Homemade Pasta Is My Latest Cooking Obsession.

Magic vs. Medicine?

People who believe in witchcraft know there are things in this world that science cannot explain. Many witches also believe in the healing power of nature. Because of this, there tends to be a lot of overlap between witchcraft and alternative healing.

Some alternative healing modalities, like herbal supplements, crystals, and essential oils, are incredibly popular with witches because they align so well with a magical worldview. And that can be a beautiful thing. If you find that taking CBD oil or diffusing lavender makes you feel good and gives you a sense of empowerment, then it absolutely has a place in your life.

The problem is that alternative healing (and, by extension, magic as a whole) is often framed as being in competition with conventional medicine. It’s presented as an “either/or” — either you believe in doctors and medicine, or you believe in energy healing and herbal supplements. This is not realistic, and it may even put people in danger.

The irony of this is that the first witches were also the first doctors. In Ancient Egypt, doctors would invoke the gods to imbue medicine with healing power, or curse a disease to make it leave a patient — these approaches were paired with actual medicine. In medieval Europe, witches and cunningfolk were the keepers of medical knowledge and would often serve as healers.

Even today, most pharmaceutical medications are made from naturally occurring ingredients. For example, antibiotics are synthesized from bacteria and fungi. These medications are not less natural than the medicine people used hundreds or thousands of years ago, but they are more refined thanks to modern technology. Rather than trading a natural remedy for an artificial one, you’re often just taking a more effective form of the same substance.

Personally, I like to use magic and alternative remedies to treat symptoms, but use medication to treat the underlying cause of the problem. If I have bronchitis, I might drink echinacea tea and diffuse eucalyptus essential oil, but I’m also going to take a full course of antibiotics to kill the infection.

Likewise, if I’m having a bad mental health day, I might take a bath with lavender or do some energy healing on myself, but I’m also probably going to call my therapist and continue taking my prescribed antidepressants.

Some witches have a lot of resistance to therapy, psychiatric care, and psychoactive medications. I’ve heard every possible argument, from “psychoactive meds lower your vibration/block your psychic abilities/dull your ability to feel energy!” to “if you tell a therapist you believe in magic, they’re going to think you’re crazy!” These arguments are completely false, plain and simple.

I’m a better witch when I’m in therapy and on my meds, because I’m a better person when I’m in therapy and on my meds. I’m better able to focus, set goals, and be aware of my body, which are all important skills in magic. I have no doubt that if I wasn’t doing what I need to do to keep myself stable, my mental health would suffer for it.

Good therapists know the importance of religion and spirituality, and they will respect your beliefs. No matter what your beliefs, a good faith-affirming therapist or counselor is always a good idea.

Your therapist is not going to think you’re crazy if you tell them you can astral travel, or talk about an experience with a pagan deity. What they will do is let you know if your experiences are outside the realm of healthy spirituality, and give you guidance on how to keep yourself safe if this is the case.

The truth is, whether we want to talk about it or not, not everyone who sees angels or talks to fairies is having a genuine spiritual experiences. As many as 63.3% of delusions in schizophrenia patients are religious in nature. If we are going to encourage people to seek out direct experiences of the spiritual, we also need to inform them on how to recognize when those experiences aren’t healthy or are not grounded in reality.

Psychosis refers to any experience that is not grounded in reality, including hallucinations (false sensory experiences) and delusions (false beliefs). Psychosis is not a mental disorder, but can be a symptom of many different disorders. It can also be an isolated incident in someone who may not usually experience breaks from reality.

Som if someone claims to have been visited by Isis, or Cernunnos, or the Virgin Mary, how do we know if they’re describing a genuine spiritual experience or a psychotic episode?

First of all, look at context. If someone claims to see angels or to be the reincarnation of a god immediately after taking drugs, after pulling an all-nighter, or while running a high fever (all potential causes of psychosis), they may be disconnected from reality and may need medical attention. On the other hand, if you know this person to be stable, sober, and well adjusted, they may very well be describing a genuine spiritual encounter.

