What is a Kitchen Witch? Traditional Witchcraft for Hearth and Home
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All About Kitchen Witchery: Honouring the Mundane
What is a kitchen witch?
Kitchen witchery is a unique form of solitary witchcraft, which honours the mundane in life and finds sacredness in every day, simple acts. The kitchen witch finds pleasure and meaning in cooking especially, but also knows the secrets of making housework magical and turning the garden into a source of healing and wonder.
Kitchen witches, as the name suggests, are most likely to be found in the kitchen. But it is not all about hubble bubble on the stove; there is much to be learned from the ways of the kitchen witch, for theirs is an ancient, traditional magic that honours the goddess in her many forms.
So pull up a chair, pour a cup of nettle tea, and watch the embers of the fire as we explore the magical realm of the modern kitchen witch...
Kitchen witchery is a unique form of solitary witchcraft, which honours the mundane in life and finds sacredness in every day, simple acts. The kitchen witch finds pleasure and meaning in cooking especially, but also knows the secrets of making housework magical and turning the garden into a source of healing and wonder.
Kitchen witches, as the name suggests, are most likely to be found in the kitchen. But it is not all about hubble bubble on the stove; there is much to be learned from the ways of the kitchen witch, for theirs is an ancient, traditional magic that honours the goddess in her many forms.
So pull up a chair, pour a cup of nettle tea, and watch the embers of the fire as we explore the magical realm of the modern kitchen witch...
Photo Credit: Free Range Faeries - The Art of Kate Monkman
Contents at a Glance
- An Introduction to Kitchen Witchery
- Baking fresh bread is just one of the wa...
- Sacred Kitchen for the Kitchen Witch
- Kitchen Witch Articles on the Web
- The Kitchen Witch Altar
- Personalising the Witch's Kitchen...
- Altar Items for the Kitchen Witch
- Kitchen Witch Goddesses of Hearth and Ho...
- Goddess Statues for the Kitchen Witch Al...
An Introduction to Kitchen Witchery
There are several forms of 'natural' witchcraft, the most commonly known being that of the hedgewitch. Cottage witchery, green witchery, garden witchery - all follow similar traditional paths that draw on the sacred magic of nature.Kitchen witchcraft is unique, however, in that it makes even the most simple and bland of chores a sacred act, and by doing so, honouring the goddess. This is a Goddess path that truly finds the Goddess everywhere.
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The art of kitchen witchcraft has little written about it, because it was primarily a traditional form of wise woman craft passed down from mother to daughter. The following aspects, however, usually form the basis of the kitchen witch's path:
* Magical cooking
* Completing household tasks with joy
* Honouring the goddess, and keeping a kitchen altar and/or goddess shrine
* Simple, natural magic such as weather lore, ribbon magic, divination and candle magic
* Honouring nature
* Creating and maintaining a magical garden
* Attuning to the cycle of nature
* Being adept in arts and crafts, including traditional and dying crafts
The way of the kitchen witch is sometimes looked down upon by other witches or wiccans, because she does not practice formally or create structured ritual for working her 'simple' magic. A solitary craft, usually self-taught and self-initiated, unless passed down within the family, is preferred to a coven or formal initiation.
But is this not witchcraft in its most natural form? Kitchen witchery follows the tradition of the wise women of the Burning Times, who kept their herbal remedies and magic-making subtle and discreet. Kitchen witches connect with an ancient, primeval power that is inherent in all of us.
Baking fresh bread is just one of the ways kitchen witches form ritual out of cooking
Sacred Kitchen for the Kitchen Witch
The kitchen witch recognises that food is sacred and life-giving. Unlike many modern folk, she does not see cooking as a chore, or something to be done as quickly as possible to get out of the way."But why spend ages slaving over something that gets eaten in five minutes?" many might argue. Because we are what we eat. A meal that has been lovingly created, from the freshest ingredients, and made with intent, purpose and a pinch of kitchen witch magic, is going to be far more nourishing than throwing together a hodge podge of junk food, or even a well-intended but rushed 'healthy' meal.
Food is life, and part of the balance and cycle of nature. By nurturing our bodies, we honour the Earth, the life-giving goddess, and by creating a sacred act of cooking; giving thanks for what we eat; we show our appreciation for what we have, and respect for the living land.
