Food
- Rulers: Oshun, Ra, Vishnu, Krishna, Aphrodite
- Element: Water, Earth
- Gender: Feminine
- Number: Six
- Sacred Geometry: Hexagon
- Type: Food
- Magickal Form: Any type
- Qualities: Sweetening, Binding, Happiness, Healing, Love, Prosperity, Passion, Spirituality, Faerie
Honey – the glorious nectar of the bees is one of the oldest foods known to man…and woman. Honey’s history is extensive. A 8,000 year-old cave painting in Valencia, Spain depicts humans hunting for honey. Honeybees were sacred to numerous ancient civilizations including ancient Greece and Egypt. Our ancient ancestors knew that honey isn’t JUST good to eat, it also has multiple medicinal benefits.
The oldest honey ever found comes from an Egyptian pyramid – it’s three thousand years old and still perfectly edible! Microbes don’t grow on honey, moreover preservation lasts for thousands of years!
The Egyptians held the honeybee in high regard and used honey in their mummification process. Therefore honey was a sacred substance and sacred to any gods and goddesses of the underworld and the dead: i.e. Anubis and Osiris. In Ancient Greece, the high priestess of Aphrodite was “Melissa” which translates to “bee”. She tended to the sacred beehives at Aphrodite’s temple on Mount Eryx.
Honey has a number of magickal proprieties, uses and distinct energies. the energies vary depending on which strain of honey you are working with. but overall I would describe them as positive, cleansing, gentle, soothing and warming. its great for spells, offerings and brews.
Honey can be added to any spell work or any culinary recipe to sweeten someone’s mood or disposition. Honey works well for happiness, love, prosperity and healing, it can also add a bit of zing to your love life too.
- Honey makes an acceptable offering for deities.
- It can be kept on your altar (I keep some on my altar to remind me that amongst the seemingly overwhelming bitterness of everyday life that sweetness can be found).
- Can be used in spells having to do with love, lust or sexuality.
- Purification (works great in bath scrubs).
- Health and healing.
- Community or communication.
- Abundance and prosperity.
- Spirituality.
- Candle magic (for anointing or beeswax candles).
- Honey can be used to represent wisdom, because gathering honey from hives can be difficult and painful if done incorrectly so it became a metaphor for obtaining knowledge through pain.
Honey is used to make mead which is absolutely delicious and wonderful to use in ritual and offerings…half a glass and I am away with the faeries…who actually like a drop of mead or honey as well…
Because of its sticky properties, honey can be used in magick to hold two things together. Some magical traditions use honey to bind a couple that has a shaky relationship. If you want to do a honey binding on a couple – or even on two friends who are struggling with their friendship – you can use poppets with a layer of honey between them, and then wrapped with a cord. Because honey does not solidify, you can always separate the two poppets later with minimal disruption. It’s good for binding spells because it can be undone fairly easily.
Use honey to sweeten a situation: angry co-workers or boss, court cases, family quarrels, divorces, etc. In addition, binding things or people together and keeping things flowing steadily. Healing and cleansing rituals include honey.
Use this sweet and sticky substance to attract good fortune, fertility, and love.
- For wealth, create an altar with coins drizzled with honey.
- For a conception spell, cover a pumpkin with honey and offer to a river.
- For love, bathe in warm water and honey.
- Add a drop of honey to incense blends to sweeten the mood.
- Add a spoon of honey to a bath to cleanse and sweeten your aura.
- Drip small drops of honey onto or around candles for love and prosperity spells.
- Leave on outside altars to attract faeries.
- Use to summon angels and light beings.
- Anoint your third eye with magical honey to dream of your future love.
If you do any kitchen magick, honey can come in very handy. Use it in dishes to bring about sweetness, fertility, or prosperity. You can use honey in rituals as an offering to deity–many goddesses and gods seem to appreciate it. You can also use a blend of milk and honey to asperge a sacred space if you’re holding ritual outdoors. Add some into a bath scrub for a ritual bath prior to working for love or romance, or anoint a candle with it when you’re doing candle magick.
Some ancient cultures used honey in embalming procedures. It’s always appropriate to leave offerings of honey at a gravesite. In addition, the folklore of a number of societies indicates that a blend of honey and milk is an acceptable offering to a deity. Honey makes an excellent offering to the gods, the spirits and the Faerie world.
Poured into the ocean and river, honey is an appropriate offering to sea and river goddesses like Oshun and Yemaya. Keep on the altar as a link to ancient bee priestesses and honeybee spirit guides.
In particular, honey is sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. This is also a favorite offering for other love goddesses. An assassination attempt was once made on the African love goddess, Oshun. The plot was to poison her with honey. In remembrance of this, always taste the honey first before offering libations to any goddess.
In Hindu texts, honey is described as one of the five sacred elixirs of immortality. The Buddhist faith celebrates Madhu Purnima, which honors the day that Buddha made peace among his disciples – and honey is given as a gift to monks in his honor.
Honey Jars
These jars are also known as “sweetening jars,” and can actually contain almost any kind of pure sweetener, such as brown or white sugar, molasses, or syrup. You can make jars for each person you want to sweeten if you’re working more elaborate spells on them, or keep one jar with lots of names in it for general sweetening.
In some forms of Hoodoo and folk magick, honey is used to sweeten someone’s feelings towards you. In one traditional spell, honey is poured into a jar or saucer on top of a slip of paper containing the person’s name. A candle is placed in the saucer and burned until it goes out on its own. In another variation, the candle itself is dressed with honey.
Herbal Infused Honey
Honey comes in many forms and from many places all over the world. It varies in color, sweetness, and flavor depending on the region and plants. Some people enjoy infusing herbs and flowers directly into the honey itself. Depending on the herb or flower infused, it will alter the honey magic properties and can be further used for those purposes. For example:
- Lemon balm infused honey: soothes nerves and anxiety and aids in falling asleep; also invokes joy.
