by Louise Heyden

Created on: January 30, 2009   Last Updated: January 31, 2009

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.

From making daily household chores sacred, to blessing cooking with magic and intent, and honouring the Goddess by taking care of hearth and home, kitchen witches truly integrate their path into their everyday lives. There is no need to try and fit in rituals or spell casting when a spare moment is available; kitchen witches live their magic daily, by honouring the Earth and the Goddess with what they do in the home and garden.

Grounded in the magic of the old ways, the kitchen witch is, in kind, a form of hedgewitch, finding magic not only in the kitchen, but in the garden and hedgerows also. Some witches may look down upon the kitchen witch for not learning the Craft formally or following specific rituals and rules for working magic. But this is the magic of the witches of old; the wise men and women of the villages who tended folk with their potions, herbs and recipes. Working with nature and her cycles to make magic in the home and garden connects with an ancient, primeval power that is available to all of us, regardless of whether we have been initiated into a coven or apprenticed to another witch. Of course, much of kitchen witchery does indeed take place in the kitchen. Here, you are likely to find a shrine to the Goddess in one or more of her many forms, usually goddesses of hearth and home such as Demeter, Hestia, Sekhmet or Gaia. When starting out, fledgling kitchen witches are advised to make their kitchens special and meaningful, by thoroughly cleaning and tidying, and creating a kitchen altar with items such as special utensils, a goddess image and daily food offerings, dried herbs and other kitchen-related magical items. It is also a good idea to create an area to sit and contemplate the Craft, such as a pretty table or comfy corner chair.

Utensils and cooking aids should all be conveniently at hand, so a rearrange of the kitchen may also be called for. A love and passion for cooking is what creates delicious and healthful meals, as a meal created with loving intent, and created with fresh (preferably organic) ingredients that have been grown by hand in the garden, will mean so much more and taste so much better. Some of the forms that a kitchen witch's magical cooking might take include using food in a spell or ritual, creating a healing salve from

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