Furie - Supermarket sabbats: a magical year using everyday ingredients

About the Author

Michael Furie (Northern California) is the author of Spellcasting for Beginners , Supermarket Magic , and Spellcasting: Beyond the Basics , all published by Llewellyn Worldwide. He has been a practicing Witch for more than twenty years and is a priest of the Cailleach. You can find him online at www.michaelfurie.com.

Contents

: Basics and Background

: Winter Wonderland

: Power of Winter

: Solstice of Earth and Air

: The New Calendar

: Emergence from The Gloom

: Hearts and Flowers

: Spring Forward

: Power of Spring

: The Eve of May

: Summer Surge

: Power of Summer

: Solstice of Water and Fire

: The First Harvest

: Autumn Harvest

: Power of Autumn

: Summers End

: Special Occasions

: Lunar Magic, Rarities, and Leap Day Enchantment

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Supermarket Sabbats: A Magical Year Using Everyday Ingredients 2017 by Michael Furie.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2017

E-book ISBN: 9780738753300

Book design by Bob Gaul

Cover design by Ellen Lawson

Cover illustration by Anne Wertheim

Editing by Laura Graves

Pentagram art by Llewellyn art department

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Furie, Michael, 1978 author.

Title: Supermarket sabbats: a magical year using everyday ingredients /

Michael Furie.

Description: First Edition. | Woodbury: Llewelyn Worldwide, Ltd., 2017. |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017015202 (print) | LCCN 2017035168 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738738710 (ebook) | ISBN 9780738751016 (alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Sabbat. | Religious calendarsWicca.

Classification: LCC BF1572.S28 (ebook) | LCC BF1572.S28 F87 2017 (print) |

DDC 133.4/3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017015202

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Chapter 1

Basics and Background

E very year, usually in the third week of September, one of my most joyful shopping experiences occurs: the day I walk into the local grocery store and spot themthe overflowing abundance of pumpkins! I adore Halloween, and Samhain is my favorite sabbat. Seeing the displays always signals the beginning of my favorite time of the year. As pumpkins have become a staple crop of Halloween and the carved jack o lantern can be used as magical protection, they are a perfect example of a seasonal item packed with magical potential that most people buy from the supermarket. After that, at least in the United States, Thanksgiving adds new products and the holiday season lends even more specialty vegetables, fruits, and other items to the usual grocery store inventory. Pick any time of year and the store is chock-full of things particular to that season, most of which a magically minded person can use in their practice to attune to the seasons, celebrate the sabbats, and create change.

In most supermarkets, particularly in the United States, the standard mainstream holidaysNew Years Day, Valentines Day, Saint Patricks Day, Easter, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmasare usually represented in some fashion. Decorations, specialty foods, and beverages in colorful, carefully arranged displays (probably meant to encourage maximum impulse buying) fill the aisles and create a sense of continuity. At first glance this purchasing advantage does not seem to be equaled for Witch and Pagan holidays, but with a keen eye and careful shopping, we can find that all of our festivals have representation in the supermarket.

Many people might overlook the local grocery store when seeking magical ingredients, but it is actually a treasure trove of power for both spellwork and holiday celebration. Our modern stores have become international marketplaces that provide spices, herbs, and foods from all over the globe, each of which have magical significance. Exotic, hard-to-find ingredients are not the only ones with power, however; even the most ordinary items contain magical potential. And therein lies the strongest virtue of supermarket magic: readily accessible ingredients can provide a complete resource for our spells, holidays, and witchy crafts.

At first glance, it might seem that the creations made from such simple ingredients might not result in powerful magical formulas, but between the basic herbs and spices and the advantage of the special seasonal offerings that become available, powerful concoctions such as Ancestor oil, Faery Dust powder, Fire Dragon oil, Bubbling Love potion, and many more can be made with ease. The sabbats too can find their accoutrements straight from grocery store shelvesoils, powders, potpourris, foods, and a whole host of magical creations are possible for each special day, providing a rich holiday experience all without having to hunt down fabled, rare, or endangered ingredients. An ordinary trip to the supermarket is transformed into a quest for the makings of magic.

Witches and other magical people often try to live in tune with the earth and the seasons, but in the modern world it is often easier said than done. With the incredible resources we have at our disposal in the form of supermarkets, we can still follow the cycle of seasons albeit in a modern capacity. Even though many of us no longer grow the food we eat, we still maintain a connection and dependence on the earths yearly agricultural and seasonal cycles. Putting modern industrialized farming practices and importing of produce to maintain yearlong supplies of seasonal foods aside, we can still make a conscious choice to live seasonally as best we can and carry on the traditions of establishing a personal connection with the fruits of the earth. Some of us are blessed with the land and talent to grow our own Witchs gardens with fragrant herbs and magical delights to enhance our spells and provide us with a firm grounding in the energies of the earth. Even under those circumstances, however, its nearly impossible to grow everything a Witch would need for a well-rounded practice.

With the rise of Internet shopping, we now have the opportunity to purchase rare or exotic herbs from all over the world through the magic of a credit card and the click of a mouse. Many of us have chosen this option to stock our herb cupboards with the items needed to craft our oils, powders, and brews both for our spellwork and for our sabbat celebrations. This option can be time-consuming and pricey (especially with shipping and handling charges) and is not really practical as the only source for our magical ingredients. In my personal practice, I have tried to focus almost exclusively on herbs and items that are readily obtainable from supermarkets for four main reasons: gathering ingredients in this way is much less expensive than other options; getting herbs from the supermarket means I am not helping to deplete rare or endangered species of plants in the wild; it is so convenient to have what I need available at most nearby stores; and my magic remains just as successful with these simple ingredients as it has been with rare, exotic herbs, roots, and resins.