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When it comes to kitchen magic (or really witchcraft in general), people get too hung up in correspondences, esp when first starting out. And I think focusing too heavily on correspondences is what ends up making people feel like they cant advance their craft.
In my opinion part of it is "you need to make your own correspondences". Sure some rosemary in a stew might work for healing or purification, but do you also associate the herb that way? I think of my beautiful rosemary bushes over the years, tying and drying their branches, the beautiful scent, previous spells I have done. It feels me with a certain feeling of safety that I can then channel into my work.
When it comes to cooking, I feel like it's a lot of energy work. All spell work incorporates our energies in some way, I especially feel it with cooking. Your hands and cooking tools are vessels to transfer your energy. You transfer your energy when you knead bread, cut veggies, wash the rice, stir the soup, you get the idea. Yes you can focus on a specific mantra, but the point is you don't always have to do that. You using your energy to change ingredients into something new, something nourishing for the body, is magic in and of itself.
I also use my energy to charm my tools instead of individual meals/drinks. A special tea cup charmed with a spell to bring me relaxation doesn't need me to do a small spell or mantra every time I make a cup of tea (because I would forget to do that anyways). Instead it holds the calming energies I have already given it until I feel it needs to be charged again. A favorite soup stirring spoon is going to spread my love to every meal I make using it just because it has picked up my own energy throughout its use.
I think just accepting the magic of the everyday and of your energy is esp important for those of us who feel like we have less spoons. Me cooking uses enough of my precious energy, but it's something I do out of love and because I enjoy it. That's where the real magic is.
Since we are having guests over for the first time ever, I really want the house to feel…inviting and cozy and warm. SO! I decided to craft a little simmer pot to get those juices flowing!
2 Lemons, peeled and sliced (for cleansing, and for joy)
Roughly 2 TBSP of Rosemary (for Love, protection and peace)
3 TBSP Lavender (Love, happiness, comfort)
Pinch of Sea Salt (for cleansing and purifying)
So, just combine these all in a small pot, fill it with water, and bring it to a boil. Then reduce heat and let it simmer however long, adding more water when it gets low.
PRO-TIP- Don’t throw away those lemon peels!! You can dry them and use them for witchcraft! You can soak them in salt to make Lemon Salt!! You can candy them and eat ‘em!
Those two mists can be used to give your flat a quick and easy cleanse.
What you will need:
2 spray bottles (as you can see, recycling old ones works just fine), alternatively you can also put the mixture in a mug and spritz it around with your hands. Ingredients for your cleansing botlle like salt, rosemary, basil, sage or whatever you like best. Just keep in mind that salt leaves stains, I simply went over everything with a damp cloth. This also helped to remove dust and other stains obviously. Ingredients for your second bottle like lavender, orange zest, rose petals or any other smell you really like. I used lavender to spread a calm and relaxing feeling and to kind of settle everything down. I did not combine everything in one bottle because cleansing and preparing my home are two seperate steps for me. If this is not important to you, then just put it all in one bottle.
While I was applying the first spray and cleaning all the surfaces I imagined old and harmful memories or emotions to vanish. Things that were only a burden were supposed to disappear as i wiped over the desks and cupboards.
After I was done with the whole room I used the second mist. I applied it it everywhere and just sprayed it across the whole room, sometimes in a clockwhise motion, thinking of a calming and relaxing envivroment.
That’s it.
Many witches incorporate physically cleaning their space as part of how they cleanse the energy of their space, but most tips out there involve sweeping or adding ingredients to mop water or to surface cleansers. But I have carpets! (and simply vacuuming just didn’t feel like enough).
So, my ingredients are for cleansing, healing, and peace:
Rose
Lavender
Rosemary
Pink Salt
Bay Leaf
Chamomile
Eucalyptus
Cinnamon
Fine Salt
I ground that up in my food processor, but a mortar and pestle works really well too! I just had too much shoulder pain to mess with that lol
Then I added that to baking soda and cornstarch, which help to eliminate odors and lift stains/grease/grossness. I wish I had the measurements but I just poured it in until it seemed right…
Mixed it up really well and ended up with something like that ^ then I added oils with similar properties (here I will specify that the oils I use are herbal infused oils that I get from a small mompop Indian market, not essential oils). Just a couple drops of each, or else the powder will clump up too much:
Lemon oil
Peppermint oil
Rosemary oil
Lemongrass oil
Lavender oil
Eucalyptus oil
Mix all of that up, and then spread it over your carpet. I tried poking holes in the lid of my jar, but that didn’t spread as easily as using my hands. Lightly tossing it to spread it over the carpet also allowed me to be more involved in my intent. Leave the powder on your carpet for about an hour, and then vacuum it up!
