Soup and salad may not seem like the most exciting meal, but there’s a reason these staple foods have stuck around throughout the ages. Simple, versatile, and clever ways to utilize whatever small scraps of food might be available, soups and salads are popular throughout the world. What’s more, the vegetables, herbs, and other ingredients often included in these dishes pack a magickal punch that can be activated by preparing your meals with intention, keeping your spellcasting goal in mind as you slice, dice, stir, and mix. Once you get the hang of a few magickal cooking techniques and familiarize yourself with the energetic qualities of some common ingredients, you’ll be able to prepare a wide variety of soups and salads, enchanted especially to make your wishes come true.
Magickal Soup Preparation
Dating back to ancient times, soups have a long and rich culinary history. Every culture seems to have its own signature soup, from the minestrone of Italy to the clam chowder of New England. Soups are very personal, reflective of the cook’s own resources, tastes, and preferences. Recipes are great, but try to give each dish you create a personalized touch. Doing so will make the food more magickal, and who knows? You might invent a new soup that becomes a future culinary classic!
Soups might be creamy, made with a vegetable puree or dairy product such as milk or heavy cream, or they can be made with a base of meat broth or vegetable stock. For magickal purposes, vegetable-based soups work especially well, as they are less heavy and more energetically vibrant than meat or dairy-based soups. Keep in mind that different ingredients will have different cooking times, so always add the densest, largest ingredients like carrots or potatoes to your soup base first, saving any leafy vegetables or additional fresh herbs to add in last, just a few minutes before the soup is complete.
Use your spoon to empower the soup as it heats, sending whatever energy you wish to impart to the soup down your arm, through the utensil, and into the pot. You might use the spoon to trace the outline of a magickal symbol appropriate to your current goal: a heart for love, a pentacle for protection or power. Try stirring clockwise to draw in new energies and for goals focused on attracting, magnifying, or manifesting. A counterclockwise stirring motion is great for a magickal soup intended to banish or reduce any undesired energies. As the pot of soup simmers, think of your magickal goal and envision the energies of each ingredient pulsating and increasing in vibration, blending together into a powerful brew perfectly harmonized with your intention.
Common Soup Ingredients and Qualities
Here is a quick list of common soup ingredients and their associated magickal attributes. Don’t limit yourself to only these ingredients, as this is just a small sampling of the virtually endless possibilities.
Black beans: Protection, strength, defense, tenacity, the underworld
Red beans: Love, health, courage, energy, compassion, loyalty, fertility
White beans: Purity, peace, harmony, relaxation, happiness, honesty
Green beans: Prosperity, health, good luck, abundance, fertility, growth
Black-eyed peas: Good luck, health, joy, wealth, prosperity, friendship
Lentils: Health, strength, tenacity, endurance, wisdom, fortitude
Broccoli: Strength, growth, wisdom, action
Squash: Courage, defense, health, wealth, abundance, fertility
Potatoes: Prosperity, wealth, health, psychic vision, dream magick
Onions: Protection, defense, banishing, strength, courage
Leeks: Dream magick, psychic vision, flexibility, transformation
Kale: Health, strength, stamina, energy, prosperity, abundance, growth
Corn: Gratitude, abundance, energy, comfort
Garlic: Protection, purification, health, energy, passion
Oregano: Prosperity, protection, luck, concealment
Parsley: Change, swiftness, lightheartedness, new beginnings
Magickal Soups Made Easy
Try the magickal soup recipes below to get a good grasp on the basics, then experiment with your own creations. The recipes here are designed with both simplicity and magickal effectiveness in mind, and mastering these soups will give you a good foundation on which to build your skills as a culinary wizard.
Fortifying Egg Drop Soup
Eat this soup to boost your courage or energy or to bring strength and protection.
Ingredients:
4 cups vegetable stock or water
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black or white pepper
½ teaspoon powdered ginger root
1 clove garlic, finely minced and sautéed
1 celery stalk, peeled and diced
¼ cup onion, diced
1 cup cabbage, thinly shredded
4 eggs (preferably free-range and hormone-free), slightly beaten
Heat the water or vegetable stock, soy sauce, spices, and vegetables as you envision the energies of the ingredients combining into a vibrant mixture that pulsates with your magickal intention. Stand proud as you stir, head up and shoulders back. Let a sense of power and bravery flow into the soup as it heats just to a boil. Reduce heat, then slowly pour in the beaten egg, stirring the soup very softly as you do so. The egg will immediately begin to cook. What you want is medium-sized tendrils of egg. If you stir too vigorously, the egg will completely break up, which results in an unappealing appearance. Use your spoon to just gently glide the egg through the soup as it cooks, and you’ll end up with a gorgeous yet very simple and rustic dish. Let the egg cook in the soup for 1 to 2 minutes, then serve and enjoy.
Red and White Bean Soup
for Happiness, Health, and Love
Use this soup to support general, all-around good health, happiness, and love.
Ingredients:
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained (or 2 cups cooked and drained dried beans)
1 can white beans, drained (or 2 cups cooked and drained dried beans)
Several large kale leaves, chopped
Large handful fresh spinach leaves
1 clove garlic, minced and sautéed
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black or white pepper
Place all your ingredients into a pot and heat at low temperature. As you combine and heat the ingredients, envision all the good things you wish for in life or that you’re grateful for—the things you love, your health, your happiness. Visualize the soup pulsating with a vibrant, positive energy as you stir it clockwise and affirm your magickal goals.
Passion-Boosting Squash, Tomato, and Rosemary Soup
Use this soup to increase feelings of passion and to encourage the free flow of love.
