Considering beginning a kitchen witch practice? Read on for a few simple tips to start down the path of a more magical meal time.

What is a kitchen witch?

A kitchen witch is an informal term for a witch who emphasizes cooking, food, and meal times in her magical practice.

Generally, she knows kitchen herbs very well, and probably grows some of her own.

And while not every meal she makes is magical or even technically perfect, she considers the sacredness of food in her art.

If this sounds like you, read on for 9 tips on beginning a kitchen witch magical practice.

1.  Take a look around the kitchen.

This probably sounds pretty obvious, but you’d be amazed how often people skip this step before going out to buy all the things.

Have a wooden spoon?  Great.  It’s the quintessential kitchen witch wand.

What about a cast iron pot?  If so, you’ve got a cauldron.  (And there’s all kinds of fun things you can do with that).

And that odd, fancy wine glass that mismatches all the other wine glasses?  That’s your chalice.

By the way . . .

2.  What’s on your spice rack?

Think of your spice rack as a little shelf of potions.

Got any of these?  Try the magical links below for some creative ideas to use these common spices in the art of the kitchen witch.

Basil

Cinnamon

Garlic

Ginger

Peppermint

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

Just about every spice in the kitchen pulses with magical energy.  Start with 10 or 12 spices.  Look up their traditional meanings and write them down in your journal or Book of Shadows for reference.

Then, get to know these 10 or 12 herbs really well.  Know them forwards and backwards before moving on.   It’s better to know 10 herbs (or even 5) in depth than to try to learn 100 without knowing any of them well.

3.  Recognize the sacredness of making a meal.

While food abounds in the modern, developed world, preparing a meal is still an honor.

Food gives life and draws together loved ones.  It nourishes the body and the soul.

As a witch, you are not merely a cook, or even a chef.  In the kitchen, you are a priestess.  Treat your sacred duties with special respect.

Cleanse and consecrate your kitchen tools as any other ritual items.  Do whatever you do.  Charge your wooden spoon in the moon light, wrap your whisk in a black cloth, store your bowls with crystals.  Whatever your magical flare, bring it into the kitchen with you.

4.  Develop a ritual before beginning your meal prep.

The elaborateness and specifics of this ritual should feel personalized.

Perhaps you ritually cleanse your hands and then rub them with olive oil.

Or, light a specific candle before you begin.

Maybe you enjoy relaxing music.

Whatever puts you in the right frame of mind, and creates a distinct “crossing over” from the mundane world to the magical.

5.  Start with recipes you already know.

If spell-oriented kitchen witch recipes intimidate you, start by “witchifying” a recipe you already know well.

For example, if you know how to hot cocoa from scratch, learn the magical properties of chocolate, milk and sugar and design a spell around those ingredients.

Or, you’re a big baker, try learning the basic metaphysical properties of eggs.

Kitchen magic spells work best if they taste yummy and people actually want to eat them!  So feel free to start with the dishes you know your friends and family already love.

6.  Treat family recipes like precious heirlooms.

Your family recipes, especially the ones passed down from generation to generation, are a part of your heritage.

They carry the power of your lineage.  Use them wisely and carefully.

Particularly when you want to call upon your ancestors for assistance, or honor them during the Feast of the Dead, the magic of many hands enchants these recipes.

Ask your older relatives to share with you their favorites or ones that they remember from their childhood.  Particularly if there’s a meal that is special or sacred to your family tradition, really take the time to learn it.  Enjoy the time spent with senior members of your family and let them experience the joy of passing on their knowledge.

7.  The dining table is your altar.

And like a working altar, it requires different dressings at different times.

Perhaps you plan to serve a season meal for a Sabbat.  In that case, seasonal, natural decorations set a lovely mood.  They need not be expensive.  Simply take a walk around your neighborhood or yard.  Summer wildflowers, winter evergreens, fall leaves; choose items freely available and abundant in nature.

Or, maybe you’re planning a romantic dinner for two.  Red or white candles, roses or a vase of cinnamon sticks add to an atmosphere of attraction and romance.

8.  Return to the Earth in thanks.

I encourage you to always compost as part of a lifestyle of natural living.

But particularly when you make food ritually, return any materials appropriate for composting to the earth.  If you don’t keep a compost pile, simply bury them in the garden or the forest.

This simple act reconnects you to the natural world in grace.

Keep your compost pile simple and mundane, or go the extra step of leaving offerings to the spirits of your hearth and home.

9.  Keep a handwritten recipe book.

Okay, you don’t have to do this.  I know for the younger generation, it seems a little old fashioned.

But there is something quiet and intimate about a handwritten book of kitchen witch spells.

Your mother, in her own way, probably did this, and your grandmother almost certainly did (though they may not have considered it especially “magical”).

If you make it even a few months as a kitchen witch, give yourself the gift of a pretty blank book to keep kitchen witch spells in.  You probably have a digital record over every thing else in your life.  Keep your kitchen witch practice close to the hearth and home.

Record your experiments in the kitchen, take notes, draw pictures of herbs.  Make it yours!

Blessed be.