Photo Credit: Morguefile
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The kitchen witch will grow much of her own food herself, put her soul into the using of it, and either weave her ritual magic into the food, or use the act of cooking itself as a magical ritual.
The kitchen itself will be a sanctuary for nourishment and healing. There will be a kitchen altar, goddess imagery, and possibly even a comfy chair to sit and contemplate. The utensils will be blessed; possibly carved with sacred symbols, decorated with ribbons or sprinkled with a little magic or natural oil. There might even be a special witch's apron hanging on a hook, if you look hard enough!
Best Book for the Kitchen Witch
Cooking and Celebration for Kitchen Witches
Witch in the Kitchen: Magical Cooking for All Seasons
Amazon Price: $9.16 (as of 02/15/2012)
Witch in the Kitchen:
Magical Cooking for All Seasons
This is a brilliant introduction to kitchen witchery. It not only contains nourishing, seasonal recipes and spells, but also introduces and beautifully explains the concept of what it means to be a kitchen witch.
it also contains ideas for kitchen altars, talks about kitchen goddesses, and has pointers to get you started in the spiritual method of cleaning and cooking!
If you only buy one book on kitchen witchery, make sure it's this one!
Kitchen Witch Articles on the Web
To learn more about kitchen witchery, explore these informative articles.
- What is a Kitchen Witch?
- Learn how to make magic in the kitchen and even make household chores enjoyable with this unique form of hearth witchcraft for the solitary witch.
- How to be a Kitchen Witch
- Learn how to make magic in the kitchen and create a kitchen altar in the tradition of the kitchen witch.
- A Kitchen Witch's Garden
- An introduction to growing a magical garden for kitchen witches, covering herbs, vegetables, fruit and flowers.
- What is a Kitchen Witch? Honouring the Goddess with Kitchen Magic for the Hearth and Home
- A kitchen witch is grounded in the magic of the old ways. Usually a solitary practitioner, the kitchen witch honours the mundane and finds the sacred in every day tasks. Magic is not just limited to the kitchen; this is a Craft of hearth and home, nature and the wild, gardening and crafting.
- Imbolc Magic for the Kitchen Witch
- Imbolc is a festival of fire, change, purification and feasting, so what better place to celebrate than in the sacred space of the kitchen witch's kitchen?
- Kitchen Witchery 101
- What is a kitchen witch? Kitchen witchery is more than just brewing magic in the kitchen. This unique form of solitary witchcraft honours the mundane and finds sacred meaning in ordinary, everyday tasks.
The Kitchen Witch Altar
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From a decorated table, to a shelf converted into a personal shrine, there are plenty of spaces to find in the kitchen to dedicate as a kitchen altar.
Here will be placed symbols of sustenance and the goddess, charms, offerings, food, special utensils, beautiful altar cloths, personally handcrafted items and meaningful symbolism.
Examples include a special, favoured wooden spoon, food offerings like grain or seeds, symbols of the craft, and statues or imagery of the kitchen witch's chosen kitchen goddess, such as Vesta or Hestia, Brighid, Cerridwen, Gaia, Demeter or Sekhmet.
The altar will serve as a focal point for the kitchen witch's intent, reminding her of her sacred path and providing a place to work her magic and ritual.
Personalising the Witch's Kitchen...
Altar Items for the Kitchen Witch
Kitchen Witch Goddesses of Hearth and Home
There are many goddesses to choose from when it comes to kitchen witchery. It is perfectly fine to work with several, but generally, one will be chosen as overall goddess of hearth and home, to be honoured in the kitchen and on the altar.The goddesses are usually of the following aspects:
* Goddesses of hearth and home
* Fire goddesses
* Goddesses of harvest, grain or fertility
* Goddesses of crafts, weaving, arts, divination
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Examples include:
* Vesta (Roman) or Hestia (Greek) - hearth and home
* Brighid (Celtic) - fire, hearth, divination, healing
* Demeter (Greek) - grain, harvest
* Cerridwen (Celtic) - grain, sacred cauldron
* Freya (Norse) - fire, creativity
* Gaia (Greek) - earth, creation
* Sekhmet (Egyptian) - fire
* Pele (Hawaiian) - fire
* Lakshmi (Hindu ) - abundance
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Goddess Statues for the Kitchen Witch Altar
Goddess Songs for the Kitchen Witch
Traditional Songs and Chants of the Goddess
Deepen your connection to the goddess with songs and chants either in honour of the goddess, or designed to attune with her.