Second, look at the actual experience. Is it consistent with the person’s existing beliefs? Is it consistent with experiences other people have had within the same belief system? Is this person clearly able to differentiate between this experience and the “real world,” or is the experience taking over their daily life? Answering these questions can help determine whether mental health intervention might be needed.

Finally, as a general rule, if you have an experience that scares you, makes you feel like you are in danger, or makes you feel compelled to hurt yourself or someone else, you should get a second opinion from a trained mental health professional.

As members of the witchcraft community, we have a responsibility to look out for other members of the community — and that includes being willing to say something if we believe someone genuinely needs medical help. Science and spirituality are not opposed, and they can coexist. Being a witch doesn’t mean rejecting science, and believing in science doesn’t mean rejecting magic. A healthy dose of skepticism goes a long way in keeping your magical practice safe, productive, and empowering.

Resources:

The Dream podcast, season two

New World Witchery podcast, “Episode 65 — The Slender Man Discussion”

Inside Schizophrenia podcast, “Psychosis in Schizophrenia”

The Savvy Psychologist podcast, “302 — Chemtrails, Aliens, and Illuminati — The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories”

Dried orange slices = Mini Solstice Suns The perfect decoration for a Yule Log. Here’s a way to dry some for our event this Saturday! https://www.thehappierhomemaker.com/diy-dried-orange-slices/ Event invite: https://facebook.com/events/2455125771377780/ #InnerCircleSanctuary #ICSEvent #Wicca #witchcraft #Yule #YuleLogs #crafting #solstice #WinterSolstice https://www.instagram.com/p/B5q1ArGndfb/?igshid=utay482dm2zp

September seasonal produce 🍎

💰Abundance Pesto💰

Here is a recipe that is dear to my heart. I’ve been doing it for years and it has always attracted me the liitle extra that I would need in difficult times!

✨Ingredients

75g basil leaves (that’s a lot, be prepared to buy accordingly)

50g pine nuts

2 garlic cloves

50g fresh grated parmesan

100mL extra virgin olive oil

1.5 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

✨Prep time: 10 minutes

✨Equipment

A mixer robot

✨Spell Setting

Usually when I do kitchen witchcraft I like to keep it casual, but this time I feel like I should go the extra mile. Disclaimer, this is the way I do it. If there is things you want to add: prayers to you deities, meditations, crystals, anything that makes sense to you, please do! Magical practices are really personal, and I strongly encourage you to make it this spell setting your own by adapting it tou your needs!

First I burn some incense to purify the space. Then I setup some nice music that makes me feel good and entered. I love to listening to soft happy piano jazz or bossa nova. Here is a youtube channel that I like to listen when I cook. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJhjE7wbdYAae1G25m0tHAA

Before I start prepping the food, I like to setup an altar on my windowsill. I am going to bless the food and ask for abundance. To do so I light 2 or 3 tea lights, I nicely arrange all the ingredients around them. If you want to work with tarot cards you can place the cards around too, same for crystals, charms, deities representation. As for myself I like to work with The Queen of Pentacles because I strongly identify with her and she represent abundance in the home.

I like to sit in front of my window and take a few deep breath, thanking the food for all the good things it will bring to me. I’ll also take this time to visualize what I want as precisely as I can, usually I want financial abundance, but it can work for other things as well!

✨Magical intents

Basil: Protection and Money

Pine nuts: Money

Garlic: Protection

Olive Oil: Protection and Luxury. To me, olive oil represent the abundance, the luxury you want to attract in your life. So I implore you to buy extra virgin olive oil (or the best that you can afford). You will thank me for the the taste and you’ll step up your vinaigrette game!

✨Recipe

Grate the parmesan

Roast the pine nuts in a dry pan (no need to add oil). Be careful they burn quickly

Roughly cut the garlic cloves

In the robot, add the basil leaves with garlic and pine nuts. Blitz for a few seconds until chopped.

