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Magical cooking


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Okay, so one of my passions is cooking. I have been cooking since I was five years old, I can remember distinctly my god mother on my 8th birthday buying me an entire gourmet cooking kit (she's pretty loaded) from some Italian site that not only had pots, pans, utensils and the like but a lot of different herbs, including some very expensive ones like Spanish saffron, truffles, Madagascar vanilla beans and the like. Looking back now it was a very extravagant gift to give a kid who's cooking expertise was, well that of a kid, but still I loved it. Anywho as I grew my passion for cooking grew as well, coming from a family where one Half is full blooded Italian and the other full blooded Lebanese I had quite a mixed bags of cultural foods i grew up on. I really think that my love of cooking goes along with my homosexuality, I know it's a stereotypical thing to say, and I hate being a stereotype but it just seems that I bond best when being able to cook for someone and that's how many of my first dates started. Even with my now husband when we first moved in together he cooked me a homemade meal and I cooked one for him. Now for the last 2 years I've been a strict vegetarian, and so is my husband because of our religion. It's very difficult because I love meat and especially cooking with meat but my religion is very clear on their views in that area. I am not a preachy vegetarian and I can certainly see why people love meat but personally it is my choice to deny myself that for my own religious principles. I always try to incorporate magick into my meals, I feed my husband lots of stuff cooked with caraway and cumin to increase fidelity and truthfulness (not something we've ever really had a problem with but still just a thing I like to secure) and a medly of other magical ingredients. Does anyone else keep a kitchen grimoire? I love sharing recipes but especially magical ones

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I do a lot of things involved with cooking that employ magic. What type of recipes are you looking for w/regards to magic? Is there a specific type of magical system you employ/prefer (like you mentioned your religious preferences regarding your vegetarianism, etc.)?

 

How long have you been a vegetarian if you don't mind me asking?

 

I have a couple of magical systems I utilize for kitchen magic- "traditional" witchcraft and Hoodoo. I used to be a vegetarian for many years myself. I know Aurelian is a vegetarian also and likely has some fabulous ideas when it comes to combining magic (specifically Hoodoo) and good recipes.

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Can't say I have a kitchen Grimoire. For me cooking is very much ancestor and family related, it's a way of connecting to them and with that in light I've developed recipes related to them (in particular recreating family recipes that have been lost). My magic in the kitchen is more likely to be adding intent and perhaps tweaking "normal" dishes to suit my purposes, than building a recipe from scratch to do a particular thing. That said, it's something I'd like to learn more on since I'm pretty intuitive in the kitchen.

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A lot of us who practice Hoodoo (Aurelian, BWR, myself) use cooking and witchery together a good deal. When I was little I was warned about eating at other people's homes, and my dad really wigged out about me eating red things at other folk's homes.

 

Truthfully, when I want to really catch a man, I make him lasagna. I think I have mentioned this before. I made a nice pineapple upside down cake for Mr. Army's birthday last weekend. Home cooked meals are a good way to deploy things such as philters, without seeming so suspicious as putting some random stuff in someone's drink.

 

Cooking for me (and witchcraft, in general, to be honest) is about the intent and the will. Just like when someone states that something is "cooked with love," that person infused that very dish with the love they feel for those that they are feeding it to. Just the same with witchcraft, or kitchen witchery, or cooking magickally. When making a bread poppet, for example, you infuse the dough as you shape and knead and let it rise with your intent and will. As the bread rises and bakes, one's will grows within the poppet as the yeast propagates and the bread bakes. This is irrespective of the herbs or ingredients.

 

For me, it is all about one's will and intent. Therefore, any recipe can be made magical, based upon how one feels about the act of cooking and the person(s) who will be eating the dish.

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I agree, intent is the key in magical cooking although I occasionally use flower essences (Bach's usually) in drinks. I think that the addition of specific herbs and spices- if one "believes" in corrospondences, and even sigils in baking can be quite effective. Periodical watching of the movie "Like Water for Chocolate" always gives me inspiration :cauldron04: :vhappywitch:

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I don't know how much I can be of help here....I'm a talented cook(this happens when you've been cooking since age five and have had your own catering business), and know my magic, but I don't have a great deal of experience where these two arts intersect.

 

If you want vegetarian recipes, I can oblige(provided you can convince me to take the time to type them out), but I am FAR from the only vegetarian on this forum.

 

Maleficia is, and always has been, my thing. I can certainly integrate that with mah cookins. Need help with that? I'm your guy.

