Kitchen Witchery

[Kendrah]

I am looking for what a kitchen witch is, in your opinion. I've heard that it's working with "low" magic, or when you cook, or the knowledge of herbs and oils, or root magic, or a combination of all that. In my recent acqisition of a place of my own, and my budding cooking fun, I've started to put more into things... And now kitchen witchery is looking mighty fasinating to me. So, I want to learn more.

Thanks ya'll's!

[Ninjakitten]

I don't know a lot, but from my understanding (including a lack of knowledge of "low" magic vs. "high" magic), it is putting intent into everything you do in the kitchen at it's basic level. When you cook food, you are magically putting intent of the food into providing proper nourishment to the people that are to eat it. When you use spices and herbs, you use their magical properties and enhance them with your intent as you add them to your food to produce effects that you want (kind of like why you would use certain ingredients in incense then burn it during ritual). When you use herbs, you use their healing properties to sustain the health of the people eathing them.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not a kitchen anything, much less a kitchen witch. This is just my limited understanding of kitchen witchery.

[Crimson Mage]

A "Kitchen Witch" is one that works primarily with herbs, essences, and oils. It isnt really about food as much as it is about tinctures, potions, and herbal blends that are used for different purposes, primarily medicinal ones. Kitchen Witchery tends to be classified as "low magic".
High Magic and Low Magic were defined by the High Magic Practioners -- they defined High Magic as the magic used in Ritual or that magic used to communicate with higher powers. They wanted what they do segregated in some way from the "potion makers"

[PoisonIvy]

I'm not sure what the dictionary definition is,but I can tell ya what I do.
I practice most of my magick in the kitchen. My main altar is also in my kitchen.
I put my magickal intentions in my cooking using different herbs and oils and thoughts. Food can work just as well as a potion.

I've never heard of kitchen witchery being "low magick" before. When I do my magick,it's always the "highest" that it can be and pretty powerful,I might add!
Who says that you can't do rituals in the kitchen?

I do my spells in the kitchen,I grow my own herbs,I make potions,I have knowledge of herbs and I use herbs for everything. I am a healer,I make medicines,poultices and salves,actually I do a little bit of everything I suppose.

I am at my best when I'm at my stove or the kitchen sink.
I LOVE MY KITCHEN!!!

I am all about the home,hearth and family. People in my family are at their best in the kitchen,eating,laughing,just having a good time and that seems to be the room that we gravitate to when we have a gathering.:cheers:

[Kendrah]

I've never heard of kitchen witchery being "low magick" before. When I do my magick,it's always the "highest" that it can be and pretty powerful,I might add!
Who says that you can't do rituals in the kitchen?

Well, high and low is defined by ceremonialists and some such. High being very scripted and ceremonial and low being nothing of that sort.

[wolfjan1]

Well, high and low is defined by ceremonialists and some such. High being very scripted and ceremonial and low being nothing of that sort.
Is there division and derisiveness even here?
ANY magick that works is high magick. Light or dark purposes, in the kitchen or out, magick is magick.
Kitchen magick is SO positive. Light magick, if you please. To heal or help heal. To cleanse, to work for positivity and light is a ritual in itself. A ceremony for a positive energy. We ALL need that so very desperately.
Can we please work together for the rights of all our community to do their own magick? Judgmentalism has no place here.
The rule of threefold applies and every action has it's consequence. This is what this community and the laws of karma have taught me.
Blessed be
(edited for spelling one time)

[Kendrah]

Is there division and derisiveness even here?
ANY magick that works is high magick. Light or dark purposes, in the kitchen or out, magick is magick.

Um, no. That's wrong. Magic is magic, but there is a distinction between ceremonial kinds of magic and folk magics. I'm not making up the distinction. *shrugs*

I don't care about labels anyway. Doesn't change what works... "Low" to me isn't derogitory.

[wolfjan1]

OK, so while I did not mean to offend anyone, I did not see the distinction.
Since I am so very new in here, I am trying to learn certain new things.
Thank you for listening to my opinion without angry words. Your constructive correction is appreciated.

[ObsessedFae86]

I too am interested in Kitchen Witchery..I love to make oils, candles, soaps, incense, things of that nature..but I don't cook very well..

[Londubh]

Kendrah, kitchen witchery is just low magic. Your pots and pans are your cauldron. Your kitchen knives are your athame. You don't need to put on your robe, and consecrate the kitchen, and cast a circle everytime you want to do something. You just simply do your thing.