- Lavender honey: has honey magic properties of relaxation, love, beauty and purification.
- Rosemary honey: purification, money, love, healing, mental clarity.
- Mint honey: money, prosperity, cleansing, and love properties; plus mint aids digestion.
- Thyme honey: the PERFECT offering for attracting the faery folk to your garden! Thyme is a favorite of fairies as well as honey.
- Rose honey: love, healing, protection, long life.
Medicinal Properties
During the late summer and early fall, honey is a staple crop in many parts of the world. This deliciously sweet and sticky gift from the bee population is considered a health food – it will protect you against allergies if you eat just a teaspoon of locally sourced honey each day – and also has a number of magickal properties.
Honey is incredibly beneficial medicinally but also brings a good dollop of happiness with it. Honey is great for cold and flu treatment. Raw and organic honey is preferable as it is an antibacterial and is high in antioxidants. It can be used in an ointment for treating wounds, burns and cold sores. Honey is also an excellent hangover remedy.
Honey will help in muscle building; a teaspoon of raw organic honey after a workout can induce an insulin spike, allowing your muscles to get the most out of the workout. It can be used as a weight loss aid. Honey can cause changes to the metabolism that will help curb sugar cravings.
The healing power of honey has been known throughout the ages. Honey was used as a traditional Ayurvedic medicine, where it was thought to be effective at treating imbalances in the body. In pre-Ancient Egyptian times, it was used to treat wounds. The Prophet Mohammad glorified the healing powers of honey, and the Quran praised its healing ability.
Sacred Geometry of the Honeycomb
At the heart of our seasonal reverence, there is always light. In the dim light of midwinter we gather around a fire. My children tell me their own creation story of winter’s sleepy sun. It is her time to rest and the small brave fire remains beside us, a comfort in our sun’s absence…
We know winter happens because of the tilt of the earth, and we seek the fire because it warms us. Our winter fires provide one small spark of the sun’s fire. And the light of the sun not only gives us warmth, but color. We are cool blue in winter like the twilight that edges our days and we dream of the season that will fill our world with yellow particles of light like the pollen of the sun.
Many of us hold a glowing beeswax candle on special days during a festival or to create a ritual space. In his bee lecture, Rudolph Steiner compares beeswax to the material of our human body, the worker bees of the hive to the blood coursing through us, and the hexagonal shapes of the honeycomb to our cells. Structures of living organisms are mirrored throughout the natural world and beeswax reminds us of our relationship to the earth. The sweet smell of it when we light a candle is a hint of the warm comfort a bee might find in her small sacred capsule.
Each cell of the honeycomb is a hexagon. It is the perfect shape, the one that holds together in strength and efficiency. There is no waste in a system of cells that fit together at perfect angles, a necessary consideration when a honeybee must consume about eight ounces of honey to create one ounce of wax. The worker bees create their city of hexagons in tandem, each bee following her inherent plan of geometric repetition.
Each cell of the honeycomb may hold the golden honey, converted nectar from meadow flowers; or the precious life that will someday gather more honey, the bee’s larva. So the worker bee creates these small spaces as vessels of life, whether she is aware of this significant purpose or not. We can watch the honey bee create these small sanctuaries, her working body warming the cell as she forms it. This is her part in the circle of life and she puts her heart into her work.
If you wish to draw the honey bee’s symmetrical hexagon shape, you may start with the hexagram, the star that is made by overlapping two equilateral triangles. Connect the points of that perfect star to make the most precise hexagon. The star inside the hexagon holds the poetry of the honey bee’s sacred forms and their relationship to the spiritual body of our human world.
The hexagram, the six-pointed star, is the shape associated with Anahata, the heart chakra. It is the Star of David, it is associated with the Kabbalistic tree of life, and it is one symbol associated with the Christian Son of God. The hexagram is significant in Tibetan Buddhism, in astrology, in occult magic and Wicca practices. Here, once again, is nature’s pattern of repetition through time and space and meaning.
The honey bee sings while she works and we hear her spirit song. Her hum is spun into the fiber of summer so that we associate this vibrational sound with brilliant rays of sunlight that make us stop and close our eyes and feel the sun on our faces. It is no wonder the wildflowers turn their faces toward the sun and are graced by the light healing touch of the gentle honey bee.
The Bee Connection
Bees are incredibly magickal and are often said to be messengers from the Gods and the spirit world.
Tell it to the bees…they are great listeners…when a beekeeper died folklore says that the survivors must tell the bees of their keeper’s death and persuade them to stay rather than follow their keeper to the otherworld.
Anything important should be told to the bees such as marriages, births and other important events but make sure you whisper politely.
Bees are also considered to be an image of the human soul, perhaps due to their natural ability to find their way home from great distances.
Save the Bees!
Humans have relied on the honeybees’ magical work for thousands of years. Not just for honey and its unique magick, but also because honeybees are one of our biggest pollinators! They help us make food by pollinating many of our fruits and vegetables. But sadly, the honeybee populations are dwindling worldwide.
Particularly in the U.S. where there’s a link between pesticides and honeybee disease/death. If all of the honeybees die out, we lose a large portion of our food source. So how do we support the honeybee population and health? Here’s some ways you can help:
- DON’T use pesticides in your lawn or garden and encourage your friends, family and neighbors to do the same
- Plant NATIVE flowers, trees, and shrubs. Native flowers and plants aid your local honeybee and other pollinator populations by providing a natural nectar source
- Put a bee bath in your garden for the bees to bathe and drink
- Support your local organic beekeepers, farmers and gardeners in their efforts to save the honeybees
- Instead of having a honeybee hive destroyed – have someone come out and remove it and re-locate it
- Stop cutting down trees that don’t need to be cut down! Bees and other pollinators and wild life need trees too!
