T: yes which is like one of my favorite kitchen magic.
S: Tara is much more of a bread baker than I am. So kitchen witchery is a favorite of both of ours as hearth witches but I would say Tara is more of a kitchen witch than I am but we both use it. it's a very easy way to integrate magic into your daily life. a lot of times we sort of separate the magical from the mundane, you have your ritual space and sort of ritual celebrations and it doesn't really transfer over into daily life and the kitchen is one area that you can really combine the two. and we talked about herbs and oils and other ingredients that can be used in spell work but these can also be used in regular meals to sort of add some magic and the difference between just cooking a regular meal like you normally do throwing things together in a pot and instead creating magic is all about your intent and focus.
we said this before but I do not make every meal a magical one. I wake up at 5:15 in the morning to make breakfast for John, I'm not making magical eggs at 5:15 in the morning, I don't have very nice intent and focus at 5:15 in the morning. For me like you know focus and put contention into it that's just not gonna happen so there are times I just need to make a regular meal but I definitely could, eggs is one of those things that you actually could make it magical if you wanted to.
T: pretty much anything in the kitchen you can make magical if you want to. a lot of kitchen witches I know consider it a sacred space so I think it's easier for them to get in that mindset but even if you don't consider it a sacred space, kitchen witchery is one of the easiest ways to throw some witchery in your life and make things magical
S: so if you want to sort of used kitchen which is your primary mode of witchcraft if you really want to consider yourself a kitchen witch, you probably do you want to start considering your kitchen as a sacred space. It depends of course on your living situation and what your practice is like And you probably can't turn your kitchen into an altar all of the time, but there are a few things that you can do to sort of transform your kitchen into your magical space. like any other part of your house which we will I think a couple episodes from now is house cleansing, your kitchen can also collect unwanted energies, especially if you don't get a lot of sunlight in your kitchen.
So if you have the time it's good to you you know scrub the kitchen top to bottom, if you want to you know start over and completely make a magical space, but if you do not have that sort of time you just went with some temporary methods a good way to sort of balance the energy in your kitchen is declutter I recommend this magical or not we have to remove any sort of visual chaos, got the surfaces and things, do you want to sweep up the crumbs and stuff obviously but sweeping is a good way to that physical motion will get rid of stagnant energy out of the room as well.
T: so I'll do a full sweep and then I use my besom and my mispronouncing I know I am and then I use that to sweep afterwards because again you're not actually sleeping with that but that gets me in the mindset.
S: and you want to open your windows while you do this so the energy can go out. And you could also do you smoke cleansing which will be a big part of what we talk about in House cleansing so will get to that. if you want do you want to clean it and want to set it up as this magical space and you can also decorate it. you can create a sort of like mini altar if you want to do it either on the surface someplace or a Lotta witches do it in front of a dedicated cabinet so when you open that cabinet you see like kind of like what you see on a bigger altar but just checked inside the cabinet.
T: it's kind of cute it is really easy to do and I personally love the little cabinet idea because it's so easy to have it set up and then it's such an easy way to just kind of get that hit up oh I'm ready. it's a lot easier than scrubbing your kitchen top to bottom and also if you are doing a smoke cleanse, don't do it right before you cool. it is important to get the energy in balance before you start but ways you normally do it might not be the best in the kitchen do keep in mind what your plans are
S: but yes there are a lot of things that you can include in sort of your little altar space that really fits well you know into a kitchen the normal things like candles or little statues, cauldron or other tools for your practice would be good to keep in your little witchy cabinets ,and crystals we went over there's so many different ones, potted plants. Kitchen is a good place, especially If you are not only going to use those herbs inside like loos incense of stuff that actually in your cooking. basil is a good one that is for protection and prosperity. rosemary is good for everything and aloe vera is for love success health or cactuses are adorable cacti for protection. ferns attract fairies and spider plants are easy cause they don't need sunlight.
T: so I have quite a few things and I will throw out like if you have a small kitchen because my kitchen is not that large for the space that I live in it's open floor plan so kind of bleeds into the living room and the office area but I actually have a vertical garden so I can grow I think I have 50 plants growing right now and the footprint is only like 2 square feet because it just goes up instead of out so there's a lot of really inventive ways you can do things like that if your kitchen is smaller. There are ones that hang from windows, tons of different ones, they help with energy flow. I recommend looking vertical rather than keeping everything on the counter because then you don't have any space in your counter because I don't have lotta counterspace and I don't have any place for plants.
S: you know that helps with the visual clutter but that also is a way to decorate but in a useful manner
T: mine is white and it matches my cabinets and it's taller than I am so I think things are going on the top but I can't tell you for sure.
S: but yes there are other ways to also decorate and treat it as magical space if you're not a plant person that has a green thumb, there are charms that you can hang, you can burn incense or a candle, diffuse essential oils, again just make sure the scents of things aren't really interfering with what you're cooking. and you can arrange dried herbs in cute little jars that's a very popular way yet to sort of decorate but make it useful and make it feel sort of magical, that like apothecary.
T: I don't have space in my location for it but I think it's adorable.
