KITCHEN WITCH (a definition to what we are, do, and our magic/k.) What is a Kitchen Witch? Traditional Witchcraft for Hearth and Home All About Kitchen Witchery: Honoring the Mundane Kitchen witchery honors the mundane in life and finds sacredness in every day, simple acts. The kitchen witch finds pleasure and meaning in cooking especially, but also knows the secrets of making housework magical and turning the garden into a source of healing and wonder. Kitchen witches, as the name suggests, are most likely to be found in the kitchen. But it is not all about hubble bubble on the stove; there is much to be learned from the ways of the kitchen witch, for theirs is an ancient, traditional magic that honors the goddess in her many forms. An Introduction to Kitchen Witchery There are several forms of natural witchcraft, the most commonly known being that of the hedgewitch. Cottage witchery, green witchery, garden witchery - all follow similar traditional paths that draw on the sacred magic of nature. Kitchen witchcraft is unique, however, in that it makes even the most simple and bland of chores a sacred act, and by doing so, honoring the Goddess. This is a Goddess path that truly finds the Goddess everywhere. The art of kitchen witchcraft has little written about it, because it was primarily a traditional form of wise woman craft passed down from mother to daughter. The following aspects, however, usually form the basis of the kitchen witchs path: * Magical cooking * Completing household tasks with joy * Honoring the goddess, and keeping a kitchen altar and/or goddess shrine * Simple, natural magic such as weather lore, ribbon magic, divination and candle magic * Honoring nature * Creating and maintaining a magical garden * Attuning to the cycle of nature * Being adept in arts and crafts, including traditional and dying crafts The way of the kitchen witch is sometimes looked down upon by other witches or wiccans, because she does not practice formally or create structured ritual for working her simple magic. A solitary craft, usually self-taught and self-initiated, unless passed down within the family, is preferred to a coven or formal initiation. But is this not witchcraft in its most natural form? Kitchen witchery follows the tradition of the wise women of the Burning Times, who kept their herbal remedies and magic-making subtle and discreet. Kitchen witches connect with an ancient, primeval power that is inherent in all of us. Sacred Kitchen for the Kitchen Witch The kitchen witch recognizes that food is sacred and life-giving. Unlike many modern folk, she does not see cooking as a chore, or something to be done as quickly as possible to get out of the way. But why spend ages slaving over something that gets eaten in five minutes? many might argue. Because we are what we eat. A meal that has been lovingly created, from the freshest ingredients, and made with intent, purpose and a pinch of kitchen witch magic, is going to be far more nourishing than throwing together a hodge podge of junk food, or even a well-intended but rushed healthy meal. Food is life, and part of the balance and cycle of nature. By nurturing our bodies, we honor the Earth, the life-giving goddess, and by creating a sacred act of cooking; giving thanks for what we eat; we show our appreciation for what we have, and respect for the living land. The kitchen witch will grow much of her own food herself, put her soul into the using of it, and either weave her ritual magic into the food, or use the act of cooking itself as a magical ritual. The kitchen itself will be a sanctuary for nourishment and healing. There will be a kitchen altar, goddess imagery, and possibly even a comfy chair to sit and contemplate. The utensils will be blessed; possibly carved with sacred symbols, decorated with ribbons or sprinkled with a little magic or natural oil. There might even be a special witchs apron hanging on a hook, if you look hard enough! The Kitchen Witch Altar From a decorated table, to a shelf converted into a personal shrine, there are plenty of spaces to find in the kitchen to dedicate as a kitchen altar. Here will be placed symbols of sustenance and the Goddess, charms, offerings, food, special utensils, beautiful altar cloths, personally handcrafted items and meaningful symbolism. Examples include a special, favored wooden spoon, food offerings like grain or seeds, symbols of the craft, and statues or imagery of the kitchen witchs chosen kitchen goddess, such as Vesta or Hestia, Brighid, Cerridwen, Gaia, Demeter or Sekhmet. The altar will serve as a focal point for the kitchen witchs intent, reminding her of her sacred path and providing a place to work her magic and ritual. Kitchen Witch Goddesses of Hearth and Home There are many goddesses to choose from when it comes to kitchen witchery. It is perfectly fine to work with several, but generally, one will be chosen as overall goddess of hearth and home, to be honoured in the kitchen and on the altar. The goddesses are usually of the following aspects: * Goddesses of hearth and home * Fire goddesses * Goddesses of harvest, grain or fertility * Goddesses of crafts, weaving, arts, divination Examples include: * Vesta (Roman) or Hestia (Greek) - hearth and home * Brighid (Celtic) - fire, hearth, divination, healing * Demeter (Greek) - grain, harvest * Cerridwen (Celtic) - grain, sacred cauldron * Freya (Norse) - fire, creativity * Gaia (Greek) - earth, creation * Sekhmet (Egyptian) - fire * Pele (Hawaiian) - fire * Lakshmi (Hindu ) - abundance Kitchen Rituals for the Kitchen Witch Sacred Spells and Magical Food Most kitchen witch spells and rituals will involve food. The act of preparing a meal is sacred in itself, and can provide a ritualistic basis for focusing intent. Spells can include those for prosperity, harmony, abundance and health, and will often be carried out whilst mixing ingredients. Candle magic, divination, weather magic, and using tools such as needle and thread, ribbons or the acts of stitching or weaving are also forms of kitchen magic. There are two main forms of kitchen magic performed in the kitchen. Either using cooking itself as a ritual to focus a particular desire or intent, or casting a spell or working a ritual whilst using cooking as a method of stirring together the elements and creating the desired outcome. Examples of such kitchen witchery include: * Cooking up a scrying brew * Releasing emotions through cooking, such as chopping onions to release over-emotion, or stirring something slowly to create calm * Cooking with the seasons to honour nature, and cooking for the festivals to honour the wheel of the year and its goddesses, although not necessarily following it formally * Kitchen meditations * Cooking earthy broths and soups to nourish and connect to ancient roots * Using herbs in cooking, medicines, potions and lotions to heal and soothe * Using food in divination, such as tea leaves or apple peel * Using food as symbols, for example eggs can represent the incubation and then hatching of ideas, dreams and goals. Kitchen Witch Healing Kitchen witches are like the wise women of old; they understand herbs and healing remedies, and how to utilise them. They might: * Grow herbs in the garden for cooking, drying, storing, medicines, beauty balms * Use crystals for healing and attuning to Mother Earth * Work with faeries and nature spirits for healing and magic * Know the properties of plants, trees and fungi * Wildcraft * Use unusual plants in their cooking, such as edible flowers * Brew their own nurturing herbal teas * Practice meditation, visualisation, goddess poses, yoga or shamanic rituals * Use divination as a healing and learning tool * Use mystical symbols, labyrinths, mandalas and other sacred forms of healing art and structure to heal themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually * Work with guides, animal totems, angels or spirits Kitchen Witch Crafts Ancient Traditions, Beautiful Crafts Kitchen witches are creative, expressing their art through the inspiration of the goddess and the natural world around them. Many will be adept at creating their own handmade items for the home, from curtains and pillows to tableware and altar items, all crafted with imagery of the seasons, goddess or natural world. Many learn the old crafts, such as weaving, spinning, willow weaving and working the loom. A Kitchen Witchs Garden Harvesting Nourishment from Mother Natures Sacred Abundance The kitchen witch is at home in her garden as well as her kitchen. She works with the cycles of the seasons and the moon, nurturing her outside sanctuary and growing sacred trees and wildflowers, along with harvesting culinary and medicinal herbs, and organic fruit and vegetables. She will grow plants with magical properties, such as healing herbs and flowers, and use these plants in her cooking, spells or potions. The kitchen witch will also spend time in her garden connecting with the Earth Mother, enjoying natures beauty. Meditation and contemplation will be easily achieved in a quiet, specially created spot, perhaps on a spread of calming chamomile lawn or under a shady tree. The kitchen witch gardens organically and ethically, using no chemicals or harsh pest controls. She shares her harvest willingly with birds and wildlife, choosing not to put up fruit cages or other netting. She recycles, composts, and tends her plants with loving care. Even if she does not have a garden, the kitchen witch will find ways to grow plants and food, in herb pots, window boxes or sprouting jars, for example. Also, the kitchen witch will use her garden to commune with nature spirits, tree spirits, and deities such as Gaia and the Green Man. She may well work closely with the faeries, ensuring a blessed and bountiful garden, and create a shrine to her consorts through meaningful statues, objects, natural monuments or displays, and plaques. The Kitchen Witch and the Realm of Spirit The kitchen witch is likely to work closely with the spirit realm, usually in the form of faeries and other nature spirits. Faeries help with kitchen witchery in the following ways: * Faeries of the garden help plants to flourish, food to taste delicious, and harvests to be bountiful * Faeries of hearth and home assist around the house, blessing the home with protection and adding their own magic to rituals and cooking * Fire faeries assist in hearth and fire magic * Tree spirits offer wisdom, healing and strength EMBER*
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 21:55:48 +0000