You CAN Practice Kitchen Witchery
You’re in the right place if you want to…
learn what a kitchen witch is and how to practice kitchen witchery
see how even non-cooks and people who don’t know how to cook can be kitchen witches
know tips for working in a small or awkward space, and how to manage the energy in a shared kitchen.
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Welcome to this post about Kitchen Witchery.
As you may know, Mumbles Academy is structured around the zodiac seasons. Each month our new lesson is aligned with the sign the sun is in.
Currently the sun is in Cancer. During Cancer season, the energy is very family focused. Whether your family is biological or chosen. This energy is also focused on the home, including the home you grew up in and how you were raised, the home you have now and why you are the way you are, and the home you’ll create in the future and where you want to go.
As you’ll see throughout this post, kitchen witchcraft has a focus at the hearth. For modern witches, this is wherever family, friends and loved ones gather to spend time together. This is very often the kitchen, or wherever the food is.
In this post, we’ll start by defining the kitchen witch, then we’ll talk about what to do if you can’t cook, and how to make the most of small and/or shared spaces.
More Information About Kitchen Witchery
This months masterclass in Mumbles Academy will go into more detail about Kitchen Witchery. If you’d like to join us in Mumbles Academy you can learn about how the seven principles of magic play into the magic of kitchen witchery, and the kitchen witches altar and tools. You’ll also have access to some downloadable resources for magical ingredients, recipes, and more.
But let’s get started with this post...
What is Kitchen Witchery?
When you hear the phrase kitchen witch, you might think of an old-fashioned stone cottage with a thatched roof. Inside, there is a great big open fire in a hearth with a cauldron hanging over the flames. Someone stands over the cauldron adding ingredients and stirring.
Arranged on shelves near the fireplace there are clay bowls, jars of flour, sugar, and other dry goods, and bundles of dried herbs hang from the stone walls. A big wooden table sits in front of the fire with chairs all around.
In a time before electricity, this is how many people cooked soups and stews for food, as well as healing potions or other concoctions meant to bring a magical result.
Modern people have the convenience of electricity and easy access to a huge diversity of ingredients and food choice. An era of convenience brought us microwave meals, but more and more, modern people are drawn to creating food that comes directly from nature. Especially, as people are learning how industrial agriculture damages the planet and our health.
There is a movement toward people growing at least some of their own herbs and vegetables themselves. People are investing in family farms, backyard gardens, and even windowsill planters. The popularity of organic food has increased and this has made it more accessible and affordable to people.
Simultaneously, the rise of witchcraft has also resulted in increasing interest in the magical practice of cooking and eating food. The ancient practice of cooking up some magic was given the name “kitchen witchery.”
Throughout this post, I will be using the words witch, witchcraft, and magic, for simplicity. I define these words as follows:
A witch is someone who is aware of their own power and puts that power into action. More simply, a witch is someone who practices witchcraft.
And witchcraft is the use of magic to create change in your environment, or the practice of exerting your will to get what you want out of life.
Of course, people who don’t practice magic or consider themselves to be witches may still practice kitchen witchery under another name. These cooks who revere the Earth and understand the transformative energy of food, engage in kitchen crafts that fall under the umbrella of Kitchen Witchery.
Whenever you create teas, herbal medicines, tinctures, and meals with intention, that is kitchen witchery.
So whether you consider yourself a Kitchen Witch or not, this post is designed for anyone who is interested in the magical potential of the mundane preparation, cooking, and eating of food. The information here is practical and useful for any spiritual person, at any level of cooking skill, so long as you want to incorporate a little magic into your food.
So let’s talk a bit more about what it really means to be a kitchen witch. The main quality of a kitchen witch is that you incorporate magic into preparing and eating food. Any meal or kitchen creation made by a kitchen witch is done with intention for a specific purpose.
There are some other practices a kitchen witch might engage in.
A kitchen witch may or may not grow all or some of their food in a garden, farm, or pots inside. However the food arrives to a kitchen witch, they appreciate it for its nourishment and magical qualities.
Many kitchen witches prefer to make everything from scratch and avoid buying processed and pre-packaged food whenever possible. This is done in an effort to use ingredients that are as close to the Earth or the original source of nourishment as possible.
The process of cooking, from growing or collecting the ingredients, preparing them to cook, and the actual cooking and cleanup are all part of the ritual and not considered a chore. Eating the food with intention and mindfulness is also part of this ritual.
Because of this all the tools and gadgets involved in cooking food are magical. This includes pots and pans, large and small appliances, mixing bowls and dishes, cutlery, stirring spoons, etc. Depending on how you practice, you can decide how you treat your magical kitchen tools. Many kitchen witches cleanse and charge the tools and ingredients with focused intention throughout the ritual of cooking.
With all of this said, there are many, many ways to be a kitchen witch and my goal is to show you a variety of possibilities for bringing more magic into your kitchen.
