The torch of love is lit in the kitchen.
French Proverb
Kitchen Cupboard Conjuring
While we’ve been covering the magickal house, you have probably noticed that I really had only skimmed over the topic of the magickal kitchen up until now. Why? Because the topic of kitchen witchery deserves its very own chapter. This often maligned magickal tradition is at the heart of cottage witchery and is practical, personal, and powerful.
There are many kitchen witches out there and to be honest, even though I don’t like to get stuck cooking dinner, I do enjoy whipping up a little magick in the kitchen with culinary herbs and spices from time to time. Kitchen magick is unique in that it can be applied to any magickal tradition or path. When you practice kitchen magick, you get the opportunity to put your own creative spin on things.
In many homes throughout history the kitchen held a place of honor. By tradition, most of the work of the wise woman took place or began at the hearth. Today, the hearth is the kitchen—this isn’t too hard to visualize, as more and more folks spend family time in the kitchen. Kids do their homework there, family meetings are held around the table, and at a party everyone gravitates toward the kitchen.
However, the mood or feeling of a kitchen changes when it is used for magick. There is a subtle but strong magickal atmosphere in an enchanted kitchen. For many practitioners this is the most practical spot in which to work their magick, since herbs and spices are right at hand. And there are a variety of common spices and seasonings that can double as magickal herbs. The trick is to look at them and use them in a whole new way.
A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness.
Elisa Schiaparelli
Spice Rack Sorcery
Various common kitchen spices, extracts, and seasonings pack a wallop of magickal power when worked into charms and spells. You’d be amazed at what kinds of enchantments you can create just by working with common kitchen spices, seasonings, and cooking herbs. Check out this Witch’s list, and this chapter’s following kitchen magick information, and see what sort of personalized spells and charms you can cook up.
allspice: money and good luck
basil: wealth and good luck
bay leaf: purification, health, and strength
chives: protection, absorbs bad vibes
cinnamon: prosperity, happy homes
cloves: protection, stops gossip
dill: security, money; frightens away unwanted creatures
garlic: protection, purification, exorcism
ginger: power and prosperity
lemon/lemon rind: breaks up negativity, healing
mace: increases psychic powers
mint (leaves): prosperity and protection
mustard seed: fertility and safe houses
orange rind: energy, vitality, and health
parsley: purification, protection
peppermint extract: cleansing, purification, and protection
rosemary: healing, love
sage: wisdom
thyme: sleep, courage; promotes good health
vanilla extract: love, passion; stimulates mental powers
Oh, who can tell the hidden power of herbs
and might of magic spell.
Edmund Spenser
Creating Herbal Magick
in the Kitchen
The kitchen is often the center of the home. There is no reason why it cannot be a magickal room as well. Clean out a small section of kitchen cupboard, up and out of reach of young children. Then arrange a few natural magick supplies like candles, crystals, and herbs in there. Perhaps you can set an attractive tealight candleholder back on the counter to have handy for magick. Then the next time you’re preparing dinner, or riding herd on the kids and their homework, you can also be working a quick kitchen magick spell.
all-purpose kitchen magick charm
Here is a quick all-purpose charm to go along with your “spicy” kitchen magick.
Enchanted kitchen herbs of brown and green,
Spellcraft can be simpler than it seems.
Add these herbs for power and magick true,
Goddess bless my spells and all that I do.
Close the charm with:
For the good of all, with harm to none,
With spices and herbs, this spell is done!
Think of all the quick and easy spells you could perform with this all-purpose charm. Tie magickal spices into a small fabric charm bag and carry it with you—dill seeds and allspice to promote prosperity, for example. What about a clove of garlic and a sprig of parsley for purification and protection?
Using an old teapot, try steeping a few of the herbal ingredients in water on the stove and letting the scent permeate the air and the atmosphere in the home. Good, sweet-smelling choices for steeping would be lemon rind to break up negativity, cinnamon for prosperity, and cloves to stop gossip.
