Hedge riding and astral projection are two of the most profound — and most misunderstood — practices in modern witchcraft and esoteric spirituality. At their heart, both involve a deliberate shift in consciousness that allows your spirit or awareness to move beyond the confines of ordinary waking life and enter what many traditions call the Otherworld, the spirit realms, or simply elsewhere. Whether you identify as a hedgewitch, an eclectic practitioner, a Wiccan, or someone simply drawn to exploring what lies beyond the visible world, these practices offer deep personal insight, healing, and a richer connection to the unseen forces that shape your life.
More people are turning to these ancient techniques today because they offer something modern life often cannot: direct, unmediated experience of the sacred. No doctrine, no intermediary — just you, your intention, and the vast mystery waiting on the other side of the hedge.
What Is Hedge Riding — And How Is It Different from Astral Projection?
The word hedge in hedge riding refers to the boundary — the liminal threshold that separates the everyday world from the spirit realm, the collective unconscious, and the many layers of the Otherworld. A hedgewitch is someone who walks that boundary regularly, crossing it with intention and purpose. Hedge riding, then, is the act of sending your spirit or soul-self across that threshold to travel, gather wisdom, seek healing, or communicate with guides and ancestors.
Astral projection is a related but distinct concept. It typically describes the experience of the consciousness — sometimes called the astral body — separating from the physical body and traveling through non-physical planes of existence. Both practices involve an altered state of consciousness (ASC) and the experience of traveling beyond your physical self, but hedge riding tends to be more rooted in folk witchcraft tradition and interaction with specific spirit beings and realms, while astral projection is a broader term used across many spiritual and metaphysical frameworks.
A common myth is that these practices are dangerous or exclusively for advanced occultists. While caution and preparation are genuinely important (more on that below), hedge riding and astral projection are accessible to anyone willing to learn patiently and respectfully.
Common Styles and Approaches to Spirit Travel
There is no single “correct” way to practice hedge riding or astral projection. Your approach will naturally reflect your tradition, your temperament, and what calls to you. Here are the most common paths:
- Hedgewitch Riding: Rooted in European folk magic and cunning craft, this style focuses on crossing the hedge into the Otherworld to seek animal guides, gather knowledge, perform healing, or support spell work. It is typically solitary, unscripted, and deeply intuitive. The rider does not control the journey — they participate in it.
- Shamanic Journeying: Drawing from indigenous traditions worldwide, shamanic journeying often uses rhythmic drumming to induce an altered state. The practitioner travels to lower, middle, or upper worlds to communicate with power animals and spirit helpers. While it shares significant overlap with hedge riding, it carries its own cultural roots and protocols that deserve respect.
- Astral Projection (Western Esoteric): Common in ceremonial magic and Theosophical traditions, this approach frames the experience as the astral body leaving the physical body. Practitioners often work with visualization, breathing techniques, or the hypnagogic state (the threshold between waking and sleep) to initiate projection.
- Guided Otherworld Pathworking: A softer entry point, pathworking uses a structured guided visualization (often read aloud or recorded) to lead you into a spiritual landscape. It sits between meditation and true spirit travel, making it excellent for beginners building their inner sight.
- Group Hedge Riding: Some covens and circles practice collective Otherworld journeys, then share and compare their experiences afterward. This communal approach can illuminate meanings and symbols that a solo rider might miss.
How to Hedge Ride and Astral Project: Step-by-Step for Beginners
The steps below draw on common threads across hedge riding, shamanic, and astral projection traditions. Work through them at your own pace. There is no rush.
Step 1 — Build Your Focusing Practice First
Before your first true hedge ride, spend at least a few weeks practicing basic meditation. You do not need to become a meditation master — you simply need to be able to hold your mind relatively still for 15–20 minutes. Without this foundation, the moment your consciousness begins to shift, stray thoughts will pull you back before you ever cross the threshold. A simple breath-focus practice daily is enough to build this skill.
