Kitchen/Cottage Witch Magick

[Tamina]

I'm new however to the concept of truly labeling and putting words to these things. If I may ask, are the ingredients important to most kitchen-witches, or is it more the intention being focused through them? All I know is I tend to be pretty flexible so far with ingredients, sort of classifying them into certain groups but not really narrowing them down any further.

 
I think it depends on the individual. I put a lot of stock into intent, because without it there isn't much left but a handful of herbs and protien.

I wanted to say that Kitchen Witchery isn't just cooking either. I also perform little spells while I'm cleaning, crocheting, sewing, crafting, gardening, decorating and just generally caring for my home. That's why I like the term Hearth Witch, to me it represents not just the Hearth itself but also the things that we do in and around it. Today, we're less likely to sit in front of the fireplace and knit and more likely do do it in front of the television with loved ones or clean while we're having coffee.

I don't want everyone to get caught up in cooking, you can easily clean the negativity from a room with a broom and feather duster and bring prosperity and health with an airfreshner or a blanket you're woven a spell into.

[FollowerofOdin]

I've recently become very interested in Kitchen/Cottage/Hearth Witchery! I was actually talking to a friend of mine and we've both done some research, but I was wondering what your take on the many different names mean?

I've come to the consensus that it's pretty much personal choice. I like the idea of Hearth Witch because the Kitchen is the new Hearth and I'm kinda old fashioned.

I aso love that you've mentioned your Book of Shadows. I'm trying to put my own together, but I'm afraid of my sense of perfection.

 
For me my Book of Shadows has a double use. I'm working on my penmanship because I'm trying to get my GED and if my essay is not readable then I'll fail the entire section. So I'm writing in my Book of Shadows instead of typing entries into my computer BOS so that I can work on that area. I'm still getting use to all the names for this path. Hearth Witch, Kitchen Witch, Green Witch, Hedgewitch. I know that a Kitchen Witch works primarily in the kitchen, while a Green witch works outside, in the garden.

If I have anything wrong, then please correct me. Last Sunday I worked my craft making Beefy Taco Pillows. I poured my intent, which was health, into each ingredient and then added it.  It was a lot of fun, but boy did it drain me. I grabbed a stone that's good for grounding, I think it's red tigers eye, and I felt all that excess stuff being drained out of me. I then cleaned it with cold, running, water, and let it dry naturally.

The magic worked and I feel so much better.

[FollowerofOdin]

I think it depends on the individual. I put a lot of stock into intent, because without it there isn't much left but a handful of herbs and protien.

I wanted to say that Kitchen Witchery isn't just cooking either. I also perform little spells while I'm cleaning, crocheting, sewing, crafting, gardening, decorating and just generally caring for my home. That's why I like the term Hearth Witch, to me it represents not just the Hearth itself but also the things that we do in and around it. Today, we're less likely to sit in front of the fireplace and knit and more likely do do it in front of the television with loved ones or clean while we're having coffee.

I don't want everyone to get caught up in cooking, you can easily clean the negativity from a room with a broom and feather duster and bring prosperity and health with an airfreshner or a blanket you're woven a spell into.

 
I'm starting to do that as well, though I'm confused. I know that Kitchen Witchery, Hearth witches, and so on are not really considered Wiccan. If I'm wrong, correct me. I know that, on Saturday, I muttered a little spell under my breath for protection. I made a tiny protection charm, placing it inside a black bag with some protection herb like Oak. But does Kitchen Witches follow like the magical hours of the day, magical days of the week, and so on.

Or can we just mutter a spell on the fly, as long as we remember what phase of the moon it is?

[Rhyshadow]

I'm starting to do that as well, though I'm confused. I know that Kitchen Witchery, Hearth witches, and so on are not really considered Wiccan. If I'm wrong, correct me. I know that, on Saturday, I muttered a little spell under my breath for protection. I made a tiny protection charm, placing it inside a black bag with some protection herb like Oak. But does Kitchen Witches follow like the magical hours of the day, magical days of the week, and so on.

Or can we just mutter a spell on the fly, as long as we remember what phase of the moon it is?

