin places” between one world and another. More experienced Hedgewitches learn not only to find such places, but how to use them effectively and how to open them even when the Hedge, or Veil, is at its thickest between the high days.
Spirituality in Hedgewitches varies and depends on the individual; usually they look to their own heritage and ancestry. The only tradition Hedgewitches typically follow is a reverence for Nature, though some may come from a more formal Pagan path originally.
Some Hedgewitches will also practice a form of Traditional Witchcraft, such as those based on the work of Robert Cochrane, while more and more "Wiccans" are also taking up the work of a Hedgewitch. Hedgewitches commonly do practice some form of "Paganism", but many make no claim to any practice but that of Hedgecraft or Hedgeriding.
The main distinction between Hedgewitchery and other forms of Witchcraft is that Hedgewitches often have less interest in the religious/ceremonial aspects of coven or group Witchcraft, having an individual and often unique way of relating to life, spirituality, magick and Creation.
A Hedgewitch is less likely to perform scripted magickal workings, preferring the freedom and joyfulness of spontaneous workings that come from the heart. For the Hedgewitch there is no separation between normal life and their magickal one, for their normal life is magickal.
They avoid complicated, ceremonial, scripted and formulated ritual, practicing an earthy and simple form of ritual and magick. Some Hedgewitches do not cast Circles in a Wiccan sense, and may either have other methods to mark sacred space, or not bother at all. Hedgewitches believe that all space is sacred.
Hedgewitches do what ever comes natural to them; they follow their instincts, and their heart.
They do not typically follow one particular moral code, but rather their own personal ethics and often some version of the credo to “do only what is needed” and/or “Know Thyself”.
Hedgewitches walk the Crooked Path, the Path that winds and twists its way between the right-hand and left-hand Paths. Hedgewitches walk all borders, and prefer the grey areas, having little interest in all black, or all white, magick or spiritual workings.
Most use few synthetic objects in their spells and rituals. Their tools are typically very practical, such as a walking stick, often they will use a stang, or even pruning shears, and their tools are hand made by them as much as possible. Most Hedgewitches use only what is needed, meaning they do not clutter an altar (if they should use an altar at all, most likely the kitchen counter will do) with items that will not be actively used during a working or rite.
Hedgewitches usually study herbalism, wildcrafting and wortcunning with gusto, as well as seeking knowledge and understanding of the ways of Nature. Such as the cycle of the seasons and the wildlife and plant-life in their area.
Hedgewitches may know how to grow herbs in a garden, but are more likely to study where and how they grow in the wild and how to gather them. They usually have a great deal of lore on trees and plant life, animals and the wilderness in general.
Healing, divination, the use of trance inducing herbs and all manner of fertility and shamanic rites are also a part of this Path.
Hedgewitches tailor their Path to suit themselves, some may focus on herbalism, others study midwifery, some may practice something like reiki, they may focus on animal husbandry, and others may be well versed in healing with crystals. Many Hedgewitches may choose to be a jack of all trades, but a master of none.
While Hedgewitchery is typically a solitary path, this is not always so. Even the most hermit-like Hedgewitch can still be found at the odd local Practitioner event. While others may even belong to a Coven, Kindred or Grove.
Hedgewitches are unlikely to become involved with Witch Wars within the community, and depending on the individual’s personality are more likely to prefer maintaining friendly relations with the majority of the Pagan community. Some may have friends or domestic partners who follow another idea, thought, or path, and they will often happily join in any ritual or activity if invited.
Also, some of their practices, especially the shamanic ones, require a trusted friend or group to watch over their body while their soul is elsewhere.
While most Hedgewitches may just be plain old rebels and rabble-rousers, this is after all, an Outsider Path.
The daily spiritual practice of a Hedgewitch will be adapted to her individual abilities, interests and life style. One Hedgewitch may start his mornings offering up prayers of thanksgiving to his gods as he collects eggs from the chicken coop. Another Hedgewitch may spend her mornings in quiet meditation on her patio; sipping tea and watching the deer graze in her lawn. A third Hedgewitch may say a quick prayer at the household shrine before racing off to work. The forth Hedgewitch spends his day fasting and preparing for a rite and a trip across the hedge that night.
So what the heck IS a Hedgewitch anyways?
Some people may prefer rural and/or wild settings and be a little wild themselves. They may be looking for a tradition that is adaptable and practical, one that combines “old school” Witchcraft and a modern life, a tradition that adds a focus on European-based Shamanism and the practical application of folklore to the mix.
They may be looking for a tradition that leans heavily on natural magic, understanding the Land and the practice of healing lore. They may want a tradition that focuses on personal experience, experimentation and doing-it-yourself. They may wish to blaze their own Path, like the Cunning Folk of old. They may have that Cunning Fire burning in their head, heart and soul.
Hedgewitchery, or Hedgecraft, is a kind of combination of Witchcraft and Shamanism. This Path is based on the Traditional Witchcraft and Cunning Folk traditions of Europe from ancient to modern times. It is an something of an “eclectic” tradition, but just how much so depends on each individual practitioner.
The shamanic aspect being the most important, in fact to call oneself a Hedgewitch is to call oneself a shaman, with out having to steal a word from another culture (should you be a white-skin not from Siberia). With herbalism, healing, and a deep love for, and understanding of Nature added to the mix.
Hedgecraft is loosely based on the old wise women (and men), cunning folk, herbalists, faith healers and actual witches throughout history.
If you think “Hedgewitch” and picture the strange old lady who sold herbs and magickal charms, acted as midwife and healer in the ancient times, you are not far off. Nor are you far off if you picture the wise sage who would cast bones to divine the future or journey in the Otherworld to heal members of his community.
Throughout history “medicine man” or “wise woman” type traditions have risen and fallen all over the world. These kinds of traditions never truly died out, and in recent years, more and more modern people in the Western world are turning to them and adapting them to modern times. Modern Hedgecraft is the study, adaptation and practice of these ancient nature-based, spiritual and healing traditions in our modern lives.
Most Hedgewitches look to their own heritage to find inspiration, lore and knowledge. Hedgewitches can come from any background, but the majority of Hedgewitches seem to come from a European ancestry. Meaning that most Hedgewitches will practice based on the folklore and traditions of the ancient Celts, Vikings, Roman, Greeks and such.
While most study the traditions of their own ancestry, some may be drawn to the traditions of other cultures. Or they may seek to learn from other cultures to gain a better understanding of their own heritage, as well as a greater respect for others.
Hedgewitches are not opposed to the study of modern tradition as well, for they strive to bridge the gap between old and new. To blend old traditions with a modern lifestyle in a workable and practical manner is a hallmark of Hedgecraft.
The word “hedgewitch” is, as far as we can tell, a fairly modern term. Though its true origin may never be known, it likely comes from Great Britain and may have started to be used in its English form only within the last 100 to 50 years. It is, as far as we can tell a “modern Anglo-Saxon” word.
“Hedgewitch” most likely comes from the Saxon word haegtessa, which translates to “hedge-rider”. The Old Norse lay Havamal refers to “hedge-riders, witching aloft”.
Although Hedgewitch is a modern word, that does not make it illegitimate, just a modern word, for a word does not have to be old to be legitimate. English is still a young language; it is changing and growing all the time. Our ancestors had their own names, in their own languages, for such traditions. Hedgewitch is for our culture, in our language.
The basic modern definition of Hedgewitch would be comparable to another ancient culture’s definition of wisewoman, cunning man, medicine man, shaman, herb or faith healer etc.
There is a fair bit of variation in spelling, such as “hedgewytch”. A few other names often used for this Craft: Hedge-Rider, Night Travelers, Myrk-Riders, Gandreidh (wand-rider), Cunning Folk, and Walkers on the Wind.