You could also sprinkle a bit of herb on an unlit tealight candle. That way, as you light the spell candle, you’re adding the extra punch of herbal magick to an otherwise simple candle spell.
Practical Magick with the
All-Purpose Tealight
The tealight candle is a sensible solution to expensive beeswax tapers and pillar candles. Tealight candles are available in packages of twelve for usually under two dollars, and they can also be purchased in bags of fifty. Watch for them to go on sale and snag a big bag to keep on hand for candle spells. I don’t know about you, but no matter how hard I try, I always seem to be out of a specific color for a candle spell.
I rely on tealight magick a lot. Between running my two teenagers to their sports or band practices, attending various school functions, checking in on my oldest son (the college student), volunteering with the Master Gardeners, and keeping up with my gardens, this leaves me with very little time to go on the hunt for high-priced specialty candles. These little babies are a practical solution.
Tealights are perfect for herbal candle spells. They burn for about four hours and are typically white and unscented. (Don’t forget that white is an all-purpose magickal color.) If you would prefer to have them scented, you can always add a drop of essential oil on them that could coordinate with your magickal intention, like clove oil for protection or cinnamon oil for prosperity. Try sweet orange oil to revitalize and refresh yourself after a long day. You could also try adding a drop of vanilla extract on the candle—vanilla encourages mental powers, love, and desire. Or simply do as suggested previously and sprinkle a little bit of one of those magickal spices on top of the unlit candle or in the bottom of the metal cup. Slipping it into the bottom of the cup is neater and very discreet. Place the tealight on top of the herbs and you are ready to cast.
tealight petition magick
If you wish to perform petition magic with a tealight, then write the request on a small piece of paper, fold it up, and tuck it neatly beneath the tealight, in the bottom of the little metal candle cup. Add a pinch of your corresponding herb to the cup, replace the candle, light it, and work your spell. When the candle is finished burning, you will notice that your slip of paper is sealed to the bottom of the cup and covered in wax. Your spell is safely sealed and you may now dispose of the little metal candle cup in the garbage. Here is a quick candle charm to go along with your herbal candle magic.
Tealight candle burning warm and bright,
Lend your magick to me on this night.
Herbs and spices add strength and magical power
Goddess, bless my work in this enchanted hour.
Tealights are also available in many colors and scents. If you prefer to use these as opposed to the plain variety, then refer to the color magick chart from Chapter Two (it’s a good general guide for color magick). Remember while working your candle magick to never leave those candles unattended. If you must, then move them to the bottom of an empty sink to finish burning.
The tealight candle is a great, affordable accessory to any type of spellwork or charm. Candlelight adds its own magickal atmosphere. Most Witches work with candle magick quite regularly. Candles, in all of their various shapes, colors, and sizes, add the extra push of the element of fire and bring more passion and enthusiasm into your spellwork. Often one of the first magickal techniques learned, it is up to you to decide how to incorporate this information into the Craft that you already practice. Experiment with adding a tealight candle to these next practical kitchen charms.
Making the simple complicated is commonplace;
making the complicated simple, awesomely
simple, that’s creativity.
Charles Mingus
Simple Kitchen Magick
You want fast, quick, and simple spells and charms? Try working a little easy kitchen magick and see what you can create. Take the following ideas and adapt them for your own purposes. By adding your own flair, this will personalize the spells and make them uniquely your own. Most of the ingredients for the following kitchen charms are common and readily available. Rummage around the kitchen cabinets—I bet you have many of the supplies already.
Please use natural cooking supplies and dishes or containers whenever possible. Glass, wood, and ceramicware are much more conducive to natural magick energies than plastic. Metal bowls or trays will also work (remember that metal is one of the five elements of Feng Shui). If salt is called for in a spell, you may use sea salt or table salt, whatever you have handy or would prefer.
As you close up and bind these kitchen charms and spells, try using this oldie but goodie standard closing line:
By all the powers of three times three,
As I will it, so shall it be.