Goddess Chants
Kitchen Rituals for the Kitchen Witch
Sacred Spells and Magical Food
Most kitchen witch spells and rituals will involve food. The act of preparing a meal is sacred in itself, and can provide a ritualistic basis for focusing intent.Spells can include those for prosperity, harmony, abundance and health, and will often be carried out whilst mixing ingredients. Candle magic, divination, weather magic, and using tools such as needle and thread, ribbons or the acts of stitching or weaving are also forms of kitchen magic.
There are two main forms of kitchen magic performed in the kitchen. Either using cooking itself as a ritual to focus a particular desire or intent, or casting a spell or working a ritual whilst using cooking as a method of stirring together the elements and creating the desired outcome.
Examples of such kitchen witchery include:
* Cooking up a scrying brew
* Releasing emotions through cooking, such as chopping onions to release over-emotion, or stirring something slowly to create calm
* Cooking with the seasons to honour nature, and cooking for the festivals to honour the wheel of the year and its goddesses, although not necessarily following it formally
* Kitchen meditations
* Cooking earthy broths and soups to nourish and connect to ancient roots
* Using herbs in cooking, medicines, potions and lotions to heal and soothe
* Using food in divination, such as tea leaves or apple peel
* Using food as symbols, for example eggs can represent the incubation and then hatching of ideas, dreams and goals.
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More Kitchen Witch Guides
Your Thoughts on Kitchen Witchery...
There seems to me to be a growing interest in kitchen witchery, which is a wonderfully promising thing to know!
Why is this? Is there a growing need for a connection to the ways of the past, a searching for that which makes life sacred again? Or are people simply curious about the term?
What do you think?
Is there a genuine growing interest in kitchen witchery?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes there is, because...
Nikitasno says:
I am interested in learning the old ways, from raising farm animals to cooking, to homemaking and aprons. I believe in the way my grandmother did things and want to get back to there some day!!!
Posted February 13, 2012
lexxsweet says:
I think being in the kitchen calms me , which is why this information was so nice to read. The more time I can spend in the kitchen , the better. Hopefully it does the same for others... and besides - everyone has to cook !
Posted January 16, 2012
CelticWays says:
being a person who passionately loves playing in the kitchen this aroused my curiosity. I love it, like an almanac with its rituals, verses, info and more.
Posted January 09, 2012
wellwritwitch says:
It speaks to people who want to live a more authentic life and have a happier domestic and family life. Over the past few decades through circumstance (economy, divorce, etc.) and personal issues, domestic and home life has diminished and many have suffered. Kitchen Witchery is a way to bring spirit back to thr home.
Posted December 22, 2011
mmews says:
as you suggest, there is a growing need to make life sacred again. And thankfully so!
Posted November 26, 2011
No, because...
Kitchen Witch Healing
Kitchen witches are like the wise women of old; they understand herbs and healing remedies, and how to utilise them.They might:
* Grow herbs in the garden for cooking, drying, storing, medicines, beauty balms
* Use crystals for healing and attuning to Mother Earth
* Work with faeries and nature spirits for healing and magic
* Know the properties of plants, trees and fungi
* Wildcraft
* Use unusual plants in their cooking, such as edible flowers
* Brew their own nurturing herbal teas
* Practice meditation, visualisation, goddess poses, yoga or shamanic rituals
* Use divination as a healing and learning tool
* Use mystical symbols, labyrinths, mandalas and other sacred forms of healing art and structure to heal themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually
* Work with guides, animal totems, angels or spirits
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Kitchen Witch Websites
A selection of the best websites about kitchen witchery!
- Welcome to Shayleah's Hearth
- A feast for the eyes and a brilliantly written, extensive resource on kitchen witchery. If you only visit one site, this is the one to visit.
Learn about recipes, goddesses, kitchen altars, sacred house cleaning, rituals and more. - Kitchen Witch Lotions and Potions
- Inspiring poems, witchy potions, and kitchen witch recipes.
- What is Kitchen Witchery
- Further reference for the art of kitchen witchery
- Recipe Goddess
- Nicely designed site with recipes, herbs and a kitchen witchery section.
