Trevor Greenfield - Practically Pagan - An Introduction to Alternative Guides to Living

Kitchen Witchcraft is not only an ancient practice but quite possibly something that everyone does without even knowing it. The kitchen would originally have been the focus of any household even going back to mud huts, when the fire would have been used for heat and for cooking. The idea of Kitchen Witchcraft conjures up someone in the kitchen creating bottles and jars of lotions and potions and that does cover part of it but it is also a witch that works with ingredients on all sorts of levels from medicinal to magical to culinary, the plants often being grown in their own garden or foraged from the hedgerows.

To connect with the divine a Witch will step outside, take a cup of tea and sit in the garden, to be outside with nature that is where the connection is. Feel the wind in your hair, the sun on your face, feel the grass beneath your feet, the free and wild feeling of being at one with nature, Mother Earth and her bounty. A Kitchen Witch will also get that connection in the kitchen, working with herbs, spices, plants and produce. Everything a Kitchen Witch makes is made with love, affection and a little bit of magic.

A Kitchen Witch will also bring magic into their food via cooking. Food is magical, not just because of the amazing tastes, flavours and aromas but also for the magical properties it holds. The magic starts with the choice of food to use and it can then be added in whilst you are preparing and cooking then the magic unfolds as people enjoy your food. Dishes can be created for specific intents, moon phases, and rituals, to celebrate sabbats or just to bring the magic into your family meal. Every herb, every spice and every ingredient has magical properties and these can be brought into meals and recipes. Just the art of cooking itself has magic, stirring the pot deosil (clockwise) brings in positive energy, peeling onions can be releasing and washing dirt from vegetables can be cleansing and purifying.

You can bring intent into any meal with very little effort think about the ingredients you use and what magical properties you believe them to have. There are the traditional ones such as oysters and asparagus adding a bit of va va voom to your love life but there are spices, herbs and foods for every intent. Just by adding a few ingredients into a dish will bring in the magical properties, help them along by giving them a power charge with your intent before you throw them in the pot. Purely by cooking, heating, frying and baking something you add in a boost of fiery energy.

Go with your own instinct and intuition but for starters try adding a sprinkle of cinnamon for love and success, a dash of pepper for protection and dont forget your fruit and veg, it isnt just healthy but carrots bring the magical properties of fertility and passion (a dangerous combination.), pears bring prosperity and luck and if you are a meat eater then you bring the element of fire onto your plate along with the magical properties of the animal you use. If you sprinkle cheese on top, you also add in success and happiness. because everything is made better with a sprinkling of cheese except maybe cake but that in itself has the magical powers of happiness and celebration.

A Kitchen Witch doesnt tend to use fancy tools although we usually have a few because hey we like pretty things too. A Kitchen Witch will use whatever is to hand; a finger or a wooden spoon becomes a wand and an old casserole dish creates a useful cauldron. We also work very intuitively preferring to use magical ingredients because they feel right rather than checking a list and if we dont have what we need, we substitute from our kitchen cupboard. But my kitchen serves not only as a place to bake cakes and make meals for my family it is also a sacred space, a place that I feel most comfortable in.