 

BTW I don't think cooking has anything to do with being gay, it's a human thing and a shared human experience, so I'm not sure what relevance that has, really, but that's just my opinion(also being a gay man).

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My Grandmother taught me to make Pascha as a child. Pashca, Bread of Life, Christ - it's an Easter thing. Except it's a Blessing thing. I still make Pascha even if I'm commercially celebrating Easter.

 

The decorations that go on top of the bread make it holiday/holy day specific but the blessing and the making of the bread can be done at any time.

 

It's a beautiful form of kitchen witchery / blessing.

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  • 8 months later...

I like to infuse my teas with intent to boost what they do naturally. I generally mix some honey in with the water before I add the bag or strainer; it kind of sets the stage for what I'm trying to do. Which is usually to calm myself from an anxiety attack or prepare to meditate, but I have some nice blends that are good for bone strength that help with my ankles and knees, another for luck, and another for wellness.

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This is something I need to start doing just judging by the sheer amount of time I can obsess in a kitchen... The relaxed states I go into. Try turning out the lights and sitting in front of the oven, watching it bake from start to finish after a long hard day... Like a warm bath. Checkout and relax the mind.

But I haven't really utilized these experiences magically and so this thread leaves me with a few ideas :)

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Adding large stones with intended purposes to soups is always interesting.

 

Infused waters are something I quite enjoy making! Lavender lemon is amazing. Rose/cucumber is lovely also

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Kalinia that has piqued my curiosity. Would you share a little about using the stones? How do you clean them before using in the cooking? No obligation to share of course.

 

Erinn - for a long time I have naturally gone and baked  stuff when feeling in a bad place mentally. It's been like a therapy for me. And you can switch off and let your mind go whilst doing it - a way of meditation, if you like.

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First thank you Kalinia for talking about the stones. I knew someone that did near enough to that years ago, but nearly forgot it till I read this.

 

I keep a good handful of cooking recipes in my book. Some are to get a more defined response. Like using herbs to invoke moods and such. Others are lost recipes that where a signature dish of folk passed on. I often pull these out on holidays or in celebration of the dead. Nothing takes the plastic out of the last harvest feast, for my folk like their Grandmother's raisin cookies from childhood.

 

Also, I think it will be helpful to keep these connections to the dead for later Witches in the family. May as well give them a leg up.

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Erinn - for a long time I have naturally gone and baked stuff when feeling in a bad place mentally. It's been like a therapy for me. And you can switch off and let your mind go whilst doing it - a way of meditation, if you like.

Haha, yup... Therapy is a great word for it!

If im going to be zoning out/in a bit of a meditative state, I have to really make sure i set a timer. The oven glow is bewitching and the smells so comforting :D

Edited by ErinnAinsley
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  • 2 weeks later...

I find making crumble is a good way to get into a "zoned out" state. Gently massaging the flour and butter between the finger tips... sends me into a daze, and I just have to keep doing it even when the crumble is well and truly crumbled!

 

I have an old cook book. My mum gave it to me, although it wasn't hers she found it in a charity shop and bought it for me as it was similar to an old one she has. Maybe even the same edition.  I fixed thin ribbons of different shades of purple to the inside of the spine, to act as place markers. I've always referred to it as my Spell Book, to the children mainly, as a kind of joke,as it has a lovely dark green cover with gold writing. Maybe it really is a sort of spell book! There's no conscious symbolism of using purple ribbon - I think I probably thought it looked good with the green and gold. Complementary colours and all that......

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Adding large stones with intended purposes to soups is always interesting.

 

I am reminded of the story 'Stone soup'.

 

Apart from adding a lot of love and intent my food be enjoyed, I've not really done any magical cooking.  I was taught as a child to stir the pot anti-clockwise (direction the sun moves in Australia) and after making the tea, to turn the whole pot 3 times anti-clockwise before serving.  These days I tend to swirl the pot.

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Abraxia, I wonder why you were taught to do this and what it means? How interesting !!!

 

When I stir counter-clokwise, it is to 'reverse'.  Sometimes a recipe calls for sugar, but I'm not being sweet -- I stir it in backwards :vhappywitch:

Edited by Nikki
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Abraxia, I wonder why you were taught to do this and what it means? How interesting !!!

 

I imagine it's because in Australia that is the direction the sun travels.  For me, stirring clock wise is going against the sun, or would be the reverse.  It's more in connection with the environment here, which I assume was more inline with being traditional, rather than following rules.  For me, connecting with what is, where you live is more important than doing things the way they were done 'back home' when back home is half a world away and in a different hemisphere.  

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