Modern witches have begun delineating witchcraft into distinct types and subgroups based on the primary focus of their craft. One of these subgroups is a type of witchcraft called kitchen witchcraft. Now, I often discourage people from labeling themselves in this way, but there are benefits to identifying a focal point in your magic. In particular, kitchen witchcraft offers a very down to earth kind of magic that fits well into our modern world.
So today, we’re going to talk about kitchen witchery in depth so that you can really understand what it means to be a modern kitchen witch and start using this type of magic and this label as a way to expand and improve your craft rather than a limiter that prevents you from becoming the witch that you could be.
What Is A Kitchen Witch?
So what is kitchen witchery? In brief, kitchen witches are witches whose magical practices are focused around the hearth and home with a special focus placed on magic done in the kitchen and the spirits that congregate in the kitchen. In this kind of magic, the kitchen replaces the traditional altar as the sacred space where everyday magic is performed. This is magic that fits well into the modern world and our busy lives. Again, this is a focal point, not a limitation. A kitchen witch can do many other types of magic, including divination, candle spells, working with other forms of spirit, etc. However, their primary focus remains on the home and the kitchen.
Most, if not all, of their magical materia will be kitchen-oriented. This means that kitchen witches have a broad knowledge of the magical properties of things like herbs and spices from the kitchen cabinet and the foods that they work with. The kitchen witch learns how to use the magical potential in food and through food to cast spells and create magical effects in their life.
They will also work with spirits that are related to food and the kitchen. These might be elemental spirits of fire and water, which are very present in the kitchen environment. They could also work with the spirits of the plants, herbs, and foods that they work with. Their practice might involve spirits of the hearth and home, such as the goddess Brigid, or fey spirits like brownies and other house fairies.
Kitchen magic also typically is focused around the individual witch and the people that they feed i.e. their family and close friends. Now this may seem very limiting to some people. That is a very small circle of people that you have access to performing magic on and for! But there’s considerably more leeway here than you might anticipate. For example, if you wanted to use kitchen magic to cast a spell in your workplace, you could bake cookies and bring them to work and every person who eats the cookies is then a carrier of that spell and helps it to perform on your workplace. Kitchen witchcraft may seem quite limiting at first blush, but the reality is that if you are creative you can do just about anything you need through this magical modality.
The life of a kitchen witch is well suited to anybody whose kitchen is a focal point of their life, including full-time homemakers and stay-at-home parents but it’s also excellent for anybody who cooks on a regular basis and truly loves being in the kitchen.
How To Become A Kitchen Witch
Becoming a kitchen witch involves the cultivation of many skills, both magical and mundane. Obviously, you will want to become very comfortable in the kitchen and spend time improving your culinary skills. Although I imagine if you’re reading this you’re probably already quite adept in the kitchen! That means you will need to focus on developing the magical skills that you will be using to augment your current culinary abilities.
1. Learn about your ingredients
The best way to begin is by learning more about the ingredients you already use on a day-to-day basis. There is so much information available to you about the magical uses of what you already have in your kitchen cupboard. Pull out your herbs and spices and take some time to really familiarize yourself with the magical uses of these plants. Keep in mind that one of the core tenets of witchcraft is that of operative animism. We are working with these herbs and spices as living, sentient beings not as inert material.
This is a process that can take a lot of time, so don’t feel like you have to learn everything all at once. Begin by simply familiarizing yourself with the herbs and spices that you use the most frequently and put in a little effort every time you cook. What do you cook the most, and what are you constantly pulling out of your spice rack? That is where your focus should be. Get to know the spirits of these herbs and spices. And yes, this can mean sitting down and having a conversation or connecting with them energetically so that you can understand them on a magical level, as opposed to simply reading about what these herbs and spices are supposed to be, and only having secondhand knowledge of these beings that you are working with.
2. Assess your favorite recipes
Next, you take stock of your favorite recipes and assess them for their viability magically. You can certainly go out and find recipes that have already been curated for use in magic, but often the recipes you already know and love can be useful magically as well. Learn about the basic ingredients in your favorite recipes, not just the herbs and spices, but the fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy that go into every single recipe. Every single ingredient that goes into your recipe has a spirit and can assist you magically. Being a kitchen witch means getting to know the spiritual substance of your food beyond the simple nutritional and flavor capacities it has. This is not just adding magic to food but actively making your food magic.
3. Experiment with different types of kitchen spells
After that, you can begin to learn about and experiment with different types of kitchen-based magical spells. Now, it might seem that there’s basically one type of kitchen-based magic, basically turning your food into spells. That is not the only option available to the kitchen witch though! For example, you can work candle spells with the spirit of fire in your kitchen. You can work purification spells with the water that comes out of your sink. You can incorporate sigil magic into your food. You can experiment with different types of cooking, such as baking or infusing your own alcohol. Stir magical intentions into your morning coffee. Grow live plants and herbs to use in your cooking. Keep a small altar on your stove or in a discreet corner of your kitchen. Concoct herbal remedies infused with magic. Craft your own magical teas. Bake bread to offer the spirits both your food and your time and dedication. And many, many other methods are available to you beyond this!
The most important thing to pay attention to as you are doing this experimentation is paying attention to what actually works, what gets you results. Our magic is done for a purpose. We are trying to create a specific change or result in our lives. And if the magic you are working in your kitchen is not giving you results, then something about it needs to change. So pay attention to which spells work and which ones don’t so that you can troubleshoot the ones that don’t work and add the ones that do to your kitchen witch recipe box.
4. Work with the spirits of your hearth and home
As I’ve mentioned numerous times already, one of the cornerstones of kitchen witchcraft is working with the spirits of the home and of the kitchen in particular. And there are many such spirits for you to acquaint yourself with. First, and perhaps most importantly, are the actual spirit of your home and of your kitchen. Each of these places has its own genius loci, or spirit of place, that you can work with and acquaint yourself with in your life.
Beyond that, we have the elemental spirits, particularly fire and water. We have the spirits of our ancestors, who are incredibly present in our home lives and often make truly wonderful spiritual allies. There are specific spirits that are associated with the home such as the house wight, the Domovyk, garden gnomes, and the spirits of the land your house is built on. And then of course the fae, or fairies, a number of whom are associated with the home as well.
All of these spirits can be worked with in your magic, assisting you in protecting your home from negative energies, troublesome guests, and bad spirits. When you build relationships with these spirits, petitioning them for assistance, speaking with them, and making offerings, your home is not just a place where you work magic, but where your entire team of spiritual allies can help support you in creating the life that you want.
All of these practices and more, when combined, create a kind of nexus around the kitchen as a living, breathing altar for your magic. This is a type of magic that can fit seamlessly into your life and enhance your home life and your medical practice greatly. And again, I want you to consider all of these practices as corner stones for your craft. Not as walls and boundaries that you must stay within. Your magic can range far beyond just what we have mentioned here and still be considered kitchen witchcraft if the majority of your practice is focused around the kitchen.
This is a method of magic that allows you to work your craft right out in broad daylight without anyone being the wiser. It’s a very covert way of working magic into your everyday life if you’re in the broom closet but it’s also excellent if you are simply the kind of person who wants practical magic for your home and daily life. Your magical kitchen can turn day-to-day cooking into a sacred act and help you build a more magical life. Think of this as a starting point for your explorations into this type of magic and allow your home and hearth to become the source of magic, joy, and transformation that you’ve been looking for.
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