Add the parmesan and blitz again

Add the oil and blitz again

Store in the fridge in an air tight container for 2 weeks

✨Tips:

Don’t use dry basil for this recipe

You can use the sauce with pasta, but it’s also good with an omelette, or as a spread on a toast or a focaccia.

Happy witching!

Mental clarity bottle

Salt - cleansing

Mint - refreshing

Ginkgo - memory

Lotus incense ash - purity

Sage - cleansing

Juniper - rejuvenating

Clear quartz - clarity

White candle - purity

Cleanse your space well and layer the ingredients in the bottle, focusing on the intent of each one. Now some of these are more personal and can vary for different people, e.g. I used desert sage because it grows wild here. Maybe you hate mint, if so then don't use it. Etc. Put the candle in the bottle and light it any time you need to clear your brain fog or make a tough decision.

I don't have an incantation for this one because I typically don't use them. Instead I use bells (pictured) or some other instrument to raise the energy and bring everything together. In this case I rang the bells over the bottle, focused on their ring, and let the sound gradually fade, then focused on the silence.

I feel like selenite works be a good addition, I just didn't have any extra on hand.

Sabbath Tip for Wiccans

Never... And I mean NEVER beat yourself up for not being able (for whatever reason) to do a full ritual for a Sabbath. Since today (August 1st) is Lammas/Lughnasadh I thought I'd share somethings you can do on a Sabbath without it being a full-on ritual at your altar with offerings.

Remember that a Sabbath is personal. If you take a moment to speak with the God and Goddess, or your patron deity, that is perfectly fine. Give thanks and ask for continued prosperity. Acknowledging the holiday within yourself is more than enough; you can light candles if you like but you can speak to you deity without any supplies.

Spend time on your grimoire [book of shadows] simply spending some part of the day devoted to your craft can be very rewarding. If a Sabbath comes up quickly and you don't have anything prepared then you can make a page in your BoS for that particular Sabbath with all of its associations and lore; or you could plan a Sabbath ritual in your book to use next year.

Eat witchy. By this I mean you can do something small to still commemorate the holiday. You could quickly look up associated herbs with the particular Sabbath and make tea if you have it available. Other than that, most Sabbaths are associated with wheat- that being said, having a quiet moment to yourself eating some toast with honey on it and thanking your deity/deities for the abundance of food and a beautiful harvest. [I know most of us don't harvest our wheat and make our own bread, but someone did, so give thanks] If you can't eat gluten then some fruit and milk'n honey are good universal Sabbath foods.

Kitchen Witchin’

Kitchen witchery evolved from the ancient concept of the hearth as the sacred center of the home. In the ancient world the hearth, the place where food was prepared and warmth was created, had great importance and was treated with reverence. Humans have always inherently understood that the kitchen is a special place where magic happens.

For modern witches, the kitchen is a great place for everyday magic. Here are a few ways you can infuse some magic into your food.

Magical Cooking Techniques

Begin by taking a moment to clear your mind and focus your energy. Just like any other magical activity, kitchen magic is best performed in a focused, spiritual headspace. This doesn’t have to be anything elaborate (although, if you want to cook with incense and candles burning, more power to you). It can be as simple as taking a moment to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and focus on your intention.

Set the mood. One of the simplest ways to put magic into your food is to infuse a dish with a certain energy or emotion. Let’s say you want to make a dish infused with the energy of happiness, so that everyone who eats it gets a little bit of those good vibes. The easiest way to do this is by making sure you’re happy when you cook it! Put on music that makes you feel happy, dance around your kitchen, and pour all of that happy energy into the food as you prepare it.

Enchant your ingredients. You may choose to layer ingredients with different magical purposes in order to create a stronger spell. For example, if you’re making a meal infused with protection magic, you might include some ingredients for physical protection, some for strength, and some for mental clarity. You can accomplish this by enchanting each ingredient individually as you add it to the food. Your enchantment can be as simple as thanking the spirit of the item, and asking to help you accomplish [insert intention here] in your spell.