Lately I have been very fascinated with fire cooking, and the potential for spellwork using the fire, pan and food itself. The advantage here is the consumption of the spell; you can put people under your control, empower them, weaken them, heal them, by having them literally put the magic inside them and carry it around with them so you dont have to snoop around hunting for taglocks for malefic curses or have the disadvantage of somebody needing to carry a protective charm on them which they may be likely to lose.
I was heavily inspired by a post made by @/qedavathegrey detailing the practical similarities between witchery and cooking. I cook frequently over a fire so I was wondering if I could lay a trick over bread or pastries using fire. So anyway:
First you need to know how to cook over a fire. I dont fuck with charcoal briquettes! And a lot of potency from the spell can come from the type of wood you use. For example:
Apple or sugar maple wood for love workings
Mulberry wood for spells intended to make others obey you
Cedar wood for ancestor work
Oak wood for jovian and abundance work
Pine wood for protection and empowerment/healing anxiety
And so on. In these types of spells I would use fires from materials that are as natural as possible. In some places "living fire" or fire that you started by rubbing two sticks together is very powerful in spellwork. I don't know about you but I am absolutely not able to start a fire by doing that, so if you cannot start the fire like so I would at least breath on it to stoke the fire. While making the fire you can also raise a lot of energy -- it's a pain in the ass so making a fire while pissed off can't hurt for a curse.
Also if you don't have a bunch of different types of firewood at your disposal, you can also add things to the existing fire to help it power the spell. For example, herbs, objects and things such as written psalms, sigils, tarot cards and playing cards can be thrown in. One possible method for herbs close with water could be to gather the herbs, wet them, and put them into tinfoil with holes poked in it so that it is constantly steaming as the fire is burning. (this also keeps bugs away. :) Around the area that you are starting the fire, you could also draw a circle in the dirt for extra protection during the spell. The whole idea is to enchant the fire so that whatever you cook with it will also be tricked.
When you're actually cooking the food, it takes a little while to adjust to using a fire so i would give it a few tries. I always use my cast iron cauldron, and you ALWAYS cook over the coals unless you're like boiling water or something. Don't fall for the cute little larpy pictures of people cooking over the high flames! You'll end up with half of your food burnt to shit, half of it ice cold and ALL of your pan completely black and charred.
Also you don't really want the coals to touch the bottom. Because it will burn. It just gets way too hot. My cauldron has little legs to keep it high up but if yours doesn't you'll want to suspend it from a chain or prop it up between 3 rocks, maybe a little metal grill.
If you're cooking soup or frying something you just need coals on the bottom, but if you're making bread or cake you'll want to actually preheat the cauldron like it's an oven, and shovel coals on the lid too. My bread keeps getting burnt on the bottom so maybe put more coals on the top. Bread holds up pretty well to cooking over a fire actually, in my opinion because it's wild and temperamental just like that fire.
And, once you're done cooking, if you laid a malefic curse over the food you can also save the salt used to clean the cast iron for future curses. :)
Anyway here are a few possibilities!
Blessing/Protection Strawberry Pie (for safety and ease at sea)
Start a fire from pine wood. Into the fire, put herbs St John's Wort, Angelica root, Hawthorn, Blackberry thorns etc you favorite combination of empowerment and luck herbs with "fuck off" herbs. To tailor it for protection at sea i will also be adding psalm 64 and swallow feathers.
It's for one person so we'd be making a mini tart, let's say strawberry rhubarb because of strawberries being sweet and lucky. You could also use blackberry for its protection. Or any medley of berries. Into the tart you can also slip some powdered/tinctured st johns wort, chamomile, etc lucky or soothing EDIBLE herbs. maybe not too much to change the flavor? but funny tasting witch tarts seem to be part of the charm LOL
So to cook a small tart you'll need a small pie tin, and you'd need to preheat the oven itself to about 350 fahrenheit. Maybe lift it off the bottom so it won't burn. You can blind bake the pie crust if you want. Its small so i would put the pie crust in with the filling, brush with egg and sprinkle some sugar, and cook for 15 minutes.