And Kendrah is right, low magic isn't a deragatory term. It is generally used to distinguish between folk type magical practises vs. ceremonial type magic. Calling quarters, casting a circle, etc. are elements of high magic. Using stones, herbs, sympathetic magic, etc. are usually elements of low magic. Wicca usually falls somewhere between low and high magic.

[Heart of Isis]

I am looking for what a kitchen witch is, in your opinion. I've heard that it's working with "low" magic, or when you cook, or the knowledge of herbs and oils, or root magic, or a combination of all that. In my recent acqisition of a place of my own, and my budding cooking fun, I've started to put more into things... And now kitchen witchery is looking mighty fasinating to me. So, I want to learn more.

Thanks ya'll's!


IMO, I think it may be all of the above. I think it may be aspects.
Yes, it can be "low magick". However, personally I also believe it's energy. In other words, when I'm cooking (and yes, I am a high level cook now, but wanting to learn more and practice certain skills more with personal instruction someday), I put energy into the dishes I make. I put happy/positive energy into what I am cooking or sometimes comforting energy or whatever I feel. I find it does enhance the dish.

Cheers,

Heart of Isis

[Crimson Mage]

I think I need to explain my earlier post in a bit more detail.....

In defining High and Low Magic, it is not a matter of "low" meaning "lesser". When Ceremonialists were trying to segregate themselves and differentiate what they did from what others did, they came up with the idea that High Magic was what they did (High being defined as ceremonial - as in ritual in nature, as in dealing in the "spiritual plane" exclusively).
They defined "Low Magic" as Magic using things such as herb mixtures, tinctures, brews, potions, etc (call it primarily of the "physical plane" - you can touch an herb, touch an oil, etc etc). Now of course even what they described as being "Low Magic", has ritual parts to it, but what they were trying to say is that what they did had Ritual as the Primary aspect.

Although personally I believe all magic to be "High", this was the method they used in trying to say "my Magic is different than yours" -- a way to differentiate themselves. Unfortunately you will find a great many Ceremonialists (not all to be sure- but a lot), who will tell you that theirs is the only "real magick".

Understand please, as with a lot of other things, there is no TRUE definition of a "Kitchen Witch". There's no hard and fast rules or qualifications. Think of the idea of a white collar worker and a blue collar worker. You SORT OF know what they are, right? But there's no REAL definition thats black and white -- you are or you arent, and its all a matter of perception in the eyes of the person viewing it. The same thing applies here. High and Low arent used to mean better or lesser, although some ceremonialists will say differently and think their Magic is somehow "better" than that of the Witch who deals with herbs and oils.

In the end, it would be much better if people came to the realization that ALL Magic is equally sacred -- unfortunately that isnt always the case, and there will always be those who think what they do is somehow more significant, or of a higher purpose.

The best explanation I can give as to what a Kitchen witch is - is perceptual at best. Picture in your mind a Witch working in a cauldron, or with a mortar/pestle....making up an herb mixture, or some kind of brew, in order to heal an ailment or solve some other problem. Is that what you primarily do for yourself or for others? If the answer is yes, it doesnt matter what ROOM you do it in, or where your altar is- you are doing what most would consider to be the work of the Kitchen Witch.

[juliaki]

Very proud to be a kitchen witch (and blessed to be living with another kitchen witch), and what we do would be classified as low magick. No heavy-handed invocations. No complex formulae. And most of what we do is based on intuition instead of research.

Now we do have a bit of a mixture between traditional methods and non-traditional methods. In the kitchen, we have a dedicated cooking altar. It is a baker's rack that has been "properly prepared" for use as an altar...and is is only used for ritual cooking or preparing of foods for specific purposes. (Regular dinner gets prepared elsewhere.)

My boyfriend (a bread witch) has specific ritual cooking tools--there is one bowl that he uses to have the bread rise in. He has a set of measuring cups that are only for his ritual cooking. For lack of a better term, I'm a pastry witch. I bake cakes, cookies, my oh-so-sacred brownies, and dishes of that nature.

Our techniques are very different. For him, he works his magick by feeling the dough and working it with his hands. I work by scent and touch. I can smell something and determine what needs to be added. He works from recipes, mostly, and puts energy into it that way. I'll find a recipe and then randomly go around the kitchen grabbing whatever I feel needs to be added. He measures precisely to bring about desired results and then tweaks at the end to get what feels right. I rarely measure ingredients...especially with spices and extracts.

We both take our cooking extremely seriously, however. We have made foods specifically for ritual purposes and are getting a bit of famousness about our cooking for healing people. We also make sure that when we make something special, a plate goes out for the house spirits.