- Pagan Forum
- Links to the recipe and foodie section
- Kitchen Witchery Secrets
- An interesting blog about what the kitchen witch does and why it is a dying art.
Kitchen Witch Crafts
Ancient Traditions, Beautiful Crafts
Kitchen witches are creative, expressing their art through the inspiration of the goddess and the natural world around them.Many will be adept at creating their own handmade items for the home, from curtains and pillows to tableware and altar items, all crafted with imagery of the seasons, goddess or natural world.
Many learn the old crafts, such as weaving, spinning, willow weaving and working the loom.
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Sewing, embroidery, knitting, painting, sculpting and wildcrafting are all common kitchen witch activities. Many will even make their own representations of the goddess by sculpting figures with salt dough or painting Goddess imagery.
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A Kitchen Witch's Garden
Harvesting Nourishment from Mother Nature's Sacred Abundance
The kitchen witch is at home in her garden as well as her kitchen.She works with the cycles of the seasons and the moon, nurturing her outside sanctuary and growing sacred trees and wildflowers, along with harvesting culinary and medicinal herbs, and organic fruit and vegetables.
She will grow plants with magical properties, such as healing herbs and flowers, and use these plants in her cooking, spells or potions.
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The kitchen witch will also spend time in her garden connecting with the Earth Mother, enjoying nature's beauty. Meditation and contemplation will be easily achieved in a quiet, specially created spot, perhaps on a spread of calming chamomile lawn or under a shady tree.
The kitchen witch gardens organically and ethically, using no chemicals or harsh pest controls. She shares her harvest willingly with birds and wildlife, choosing not to put up fruit cages or other netting. She recycles, composts, and tends her plants with loving care.
Even if she does not have a garden, the kitchen witch will find ways to grow plants and food, in herb pots, window boxes or sprouting jars, for example.
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Also, the kitchen witch will use her garden to commune with nature spirits, tree spirits, and deities such as Gaia and the Green Man. She may well work closely with the faeries, ensuring a blessed and bountiful garden, and create a shrine to her consorts through meaningful statues, objects, natural monuments or displays, and plaques.
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The garden of a kitchen witch is an enchanted one indeed!
Amazon Spotlight
Garden Spells
Amazon Price: $2.79 (as of 02/15/2012)
This is a beautiful little book of garden magic, covering spells, garden lore, the meaning of flowers and tips on living in harmony with nature's critters.
A real must-have. Beautifully written and a feast for the eyes!
The Kitchen Witch and the Realm of Spirit
The kitchen witch is likely to work closely with the spirit realm, usually in the form of faeries and other nature spirits.Faeries help with kitchen witchery in the following ways:
* Faeries of the garden help plants to flourish, food to taste delicious, and harvests to be bountiful
* Faeries of hearth and home assist around the house, blessing the home with protection and adding their own magic to rituals and cooking
* Fire faeries assist in hearth and fire magic
* Tree spirits offer wisdom, healing and strength
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Kitchen Witch Kitsch on CafePress
Kitchen Witch Items on eBay
Who's Blogging about Kitchen Witchery?
- Bay Area Custom Cabinetry Design Company, Aurora Cabinets and Countertops Inc ...
- ... hickory smoke and witch hazel. The free sink promotions are as follows: Aurora Cabinets is giving out a Vanity 810 sink. The installation price is set at $149 each. This sales ends on March 31. The free kitchen sinks available in this promotion are ...
- Daffodils in the kitchen | Philadelphia Inquirer | 2012-01-24
- What a winter! Just spoke with someone in Chadds Ford who has a bouquet of homegrown daffodils on her kitchen table. And someone at Longwood who reports that it isn't just the witch hazels in bloom right now. They have fully out wintersweet.
- A report from the ABA's Midyear Meeting in The Big Easy
- My wife and I were strolling one day in the French Quarter and walked into the Kitchen Witch, a book store for cookbooks, and while musing over various gumbo recipes, we bumped into a US Supreme Court Justice. Justice Antonin Scalia and his family ...
Kitchen Witches May Also Be Interested In:
If you find kitchen witchery intriguing, you might also be interested in the following:
- Hedgewitch Craft
- Traditional witchcraft, cottage or green witchcraft
- Druidry
- Shamanism
- The Goddess Path
- Celtic Spirituality
- Avalon
More Kitchen Witch Resources
Goddess Art, Imagery and Gifts
- Free Range Faeries
- Beautiful watercolor art of goddesses, faeries and other magical creations.