Sure, this magickal line is used all of the time. It’s a good one. By saying this closing line you are verbally reinforcing that you accept and embrace the idea of karma. You are also stating that you are working positive magick and that you embrace the Rule of Three.
a juicy spell for removing bad vibes
To remove sour feelings and bad vibes, take a small glass bowl, ceramic dish, or coffee mug and sprinkle a few inches of salt in the bottom. Next squirt a bit of lemon juice on top of the salt. Say:
Lemon juice and white salt, by mixing thee
No bad vibes will cling or hang around me.
Remove all the negativity and despair
By the powers of earth, water, fire, and air.
sweet prosperity spell
Mix together a teaspoon of cinnamon for prosperity, a teaspoon of allspice to bring money, and a half cup of sugar to sweeten up your life. Mix the ingredients together, then pour into a glass container. Snap or screw the lid into place. Empower the mixture to bring prosperity into your life. Try this charm:
Sugar and spice and everything nice,
Make up this Witch’s spell,
A pinch of magick, a bit of charm,
And all will turn out well.
You could put a pinch of this mixture into a charm bag, or seal a tablespoon of it inside an envelope and keep it in your bill drawer or the bottom of your purse to promote prosperity. Or just sprinkle a spoonful on your buttered toast in the morning to add prosperity and success to your day.
protection charm bag
Garlic is a great protective herb. Besides its supposed properties of keeping away vampires and the roaming undead, a clove of garlic comes in handy for kitchen magick. For this kitchen charm, use a four-inch square of black fabric and about six to eight inches of black ribbon. Place the clove of garlic for protection and purification in the center of the fabric. Add a pinch of salt to break up any negativity you feel may be surrounding you or the situation.
Gather up each edge of the square, naming them for each of the four elements. After you gather the corners together, tie the bag closed with the ribbon. Take a careful look at this kitchen charm, the directions are all laid out for you.
By the powers of earth (pick up one corner)
And air (gather the second corner)
And fire (pick up the third)
And water (add the last corner)
I create this Witch’s protective charm.
(tie the fabric closed with the ribbon)
Grant me safety and shield me from all harm.
Remember to seal this charm with the closing line,
By all the powers of three times three,
As I will it, then so shall it be.
You may keep the charm bag on your person or tucked away in the most-used room of your home to boost your magickal household protections.
apples of knowledge spell
For this divinatory spell you’ll need your divinatory tools (tarot cards, runes, etc.), an apple, and a pinch of mace. Mace is a great-tasting spice to add to old-fashioned and country apple dishes and recipes. Apples have long been considered magickal fruits. Their associations run the gambit from love to divination to healing. Slice the apple crosswise to reveal the star that is hidden inside. Dust the apple with a pinch of mace to encourage psychic powers. Place the apple pieces inside of a bowl and intone the following divinatory charm:
Apples of red, green, and gold,
Show me what my future holds.
Mace is a spice that encourages foresight,
Help this kitchen witch’s spell to turn out right.
Now cast your runes or deal out your tarot cards. When you are finished with this kitchen charm, leave the apple neatly outside for nature to reclaim. Or you could eat the apple for a snack, thus taking the power of foresight and knowledge into yourself.
For more ideas on kitchen divination, check out our next section. Have you ever considered trying your hand at tea-leaf reading?
Tell me, Gypsy, what can you see in my cup of tea?
Can you predict my future, tell me my past?
Anonymous
Reading Tea Leaves
Tea-leaf reading was a popular pastime in England, Scotland, Ireland, and in Victorian- era America. Also known as tasseography, tea-leaf reading was probably one of the more popular forms of divination practiced a century or two ago. To perform tea-leaf reading you need to start with a fresh pot of tea. First brew up some loose tea in a pot and pour the unstrained tea into each cup. It is recommended that you use plain china cups for tea-leaf reading, as a patterned cup makes the shapes harder to discern. This would be fun to do at a circle meeting, an old-fashioned Halloween party, or a Samhain get-together with your magickal friends. Try this out and see what kind of results you get.
