Kitchen Witchery

Still rubbing the palm print off my forehead, someone asked me a question. Then they reiterated it. Finally on the third or fourth try I got it, they were asking about kitchen witchery, oh, I can answer that. Lol!

There are many books on this subject. I haven't read any of them so I can't give any kudos to any of them. I will say that I love Kate West as an author and she has one... (As I side note, I am not affiliated with Amazon, I don't get any kickbacks from advertising them. It's who I do the majority of my book shopping through so its just a matter of habit that I link them. For used books, I buy locally or through http://www.half.com/ .)

There are many ways to practice magick in the kitchen. I will talk about some of the ways.

Intention

Simple explanation: imbue everything with an intention.

More thorough explanation: The easiest way is by imbuing everything with an intention. Let's say you are going to make spaghetti squash. I usually have spaghetti squash as a substitue to noodles when I'm on a low carb diet so I will use that as my example for intention. I would set the squash in front of me. Closing my eyes, I would visualize what I would look like, feel like, and how active I would be when I am at a more healthier weight. This visualization shouldn't be set in the future, this should be as if it was happening now. Once I have the visualization set in my mind's eye I would then say a prayer or a chant over the squash. You can leave it at that and prepare as usual or you can continue to hold the intention and pray and chant through the entire process of cooking it.

Herbs and Spices

Simple explanation: either choose herbs that match your intention or choose a dish with those herbs in it.

More thorough explanation: For medicinal purposes I recommend choosing a couple of books and referring to them. One of my favorites is Bartram's Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. For our purposes today, we are discussing magickal purposes. For clarification, when using herbs and spices for cooking, please use the usual spices from your kitchen cabinet. If you grab herbs from your magickal cabinet, research them first. No accidental death magick (lol!).

Ok, so back on track, our spaghetti squash, right? Let's say our intention is for healing (from a magickal and not medicinal sense), then I am going to grab one of my books. I love anything by Paul Beyerl. He is an amazing, magickal man that I adore working with!!! I went to the back of the book (The Master Book of Herbalism), under good health leads me to page 221 which says, "Ginger is known for its ability to improve the state of health." Ginger is in my kitchen cabinet. The amount of spice will depend; if it compliments the dish then I will use the normal amount, if the flavor won't compliment then I will use just a smidge. The amount used isn't an issue.

What's going on here? By using this herb, you are asking it to ally with you. The spirit of the herb becomes a helping spirit. Thanking the herb, asking for its blessings, asking for it to assist in a powerful way, are things you might want to consider when forming relationships with various helping spirits.

Symbolism

Simple explanation: find ways to use numbers, shapes, astrological correspondences, etc... in your cooking.

More thorough explanation: Consider the shape, the color, and the images on the dish you are using. Consider what phase the moon is in. Consider what time of day it is. Dorothy Morrison has some great books on magic that can really help if you are still learning these correspondences. Her Every _____ Magic series are go to books for me. Consider the amount of times you stir the dish.

Diety

Simple explanation: certain foods are dedicated to certain gods. Find out what your primary deities prefer or find out if the foods you are using are dedicated to certain deities.

More thorough explanation: if you are considering Kitchen Witchery to be part of your magickal practice you may want to consider working with deities of the hearth. Also, traditionally, altars were kept on the hearth. Today our hearth is our kitchens. (Your hearth may also be a different room if your family comes together often in that room.) We have an altar on our kitchen counter for our ancestors, our disir, and our home spirits. Bringing honor into your kitchen can bring powerful magicks to your foods.

Mix and Match
You might choose to mix and match these techniques. You might choose to dedicate your kitchen implements just as you would altar tools. Or you might choose to dedicate something, such as a wooden spoon, for when you are working with a particular deity or purpose. You might have a healing wooden spoon and a pot dedicated to Cerridwen.

There is no right or wrong answer here. The more thoughtful you are about the process, the more intentional it will be.

And according to Merriam-Webster: