A kitchen witch can be defined as a Wiccan who does spells using
food, herbs, crafts, and kitchen utensils. This type of witch does not
cast a circle while doing these spells. Kitchen witches use their own
power and the power inherent in their tools, rather than call for divine
power or tap the energy around them. Using the energy or power from
within makes it less dangerous as the witch is not opening his/herself
to the outside.
When mixing the ingredients together and preparing food, a witch
concentrates on her own energies and the properties of the food. Using
her energy and enhancing it with the food, she imprints her purpose onto
the food. This spell is 'activated' when the food is eaten. As the
personal energy of the witch is used, emotions are especially easy to
impart. Healing and a sense of well-being can be very easy things to
accomplish through kitchen witchery. Sadly, if a kitchen witch feels
frustrated with a particular dish or ingredient, these feelings can be
transferred to the finished product. This is why a kitchen witch, or a
good cook, will never cook an unfamiliar dish for a special occasion.
The kitchen can be the most important place in a home for a
kitchen witch. In the kitchen the witch will do a majority of her
spells, whether it be just to give the lemonade extra refreshing power
or to help heal a sick friend with a cake. Bunches of protective and
helpful herbs used for those reasons will often be seen hanging from
windows or the ceiling. Cookbooks, mundane and magickal, will also be
fairly standard.
Fruits and vegetables have special powers, just like essential
oils. There are many lists in existence which describe their powers, but
tradition dictates that a witch must discover them his/herself. This
discovery can be a slow process as the witch learns their uses through
cooking and intuition. Each list will always be a little different
anyway. For spices, their powers are similar to those in oils or
incense.
There are a number of things you can do to enhance the magickal
atmosphere in your kitchen. Try some or all of these to get started:
• Have a kitchen altar. The stovetop is today's equivalent of the
hearth fires of
old, and it's where most food preparation is done.
Create a small altar with items
that can be moved as needed — add a
statue of a home or hearth goddess, a
cauldron, or a candle. If you
like, paint a trivet with symbols of your tradition.
• Make sure your herbs are readily accessible. If you cook with
them, display them
in decorative jars. Make sure that they're not
sitting in direct sunlight, though,
or they'll lose their potency. If
possible, have live plants in pots to use during the
year. Keep fresh
vegetables on hand as well.
• Read up on practices like Feng Shui so you can optimize your work space for
maximum efficiency, both spiritual and practical.
• Keep the space clean. Much like any other sacred space, physical
cleanliness
maintains spiritual cleanliness. It's hard to find balance
in a place that is
cluttered and chaotic. Make sure countertops are
wiped down after each meal,
keep the sink free of dirty dishes, and
organize cupboards and shelves so they
are easy to use.
• Paint the walls in colors that are comforting and happy. Choose a
color that makes
you and your family feel good — earth tones are
soothing, yellows are happy and
bright, and greens bring prosperity and
abundance.
• Keep cookbooks and recipes organized where you can find them. You
might even
want to have a special book of magickal recipes that you keep
separate from your
regular Book of Shadows.
You can also incorporate magickal practices into your cooking. Consider some of these:
• When stirring a recipe, stir in a deosil or widdershins direction, depending on the
goal you wish to achieve.
• If you're making a sandwich, spread condiments like mustard in a sigil for your
purpose.
• When you bake bread, add herbs or spices that correspond to your magickal
needs.
NOTE: The refrigerator is the appliance dedicated to air, fire dwells within the stove, water rules over the kitchen sink, and all the foods and herbs are ruled by the earth element.
SOURCES: The Hearth Witch, About.com, and PaganPages.org