For the Hedgewitch, “the Hedge” is a metaphor for the line drawn between this world and the next; between reality and dream, between the Upper, Middle, and Lower Worlds. In short, the Hedge is what many "Pagans" refer to as the Veil.
It is also simply the boundary between civilization and the wild.
This concept of a boundary hedge in a spiritual and magickal sense is from the European (especially British) tradition of hedgelaying. Going back even to the Iron Age, the European landscape has been crisscrossed by hedgerows. Hedgerows are carefully grown and landscaped intricate layers of plant-life. These often-large rows of shrub, bush and tree were boundaries for farmsteads, pastures, villages, ditches and such. Often times, at the very edge of a human settlement was a sturdy hedgerow keeping the wilderness and wildlife out of field, pasture and garden.
Crossing a hedge often meant crossing a boundary of some sort, such as walking into the wild, going from wheat field to cow pasture, or entering another person’s property. A hedgerow is not just a boundary but is also a protective home and shelter to all kinds of wildlife, such as rabbits and birds, as well as providing shade and acting as a windbreak. Hedgerows were also very important in keeping the herds in and the predators out, as well as marking the territorial boundaries of human settlements. Often berry and fruit bearing trees and shrubs are grown in hedgerows, making them a source of edible and healing plants for both animal and human alike.
The more one learns of the tradition of laying hedgerows and the tradition of Hedgecraft, the more the use of “hedge” for this way of perspective becomes clearly appropriate.
Throughout history and in many cultures the “Hedgewitch” (wisewoman, cunning man, shaman etc) lived at the edge of the community, often amongst the outlying hedgerows. They scratched out a living through herbalism, understanding nature, prophecy and divination as well as magick and healing. They served the community in many ways including but not only; midwifery, healing, protection spells, house blessings, crop and livestock blessings, through the selling of magickal charms and even curses.
A “Hedgewitch” might sell one member of her community a small curse or ill-wish one day, and then charge its victim a fee to break the curse the next. Therefore, people who followed such traditions were respected, and likely a little feared, because of these abilities, and because they had such a close relationship with nature and the spiritual world.
In modern times, a Hedgewitch is usually (but not always) found outside the city, perhaps on an acreage or farm, often practicing by her self or within the family. They work much as the Cunning Folk of old, helping neighbours, friends and family with ailments, shamanic healing and even blessing the odd field. Hedgewitches will work a lot in cultivated fields, gardens and farmsteads, but often prefers time spent in the woods and other wild areas.
A Cottage/Hearthwitch, Greenwitch or Kitchenwitch works mostly in her garden and in her home. Hedgewitch will practice largely in the home as well, but will likely spend more of her time gathering her herbs and practicing her craft in rural or wild places than many other Witches. A Cottage/Hearthwitch, Greenwitch or Kitchenwitch may use some trance or shamanic techniques in her practise, but has probably not have received the call from her spirits to Shamanize. A Hedgewitch has “fire in the head” also commonly known in this paractice as the Cunning Fire.
Although many of the traditions that a Hedgewitch draws from have changed, after all lore is lost and knowledge changes over the centuries, you will find most Hedgewitches prefer to practice as close to traditionally as possible but still in a manner practical for these modern times. Hedgewitches are very adaptable. You may find a Hedgewitch casting an old-fashioned prosperity or fertility spell on a modern tractor as a favour to a neighbour, for example.
Hedgewitches use herbs and herbal concoctions known as flying ointments, as well as shamanic techniques such as drumming and meditation, to induce altered states of consciousness. They work with familiar spirits, their ancestral dead, plant and animal Totems and the like, to assist in their Otherworld work.
Hedgewitches often refer to shamanic journeys as “Walking the Hedge”, “Riding the Hedge”, “Oot and Aboot” or “Crossing/Jumping the Hedge”. They also have a tendency to spend much of their lives with one foot on either side of the Hedge, which makes them eccentric to say the least.