Have the questioner drink the tea until the liquid is almost gone. Then take the cup and turn it around deosil (that’s clockwise) three times while saying the following charm:
Great Goddess, show me love, happiness, and good luck
As I divine the future within this teacup.
By all the powers of three times three,
As I will it, then so shall it be.
Turn the cup over and onto the saucer and allow the remaining tea to drain out. Now you’re ready to read. Look for shapes made by the leaves—use your imagination! Leaves that are closer to the rim of the cup show events in the immediate future. Leaves deeper into the cup or at the bottom indicate events in the distant future. Likewise, the handle of the teacup is important in the reading as well. How close the shapes are to the handle tells you how close these events are to occurring.
tea-leaf symbols and their meanings
anchor: travel
bell: good news
butterfly: happiness
candle: illumination
cat: secrets
crescent moon: Goddess and moon magick
cup: emotions and psychic abilities
dog: loyalty
egg: pregnancy
eye: protection
flower: happiness and admiration
hand: help is on the way
heart: love
house: security
horse: stamina
key: opportunity and knowledge
ladder: promotion at work
leaf: Green Man and earth magick
question mark: uncertainty
ring: marriage
snake: gossip and hurt feelings
star: magick
tree: good luck and success
Remember that just like other divinatory tools, such as the runes or the tarot, tea-leaf readings are open to personal interpretation. Feel free to include your own personal symbolic meanings to other shapes that are not listed here. Also, more than one shape within the cup can make for a more interesting reading, as both the symbols must be interpreted by how they affect each other—such as a question mark and a ring popping up in the same cup. Marriage may indeed be a part of the questioner’s future, but how do they feel about it? Are they uncertain? Another school of thought is that clear shapes distinguish good luck while vague shapes indicate an unclear outcome and delay. This type of divinatory reading takes some practice. I guess you’d better break out some fancy cookies, brew up a pot of fragrant tea, and start practicing!
I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet,
simple things of life which are the real ones after all.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Cottage Witchery in the Kitchen
How do you go about working cottage witchery in the kitchen? Well, I just grab my trusty jars of dried garden herbs and gather a few fresh magickal flowers. Then I dig through my kitchen spices and seasonings and conjure up a little magick. I work out a quick charm or spell and use my imagination and typically I keep things very simple. A small candle, herbs, flowers, and occasionally a wooden spoon that doubles for a wand. If I am not working or digging in the garden, there is a good chance I’m stirring up some natural magick in the kitchen.
Some supplies to keep on hand for natural kitchen magick would be a vase for garden flowers and fresh herbal foliage; a candle holder and some plain tealights; assorted glass storage jars for your various dried magickal herbs and flowers; small glass, ceramic, or wooden bowls; a small cauldron or an old cooking pot; and a wooden spoon. You could cast or conjure with this wooden spoon, create a circle, or stir up your herbal ingredients.
Now, before someone even starts complaining, there is nothing demeaning about using a wooden spoon in kitchen magick! I have a decorative antique wooden spoon that I keep in a crock on the kitchen counter. (I don’t use it in food preparation.) In a pinch it makes for a great wand. For example, when my kids were small and I was working a little magick at the counter while doing the mundane chores of cooking and cleaning, I would use that spoon to direct the energy where I wanted it to go. You know, just point, aim, and shoot? Hey, don’t knock it. It always worked for me.
So here I am, barefoot, in jeans and a T-shirt, daring to conjure up simple, natural magicks with what I have on hand. I know it blows my image not to be flouncing about in ritual wear 24/7, but the majority of the time when I work my magick I am in street clothes. (Shocking, isn’t it?) Don’t even try and convince me that most Witches work in ceremonial robes every day of the week. Let’s be realistic.