S: so now that we've gotten into sort of creating a magical space and making the kitchen you know right for you, the next step is actually food magic. how do you how do you do that? so the very first thing obviously is to set your purpose or intention before you prepare the meal. It matters what your intention is. I want to pause to say we've gotten A couple of comments or questions about that and I guess we haven't really like talk about another episode and we say like that your purpose or intention and spellcasting anything like that, you never have to do it out loud. I've gotten that question of like you know what the right words that I need to say or if you are in a broom closet and don't want to, you don't have to say anything out loud, you know what your intention is and if you are thinking it then the universe knows what your intention is. so you don't have to say anything out loud, you don't, I almost never practice out loud, I don't.
T: I only do on the sabbats.
S: I never say anything out loud they're like certain attention that I set like especially you know meditating or if I'm gonna take draw tarot cards and get my head in the right mindset and tell the tarot card my intentions, I say that all in my head.
So set your intention before you Begin preparing any meal but you doesn't have to be out loud. then you would want to select foods and ingredients that are suitable for your intention which is why we went over that with the herbs and things that each have different correspondences and when we talk about the Sabbats we tell you all the different foods associated with that. and you're generally going to you know these intuitively know these kind of things without us telling you, because you know what the differences between sweet foods and spicy foods and the different kind of feelings that they invoke within you when you eat them, that corresponds to magic in the same way.
T: for the Sabbats some thing it's what seasonal. so a lot of times everything is based on being in season or coming into season or that kind of thing, so it's you know you can watch things bloom you know when they're ready
S: And you also want to choose foods that you enjoy. Just because something has a magical association doesn't mean that you should force yourself to eat something you don't like.
T: as we mentioned before like if it doesn't work for you that's fine don't force it.
S: and yes there are a lot of things that are that other people really like that, you know just don't don't work for us like aren't our favorites. Food is the same way just because it has an association you know we associate quash and things with the harvest season and we're getting into you know Lammas, Mabon, and all that stuff and squash associate if you don't like squash, don't eat squash like it's not going to, you're not going to have the same like positive affect that it would have eating something that you like. so don't force yourself to eat things you don't enjoy.
T: Just Because a stranger recommends it doesn't mean you need to eat something especially if your allergic to it.
S: So once you have the things that you would like and they're suitable for your intention of what you wanna do is visualize your intention as you prepare your ingredients. so you know chopping things peeling, when you're heating anything up you just want to visualize the where your intention has manifested. so think ahead to the future and what things are going to be like when your intention has manifested. and just keep that in mind as you are preparing everything.
T: this is a time also and again I have a small kitchen so I like to cast a circle as I'm preparing all the ingredients and getting things ready. I just helps to get into that mindset and really focus my intention and energy into exactly what I'm preparing and why am preparing it.
S: and after that you also want to eat with intention. so when your food is ready continue visualizing that same thing that you did while you were preparing it and visualize that energy of the food transforming into exactly what you want to manifested into. and then of course give it time. so your intentions are to manifest when they are ready to, when you are ready for it it's not gonna happen overnight so just be sure to give it give it time.
T: it's not like the love potion you see on TV where you take a swig and immediately your in love with someone, no.
S: and then we have an episode I don't wanna say coming up it's like 10 episodes from now, but we are going to have you know creating your own spells and then also trouble shootings and one of those is it just takes time.
T: we have had quite a few questions coming into the email about why spells might not be working so hopefully the troubleshooting episode will help a lot with that.
S: So before we get into like the bread side that I got a few tips for magical cooking and also some book recommendations because we always have books. so some quick tips for magical cooking make sure you're in a positive mood when you are working your culinary magic.
T: most kitchen witchery is not negative mostly positive and bolstering.
S: Perform any self care rituals before cooking so meditate, listen to music. make sure that your intention is clear so your universe and your food knows what you want. share your magic, this is it if you are out of the broom closet share your magical intention for the food with anyone who is sharing a meal with you so if I were you know, Tara is going to be here for lammas, so if we are making anything together I would share with her what the intention is and we will probably do something together.
again kitchen witchery is easily incorporated at the Sabbats. so if you were already, you know wanting to celebrate that sort of season, making something magical at that time is a lot easier than just jumping into kitchen witch craft at any other time, that's why we focus on like food and drinks in each of our episodes because it's like a very easy time to do it.
T: it's very easy it's very traditional because a lot of holidays are celebrated by sharing food.
S: Again remember it's not always necessary to look it up ,you are going to know what feels right to you. spicy food is generally protective citrusy food is purifying sweet food is loving and you are going to know these things it'll come to you. and if you have a very specific magical attention and something that is more than one meal may want to consider a magical food diet. so you would keep foods that have similar energies and keep working at it you know through it consistent period of Time because a lot of workings when we want something bigger are going to take a longer amount of time more meals more food so might be worth considering mapping out an entire diet plan to associate with your magical intentions
T: or just incorporate it day today so I blessed some orange citrus supplements and I add them to my water every morning just to make sure my intention is set for the day and my focus is still on, what my working is for, because I know it's gonna take a while to manifest so that's just kind of way day-to-day that I remind myself my purpose and I'm continuing to move towards and put energy towards the casting. so it doesn't always have to be food in the kitchen that you're making.