Learn more about how to save the bees here! Help The Bees
Important Note
There is a MAJOR difference between natural raw unpasteurized honey, and processed filtered honey. Most commercial honey has no traces of pollen and lacks beneficial vitamins and enzymes among a host of other natural constituents which are removed due to pasteurization and processing.
Most golden honey you see at your local grocery is dead and far from the health promoting powerhouse of its raw unpasteurized counterpart. Processed honey is not honey at all, and if you desire any kind of health benefits, you must stick to the real stuff.
Sources:
- Magickal Ingredients
- Honey in magick and Folklore
- Vaya’s Witchcraft and Spiritual
- A Kitchen Witch’s World of Magical Food
- Honey Coyote
- Otherworldly Oracle
- Wanderlust
- Shelley Giordano
One of the strongest ingredients for male virility, the Horseradish root is in essence magickal Viagra. It is cultivated in the spring and difficult to find at any other time of the year.
- Women should lay the whole root on the belly and visualize either getting pregnant or being satisfied sexually.
- Men must hold the whole root to the genitals and visualize long-lasting erections.
- Perform these visualizations on a full moon.
Eat both white and red shredded horseradish at any time of the year for protection.
To reverse any malevolent magick against a building’s inhabitants, grate or grind dried horseradish root. Sprinkle it over your thresholds, corners, windows, and any areas perceived as vulnerable.
Source: Encyclopedia of Herbology
- Ruler: Mercury
- Type: Prepared Food
- Magickal form: Round flat cake cooked on a griddle
- Other names: Flapjack, hot cake, griddlecake
The flapjack, or pancake, dates from ancient Egypt and is a food of prosperity. Its three main ingredients – flour, milk, and eggs, symbolize life, nurturing, and rebirth. They are best eaten on the full moon, or on a Tuesday to round out your fortune. Smother with syrup to attract more money. Also eat pancakes to win races or athletic games.
What is a pancake?
A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying with oil or butter. Archaeological evidence suggests that pancakes were probably the earliest and most widespread cereal food eaten in prehistoric societies.
The pancake’s shape and structure varies worldwide. In Britain, pancakes are often unleavened and resemble a crêpe. In North America, a leavening agent is used (typically baking powder) creating a thick fluffy pancake. A crêpe is a thin Breton pancake of French origin cooked on one or both sides in a special pan or crepe maker to achieve a lacelike network of fine bubbles.
A well-known variation originating from southeast Europe is a palačinke, a thin moist pancake fried on both sides and filled with jam, cheese cream, chocolate, or ground walnuts, but many other fillings—sweet or savoury—can also be used.
When potato is used as a major portion of the batter, the result is a potato pancake. Commercially prepared pancake mixes are available in some countries. When buttermilk is used in place of or in addition to milk, the pancake develops a tart flavor and becomes known as a buttermilk pancake, which is common in Scotland and the US.
Buckwheat flour can be used in a pancake batter, making for a type of buckwheat pancake, a category that includes Blini, Kaletez, Ploye, and Memil-buchimgae.
Pancakes may be served at any time of the day with a variety of toppings or fillings but in America they are typically considered a breakfast food. Pancakes serve a similar function to waffles. In Britain and the Commonwealth, they are associated with Shrove Tuesday, commonly known as “Pancake Day”, when, historically, perishable ingredients had to be used up before the fasting period of Lent.
Pancake Day Pancakes
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- powdered sugar
- fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine eggs, milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the flour, blending until smooth. Let stand 15 minutes.
Heat saucepan medium-high heat. Add a little butter to the pan and swirl around. Add 2 large spoonfuls of batter, tilting pan to coat bottom. Cook until golden on the bottom, about 45 seconds. Turn pancake over and cook until bottom is lightly browned, about 30 seconds.
Keep warm while making the rest of the pancakes.
Butter a casserole dish. Sift powdered sugar pancake, then sprinkle lightly with lemon juice. Roll pancakes and place in the casserole dish. Cover and bake 10 minutes.
Sources:
- Wikipedia
- Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients
- Web Holidays
- Element (as juice): water
- Element (as berry): fire
- Ritual uses: Yule or Winter Solstice
- Deities: Marjatta (Finnish Goddess), Mars
- Good for: healing, protection, love, lust, positive energy, courage, passion, action
Oftentimes, the cranberry’s beautiful red color has associated it with the planet Mars, and as a result, its magickal correspondences are similar to that of Mars. Because of this, cranberry can be used for protection, positive energy, courage, passion, determination, goals, and action.
These little brightly colored berries look like little jewels and their bright red goodness carries huge protective energy with them – they are a power punch against negative energy. Consider having Cranberry Sauce as part of a protective meal, or drinking cranberry juice or tea while doing magick for anything associated with Mars.
If color were considered as a way of marking the cranberry’s magickal associations, it would be foolish to not highlight the deep, sensual and erotic red color as corresponding to love and lust magick. If you are cooking a meal for a loved one, consider incorporating cranberry into the meal.
You may also want to sip this tea while performing love magick. Simply add two teaspoons cherry juice to 1-cup hot cranberry tea. Stir it with a cinnamon stick clockwise. There is something incredibly comforting and warming about Cranberry, so to show your love and appreciation for your family and friends, consider adding Cranberry sauce or chutney to a dinner. It will bring a feeling of peace, comfort, warmth, good health and love to those who enjoy it.
Depending on how they are used, cranberries will either bond people together during tough times or create hardships that tear people apart.
- Drink the juice with your partner on the dark moon to keep the relationship free of trouble and going strong.
- Place a circle of cranberries around a brown or black candle and call out the names of two individuals who need to be separated while the candle burns. Continue the ritual until you obtain results.