When it's done, you can whisper psalm 64 over it or what corresponds with your intention, and whoever eats it will be protected.
Otnovo --
Good Old Fashioned Love Spell Bread
This one is folksy and not a hundred percent ethical but it's just for educational purposes and I'm not your mom so. Make a fire from apple wood or maple wood. To this fire add sunflower petals, apple peels, orange peels, rose petals and ferns.
In the bread, if you can, mash in a (whole, fresh) mole heart in the liquid, maybe make it a beer bread to mask the meat flavor, or maybe make it stuffed bread and mix the mole heart with spiced pork or chicken, it's all up to you! If you don't have mole meat just lying around you can add coriander to the bread and similar love herbs and spices (take care that it doesnt taste like shit)
Preheat the oven by shoveling coals underneath but mostly on the lid and let it be for 15 minutes. It should be about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the bread in, cook it for 20 minutes, and give to the person you are interested in.
Those two were examples so let me know how they work if you do them, obviously this method heavily depends on what you have accessible to you so just use what you got! Happy spellwork :)
Witch tip:
Winter season is upon us, which means that these types of candle holders in the shape of a tiny house will be sold as Christmas decoration again. These are amazing as home wards, to bring warmth and joy to the home, and for protection spells!
- Paint protective symbols on them or in them - charge the tealight you put in there with protection magic or magic for a happy home - choose tealights (or make them) with scents that you associate with protection or cozyness/happiness - lay a wreath around it as a symbol of your protective ward, for example a small wreath made of rosemary, or a plain metal (iron) one - you could even lay a circle of salt around it - charge the candle to become your hearth, the basis of all magics to be worked for the home - also good for working with hearth deities such as Hestia - also can be used as a house for a servitor created to protect the home - paint it in happy colours to attract joy and happiness to your home - instead of a candle, fill it with herbs, crystals, and other symbols to attract magic into your home (sort of like an open spelljar or an altar) - use it as a focus when working with the "spirit" or "soul" of your home - charge it specifically to eliminate strife and negativity within the home during the holidays
The possibilities are endless!
1.) CLEANSING AIR SPRAY
Your first and most simple way to cleanse without smoke would be to make a salt water solution (Fresh Salt Water from a Beach is a big Plus! Or reuse that snow/ Rain Water)
Simply mix the salt to your water until it dissolves fully.
Essential Oils are completely optional, Make your solution your own this is nearly a “base” Recipe but also very effective on its own.
Spray all around your Home, Altar, Car, Body to clear the congested energy.
2.) STEAM CLEANSING AND FLOOR WASH
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ OPTION ONE ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~
Boil water, And Add herbs that work with the intention of your cleanse.
Sage- Clears ALL energys
Sweet Grass- Think “Sweet” promotes love
Rosemary- Love, Cleansing, Protection, Money Your all purpose herb
Cinnamon: Protection, Love
Lavender: Peace, Tranquility, Happiness
Cloves: Exorcizing, Banishing negativity
Rue: Exorcizing, Expelling, Hex Breaking
Chamomile: Keeping, And Promoting peace, Happiness
Basil: Luck
Angelica Root: Protection against Malevolent spirits
(Research different herbs, Mix and Match to make YOUR Perfect blend)
Boil all of of your herbs together, Until you get a rich, Dark Color. Use this time to “add” Your intentions and energy’s into your mixture. Make your magic Happen! Take the pot and “Smudge” with the steam. All nooks, All cranny’s, All corners, All Rooms.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Now here is your “Second Option“ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ONCE THE MIXTURE HAS REACHED ROOM TEMPERATURE use your decoction as a Floor Wash. You can add any detergents, Or Fragrances at this time
Clean all your floors, Base boards, Window Sills, What ever feels right, Although I would always start with the Floor.
(You may want to dilute in clean water, As some herbal mixes can stain)
This gives your Home Cleansing some extra OOMPH
You can dispose of your mixture Naturally, Outside, Or down the drain, Its up to you. This is an eco friendly solution.