 
I don't even think that matters. The main thing is that when something is needing to be done, then do it. Don't worry about correspondences - those resulted from a modern need to put everything into nice, neat boxes.

[Darkhawk]

Or can we just mutter a spell on the fly, as long as we remember what phase of the moon it is?

 
Tea boils just the same under the new and full moons.  I cannot think of a reason to care.

[Aspiria]

Tea boils just the same under the new and full moons.  I cannot think of a reason to care.

Are there any decent books on this? I read something similar to this thread the other day and it was like BAM! I really felt a very strong pull towards this. Maybe it was a thwap lol. I haven't felt a strong presence from a deity in a few months and I stopped coming on here due to log in issues. This topic was the first thing to catch my eye. I'm fixin' to go to the book store so I just wondered if there was some reliable reading I could do.

[FollowerofOdin]

I don't even think that matters. The main thing is that when something is needing to be done, then do it. Don't worry about correspondences - those resulted from a modern need to put everything into nice, neat boxes.

 
I was thinking about having a hot plate in my room and cook some of my herbal mixtures there. The kitchen that we have is just too small.

[FollowerofOdin]

Tea boils just the same under the new and full moons.  I cannot think of a reason to care.

 
I'm laughing, but it's true. I think that Wiccans, even though I'm re-learning Wicca, care so much about magical days of the week, planetary hours, and such. My pizza still comes out of the oven the same way on Wednesday during the Waning Phase as it does on Friday during the Waxing Phase.

[Jenett]

I'm laughing, but it's true. I think that Wiccans, even though I'm re-learning Wicca, care so much about magical days of the week, planetary hours, and such. My pizza still comes out of the oven the same way on Wednesday during the Waning Phase as it does on Friday during the Waxing Phase.

There are reasons to care about ritual magic details when one is doing ritual magical practices.

You know how there are different kinds of cooking? Some kinds - making soup, making stew - are relatively flexible: you can add some more of this or some more of that, or less of this, and it's still great food.

Some kinds of magic are more like baking: you're setting off a series of staged chemical reactions, and if you have too much (or too little) yeast, or baking powder, or sugar, or salt, you don't get the desired result.

(You may or may not get an edible result, but getting bread when you wanted cake, or vice versa may also be a problem depending on your goal.)

But if you want a result that can be repeated again and again, and *especially* across multiple people or a span of years, you generally want to be more precise about controlling for variables.

If you're doing work for yourself, or you're doing the work once, and don't care if you reproduce exactly that, or just something close to it that's palatable, then those variables don't matter as much (and you can adjust on the fly.)

Really, though most Wiccans are very specific for some rituals (initiations, say, or really big ritual occasions like Samhain or whatever a tradition's major ritual cycle points are) but other times will be a great deal more flexible.

(In my trad - standard 'some people consider us Wicca, I tend to define us as 'religious witchcraft' footnote here -  we generally glance at the moon cycle and what sign the moon's in for ritual, and may adjust the language a little bit for that, but only look seriously at the astrological details for really high-potential rituals (like initiations, which you only get to do once for a given person for a given degree, so you want to give them the best, least magically confused experience you can.)

[SunflowerP]

I know that Kitchen Witchery, Hearth witches, and so on are not really considered Wiccan. If I'm wrong, correct me.

 
Yes and no - kitchen/hearth witchery aren't inherently un-Wiccan.  Wicca is one sort of religious witchcraft (or, more accurately, a set of several somewhat-related sorts); kitchen/hearth witchery is witchcraft as a craft.  Depending on the individual practitioner, it might or might not also be religious witchcraft, and if it is, it might or might not be of one of the sorts labelled 'Wicca'.

Sunflower

[Tenae]

Are there any decent books on this? I read something similar to this thread the other day and it was like BAM! I really felt a very strong pull towards this. Maybe it was a thwap lol. I haven't felt a strong presence from a deity in a few months and I stopped coming on here due to log in issues. This topic was the first thing to catch my eye. I'm fixin' to go to the book store so I just wondered if there was some reliable reading I could do.

