HEXING HOMEMAKERS AND COTTAGE CONJURERS!

There are so many paths available to witches: greeen thumbs can find their calling as Green Witches while Cosmic Witches find their home among the stars. But what about Kitchen Witches, what's their craft? Isn’t it just the same as Herbal Alchemy? Does it mean casting spells while cooking up family dinner? It’s actually a little bit of both, so why don't we discover this popular path together!

Making home cooked meals and preparing each ingredient from scratch allows you to weave your intent and magick into every meal. The kitchen is the heart of the home with our ovens replacing the warming heaths of yesteryear and food is one of the only things that can still bring people together. Kitchen Witchcraft is incredibly accessible so here’s a few tips on how to get started!

YOUR KITCHEN IS A SACRED SPACE

First up, the space where you'll be channelling all of your magick! Consider creating an altar on your countertop, or where you spend most of your time preparing your food, in tribute to deities of the hearth and home so they can lend you their power as you work. Our Kitchen Witch kit provides everything you need to set up a new altar but if you’d prefer to select your own pieces we recommend incorporating the following:

• A cauldron bearing markings of your traditions
• Candles: black and white are versatile colours to suit multiple purposes but you can also change them out to suit the season e.g. red & gold for Litha
• Bowls to place herbal offerings appropriate for the time of year.

Have your spices at the ready where they’re easily accessible: store them in airtight jars away from sunlight as they will lose potency and make a note of their expiration dates. If possible, grow your most frequently used herbs in your kitchen to nurture your ingredients throughout their life (and just because they look pretty!)

It’s crucial to set out your kitchen as a personal space and not have it feel like a simply utility-add your personality to every bowl, plate and cup with kitchenware you actually enjoy using and are proud to put on display. Use a dedicated spice rack and handwritten labels instead of hiding things away in a cupboard, take time to find quirky and fun baking tools and upcycle old jars and turn redecorating into a fun DIY project!

Finally, always remember to clean with your usual tools, as well as with a besom to banish negative energy (and crumbs) before you cook. Maintaining a clean space is of the utmost importance and pays respect to your craft!

EVERY RECIPE IS A RITUAL

The way you prepare even the simplest of meals can be infused with magick. Stirring batter in deosil or widdershins depending on your goals will affect the outcome differently, forming sigils as you add oils or liquids to the bowl and topping breads and cakes with herbs and spices to suit your purpose. Even using your tools shaking a cocktail mixer to imbue your drinks with energy for long nights talking with friends!

Once you've found tried and true methods of imbuing your delicious creations with your own power, consider creating a recipe book separate from your book of shadows. If you’re unsure on how to get started or how to add your own power at each step of a recipe, check out Blackthorn’s Botanical Brews by Amy Blackthorn. It's a collection of Blackthorns own recipes for teas, juices and alcoholic beverages and is a great example of a Kitchen Witch's grimoire! 

LEARN YOUR HERBS!

Just as you need to prepare for each season in the cycle, so too will you need to do the same with your herbs. Herbs should be gathered in a ritual fashion: take time to set your intention and envision the best possible outcome for the herbs you’re harvesting. Take care to not use tools made of iron as this is taboo.  Cultivating herbs from seed to table will allow you to truly harness the power of each ingredient and enhance your own personal power with its properties.

Learn the herbal correspondences for every sabbat and cross quarter day on the Wheel if you want to cook in accordance with these celebrations. Samhain, for example, is associated with strong aromatic herbs like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg that represent the dark Autumn season.

Brush up on your herbal knowledge with the help of some guidebooks: we recommend The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs by Judy Ann Nock and The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook by Karen Harrison, who we’ve referenced in this guide.

This is only just the beginning of kitchen witchery! Go forth and enrich your life with home baked magick and enjoy this new and exciting path! To get you started, here's an easy charm from The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs to bless your kitchen:

CONSECRATE YOUR KITCHEN!

You will need:

• 5 wooden spoons
• Hot glue gun
• 1 metre of ribbon in a favourite colour
• 1 sprig of fresh herbs that resonates with your work. Examples include rosemary, sage, thyme and parsley.

1: Lay the wooden spoons atop one another, forming a pentagram. Glue the spoons together where they touch.

2: Cut the ribbon in half. Use one half to tie the herbs in a bundle and invert it so that it hangs upside down, tying it to the pentagram so that it hangs in the centre.

3: Use the other half of the ribbon to thread a loop through the top corner of your pentagram, tying it off so you can hang it from a hook, above your stove or over your pantry to bless your kitchen. Charge it with this incantation:

"Blessed be the hand

Blessed be the heat

Blessed be the sustenance

The nourishment we eat

Blessed be the gathering

Blessed be the flame

Blessed be creation

Assembled in Her name".

You can include the name of a goddess or spirit energy at the end of the incantation to personalise your sacred kitchen.