Home of some of the beautiful artwork on this lens! Any pictures on this page watermarked Free Range Faeries or Art by Kate Monkman can be purchased here. - Abaxion
- An incredible range of god and goddess statues! Vast choice of many different deities in many different forms. Perfect for kitchen altars and shrines throughout the house!
- Goddess Gift
- Yet more beautiful goddess statues, along with goddess cards, jewellery, altar items, tapestries, crafting items, gifts and more.
What do you think of Kitchen Witchery?
Thank you for reading! Please leave your comments here.
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CelticWays
Jan 9, 2012 @ 1:34 pm | delete
- As a person who passionately loves playing in the kitchen I love this lens :-)
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greenspirit
Jan 9, 2012 @ 7:07 am | delete
- I've seen the world that way as long as I can remember. It was never passed to me...it just sort of arrived as I grew up. A lot of my practice is linked to nature outside, but housework also feels a powerful device. I loved this lens, so thank you.
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JziE
Jan 8, 2012 @ 10:41 pm | delete
- love the idea. love the art
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newbizmau
Jan 7, 2012 @ 7:37 pm | delete
- Wanted to come back and bless this lens with a comment. It's such a great lens.
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lifeloveliving
Oct 5, 2011 @ 1:14 am | delete
- so much lovely writing! Im going to send your link to my family because its one of the nicest descriptions of kitch witchery I have read, and it will give them an understanding without freaking out! Also an inspiration to me to help me keep writing. I am a newbie, I write for my job but have now started to write for pleasure but Im finding so many wonderful lenses that I get distracted and write very little myself! dont feel obliged but if you have a mo please take a look at my beginner pieces! Bright Blessings http://www.squidoo.com/banishing-negativity-by-smudging
http://www.squidoo.com/we-love-halloween-tat-why-we-can-enjoy-witches-bats-and-pumpkins-
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Kitchen Witch Photo Credits
Photos are copyright of the author unless otherwise stated. Free Range Faeries artwork used with permission of the artist. Poster images are from Art.com
About the Author of What is a Kitchen Witch?
More from MissMerFaery on Squidoo
MissMerFaery is a published author, magazine columnist and online writer with over 160 pages here on Squidoo.
She has made the Squidoo Top Five, received 21 Purple Star awards, and won Lens of the Day four times, for Cooking with Herbs and Spices, Fall Soup for the Kitchen Witch, 101 Best Baked Potato Toppings, and Argo, Trusty Warrior Steed.
In the wonderful world of Squidoo, MissMerFaery is a Giant Squid 100, RocketMom, and SquidAngel. She writes about everything from tasty recipes, craft tutorials, kids activities and UK travel guides, to topics such as spirituality, parenting, environmental issues, and writing. For easy browsing of all her lenses by category, check out her Lensography!
Oh, and if YOU love to write, why not Join Squidoo too?
She has made the Squidoo Top Five, received 21 Purple Star awards, and won Lens of the Day four times, for Cooking with Herbs and Spices, Fall Soup for the Kitchen Witch, 101 Best Baked Potato Toppings, and Argo, Trusty Warrior Steed.
In the wonderful world of Squidoo, MissMerFaery is a Giant Squid 100, RocketMom, and SquidAngel. She writes about everything from tasty recipes, craft tutorials, kids activities and UK travel guides, to topics such as spirituality, parenting, environmental issues, and writing. For easy browsing of all her lenses by category, check out her Lensography!
Oh, and if YOU love to write, why not Join Squidoo too?
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What is a Kitchen Witch? Index
- An Introduction to Kitchen Witchery
- Sacred Kitchen for the Kitchen Witch
- Best Book for the Kitchen Witch
- Kitchen Witch Articles on the Web
- The Kitchen Witch Altar
- Personalising the Witch's Kitchen...
- Kitchen Witch Goddesses of Hearth and Home
- Goddess Statues for the Kitchen Witch Altar
- Goddess Songs for the Kitchen Witch
by MissMerFaery
MissMerFaery
The path of the kitchen witch has been a part of my spiritual life for many years now. It is a wonderful Earth-based path that honours the sacred in life.... more »
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