It is not what you wear, or how many fancy ritual accessories that you own, that makes you into a creative and powerful Witch. It’s how you use and work with the natural supplies and the down-to-earth magickal tools that you do have. How do you interact with the magickal environment that is around you? What sort of magickal energy radiates from your home? All of this makes for very personal and individualized magick. It also helps to remind us that every Witch is unique. We should celebrate this and refine our techniques. This is what makes magick powerful. Hence the idea for cottage witchery was born.
Write your own spells, come up with your own custom-made charms. Just do your own thing. If you’re wondering where to start, I’m about to give you a spell worksheet to help you organize and create your own simple natural spells and kitchen magick. Check this worksheet out for yourself; refer to the information and simple kitchen supplies that were featured in this chapter. Just imagine all of the spicy spells and charms you can whip up!
For more information on garden flowers to use in natural magick, check out my previous book, Garden Witchery. It’s crammed full of gardening information and easy-to-grow magickal flowers and herbs that incorporate nicely into natural magick and kitchen witch charms and spells.
Natural Kitchen Magick Worksheet
goal:
kitchen spices used:
magickal significance of the spices:
candle color (for candle magick):
fresh herbs or garden flowers:
charm or verse:
Fun Kitchen Folklore
In closing up this chapter, I thought a touch of folklore would be just the thing. Folklore and old country superstitions are a treasure-trove full of magickal lore and fun. Some of this information could be used in practical magick and some is just for your enjoyment.
Kitchen folklore states that bubbles appearing in your coffee cup signal that money is on the way. Likewise for knocking over the sugar bowl, rice that forms a ring around the cooking pot, and tea leaves that float to the top of the teacup.
Visitors are coming to your home if cutlery drops to the floor; a fork signifies a man, and a spoon a woman. In the Ozarks it’s a fork for a fellow and a knife for a lady. If a glass falls to the floor but does not break, it is an indication of true and trustworthy friends. There is the old-time belief, revitalized by the movie Practical Magic, that if a broom falls over, company is coming. Also, if you prop your kitchen broom up against the doorframe, it keeps all troublesome family members or unwanted visitors out.
Here is another little gem of kitchen magick: scattering mustard seeds across the threshold was thought to keep out unwanted guests. To keep away spirits you are supposed to bury mustard seeds under your doorway or porch.
According to Ozark folklore, if a woman drops the dishrag on the floor, that is bad luck. This bad luck can be removed by throwing a pinch of salt over her shoulder. Some texts claim that you should bury the dishrag. Personally, I’d just throw it in the washing machine and bleach it. Empower the bleach to kill germs and to clean up any bad vibes, raging teenage hormones and melodramas, or negativity that might be hanging around the house.
In the old days it was thought that a “bad woman could not make good applesauce.” Sneezing before breakfast signals visitors before noon. Sneezing while eating breakfast is a sign that you’ll have two visitors leaving before sunset. Oh, and if you sneeze on a Monday, you’re sure to kiss a stranger before the week is out!
Spilling water on the tablecloth was supposed to signify rainstorms. Ditto for a coffeepot that boils over again and again. And should your kitchen apron come untied all by itself and fall to the floor while you’re in the kitchen, your lover is believed to be entertaining some rather intense romantic thoughts about you.
All in all, the kitchen is a hotbed of magickal activity. It can be a charming room and a magickal workspace where enchantment, practicality, and everyday life go hand in hand. So live and work in this room with magickal intention. Dare to stir up your herbal and spicy spells with a special wooden spoon—go deosil (clockwise) to increase and to pull positive things into your life, and stir widdershins (counterclockwise) to remove obstacles and negativity. Work cottage witchery charms in the kitchen with conviction and magickal purpose. I’ll bet that you’ll create something magickal every day.
Take the information that was presented in this chapter and adapt it to suit your own magickal needs. And be yourself. Remember . . . magick is where you find it, and creativity is the key.