Step 2 — Set a Clear Intention
Every journey needs a purpose. Are you seeking your animal guide? Looking for clarity on a situation? Hoping to heal a wound that lives below the surface? State your intention clearly before you begin — aloud, written in your journal, or held firmly in your mind. A focused intention acts like a compass in the Otherworld, drawing relevant experiences toward you and giving your journey meaning.
Step 3 — Prepare Your Sacred Space
Physical environment matters. Choose a quiet space where you will not be interrupted. Cleanse it with smoke, sound, or your preferred method. Cast a protective circle if that is part of your practice — this creates a psychic container of safety around your body while your spirit travels. Dim the lights, and if possible, lie down or recline comfortably. Your physical body needs to be at ease so your spirit can move freely.
Step 4 — Choose Your Induction Method
The altered state of consciousness needed for hedge riding or astral projection can be reached through several methods. Rhythmic drumming (either live or via a recording — 4–7 beats per second is a traditional shamanic tempo) is one of the most reliable and safest options for beginners. Chanting, toning, or rattling work similarly. Breathwork — slow, deep, rhythmic breathing — is another accessible tool. Some witches use specific herbs like mugwort (as a tea or in a dream sachet, not burned) to deepen their inner vision. Whatever method you choose, give it time to work. The shift in consciousness is gradual at first.
Step 5 — Find Your Entry Point
Many hedge riders and shamanic practitioners use a visualized entry point to cross into the Otherworld — a specific tree with roots leading downward, a cave mouth, a well, a doorway in a forest. Spend time before your first journey building this image in as much sensory detail as possible. Feel the bark, smell the earth, hear the wind. This threshold point becomes your personal gateway, and returning to it consistently deepens the practice over time.
Step 6 — Travel With Awareness, Not Control
Once you cross your threshold and feel the shift in your consciousness, resist the urge to direct or script what happens. Hedge riding is not visualization — you are not writing a story. Allow the landscape, beings, and symbols to arise organically. Observe with curiosity. If you encounter a spirit or guide, greet them respectfully. Ask your question or state your purpose. Listen. The messages may come as images, feelings, sounds, or even just a sudden knowing.
Step 7 — Know How to Return
Always establish a clear signal to bring yourself back before you begin. Many practitioners use a specific sound (a change in the drumbeat is traditional in shamanic practice), a physical anchor like pressing your hand to the floor, or simply holding the firm intention that when you count from five to one, you return fully to your body. Never leave a journey open-ended. A clear return is as important as a clear departure.
Step 8 — Ground Yourself Thoroughly
After every journey, grounding is non-negotiable. Eat something — even a small piece of bread or fruit. Place your hands flat on the floor or the earth. Drink water. Take several slow, conscious breaths. Speak your name aloud if you feel unsteady. The liminal space you visited is real in its own way, and your physical body needs to be fully re-inhabited before you go about your day.
Step 9 — Record Everything Immediately
Keep a dedicated journal beside you for the sole purpose of recording your journeys. Write down every image, creature, colour, word, sensation, and emotion — even the ones that seem meaningless. Patterns emerge over time. Your animal guides will introduce themselves through repetition. Symbols that confused you in one journey will make perfect sense three rides later. The journal is your living map of the Otherworld.
Essential Tools and Supplies for Hedge Riding
You do not need a great deal of material equipment to begin, but a few tools can support and deepen the practice significantly:
- A drum or drumming recording: A simple hand drum or a shamanic drumming track (many are freely available) is one of the most effective induction tools available.
- Mugwort: This herb has a centuries-long association with dreaming, vision, and spirit travel. Use it as a pillow sachet, tea (follow safe dosing guidance), or in a small bundle near your altar.
- Crystals: Labradorite is the classic stone of liminal space and spirit travel. Black tourmaline or obsidian near your body during a journey offers grounding and protection. Amethyst supports inner vision.
- A blindfold or eye covering: Blocking visual input helps your inner sight activate more easily.
- Your journal: As emphasized above — non-negotiable.
- Protective herbs or incense: Juniper, rosemary, or frankincense can be burned before a journey to cleanse and protect the space.
- A candle: A single candle left burning (safely) while you travel serves as a symbolic beacon to guide your spirit home.