 
My favorite books are those by Ellen Dugan and Deborah Blake, particularly "Cottage Witchery" and "Witchcraft on a Shoestring." Awesome books with lots of real life applications!

I don't want everyone to get caught up in cooking, you can easily clean the negativity from a room with a broom and feather duster and bring prosperity and health with an airfreshner or a blanket you're woven a spell into.

This is so true! Cottage witchery is about so much more than cooking - you can do just about anything with it. It's so related to everyday life.

[TylerJade]

I think one of the things I love about kitchen/cottage witchery is just the simplicity - if you understand magickal correspondences and your oven temperature, you're pretty much golden. Are there any other kitchen witches on here? I'd love to chat!

 

Darling, I do believe you and I could be great friends. I've been a Kitchen Witch (though in all honesty I practice all kinds of hearth and home magick) since before I knew there was such a thing. I love food. LOVE. And I feel like my faith IS my everyday life, rather than just a facet of it, which is one of the convenient and appealing things about kitchen witchery. Pray whilst you cook, whilst you water your plants, vacuum your carpet, wash your pets, etc. etc. ad nauseam. I'm an unmarried housewife, a homemaker with a purpose. I love me.

[Tenae]

Darling, I do believe you and I could be great friends. I've been a Kitchen Witch (though in all honesty I practice all kinds of hearth and home magick) since before I knew there was such a thing. I love food. LOVE. And I feel like my faith IS my everyday life, rather than just a facet of it, which is one of the convenient and appealing things about kitchen witchery. Pray whilst you cook, whilst you water your plants, vacuum your carpet, wash your pets, etc. etc. ad nauseam. I'm an unmarried housewife, a homemaker with a purpose. I love me.

 
Sounds to me like we could definitely be great friends! It's always great to 'meet' people who think similarly to ourselves. I love me too!

[chworkman]

I think it depends on the individual. I put a lot of stock into intent, because without it there isn't much left but a handful of herbs and protien.

I wanted to say that Kitchen Witchery isn't just cooking either. I also perform little spells while I'm cleaning, crocheting, sewing, crafting, gardening, decorating and just generally caring for my home. That's why I like the term Hearth Witch, to me it represents not just the Hearth itself but also the things that we do in and around it. Today, we're less likely to sit in front of the fireplace and knit and more likely do do it in front of the television with loved ones or clean while we're having coffee.

I don't want everyone to get caught up in cooking, you can easily clean the negativity from a room with a broom and feather duster and bring prosperity and health with an airfreshner or a blanket you're woven a spell into.

 
These are all so great to read!  I am so glad to find others like myself!  Cleaning, sewing, crocheting, gardening etc. are all things that my husband and myself just thrive on.  We consider ourselves along the lines of Hedge Witch/Green Witch, but I am thinking they are along the same lines as all of you wonderful Kitchen/Hearth Witches!  They all seem to be so close and have so much in common.  The more I find about all of you like me, the happier I feel each day!  I also have a strong respect, if that's the right word,(my mind's drawn a blank!) for Odin, as well as the Green Man, and I have a pure love for the outdoors and everything our beautiful Earth gives to us.    As far as the cooking, well, that's just part of it, as so many have already said!  Is there anyone else as far as Hedge Witch or Green Witch that can relate like me?  Or am I just being crazy??  Maybe they are just names of the same thing!!! lol

[TylerJade]

I also have a strong respect, if that's the right word,(my mind's drawn a blank!) for Odin, as well as the Green Man, and I have a pure love for the outdoors and everything our beautiful Earth gives to us.    As far as the cooking, well, that's just part of it, as so many have already said!  Is there anyone else as far as Hedge Witch or Green Witch that can relate like me?  Or am I just being crazy??  Maybe they are just names of the same thing!!! lol

I too talk to the Green Man, though sometimes he is the Horned God. As for the Goddess, well, she is the air we breathe, the grass we walk upon, the water we drink. She just is.
Hedge witchery and Green magick are all a part of what I do as well, though I wouldn't say that's my specialty or focus. I do love plants though, so every year I grow a modest garden, eagerly await the flowers to come up from last year, and compulsively sniff and snip my herbs, dreaming about recipes to use them in.