Vanga stated that cranberries of red color symbolize the love relationship. Ripe and juicy cranberry foretells happiness in love; green berries portend upcoming problems with your loved one. According to Freud, cranberry symbolizes your sexual life.
In some cases, cranberry juice or cranberry wine can be substituted for red wine in rituals. Perhaps you will include a bowl of cranberries next to your pomegranate on your Samhain altar to show thanks to the supernatural powers of the bog, the birthplace of the cranberry.
Cranberries can be a lovely attribute to any Samhain or Yule altar. Dried cranberries can be strung on a piece of twine or cord and made into a small wreath to hang over your doorways for protection; they also make good Yule tree decorations. This not only adds a gorgeous contrast of color, but also invokes the protective and healing power of the red berry.
Cranberries and Bogs
The bog is the home of the cranberry, but was also sacrificial stomping ground of ancient societies in Northern Europe. Consider all of the archaeological findings that have been discovered in bogs from Denmark Scotland, England, Sweden, and Northern Germany: daggers, swords, shields, spears, javelins, drinking vessels, sickles, y-shaped dowsing rods and jewelry have all be recovered from bogs.
Also recovered from a bog was the famous Gundestrup Cauldron, a silver cauldron of Celtic origin, which had mythological narratives on it. Even more shockingly, excellently preserved human bodies, which appear to have been victims of sacrifice, have been discovered in bog. It appears that to ancient society, the watery bog was a place of significant importance, where sacrifices and treasures were willingly deposited.
Some researchers and academics have suggested that the bog deposits were offerings for protection, or rituals to bring fertility to the land and well-being to the land’s inhabitants. One cannot avoid the idea of a spooky, dank bog on a cold dark night either. Perhaps it is the fact that the unstable, marshy territory could lead to hazardous falls and injuries. Legend has it that the murky, watery parts of a bog were bottomless, so to step in one meant imminent doom.
Cranberry Lore and Mythology
Hans Christian Andersen shared many stories of the bog, most of which involved witches, elves and fairies. And in English and Welsh folklore, Will-o-the-wisps are said to be glowing lights that would float above the bog. Some believed that they were benevolent fairy or nature spirits that acted as guides to lost travelers; on the other hand, some saw the Will-’o-the-Wisps as ill spirited fairies, dark elves or spirits connected to the devil.
The cranberry has a special place in the hearts of the Finnish and students and admirers of ancient Lapland mythology. The Kalevala, epic legend of Finland, and reputed inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, is a compiled collection of Finnish oral stories that have been sung by Lapland bards for centuries. In the final passage, or Rune, of The Kalevala, we hear of the tale of a virgin Goddess’ encounter with the cranberry.
- Note: Many translators cannot agree on which berry Marjatta actually enjoys in The Kalevala. Translations include cranberry, bilberry, lingonberry, blackberry and strawberry. The original Finnish word used was “punapuola, ” which is indeed a variety of cranberry, though smaller and sweeter than the one grown in Northern America.
Described as a beautiful maiden, Marjatta is a Goddess who is chaste, yet connected with her Northland home. While roaming the forests, she hears the singing of the cranberry, which begs her to eat him. Because of her maidenhood, she couldn’t pluck the berry, but instead used a charm to have the berry rise from the vine and into her mouth. After she ate the berry, she was impregnated. When her family found out of her pregnancy, they did not believe her story of the cranberry and was shunned.
Similar to the story of Christ’s birth, Marjatta gave birth to her sun in a stable in a forest. The heroic god of The Kalevala, Väinämöinen, is summoned to decide the destiny of the baby. When it is told that the child’s father is a cranberry, Väinämöinen sentences the baby to banishment in the forest and seals his death. However, when the baby pleads for his life by pointing out Väinämöinen’s unfair judgement, he is saved. Väinämöinen also recognizes that the son of the cranberry would grow to be his successor: a royal king and mighty ruler.
Some of the American history and lore of cranberries is fascinating as well. Native Americans were very familiar with the cranberry, and used it graciously as food, medicine, and dye. They used the berry to flavor meats, in a poultice to heal wounds and lower inflammation, and as a dye to make deep burgundy rugs. When Dutch and German settlers came to America, they named the berry “Crane Berry.” This name was inspired by the berry’s pink spring blossoms, which were said to resemble the head and bill of a Sandhill Crane.
Although there is no record that cranberries were eaten at the first Thanksgiving, they are often associated with this holiday and symbolize the “earth’s abundance.” It would have been interesting had these berries been shared at the first thanksgiving, however, because in Victorian flower language, the cranberry blossom signifies that the receiver extend kindness to the giver. The cranberry is also seen as a democratic. In England wealthy people pair it with delectable Venison, but poorer people are also able to enjoy it.
Some Thoughts About Cranberry Magick
The tale of Marjatta reminds us of the nutritional value of the cranberry- so fertile and powerful is the cranberry, that it is the vehicle for immaculate conception. Since it is tied to immaculate conception, and the birth of a child who will replace the old King, it can be linked to rejuvenation, reincarnation, and the themes of Yule and Christmas.
Cranberry also has clear links to fertility magick in this context. Spell work aside, the nutritional benefits of the cranberry are worthy enough to be incorporated into a routine diet, as it will aid in overall health and well being.
Finally, it is important to not forget the magick of the bog, the motherland of cranberry. Here, we see cranberry’s tie to the supernatural, mystical, and ancient. In a place where humans and precious objects were sacrificed, there was much value put on the mystical powers of the bog. It is a place where the protection of people and armies, the fertility of land and nature, and the well being of those who visit it, could be determined and sought after through ritual and sacrifice.
Perhaps you will include a bowl of cranberries next to your pomegranate on your Samhain altar to show thanks to the supernatural powers of the bog. Or simply, while cooking cranberries during the colder season or enjoying its fragrance in oil or a candle, you can reflect on the mystical, protective, and fertile powers of the deep red berry.
