What is Kitchen Witchery?

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

What is Kitchen Witchery?

The term "Kitchen Witch" brings up many different images to people, but the most common idea is that of a Witch who practices her art mainly thru cooking and common household skills. Another image is that of one who uses common everyday items in her art, drawing up memories of the Burning Times, when it was necessary to hide your working tools from those who would persecute you for their possession. While both of these images are certainly true ones, Kitchen Witchery goes far beyond magical cooking or using ordinary items as magical tools. One Kitchen Witch, Mama Rose, defines Kitchen Witchery in the following way: "My spirituality and my priestesshood and my magick are based around the concept that my home is my temple, all in it are consecrated and holy, and each action that I do is a portion of the ritual of my life."

It is my belief that the heart of Kitchen Witchery is a talent for finding the sacred and magical in everyday tasks, a philosophy which "practices the presence of the Goddess" in daily devotion through ordinary actions. The Kitchen Witch makes the ordinary, extraordinary, the mundane magickal and by doing so, acknowledges the presence of the Divine in all things.
Sacred vs. Profane

One way in which Neo-Pagan religions differ in philosophy from the Judeo/Christian/Moslem paradigm is in their recognition of the sacredness in all things. The mainstream paradigm creates a philosophical dichotomy between the Sacred and the Profane (i.e. ordinary/mundane), that which is not "sacred" is, by definition "profane". In Neo-Paganism, ALL things are sacred. No such dichotomy exists. The Kitchen Witch takes that philosophy to it's extreme logical conclusion and finds ways to acknowledge the sacred within the mundane. How this is done is a matter of personal artistic expression. Most are familiar, of course, with the act of cooking magickally or setting up household altars. But it doesn't stop there. Some Kitchen Witches may clean magically, turning every act of cleaning into a psychic clearing as well.

Others may tend magical gardens, care for familiars or raise their children within a magickal world. Kitchen Witchery can extend into actions as mundane and simple as stirring one's coffee clockwise to bless it or remembering to recycle as an act of daily devotion. Not to say that being a Kitchen Witch is restricted to the home! Oh, no! Kitchen Witchery can be practiced anywhere that a Kitchen Witch travels. It can extend to her car, her work and her play, since it acknowledges the divine all around us. Thus, keeping a magickal office can be as much an act of Kitchen Witchery as cooking a magickal meal. Wherever the Divine exists, a Kitchen Witch will find and acknowledge it.

[Mabon-Witch]

I love this. I don't think I've heard anybody put it this way. Beautifully done.

[Mabon-Witch]

Kitchen Witch Creed

In this pot, I stir to the sun,

an' follow the rule of harming none.

Banishment of bane when going widdershins;

an' with water and salt negativity is cleansed.

Household duties are more than chores.

Magick abounds when mopping floors.

With this broom, I do sweep

to clean my house and safely keep.

Marigold, Basil, Thyme, and Yarrow

my spell is cast for a better tomorrow.

Lemons for joy and apples for health

the pow'r within brings great wealth.

And, in this kitchen I do pray

To truly walk the Witches' Way