A Hedgewitch walks freely into caol ait (Gaelic), the “thin places” between one world and another. More experienced Hedgewitches learn not only to find such places, but how to use them effectively and how to open them even when the Hedge, or Veil, is at its thickest between the high days.
Spirituality in Hedgewitches varies and depends on the individual; usually they look to their own heritage and ancestry. The only tradition Hedgewitches typically follow is a reverence for Nature, though some may come from a more formal Pagan path originally.
Some Hedgewitches will also practice a form of Traditional Witchcraft, such as those based on the work of Robert Cochrane, while more and more "Wiccans" are also taking up the work of a Hedgewitch. Hedgewitches commonly do practice some form of "Paganism", but many make no claim to any practice but that of Hedgecraft or Hedgeriding.
The main distinction between Hedgewitchery and other forms of Witchcraft is that Hedgewitches often have less interest in the religious/ceremonial aspects of coven or group Witchcraft, having an individual and often unique way of relating to life, spirituality, magick and Creation.
A Hedgewitch is less likely to perform scripted magickal workings, preferring the freedom and joyfulness of spontaneous workings that come from the heart. For the Hedgewitch there is no separation between normal life and their magickal one, for their normal life is magickal.
They avoid complicated, ceremonial, scripted and formulated ritual, practicing an earthy and simple form of ritual and magick. Some Hedgewitches do not cast Circles in a Wiccan sense, and may either have other methods to mark sacred space, or not bother at all. Hedgewitches believe that all space is sacred.
Hedgewitches do what ever comes natural to them; they follow their instincts, and their heart.
They do not typically follow one particular moral code, but rather their own personal ethics and often some version of the credo to “do only what is needed” and/or “Know Thyself”.
Hedgewitches walk the Crooked Path, the Path that winds and twists its way between the right-hand and left-hand Paths. Hedgewitches walk all borders, and prefer the grey areas, having little interest in all black, or all white, magick or spiritual workings.
Most use few synthetic objects in their spells and rituals. Their tools are typically very practical, such as a walking stick, often they will use a stang, or even pruning shears, and their tools are hand made by them as much as possible. Most Hedgewitches use only what is needed, meaning they do not clutter an altar (if they should use an altar at all, most likely the kitchen counter will do) with items that will not be actively used during a working or rite.
Hedgewitches usually study herbalism, wildcrafting and wortcunning with gusto, as well as seeking knowledge and understanding of the ways of Nature. Such as the cycle of the seasons and the wildlife and plant-life in their area.
Hedgewitches may know how to grow herbs in a garden, but are more likely to study where and how they grow in the wild and how to gather them. They usually have a great deal of lore on trees and plant life, animals and the wilderness in general.
Healing, divination, the use of trance inducing herbs and all manner of fertility and shamanic rites are also a part of this Path.
Hedgewitches tailor their Path to suit themselves, some may focus on herbalism, others study midwifery, some may practice something like reiki, they may focus on animal husbandry, and others may be well versed in healing with crystals. Many Hedgewitches may choose to be a jack of all trades, but a master of none.
While Hedgewitchery is typically a solitary path, this is not always so. Even the most hermit-like Hedgewitch can still be found at the odd local Practitioner event. While others may even belong to a Coven, Kindred or Grove.
Hedgewitches are unlikely to become involved with Witch Wars within the community, and depending on the individual’s personality are more likely to prefer maintaining friendly relations with the majority of the Pagan community. Some may have friends or domestic partners who follow another idea, thought, or path, and they will often happily join in any ritual or activity if invited.
Also, some of their practices, especially the shamanic ones, require a trusted friend or group to watch over their body while their soul is elsewhere.
While most Hedgewitches may just be plain old rebels and rabble-rousers, this is after all, an Outsider Path.