Dreaming About Cranberries:
When you see or eat cranberries in a dream, it’s generally a sign of good health and a long and happy life. Cranberries can also represent warmth and togetherness which you might be craving right now, given the time of year.
Alternatively, you may be feeling content at present because you have just enough of this in your waking life. Perhaps you are a particularly warm person towards others and you have felt some of that back of late.
If you were drinking cranberry juice in your dream, it’s possible you have too much stress in your waking life and need to dial things back to help you to manage your stress levels better.
Cranberry juice might be an indicator of poor health too. Perhaps you need to rid your body of some toxin that you’re in the habit of feeding it. On the other hand, the dream could be telling you to let go of a thought or feeling that’s doing you no good. You need to flush the negativity and the bad out of yourself before you can carry on as normal.
If you were picking cranberries in your dream- perhaps you recognize the effort you need to put into something before you are rewarded for all your hard work. You know that there are more choices available to you if you do; consequently- you are a hard worker. If this isn’t apparent to you- it might be time to put more energy into your means of income to gain a sense of pride in what you do.
If the berries were spoiled then maybe you recognize that you’ve missed an opportunity in the recent past. With that said, another one might come along- so don’t lose faith.
Sources:
If you’re interested in Kitchen Witchcraft, here is a useful food starter list and their magical properties. These are staple and ordinary foods that you probably already have in your pantry or refrigerator, but maybe you never realized that they contained magickal properties before.
Keep in mind that food is magick in and of itself. It doesn’t need anything in order to carry magickal properties. Why is this? Because it comes directly from Mother Earth. Every form of life on this planet is a miracle, and our food is nothing short of a miracle. Vegetables, herbs, and fruits are all plants and therefore imbued with Mother Earth’s love and nourishment. Meats and dairy come from Mother Earth’s amazing creatures and should be shown respect and gratitude.
Making a magickal meal is as easy as praying over your food while preparing it and also being thankful for the sustenance given. Keep in mind too, that when preparing your food, whatever energy is surrounding you will also affect the food. So if you’re in a good mood, dancing and singing while preparing, the food will take on some of this energy. Likewise if you’re in a bad mood or nonchalant about the food you are preparing, the food will absorb some of this energy. Mindfulness is all a part of cooking like a witch. Be mindful of your ingredients, their history, their properties and how they can be nurturing to your body.
Transforming Your Kitchen into a Sacred Space.
Before you begin working your kitchen magick, you will want to transform your kitchen into a sacred space. Historically, kitchens have held a place of great honor in the home and fire has always been considered sacred, so the kitchen doesn’t have far to go to become sacred in your home as well.
The first thing you will want to do to create your sacred space is clean the kitchen. It doesn’t sound very magickal, but nothing muddles up magick like catching a glimpse of the dirty dishes stacked in the sink or slipping on a dirty floor. You may also wish to add to the ambiance of the room by growing some herbs on the window sill (which also makes them handy for including in your food and further charges the herbs with your energies) light some candles, open a window and let fresh air in, or even have some special music playing.
Perhaps you will keep a special wooden spoon that you only use for magickal cooking, rather like a special kitchen “wand.“ You may also wish to cast a magick circle, invoke a hearth deity or two, or maybe say a blessing. Do whatever that will put you in the mood to make magick.
Magickal Cooking Tips
Magickal cooking is based on sympathetic magick, the idea that like things can influence each other. It uses different foods to represent the outcome you wish to achieve. Like any lists of correspondences you might encounter, if something sounds wrong to you, or you have different associations with something, go with what you feel is right, not what you just see written somewhere.
It is also good to note that you do not need to have an elaborate feast to perform magick in this matter. A simple snack can be just as effective if the intention is there. Even if you do have a large dinner planned, the whole meal does not need to revolve around your purpose.
When deciding what sort of food to prepare, don’t forget to make something you like. You aren’t going to be able to focus on your intention if you are trying not to gag on a food you can’t stand! At the same time, try to eat primarily healthy foods. While there are some exceptions, most foods that are bad for your health are useless magickally as well.
In addition to what you are going to prepare, how you prepare it can make a difference in the energies of the food as well. For example, for protection dishes, fried foods, hot foods, and spicy, hot dishes all work well. For strength, you may with to sauté your food or prepare something spicy. Flaming foods are good for strength and steamed food is good for purification.
Before you begin cooking, hold the ingredients you are going to use and visualize your goal, charging it with your energies. As you prepare the food, keep this intent in mind. Since the magick is in the intent, it is not recommended that you try to perform your magick when you are tired, grumpy, or sick as it would be too easy for some of this negative energy to seep into your spell working.
If you are preparing a meal for others in addition to yourself, take care to not load the whole dish with your intention (just your portion) without their knowledge and consent as this could be considered manipulative magick. Keep the magick going during the meal as well by continuing to visualize while you eat.
Don’t get discouraged if your cooking spell doesn’t work right away. Most spell work takes time and you may even need to make several meals before you see it come to fruition.
Magickal Fruits, Breads, and Sweets
Baking is a wonderful opportunity to create magick in your kitchen. Especially when kneading bread, you have a great chance to infuse your food with your magickal intentions. In fact, bread making itself is considered by many to be a sacred act and can be a ritual in itself.
With many baked goods, such as breads, muffins, pies, cakes, or pastries, you can change the energies of your food by changing flavors or fillings. Several examples are given below, but the possibilities are endless! With things you can form into different shapes, such as cookies, pancakes or breads, you can further strengthen your intentions by forming them into a shape or symbol of what you are looking to achieve.
- Apple:
Apples are known as the Wiccan food that is the sacred fruit to the Goddess. The sacred fruit to the Isle of Avalon. If you cut an apple horizontally through it’s center, you will see the 5 pointed star formed by its seeds. Apples are used in love, healing, garden magic, and immortality.