Use numerology. Numerology is the idea that numbers have an inherent spiritual nature. There are many different systems of numerology, so it’s important to use what makes the most sense to you — this includes bringing in your own associations for numbers! You can use numerology in your cooking by adding a certain number of an ingredient based on that number’s magical value. For example, I might add nine shakes of salt to symbolize completion and the granting of wishes, or add three bay leaves to symbolize creativity and collaboration. Just make sure you’re not adding so much of an ingredient that it overpowers the other flavors in the dish!

Stir ingredients clockwise to bring blessings or counterclockwise to send away unwanted energy. This comes from an old Irish tradition that states that moving “sunwise” (clockwise) brings blessings while moving against the sun (counterclockwise) brings curses or banishes something. When you’re mixing your food, stir it clockwise to bring in desired energies, like love, joy, or peace. Stir it counterclockwise to cast out undesired energies, like sickness or stress.

Draw or carve sacred symbols on your food. I talked about runes and sigils at length in my last post so I won’t repeat myself here, but you can also use magical symbols in kitchen magic! You can carve runes or sigils into vegetables and charge them before slicing them up, use your spoon to trace them in the surface of a soup as you stir it, or draw the symbols in the air over your food before you serve it. If you’re drawing a symbol with a name, you should speak the name out loud or in your mind as you draw it. If you’re drawing a sigil, speak the intention behind that sigil out loud or in your mind. These symbols are like batteries for magical power, so they’re a great way to add a boost to your kitchen magic.

Use blessed water. If you make moon water during the full moon, try adding a few drops of it to the next thing you cook and see how much more energized you feel after eating it! Making moon water is an easy way to get blessed water, since all it requires is leaving a jug of water out under the full moon, but there are other kinds of blessed water you can use as well. Some Catholics sprinkle holy water (water that has been blessed by a priest) into their food or drink. You can create your own “holy water” by speaking a blessing over a jug of water — it can be a general blessing for peace and good fortune, or can be more specific based on your intent. You can also use water that has been infused with edible plants based on their magical associations, but this will of course change the flavor of your food.

Speak an incantation. The spoken word is a powerful source of magic. Write an incantation or statement of intention based on what you want to accomplish with this magical food. Speak this incantation aloud at some point during the cooking process — I like to say it when I’m mixing all the ingredients together. This can be as simple as, “May [insert food here] bring me [insert benefit here],” or can be long and elaborate. If there are words from another source, like a poem or song lyrics, that feel like they fit your intention, you should absolutely feel free to use them as your incantation.

Pray over your food. Saying grace before a meal is another way of blessing it. You don’t have to pray to a certain deity or higher power. Instead, you could simply thank the spirits of the plants and animals that died so that you could be fed, or you could thank the planet for providing this nourishment to you. Of course, if you do want to pray to a higher power and thank them for the food, that’s also a great way to bless your meal!

Magical Correspondences for Some Staple Foods

Another way to do kitchen magic is to work with the correspondences of your ingredients. Here’s a quick correspondence guide for some staple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

Grains and breads correspond to abundance, health, and security. Historically, these foods were associated with the autumn harvest, and they are still sacred to harvest deities. Bread is a common offering to house spirits and to gods of hearth and home.

Milk, cheese, and dairy correspond to the nurturing aspect of motherhood, love, sustenance, and abundance. Cows are sacred in some cultures, such as in Ancient Ireland, where offering someone milk was a form of blessing.

Eggs correspond to fertility, hidden mysteries, and the feminine principle. In several different folk magic traditions, such as those of Appalachian America and of Italy, eggs are used to detect or remove curses.

Salt corresponds to protection and purity, and can be used for grounding. Salt is useful for banishing unwanted energies, as well as for putting up protective barriers. Blessed salt has many uses in magical rituals and in a magical kitchen.

Rice corresponds to money, good luck, and fertility. You might be familiar with the tradition of throwing rice at weddings — this is a good example of rice’s magic associations. Rice also absorbs negativity and, like salt, it can be used for protection.