Kitchen witchery is one of the best ways to bring more magic into your daily life. You eat everyday, therefore you have an opportunity everyday to learn about the ingredients in your food and the magical properties they possess. You also have the opportunity to set an intention for the meal.
Whatever your practice looks like, you can bring it into the kitchen. Your cookbook becomes your grimoire, your spoon becomes your wand, your pot becomes your cauldron, and your materials just happen to be edible.
Overcoming Your Objections
The remainder of this episode I will use to overcome some objections that may be coming up for you. This is just to ease your mind before we get into the more technical stuff.
So if you’re thinking, “I’m a terrible cook,” I’ve never cooked before,” “My kitchen is too small,” “There are ‘muggles’ in my house who wouldn’t understand,” “My kids get into everything so I can’t leave an altar in my kitchen,” “My roommate is messy so I can’t keep the energy cleared,” or something else, we’ll address that now.
“I Can’t / Don’t Know How to Cook.”
Those first two are pretty similar so I’ll respond to them first. If you feel like you can’t cook or don’t know how, it may be a little overwhelming to consider jumping into creating meals from scratch. If you tend to eat take-out, microwave meals, or other convenient options, don’t get discouraged.
We all start learning somewhere.
Of course, it is necessary for you to have some interest in learning this type of magic, and to feel excited about the idea of kitchen witchery. Otherwise, what’s the point?
But if you are interested, and excited, I’ll let you in on a secret.
You can work with kitchen magic whether you dump a jar of marinara sauce on your pasta, or grow the ingredient and make the sauce yourself. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be just as magical as a stir fry with peanut sauce.
Simple spells can have big impacts because when we make things complicated our focus shifts from the magical intention or purpose onto the steps and process. When translated into kitchen witchery, complicated recipes with lots of ingredients can take your mind away from the intention.
So, don’t worry if you’re not a fancy cook with the ability to create elaborate gourmet meals. If you can boil water, you can be a kitchen witch. Magical tea is a staple of kitchen witchery, and that’s just about as simple as you can get.
I’ll add that it is worth it to learn how to cook from scratch as you practice. This gives you a lot more freedom to make substitutions based on your particular desires. It empowers you to do more with your kitchen witchcraft practice. At the same time it deepens your connection with your physical and spiritual body as well as with the Earth.
Just know that you can start where you are, and commit to learning more as you go. Give yourself the time to learn and be patient. Many people become confident in their magical ability after a few weeks, and you can learn how to cook in the same amount of time.
I’d suggest investing in a beginner’s cookbook or finding a beginner’s blog online to follow. These often feature recipes with fewer, easy to find ingredients, that don’t take much time.
Whenever you try making something new, do it once without magical intention to build your confidence. Then, when you make it the next time you’ll already know what to do, and you can focus on your intention instead of the steps.
And if you already have a few meals you know how to make, study the ingredients to see what kind of magical purpose the meal serves.
“I Have a Small /Awkward Kitchen.”
Another common concern might be that you have a very small kitchen, or an open floor plan that makes it difficult to arrange your kitchen for optimal magic and cooking ease. In tight or awkward spaces like this it is challenging to feel the flow of magical energy, but you can get creative.
My husband and I used to live in an apartment where the kitchen was open to the living room.I always felt like I was calling my energy back into the kitchen. We had very little cabinet and counter space so I made simple meals without many ingredients that I could make in just one or two pots and pans. I also set clear energetic boundaries around the area I designated as the kitchen. After that, everything felt like it flowed so much easier.
If your kitchen is open to the other rooms in the house, find a way to make a visual separation by painting the walls a different color. Make the space feel larger by using mirrors to create the illusion of a larger space. Add some corner shelves on the wall or a small table at the end of your cabinets to add storage or to set up an altar. You can also set up an altar inside of a cabinet or simply set up an altar only while you are actively cooking.
Of course, you don’t have to have an altar at all, if you don’t want one.
And if you find cooking elaborate, from-scratch meals in a small space to be impossible and stressful, remember what I said before about simple spells being just as effective, if not more so, than elaborate spells.
Make sure whatever you make in your kitchen is created with focused intention and with a joyful heart.
“I Share My Kitchen With ‘Muggles’ / Children / Messy Folks.”
Lastly we’ll discuss shared spaces. Whether you live with “muggles” or people who don’t practice witchcraft, have children who get into everything or have messy roommates who leave the kitchen in disarray anytime they cook, it can be challenging to practice kitchen witchery.
And while you may wish you could go all out to create a kitchen witches haven, the reality of that may not be possible. But with some creativity, you can maintain the enchanted kitchen space you desire.
MUGGLES
We’ll start with the “muggles,” especially the muggles who are also judgemental. Witches have come a long way in terms of being able to practice openly and freely. In recent years, witchcraft has even entered the mainstream as a trend. Even so, many witches still face ridicule and meanness from people who don’t understand us.