Red apples are for love.
Golden apples are for fame and popularity.
Green apples are for prosperity.
This forbidden fruit yields much power. Offer a bite to a prospective lover. If he or she accepts, you will begin a love affair. Leave an offering of an apple under a tree for Venus and make a request for love.
- Bagel:
The bagel is a round shaped bread with a hole that is ruled by Adonis. A food that is perfect for breakfast and is of various flavors and types. Eat bagels to create illusions. The more you pile on top of the bagel, the more people will believe and enjoy the tall tales you tell.
Sesame bagels: prosperity.
Poppy bagels: eaten before bed to increase dream activity (don’t eat before having to take a drug test as the poppy seeds are known to induce a positive for opiates).
Salt bagels: gets rid of inconsistencies, and make one a better liar.
Cinnamon raisin bagels: makes flattery come easy.
The everything bagel makes wishes come true.
Warning: never put ham or pork products on a bagel, it brings very bad luck!
Meditate on the hole in the bagel when you need to pull a quick disappearing act ~ especially from creditors.
- Banana:
The banana is an everyday food that is a fruit and ruled by Mars. Prevents harm and accidents while traveling cross-country or by air. To increase sexual stamina – dry and crush the banana into a powder and than rub it on your body. It has powerful lust properties because of its obvious shape.
- Chocolate:
Chocolate can be used as flavoring or as a dessert itself; can be drank as a beverage (hot cocoa/chocolate). Hot chocolate was invented by the Meso-American natives, the Aztecs and Mayans were known to consume it often and believed it increased power and virility in their warriors. It was a sacred food to various ancient peoples. Chocolate is a power drug and it holds properties of love.
Dark chocolate is associated with romance and intimacy.
Milk chocolate is associated with nurturing and friendship.
A staple for witches in the kitchen, especially for those trying to induce love or aspects of love. It has been scientifically proven to raise the endorphin levels in the body.
- Ketchup:
Even condiments have magickal properties! Ketchup is ruled by Venus, as it is made of tomatoes which are also ruled by Venus. When drawn in the shape of a pentagram is used for summoning or dismissing energy. When spreading on other foods, can be used in visualizing relationships. Continue to visualize or call out person’s name while consuming ketchup. Ketchup is associated with love, because tomatoes were once thought to be a powerful aphrodisiac.
- Oranges:
This fruit is well known all over the world and dates back to prehistory. Can be used in love, joy, and inspiration magic. Placed in stockings on Christmas as sympathetic magic to encourage the return of the sun. Directly associated to the sun and solar magick. Eat to lift your spirits. Dry and grind into a powder to use in love and abundance spells.
Blood oranges incite the passions when eaten.
In China, the orange is a symbol of gold and prosperity. Leave as an offering next to a Buddha statue to increase your luck and wealth
- Pasta:
Pasta is ruled by Mercury.
Spiral pasta enhances creativity. Spaghetti/linguine is good for protection and improving communications. Corn pasta helps bring financial creativity. Rice pasta is good for love.
- Pie:
Ruled by Venus and originating in ancient Greece and Rome, pies are associated with happiness, love, and wholeness.
Eat cherry pie to increase self-confidence and find self-love.
All fruit pies invoke love when shared with another.
Meat pies create feelings of security.
Place your thumb in a pie and make a wish. It just might come true!
- Pizza:
Pizza is a delicious and recreational food that is ruled by the Sun. Eat pizza when things are difficult and you need a lucky break. Or when you get the craving. Whole pizzas should be blessed with prosperity before being consumed. Eat a triangular slice when things seem very difficult and you feel you need a lucky break with any situation in your life. The Sicilian, or square pizza does not hold any magickal properties.
- Rum:
Rum is an alcohol that is ruled by Ellegua and Chango. Distilled from molasses and caramel, rum has a deep brown color that attracts sweetness. Drinking it channels the spirits of the gods. Traditionally you must spit the rum over an idol or representation of the god. Use in baking a rum cake or mix with coke for a fun Friday night!
- Sugar:
Sugar is ruled by the Orishas and by the goddess of love – Venus. Can be used in spell jars, bags, and more.
Chew on raw sugar cane to draw spirits into the body. It is one of the quickest ways to become possessed by the gods. Sprinkle powdered or confectioners’ sugar on pink or red love candles to make another “sweet on you.
Synthetic sugar substitutes are not generally considered to have magickal qualities.
Magickal Herbs
Working with herbs is an easy way to apply energy correspondences. Every Kitchen Witch knows that even the most
common herb welds magickal energies. Parsley is used for fertility, thyme for clairvoyance, garlic for protection… and that sprinkling an herb over a dish or simmering a few into a dinner can imbue a meal with energy. Energy abounds in nature. In magick natural aspects are gathered and infused with intent.
Adding herbs to your cooking not only adds nutrients (yes, each herbal teaspoon is loaded not only with flavor but with antioxidants and vitamins too) it will add energy to manifest intent.
- For example:
While the French regard their food as ‘the food of Love’, it’s actually the Italians that steps up to the magickal index. Basil, Marjoram, Rosemary and Thyme are all herbs with magickal properties used to kindle affection. One of the easiest love spells to work is to serve a nice Italian meal incorporating these herbs into a sauce. As you make the sauce firmly hold your intention in your mind then serve the meal to the object of your desire.
- Basil:
Basil is a popular Wiccan food for Wicca in the kitchen. A very useful and fragrant herb that can be used fresh or dried in cooking. This is a lust herb and the aroma calls forth sexual energy.
- Bay:
Bay leaves have been used for centuries in the Mediterranean. They are believed to enhance psychic powers when burned. Add them to various dishes of Italian, Cuban, and Greek ethnicity to connect to the gods.