One thing that he's been focused on lately (and also me to a lesser extent, since it is something I've done all along) is making ancestral foods....foods that our ancestors would/did cook.

And for Yule, I ended up getting him a couple additions to the kitchen. I wrote a blessing for the kitchen and had it framed and made him an official "kitchen witch" apron. Now I just need to make me one of those and get a banner ready for us to put up outside our cook tent at the next festival.

[Amber Wynd]

I define myself as a kitchen witch, although I practice ceremonial magic as well as make potions, soap, candles, incense, and work with herbs, etc. The previous post made me smile. A lot. My specialty is making soup, and I think I'll refer to myself as a Soup Witch from now on.

[Cryptic]

I am also into Kitchen Witchery and still learning. I've read that it is a way of life rather than a religion/path. Every Kitchen Witch will vary because each person may do what they feel is best for them in the home. Kitchen Witchery is also known as Hedge Witchery. Kitchen/Hedge Witches believe their home, hearth, and kitchen are sacred. They strive to put positive energies in the food they cook and wipe out negative energies fromt he home by cleaning and casting some spells.

Kitchen/Hedge Witchery is less of rituals and ceremonies, however some still do some of these. Again, it is different fro each person. I especially like the idea of having the four elements around the home: earth, air, fire, and water. For earth, place some plants around the house; for air, incense or the fragrance a candle may throw should suffice; fire, a candle is nice; and for water, you can get a small little fountain or instead a fish tank. Another thing I've read is the purpose of Kitchen/Hedge Witchery is to keep the house clean and make it a comfortable and loving environment for your yourself and family, as well as guests.

[treefae]

Very proud to be a kitchen witch (and blessed to be living with another kitchen witch), and what we do would be classified as low magick. No heavy-handed invocations. No complex formulae. And most of what we do is based on intuition instead of research.

Now we do have a bit of a mixture between traditional methods and non-traditional methods. In the kitchen, we have a dedicated cooking altar. It is a baker's rack that has been "properly prepared" for use as an altar...and is is only used for ritual cooking or preparing of foods for specific purposes. (Regular dinner gets prepared elsewhere.)

My boyfriend (a bread witch) has specific ritual cooking tools--there is one bowl that he uses to have the bread rise in. He has a set of measuring cups that are only for his ritual cooking. For lack of a better term, I'm a pastry witch. I bake cakes, cookies, my oh-so-sacred brownies, and dishes of that nature.

Our techniques are very different. For him, he works his magick by feeling the dough and working it with his hands. I work by scent and touch. I can smell something and determine what needs to be added. He works from recipes, mostly, and puts energy into it that way. I'll find a recipe and then randomly go around the kitchen grabbing whatever I feel needs to be added. He measures precisely to bring about desired results and then tweaks at the end to get what feels right. I rarely measure ingredients...especially with spices and extracts.

We both take our cooking extremely seriously, however. We have made foods specifically for ritual purposes and are getting a bit of famousness about our cooking for healing people. We also make sure that when we make something special, a plate goes out for the house spirits.

One thing that he's been focused on lately (and also me to a lesser extent, since it is something I've done all along) is making ancestral foods....foods that our ancestors would/did cook.

And for Yule, I ended up getting him a couple additions to the kitchen. I wrote a blessing for the kitchen and had it framed and made him an official "kitchen witch" apron. Now I just need to make me one of those and get a banner ready for us to put up outside our cook tent at the next festival.
very nice!

[Vincent Verthaine]

Unfortunately, many practicioners of "High Magic" do feel superior to evderyone else.Thats the danger of letting one group define what magic is.
Many discordian/chaos mages refuse to define magic in terms of high or low.
Rather,we use 8 different colors,each a different aspect of magic,and representing the 8 tines of a Chaos Star.

Purple : sexuality, intuition, emotion, subconscious, Foundation
Red : war, Will, fortitude, power, Strength
Orange : intellect, logic, science, innovation, Splendor
Blue : wealth, abundance, values, expansion, Mercy
Green : relationships, self-esteem, sensuality, pleasure, Victory
Black : death, discipline, transformation, dark feminine, Understanding
Yellow : illumination, charisma, harmony, self, Beauty
Octarine : great work, transcendence, logos, the path, Wisdom

61183

[Vincent Verthaine]

I know I'm making magic when I am behind the line cooking at my resturant.
I wonder if that makes me a kitchen mage( no offense,I refuse to call my self a witch) also.Never really gave it much thought till now.
I wonder if there are any chefs here who feel the same way.