If you don’t share your practice with other people openly, or are “in the broom cupboard” so to speak, you probably won’t want it on display in the kitchen or other shared spaces in your home.
I’ll start by saying that practicing kitchen witchery is one of the easiest ways to be a witch hidden in plain sight. Cooking is an ordinary, mundane activity that most humans engage in at least once each day.
You don’t need an altar, with witchy symbols and statues, or special tools to practice kitchen witchery. All you need to do is keep your intention in mind.
If you want to set up an altar, use everyday objects to represent the energy you want. For example, if you like to work with the four elements, an empty jar could represent air, a dried spicy pepper could represent fire, a shell or cup could represent water, and a pretty rock or houseplant could represent earth.
I’d recommend cleansing your kitchen tools of other people’s energy before making a magical meal or other kitchen creation. You can use any cleansing method such as smoke cleansing. The least obvious cleansing method would be running water over your tools.
You can charge your tools and materials with your intention. If you’d prefer, you could bring them into a private space to charge using other methods like crystals or moonlight.
As you prepare your ingredients and cook them, keep your magical intention in mind and visualize the meal filling with that intention. There’s no need to say it out loud.
And whenever you do have a long period of time to yourself, take the opportunity to bless and cleanse the space more thoroughly.
You can also charge any object that wouldn’t seem out of place—like a pretty rock or crystal; a figurine, knick-knack, or statue; a house plant; a painting or photograph; a vase, mug, or jar; or anything else—with the energy you want to cultivate in the kitchen and place it somewhere where it can work toward that intention.
CHILDREN
Now if you have young children, they probably already know about the dangers of the kitchen, and you probably already keep dangerous things out of their reach. Keep you ritual tools on high shelves or in childproof cabinets away from curious hands.
When compared to someone who doesn’t have children, you probably don’t have much time on your own in the kitchen. You might consider inviting children to help you with your magical work. Children have limitless imaginations and incredible creativity. Depending on their age you can assign them tasks to help you.
Maybe they are old enough to chop vegetables or mix ingredients in a pot, ask them to add their intention to the process. If they are too young for this, get them set up to “play cook” with toys or playdough, while you cook for real.
MESSY FOLKS
Finally, we’ll talk about messy roommates.
The most exciting thing for me was the first time my husband and I lived alone together before we were married. We lived in a house of five people for about 4 years and there was always either someone cooking, or the mess they left behind while they ate before cleaning up.
During this time, my kitchen witchery practice was mostly about making tea. I still cooked intentionally, but it was just such a chaotic environment that it didn’t feel as meaningful to me.
The first step if you live with messy roommates, may be to communicate clearly what you want from them in terms of kitchen cleanliness. But this will depend on the social dynamics of your living situation.
If you are “out” as a witch, you can easily explain to them that the quality of the energy in the kitchen affects the quality of the meals. If you’re not “out” as a witch, you’ll have to use mundane explanations like the shared responsibility of household chores. Either way, the dynamics of your relationship will determine whether they change their ways.
You might just need to take on the role of the person who cleans in order to maintain the energy you want in the kitchen. Treat it as part of the ritual and make it fun by playing music you enjoy or inviting a friend over to chat with.
You can also use magical solutions like casting spells for a cleaner kitchen that is aligned with the energy you desire. Spend some time each day visualizing the kitchen as a clean and welcoming space. Incorporate all your senses, the smell of your cleaning products, the feeling of joy and gratitude, etc.
Summary
Okay, so I hope this helps you overcome some of your objections that you might have surrounding practicing kitchen witchery.
Let’s review what we talked about…
I told you what a kitchen witch is: someone who finds joy in the ritual of cooking, collecting ingredients, cleaning up, and eating. I also shared some tips for witches who don’t feel like they can cook well or don’t know how. I gave you some ideas for making the most out of tight or awkward kitchen spaces. Finally, I shared with you how to manage the energy of a shared kitchen space whether you live with muggles, children or messy people.
Join us in the Talk Witchcraft Facebook group to chat about this episode with other witchy folks.
Wait, don’t go yet!
Thanks for hanging out with me today. If you’ve enjoyed this post of Talk Witchcraft, I invite you to check out mumblesacademy.com.
Mumbles Academy is the place to be for intuitive souls at any stage on their WitchPath. Whether you are a Wildling at the very beginning of witchcraft journey and looking for a safe learning environment, a Creator who is already committed to their practice and wants to develop their witchcraft skills even more, or a Sage who full of wisdom already and is ready to share that with others, Mumbles Academy was designed for you.
With monthly masterclasses and live Q&As, an extensive archive of courses and training, and a supportive community to help you along the way with encouragement and advice, Mumbles Academy is the perfect place for you to be as you as you continue on your WitchPath.
Now it’s your turn!
Share the spell you wrote, or the spell you analyzed and what you learned from this process in a comment below.