- Chili Powder:
Chili powder is made from ground, dried chilies. It has been used in hoodoo and other forms of folk magic for centuries. Often it is used to in spells to “send someone away” or to shut someone up. It has a powerful kick and should be used wisely in magick and it is spicy and should be used sparingly in food (unless you like spicy foods then more power to you!)
- Cilantro/Coriander:
Cilantro is the leaf and coriander is the seed of this tasty herb. Ruled by Mars and used in love and lust magick. If the seeds are worn will help with migraine headaches. Used in flavoring foods, great in salsa and chutney. Used in love and healing magick.
- Cinnamon:
Cinnamon is a multi-purpose powdered root used in desserts and dishes. Its magical properties include abundance/money, protection, and love.
- Cumin:
Cumin is an ancient herb used in the Middle East and Mediterranean to flavor stews and meat dishes. Blended into drinks to promote lust. Used in foods to promote love and protection. Ruled by Mars.
- Oregano:
Oregano is used in Italian food to flavor meat and tomato dishes. Ruled by Venus. Can be used in love, happiness, luck, and protection magick. Also said to enhance psychic abilities.
- Peppermint:
This sweet-tasting, invigorating herb is used in desserts and also as a tea. Carry dried peppermint leaves in your wallet to bring in more money. Said to help with stomachaches or sour stomachs. When grown in the garden is good luck.
- Rosemary:
Rosemary is an herb used to enhance intuition and psychic abilities. When taken as a supplement is said to improve memory and cognition.
- Salt:
While technically not an herb, salt is used to flavor many dishes both culinary and baking. It has a purifying and cleansing effect and has been used for centuries to absorb negative energies and protect oneself and house from evil. There are different kinds of salt, and it is best to stay away from iodized “table” salt. Sea salt and Himalayan pink salt are best for the body. Himalayan pink salt helps to decalcify one’s pineal gland.
- Thyme:
Thyme is an herb long associated with the fae or fairies. Ruled by Venus. Used to purify, bring pleasant dreams, worn or burned for good health, can be used in food to attract fortune, love, courage, and psychic skill.
Magickal Veggies
Everyone has to eat, and if all food is prepared with an intention for love, money or protection, cooking will help you to manifest what you want out of life. As you practice your magick cookery you will find a new joy in the ritual of food preparation. Food contains the energy of love, protection, sensuality, strength, fertility, and prosperity to name a few. Discover the magic of food by utilizing the energy contained within.
The preparation of food, with a particular intention in mind, is old magic. Look at food as sacred, let the act of preparing, cooking and eating food be a sacred act. Your kitchen can be a place of powerful magic, work slowly and deliberately to hone your craft.
- Artichoke
Ancient Greek myth states that an angry god turned a beautiful woman into the first artichoke because he was jealous of her looks. The artichoke originated in the Mediterranean region. The ancient Romans enjoyed them as a luxury food, preserving them in brine or vinegar.
Magickal uses include protection, growth, and safety, associated with Mars and the Fire element. A member of the thistle family, the artichoke is associated with protection because of it’s sharp outer points and prickly inside.
- Beet:
This root vegetable is considered to be feminine. It represents the Power of Love. Beet juice can be used as a replacement for blood in spells of old, also in Love magic. It is said that if a couple eat of the same beet, then they will fall in love forever.
- Cabbage:
People who feared Friday the 13th at one time placed cabbage leaves on their foreheads to ward off evil spirits. Cabbage was so valued in ancient Greece that officials passed a law in 621 BCE that proscribed the death penalty for anyone caught stealing cabbages. The ancient Greeks also thought that eating a head of cabbage everyday would cure insanity and nervous conditions.
Magickal uses include protection and money, associated with the Moon and the Water element. Serve cabbage on the night of the Full Moon, and after magickal/spiritual rituals. Cabbage can also be eaten to internalize protection. Green cabbage is good for money-drawing.
- Carrot:
The carrot is a root plant ruled by Mars. Because of its shape is associated with lust and fertility. When eaten by women encourages pregnancy. The flowers of the plant are known as Queen Anne’s Lace. Come in various colors – white, orange, and even purple.
- Celery:
Celery has long been known as an aphrodisiac. Ancient Roman women ate celery to increase their sexual appetites. Celery soup was a favorite dish at Madame de Pompadour’s salon for just this purpose. Modern science has found that cooked celery emits a type of pheromone, the sex-attracting chemical secreted by humans and animals.
Magical uses include sex, peace, psychic awareness, grounding and weight loss, associated with Mercury and the Fire element. Make a celery soup, visualizing that your sexual appetites will increase. Or use a different visualization with raw or cooked celery to soothe and bring peace. Use celery seed as a seasoning to strengthen psychic awareness.
The stalk and seeds will induce lust upon consumption. Chewing on the seeds will help center yourself and help with concentration. The seed can be used in spell pillows to induce sleep. To increase psychic powers, burn with orris root.
- Chili Pepper:
Chili peppers were cultivated in Mexico 9,000 years ago. The Aztecs used chili peppers in exorcism rituals. Chili peppers were recently banned from one state’s prison system because the burning vegetable can be used as a weapon. The Spanish conquistadors were repelled in some parts of South America by the smoke of burning chilies.
In modern-day New Mexico, some people burn the core of a red bell pepper on Friday nights to ward off evil from harmful humans. Magickal uses include protection, associated with planet Mars, the Greek God Ares and the Fire element. Add jalapeno, cayenne, or bell peppers to guard against negative energies.
- Corn:
Ruled by Venus and the Earth element, corn embodies powers of protection divination and luck. The Corn Mother is a Goddess that has been worshiped through time by East and North America. She is the deity of fertility and plenty, the corn either whole or ground is used to bless and scattered for ritual.
