Kitchen witches spend much of their time in the kitchen, combining magic and cooking to create sacred food, spells and herbal remedies. The kitchen is therefore an ideal place to set up an altar, both for kitchen magic and honoring the goddess of hearth and home.
Making a Kitchen Altar
Depending on the size of the kitchen, an altar can be anything from the corner of a shelf, to a dedicated table. The ideal spot for a focal point also needs to be practical and safe. A witch does not want an altar where spillages or accidents can occur, but at the same time needs it to be within easy reach and view.
The altar can either be a space already in existence, such as the shelf of a dresser or a small table, or a newly created shelf, cupboard or shrine. Many kitchen witches are creative craftspeople, so might wish to carve something to house the altar items themselves. Alternatively, it is possible to ask a friend to make one or buy one made from sustainable wood. Even shop-bought shelves can be personalized and made special by decorating them. The shelf can be painted a suitable color, perhaps one sacred to a particular hearth goddess, and also embellished with rhinestones, shells, ribbons and other trinkets.
Honoring the Kitchen Goddess
Most kitchen witches will work with several goddesses, but also have a dedicated goddess of hearth and home. Choosing a kitchen goddess to work with provides a mentor and protector when weaving magic in the kitchen, be it cooking up successful, healthy meals or brewing medicinal potions.
The kitchen altar should recognize the chosen goddess, perhaps with a figurine or picture, or with a selection of items that represent them, such as symbolic charms, certain foods, or candles and ribbons in associated colors.
There are many sources offering statues and artwork to buy, but crafty witches might like to make their own representation of the goddess, by sculpting her from salt dough or polymer clay. Once baked, the clay statue can be painted and embellished accordingly.
Other ideas include making corn dolls or wheat sheaves and wreaths, to represent the goddesses of grain and harvest.
Magical Items for the Kitchen Altar
Other items to display on the kitchen altar can include the following:
- Special utensils and tools, such as bowls and spoons (try carving or painting symbols onto wooden spoons for extra magical utensils)
- A miniature cauldron
- Representations of the witch’s personality
- Candles
- Crystals and shells. Stones that are particularly useful in the kitchen include clusters of clear or smoky quartz to combat radiation given off by electrical appliances, citrine in the eating area to aid digestion, and rose quartz or amethyst to promote harmony. Rose quartz also brings blessings to food preparation and inspires extra creativity when cooking
- Figurines or other representations of other harvest and hearth goddesses, the ancestors, house faeries and the spirits of place
- Family photos or mementos to promote the kitchen as the centre of the family home
- Bottles, either decorative or filled with magical ingredients
Offerings for the Kitchen Altar
In addition to the above, the altar should also house items in the form of offerings, which change according to the days, seasons, festivals and magical intents. Perishable items will need to be changed regularly to avoid going stale. Ideas include:
- Food offerings, such as grain, rice and herbs
- Bundles of dried herbs
- Incense
- Natural items such as feathers, acorns and stones from the garden or outings
- Salt
- Fruit and vegetables harvested from the garden
- Milk, honey or mead for the house faeries
Creating Seasonal Altars
As the seasons change, so too does the focus of the kitchen witch’s altar. The items upon the altar should reflect the changing wheel of the year accordingly.
- Use seasonal food for offerings, such as winter root vegetables or summer fruits
- At harvest time, make corn dolls or use wheat and grain as decoration
- Decorative items can be seasonal too – such as beach shells in summer, snowflake shapes in winter, leaves in autumn or blossom sprigs in spring
- Use appropriate offerings to celebrate the festivals of the year, such as pieces of Lammas bread
The kitchen witch’s altar provides a focus for intent. It gives thanks to the goddess in the form of offerings, serves as a sacred workspace for working ritual magic, and offers a place of quiet contemplation in the kitchen witch’s sacred haven.
Resources:
- Burgess, Jacquie. Crystals for Life. Newleaf, 2002.
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