The daily spiritual practice of a Hedgewitch will be adapted to her individual abilities, interests and life style. One Hedgewitch may start his mornings offering up prayers of thanksgiving to his gods as he collects eggs from the chicken coop. Another Hedgewitch may spend her mornings in quiet meditation on her patio; sipping tea and watching the deer graze in her lawn. A third Hedgewitch may say a quick prayer at the household shrine before racing off to work. The forth Hedgewitch spends his day fasting and preparing for a rite and a trip across the hedge that night.
So what the heck IS a Hedgewitch anyways?
Some people may prefer rural and/or wild settings and be a little wild themselves. They may be looking for a tradition that is adaptable and practical, one that combines “old school” Witchcraft and a modern life, a tradition that adds a focus on European-based Shamanism and the practical application of folklore to the mix.
They may be looking for a tradition that leans heavily on natural magic, understanding the Land and the practice of healing lore. They may want a tradition that focuses on personal experience, experimentation and doing-it-yourself. They may wish to blaze their own Path, like the Cunning Folk of old. They may have that Cunning Fire burning in their head, heart and soul.
Views: 47
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Fae Oonagh on
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Powers awaken, rekindle in me,
The forces of Air, blow above me.
The forces of Fire, burn within me.
The forces of Water, flow around me.
The forces of Earth, grow below me.
And so it now is, and so it shall be,
All of the powers of Nature awakened in me.
Faexoxo -
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Permalink Reply by Mabon-Witch on
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The Witch Alone
Beyond the town, beneath the moon
Beside the standing stone
There lives a woman, fair of faith
We call the witch alone
She sings to sun and moon and stars
And gathers herbs and weeds
With which she fashions ancient charms
And other magic deeds
She worships not at altars built
By hands of mortal men
But in the misty glade
Beyond the farthest glen
What need has she of flashing swords
Of crystals glowing bright
Of censors and of colored cords
That grace the wiccan rite?
Her tools are fashioned from the earth
And wind and fire and rain
Her rites are dances wild and free
That call the gods amain
When spring and summer pass to fall
And twilight fills her eyes
She'll lie upon the browning grass
And smile as she dies
For though she leaves her mortal shell
Of flesh and blood and bone
She knows she does not die but lives
On, as the witch alone....
(by Scott Cunningham) -
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Patchwork Merchant Mercenaries had its humble beginnings as an idea of a few artisans and craftsmen who enjoy performing with live steel fighting. As well as a patchwork quilt tent canvas. Most had prior military experience hence the name.
Patchwork Merchant Mercenaries.
Vendertainers that brought many things to a show and are know for helping out where ever they can.
As well as being a place where the older hand made items could be found made by them and enjoyed by all.
We expanded over the years to become well known at what we do. Now we represent over 100 artisans and craftsman that are well known in their venues and some just starting out. Some of their works have been premiered in TV, stage and movies on a regular basis.
Specializing in Medieval, Goth , Stage Film, BDFSM and Practitioner.
Patchwork Merchant Mercenaries a Dept of, Ask For IT was started by artists and former military veterans, and sword fighters, representing over 100 artisans, one who made his living traveling from fair to festival vending medieval wares. The majority of his customers are re-enactors, SCAdians and the like, looking to build their kit with period clothing, feast gear, adornments, etc.
Likewise, it is typical for these history-lovers to peruse the tent (aka mobile store front) and, upon finding something that pleases the eye, ask "Is this period?"
A deceitful query!! This is not a yes or no question. One must have a damn good understanding of European history (at least) from the fall of Rome to the mid-1600's to properly answer. Taking into account, also, the culture in which the querent is dressed is vitally important. You see, though it may be well within medieval period, it would be strange to see a Viking wearing a Caftan...or is it?
After a festival's time of answering weighty questions such as these, I'd sleep like a log! Only a mad man could possibly remember the place and time for each piece of kitchen ware, weaponry, cloth, and chain within a span of 1,000 years!! Surely there must be an easier way, a place where he could post all this knowledge...
Traveling Within The World is meant to be such a place. A place for all of these artists to keep in touch and directly interact with their fellow geeks and re-enactment hobbyists, their clientele.
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