Ingredients:
3 yellow squashes, peeled and diced
2 zucchini, peeled and diced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced with seeds removed
2–3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Boil the squash, zucchini, and tomatoes until tender; drain, cool, then puree in a blender or food processor. Pour into a saucepan and add in the remaining ingredients. Heat until the soup reaches the desired consistency, as you do so envisioning your passions rising, the energies of lust and love coursing wildly throughout the brew.
Salad Magick Basics
Nothing goes better with a bowl of magickal soup than a serving of magickal salad. Salads are easy to make, light, and refreshing, and if you prepare them right, they can be packed with nutrition as well as with magick. The magickal energies inherent in vegetables, fruits, nuts, and herbs are most vibrant in their raw and unprocessed state, making a salad a perfect way to highlight these energies with minimal fuss. As you wash, tear, slice, and dice the ingredients for your salad, focus your thoughts on the magickal effect you want the salad to produce, letting the natural attributes of the ingredients inspire you. Conjure an image in your mind of what you want, and let the feeling of having this wish come true fill your heart and overflow into each ingredient. As you mix the salad together, affirm in your mind that what you will, will be. Envision the energies of each separate ingredient working in harmony to manifest your goal.
You might also boost the magickal power of your salad with a dressing or other topper. Try sunflower seeds for a boost of happiness or to encourage friendship. Add oregano and basil-seasoned croutons to help bring prosperity. Drizzle on some honey mustard dressing in the shape of a peace sign to soothe conflict. Be creative. Your existing knowledge of cooking and of plant attributes and your natural intuition will all help you to design effective flavor combinations that are also in line with your magickal goal. You can also utilize the many books and online reference guides that describe the various magickal attributes of different herbs, fruits, nuts, and vegetables.
Common Salad Ingredients and Attributes
Below is a small sampling of powerful ingredients you might include in a deliciously magickal salad.
Red leaf lettuce: Love, friendship, confidence, courage
Romaine lettuce: Strength, tenacity, energy, defense
Carrots: Clarity, energy, imagination, inventiveness
Spinach: Health, strength, growth, prosperity
Cherry tomatoes: Fertility, happiness, harmony, compassion, love
Sprouts: Fertility, freshness, new beginnings, rapid growth, transformation
Black olives: Love, passion, seduction, protection, psychic vision
Radishes: Passion, strength, energy, defense, stamina
Cucumbers: Peace, calm, happiness, pleasure
Mushrooms: Spirituality, wisdom, the underworld, dream magick
Avocados: Joy, satisfaction, wholeness, contentment, abundance, love, compassion, sensuality
Sunflower seeds: Joy, success, growth, friendship
Rosemary: Energy, love, happiness, luck, friendship, harmony, attraction, increase
Basil: Love, luck, prosperity, passion
Simple Salads Made Magickal
Here are a few simple salad recipes to help give your culinary creativity a jump-start. Feel free to make substitutions and adaptations as desired. Just be sure when making changes or fashioning your own creations that your recipe features at least one primary ingredient in line with your magickal goal, and avoid or minimize the use of ingredients with energies contrary to this goal.
Sesame Cabbage Salad for Wisdom and Clarity
This salad will help bring clarity and wisdom whenever you’re confused or experiencing indecision. Try it paired with the fortifying egg drop soup.
Ingredients:
Red cabbage, finely shredded
Green cabbage, finely shredded
Carrots, shredded or julienned
Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl as you think of your wish for greater clarity and wisdom, then toss with the dressing below to bring extra power to your magickal salad.
Sesame Dressing for Extra Power
½ cup sesame oil or olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1½ tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
In a small pan, sauté the sesame seeds and garlic in the oil until fragrant, then remove from heat. Stir in the brown sugar and soy sauce, then let the mixture cool completely. Finally, blend in the rice wine vinegar. Drizzle this dressing in the shape of an eye or a pentacle on top of your salad to add an extra burst of power and strength to your magick.
Lovely Day Salad
Eat this salad to bring a loving, peaceful energy into your day. Enjoy with the red and white bean soup for happiness, health, and love included above.
Ingredients:
Cucumber, peeled and diced into ½-inch cubes
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Fresh basil
Fresh rosemary
Drizzle of olive oil
Sprinkle of sea salt
As you prepare each ingredient, think of the people and things you love, the love you wish to share, or the love you feel for yourself. Let these feelings expand and flow from your heart and into the salad as you mix it together.
Passion-Boosting, Mood-Lifting Olive and Avocado Salad
Eat this salad to magnify feelings of passion and lower inhibitions, or to lift your spirits and bring a fresh perspective whenever you’re feeling low. Try paired with the passion-boosting squash, tomato, and rosemary soup.
Ingredients:
Red leaf lettuce
Alfalfa sprouts
Black olives
Avocado
Sprinkle of salt (Himalayan pink salt or sea salt if available)
Combine the ingredients as you think of your magickal goal. Visualize yourself feeling the way you would like to feel, whether it’s more passionate or more optimistic. Top with the dressing on the following page to speed along the magick and to enhance the soothing, transformative qualities of the salad.
Cucumber Dressing
½ cup plain yogurt
Splash of lowfat milk
1 cucumber, peeled and pureed or finely shredded
1½ tablespoon fresh dill
2 teaspoon fresh parsley
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Mix all ingredients until thoroughly blended. Use this dressing to initiate swift change and transformation or to calm the nerves and encourage a fresh and positive outlook.
More Culinary Magick
Cooking magickally is not only an effective form of spellwork, it’s also fun. If you already enjoy cooking, designing new recipes that manage both good flavor and harmonious energies in line with your intentions can be an exciting challenge, and if you typically find cooking a rather dull chore, adding magick to the process can make it a much more pleasurable and productive experience. With so many varieties and such ease of preparation, soups and salads are a great place to start or further your journey into the joys of culinary magick. Try making big batches of both once a week, and you’ll have enough for an easy-to-grab, on-the-go magickal lunch every day.