Ethics and Best Practices
Crossing into the Otherworld is a sacred act, and the ethics you bring with you matter. Here are the principles that most experienced practitioners hold:
- Respect all beings you encounter. You are a guest in their realm. Approach with humility and openness, not demand or entitlement.
- Do not attempt to manipulate or coerce spirits. Ask. Listen. Thank. The Otherworld is not a vending machine.
- Honour cultural roots. Shamanic journeying has specific indigenous origins. Learn about those roots with respect. Adapt thoughtfully rather than appropriating carelessly.
- Never journey while under the influence of alcohol or recreational substances unless you are working within a tradition that has specific, experienced guidance around plant medicines.
- Protect your energy. Always shield, close your circle, and ground after every session without exception.
Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
- Skipping the meditation foundation. Trying to hedge ride without being able to quiet your mind first is like trying to swim before you can float. Build focus first.
- Journeying without protection or grounding. Leaving your energetic space unprotected can invite unwanted attachments. Always prepare and always close properly.
- Expecting the experience to look like a movie. For many people, the first several journeys are subtle — feelings, vague images, a sense of presence. This is completely normal. Trust the process.
- Forcing interpretations immediately. Not every symbol needs to be decoded on the spot. Sit with your journal entries for days or weeks before drawing conclusions.
- Journeying too frequently too soon. More is not better in the beginning. Once a week or even once a fortnight gives you time to integrate what you receive.
- Dismissing the experience because it feels “made up.” The logical mind will often try to reduce profound inner experiences to imagination. Acknowledge the doubt, but do not let it close the door before you have truly explored.
How to Build Your Hedge Riding Practice Over Time
Like any genuine spiritual discipline, hedge riding deepens through consistent, patient practice rather than intensity or urgency. Start with monthly journeys and let your intuition guide when to increase frequency. Keep writing in your journal — your record of experiences is genuinely one of the most valuable tools you will ever create. Pay attention to the animal beings, symbols, and guides that appear repeatedly; these are the companions who want to work with you. Over time, your entry threshold will become immediately recognizable, your transitions into altered states will quicken, and the communications you receive will grow in clarity and depth. Trust the gradual unfolding. There is no destination — only the ever-deepening relationship with the unseen world that walks alongside this one.
Final Thoughts
Hedge riding and astral projection are ancient, living practices that have guided seekers, healers, and witches for as long as humans have looked beyond the visible. They ask something real of you — preparation, respect, patience, and the courage to step across the threshold. In return, they offer something equally real: direct experience of a world far larger than daily life suggests. Begin slowly. Begin with reverence. And trust that the hedge, once crossed, reveals a path that was always waiting for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is hedge riding the same as astral projection?
They are closely related but not identical. Hedge riding is rooted in European folk witchcraft and specifically involves crossing into the Otherworld to interact with spirit guides, seek healing, or gather wisdom. Astral projection is a broader term from Western esoteric traditions that describes the consciousness separating from the physical body to travel non-physical planes. Both use altered states of consciousness and involve spirit travel, but their cultural contexts and specific goals can differ.
Is hedge riding safe for beginners?
With proper preparation, hedge riding is a manageable practice for committed beginners. The key safeguards are: building a meditation foundation first, always casting protection before your journey, grounding thoroughly afterward, and not journeying when emotionally overwhelmed or exhausted. Skipping these steps is where risks arise. Take your time learning the basics before attempting your first full journey.
How long does a hedge riding session typically last?
Most practitioners journey for between 15 and 30 minutes, especially when starting out. Shamanic drumming recordings are often structured in 15- or 20-minute tracks with a callback beat at the end. Longer journeys (45–60 minutes) are common for more experienced riders, but there is no benefit to longer sessions if you are not yet able to maintain focus and presence throughout.
Do I need any special herbs or tools to start hedge riding?
No specific tools are required to begin. A quiet space, a drumming recording, and a journal are genuinely sufficient for your first explorations. Mugwort, protective crystals like labradorite and black tourmaline, and a simple candle can enrich the experience over time, but do not let the absence of tools become a reason to delay starting your practice.