Onions corresponds to healing, prosperity, and protection. Onions are said to prevent and dispel illness, and are sometimes associated with love and lust.

Garlic has similar associations to onion, but is also strongly connected with protection, banishing, and curse-breaking. I add garlic to all of my protection and uncrossing spells, and it can also be handy for banishing unwanted spirits.

Sugar corresponds to love, affection, and attraction. Sugar is used in American folk magic to “sweeten” situations, making them more favorable. It can also be used to attract positive energy or positive outcomes.

Honey corresponds to health, happiness, love, wisdom, and stability. Like sugar, honey can be used to sweeten a situation or to attract positive energy. Some witches believe that honey works slower than sugar, but brings longer lasting results.

Vanilla corresponds to love, romance, and sensuality. It’s also a very comforting scent, and I’ve even seen one author claim that the smell repels negative spirits (although I’ve never used it for this purpose). Vanilla is perfect any time you want to conjure love, whether it’s self-love or love between people.

Hopefully, this list gives you some ideas for magical recipes. For example, if you want to conjure luck and abundance, you could make a risotto (a rice dish) with lots of Parmesan cheese, butter, garlic, and basil (not listed in this post, but strongly associated with wealth). If you want to create a stronger sense of self-love, you could make vanilla cookies with sugar and honey. If you need to kick a common cold, a soup with lots of onions and garlic will probably do the trick. You get the idea.

Make sure that the magical food you prepare is actually something you’ll want to eat! Just because an ingredient works with your intention doesn’t mean you should always include it. If you hate vanilla, you shouldn’t add it to your love brownies. Leave things out or make substitutions to ensure that you enjoy eating the finished product.

On a related note, you can substitute vegan products for milk, cheese, eggs, etc. but the magical correspondences won’t be exactly the same. Almond milk, for example, has the magical associations of almonds (prosperity and wisdom). This is similar, but not quite the same, as the correspondences for cow’s milk. Likewise, soy milk, coconut milk, and oat milk all have their own correspondences that will affect the energy of your spell. If you plan to keep your magical kitchen vegan, it’s a good idea to look up the magical uses of the plants your food is made from and use those as a guideline, rather than just substituting coconut milk for cow’s milk and expecting the exact same result.

Resources:

Wicca: Kitchen Witchery by Lisa Chamberlain

A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin

Where the Hawthorn Grows, Brigid: Meeting the Celtic Goddess of Poetry, Forge, and Healing Well, and The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens by Morgan Daimler

Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison

hopeless romantic kitchen witch in need of some assistance !! 🌿

- i found this charming little recipe this morning and basically fell in love and want to surprise my partner with a cute lil romantic dinner when they come home from work today! I was thinking a ‘fancy’ garlic bread to go with it for sure :) but I need some veggie side ideas or something! maybe soup? anyone know how to make a good minestrone? im kinda stumped ;(

Its such a rip off that flowers don’t taste good

Chamomile Sleep and Offering Syrup

To go along with the syrups I’m planning to post now we come to Chamomile Syrup. This is really good for when you are having a hard time sleeping and want to add something to your tea when you don’t have the actual chamomile tea. Or you want to add a little extra boost to your Chamomile tea. You can also use this in your drink to help ground and center yourself.  Add it to teas, coffee, or liquor as you please. This also is really good as an offering! 

1 Cup water

1-2 cups sugar or sugar substitute

5-10 bags of Chamomile tea OR 1 cup chamomile flowers

STEPS

Place water and tea bags or flowers into a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Add in sugar or sugar substitute; stir until the sugar has dissolved completely before turning down the heat and allowing simmering for 10 minutes

Make sure to stir it every so often as to make sure nothing on the bottom burns

Remove from heat, cover, and allow the syrup to cool for 20 minutes.

Once it is cool, take out the tea bags, or strain the flowers, and transfer into a jar. Store in the fridge

Don’t worry if it doesn’t look that dark at first, it’ll darken as it cools to a nice goldish color.