The ABC 's of Herbs and Kitchen Witchery

It’s amusing that most people think kitchen witchery is hanging a witch doll meant to ward off evil in the kitchen, but this is not so. It can be part of the ambiance in a witch’s kitchen but it is not what makes the witchery. It is a natural form of witchcraft used in cooking and growing herbs. In kitchen witchcraft you use the symbolic meanings of herbs and all the elements of cooking to build the power of the food for a certain type of reason. Kitchen witchery is not practiced as much in the western world as it is in cultures with rich ties to food like China, Asia and India. It does not matter what type of cuisine you want to cook, it is how you cook the food that makes the magic. 

Kitchen Witchery: Creating Tasty Food Filled With Emotion 

This craft can be self-taught or passed down the family lines. Its core belief is to honor everyday mundane tasks and bring magic to life for each person that eats the food you prepare. This is a long practiced craft mainly started by women since they were the ones left home to tend the fires. Kitchen witchery is often practiced on a more solitary level; these practitioners may be called hedge, garden or green witches, just to name a few.

When searching for tools to use in kitchen witchery you will find utensils that have been blessed with scared symbols carved in them. Kitchen alters can be found in the window sill or on a special shelf paying homage to nature and the deities that usually guard and care for the home hearth. Herbs are often grown in the kitchen and found hanging around or placed in display jars for use.

 I am a Hoodoo kitchen witch by nature, cooking since I was in my young teens. I saw how food could change the moods of people in one bite. That is what happens when you add a bit of intention and willpower to each action while creating the dish.  By using your own personal power you can create tasty food filled with emotion. When we cook up an earthy broth from fresh vegetables, chopped with the greatest of belief that this broth will make someone feel good, it somehow works. Each and every edible piece has a purpose or a way of healing.  For instance, a melon like Honeydew or Crenshaw is known to assist in moon spells that break bad habits and addictive patterns. Gypsies have used them to invoke love and a lusty feeling, offering the thought that love can be care free. Just think of taking a bite out of a sweet and juicy slice of melon. How does it make you feel?  When you add the thoughts and personal energies to the process of preparation it only magnifies it. 

Foods With Built-In Symbology 

Many foods come with built in symbology.  Eggs, for example, represent the beginning of life and if you break one open it starts a new plan. They are also used to trap negative energy by encasing it and moving it to the first open surface to be purged. You can release pent up emotions by chopping onions or build your inner protection by cooking with garlic. Stirring in a deosil direction slowly will really make your intentions sink into the food. Plus, while stirring slowly, chant meditations that apply to what you want the food to do. Humming is a great way to add zing to the harmonizing energies of magical cooking. If your wish is to add abundance to your life add blackberries, raisins or coconut. Some herbs have duel (or more) properties so you can use them for both or for just what you need. Your thoughts and intentions will influence the herbs to work as you wish. You can use your herbs to empower elements you wish to add or tame like fire, water or air. Often practitioners use cast iron to cook with it activates the iron by heating the metal causing it to leak trace amounts of iron into the food. Iron is something we all need, even in small traces. Finding magic in the kitchen is easy, you only have to really add your will power to make things start to bubble.

As you can read there are so many ways to practice kitchen witchery that it would be impossible to explain them all. 

So I will share one of my favorite recipes called Mood Lifting Salsa.

This recipe is used when times are melancholy or when negative situations continue to occur. The color of this dish will bring a smile to all who view it.  The colors of orange and yellow empower the 2^nd and 3^rd chakras helping to open self-confidence and increase joy. Pineapple sage and oranges are known to uplift and increase your mood. They remove negative energy from the area and the people that eat them. Pineapple is used to cleanse the old emotional pain we carry with us. Red onion purifies our physical system by allowing fear to go away and forgiveness to be found. Tomatoes help lower our blood pressure that seems to rise when stressful situation become present. Remember to chop each ingredient with the feeling you want people to feel in their food. Slip this dish into pot lucks, family gatherings or memorials. It can be served with anything. Enjoy!

¼ cup Fresh Chopped Pineapple Sage 

¼ cup Pineapple, crushed

¼ cup Oranges, chopped small

1/8 cup Red Onion chopped small

2 large Tomatoes, chopped small

Mix all items together and season to taste, allow half a day to sit and marinate before serving.

** First Published in Paranormal Underground Magazine Aug 2013***