S: we have a few book recommendations for you so we are going to link these on our website which is www.witchwednesdays.com and corresponding a blog post for this podcast we will link all of these books just to Amazon to make it easier for you to find if you're interested in any of these. so first up is wicca in the kitchen by Scott Cunningham we talked about Scott Cunningham lots of time. he's great so this is if you are a wicca based like tara is this is a very good book for you.
T: Yes he talks a lot about the correlations between the god and goddess and different fruits and vegetables, he's very focused on magical meals so the Sabbats and he does daily life how to make it magic in the kitchen every day.
S: so another good wicca one is called wicca kitchen witchery by Lisa Chamberlain and the wicca cookbook by Jamie Wood and Tara seafelt. So if you are a not a Wiccan t the rest of the resources on this list would be for you, magic in the kitchen by Leandra witchwood, the kitchen which by Soraya we talked about that one episode, a kitchen witches cookbook by Patricia Telesco, Grimoire of the kitchen witch by Rachel Patterson.
T: this one is excellent with instructions so like if you're looking for more detailed instructions on how to like set up your kitchen and different specific recipes to try, Specific stuff like a recipe on how to be a kitchen witch.
S: oh there's also witch in the kitchen by Kate Johnson the book of kitchen witchery by Cerridwen Greenleaf, hearth witchs compendium by Anna franklin, we talked about that too, very detailed and the last one on the list is one pot witchery by Barbara ann dacca.
so let's get into then bread magic. bread magic is not new, a lot of people associate it with England and Europe but it's not, it's time honored it's from cultured all over the world one of those things. all the steps of making bread from scratch can become a spell and then the bread that once it's made and consumed is the vehicle that delivers the actions of that spell. so there are a ton of different superstitions and ways of the bread is incorporated into different cultures. couple of them: so in Scandinavia the superstition is to add some of the dew collected on Midsummer Litha and add that to the bread dough in order to protect the family that resides in the home. in most European cultures it's important to bring bread and salt into a persons home when they first move in as a blessing. and there is an Appalachian superstition that you must pay attention when slicing into a loaf of bread because slicing into a hole in the bRead may bring death. dropping bread on the floor as a sign that a friend will in need will soon show up asking for help. and in many traditions charms are break baked into loaves of bread and and the different charge serve as divination of the future of the person who has taken the piece of bread.
T: this is similar to if anyone's familiar with the Mardi Gras tradition of king cake they bake a small baby charm into the cake and so that kind of the same correlation there.
S:so all over the world bread is important. so it's definitely a magical process and for manifesting a goal bringing protection into your home anything like that so we have a lot of different recipes for ways that we make bread, the main one that I wanted to say that we are also going to put this recipe into the blog post for today's episode is lammas oat bread, it's a very popular one for the Sabbat that is coming up next week of this is like the most popular ones to make for lammas and it's also very easy because there is five ingredients. yeah so it is oatmeal buttermilk flour salt and baking soda which is the easiest bread you can make because it's a little more difficult to work with yeast I think for beginners in breadmaking so when you do oat bread or like Irish soda bread like those are a lot easier because there's no yeast in them.
TL and then so I think she's gonna post that and then I will also ask her to post my recipe which is a quite a bit more complex a lot more ingredients. it's a garlic herbal braid bread. so I love this bread a lot I use rosemary from my own garden, I use dill from my own garden, basil from my own garden I do use yeast which I completely agree for very very beginners I don't recommend you start with yeast based bread it does take watching and it can go awry quite quickly, it's more complicated and then with either bread I love braided bread I think it's delicious and magical and it's amazing because while you're braiding it you have a lot of time to set your intention and focus. I braid bread for every sabbat. It looks very pretty because you have the different herbs on the the different sections so like one bite will have more rosemary one bite will have more dill one bite I will have more basil.
S: I think the tradition of braided bread I mean the they are traditional witchcraft because I there is sort of like knot and stitch witchery is also like a part of it, but I think braided bread in particular is very popular in Wiccan traditions.
T: yes yes it is I learned it from a priestess friend of mine and as she said earlier you can the whole process of making bread could be very magical but the process of braiding the bread that you're making by hand with the intention of sharing with your friends and family and just celebrate the turning season it's just so easy for it to become very magical very quickly and it's soothing. It bakes more evenly because the thickest part isn't on the middle it's on the side because of the way the braid works anyway and then there's air pockets and things so it in the baking very fluffy and nice and I like it a lot.
S: so I'll add it to our website we will share the recipes for both of those with you so if you wanted to bake some lammas bread that you will be able to.
T: I highly recommend that you make some lammas bread it's delicious and I am one thing that I also recommend as you start with a non-yeast like I said yeast can go badly like sometimes if you forget it it starts getting out of the ball and then it attacks your fridge and it will swallow things that are in your fridge near it
S: yes yeast is a living thing as a living thing.
We will share both of those with you so if you want to head to www.witchwednesdays.com those will be there for you by the time you're listening to this. that is all we have this is been a long enough yeah we have so much more to say but that is enough for kitchen magic and breads so the rest will be on the website yes we will see you next week for all about lammas.
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