Make a necklace of whole kernels to prevent nose bleeds. Cornstalks hung over the mirror brings good luck to the household. Red corncobs were burned in the mountains of North America on the homes doorstep or under the bed to aid in childbirth. Pollen from corn was used in rain making rituals by Meso-Americans. Placing an ear of corn with a sleeping infant will keep out negative energy.
- Cucumber:
A feminine vegetable ruled by the moon, for chastity, fertility and healing. The peels of the cucumber placed on the forehead will help aid in the cure of a headache. Eating of the seeds will help with fertility, and when the cucumber it’s self is eaten it hinders lust. Sliced thinly and placed on the eyes it cures dry and swollen eyes.
- Lettuce:
Lettuce is associated with the element of water, as it is made up mostly of water. Ruled by the moon and is eaten to prevent sea-sickness. Can be used in protection spells, particularly helpful if grown in the garden to protect one’s home. Rubbed on face/forehead to help fall asleep. Also used in divination and chastity magick. Very healthy to eat as high in fiber, vitamins, and water content.
- Onion:
The onion is a masculine root plant used in various forms of magick. When cut open and left in a room will absorb sickness. Grow it in the garden to protect one’s home against evil spirits. Used also in money and lust magick and will produce prophetic dreams if placed under the pillow. The Holy Trinity of vegetables to be used in many culinary dishes is carrot, celery, and onion sauteed in a butter base (shhh, don’t tell anyone my secret to amazing stuffing!).
- Peppers:
The various colors of peppers have different associations:
Eat red peppers with a lover to improve your sex life.
Eat purple peppers on Thursdays or full moons for power, protection and wisdom.
Eat orange peppers for creativity and spiritual evolution
If you are awaiting a money award in a court settlement, write the amount you want on a piece of paper. Cut a slit in a green pepper and place the piece of paper inside of it. Put the pepper in the freezer and keep it there until you have won your case.
- Potato:
Potatoes are a staple food in Ireland dating back centuries. Once thought to be poisonous as a part of the nightshade family, now a very common eaten food all over the world. Ruled by the moon. When eaten baked or fried can help calm an upset stomach (my own personal remedy). Used in healing magick.
- Pumpkin:
According to early American legend, if half a pumpkin is left exposed in the kitchen, negative energies will arrive to spoil the cooking. Pumpkins are carved in the United states on Halloween to scare away evil. Pumpkins can be a part of Samhain celebrations as symbols of the fruitfulness of the earth. Pumpkins are also symbols of the Mother Goddess.
Add pumpkin dishes to health diets. Eat the seeds after roasting them, or enjoy pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread. It is also a money-attractant.
- Tomato:
While not technically not a vegetable, most people consider it as such. Was thought to be the fruit of love in the Mediterranean region. Is considered a powerful aphrodisiac and is used in many Italian, Greek, and Mexican dishes.
- Zucchini:
The zucchini is a veggie (some say fruit) that is ruled by Jupiter. Whole raw zucchinis are used in sex magick. To stop a man from cheating, carve his name in the zucchini and freeze it. Eat zucchini cooked for protection and prosperity.
Sources:
- Exemplore
- Pagan Cottage
- Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients
More information about food and magick can be found here:
The Devil Pod, also known as Bat Nut, is the seed pod of Trapa bicornis, an aquatic Asian plant. Glossy and black, it averages 2 1/2 – 3 inches from tip to tip, and when dried and oiled, its surface texture is similar to that of a chestnut or buckeye.
However, depending on the way it is viewed, this naturally sculpted botanical oddity looks like nothing so much as a leering goat-horned devil, an enraged bull demon, a flying bat, or an alien chupacabra! The illusion of an evil face appears on both sides of the pod, and the two faces are usually quite different in visage.
Also known as:
- Buffalo nut
- Bull nut
- Chinese horn nut
- Goat head
- Ling nut
In China, the Bat is a lucky animal, because the name “Bat” (Fu) sounds just like the word for happiness (Fu), so to the Chinese, who know this plant as the Ling Nut, the image it shows is of a Bat and it is considered a lucky food to eat, and an extremely lucky curio to possess.
Although the seed inside the pod is edible when cooked, the Bat Nut’s rarity in the United States and its bizarre shape have led to its use as an offering on altars to some of the darker gods. While it is not native to Africa, Europe, or South America, it would not be out of place on a modern altar dedicated to chthonic tricksters such as Eshu-Ellegua-Legba of West Africa, Hades-Pluto of the ancient Mediterranean, or Maximon of Guatemala.
In the South, folks have long used the Devil pod to ward off evil, and for that purpose they place it above a doorway, facing outward as an apotropaic charm, much in the manner of a Roman Janus or Tibetan door demon. Likewise, it makes a splendid inclusion in mojo bags of the types commonly known as “Jinx Breaker,” “Keep Away Enemies,” or “Run Devil Run.”
Some people also like to carry a Devil Pod in a red flannel bag and anoint it with Uncrossing or Cast Off Evil Oil when they are surrounded by enemies.
Devil Pod is an edible, nutritious food if steamed or roasted like a Chestnut while it is still fresh from the water.
Bats are under devastating ecological pressure from human beings. Bat Nuts are a good and effective substitute for any kind of magick that calls for the use of Bats.
Sources:
- Lucky Mojo
- Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
- Planetary Association: Mars
- Gender: Masculine
- Element: Fire
- Deity: Isis
- Basic Powers: Protection, Purification, Exorcism, Healing.
The ancient Egyptians worshiped onions as gods and always planted them in their gardens. Whether your gods are in your garden or the veggie bin of your kitchen, they have many magical uses. Use this many-layered food to peel away problems in life and to dispel anger. The onion is also a love food and is said to increase male virility.
- Red onions promote lust when added to dishes.
- White onions clear away obstacles when peeled to the core.
- Use purple onions for power and seduction.
- Yellow onions dispel anger between friends.
Carve the names of quarreling parties into a yellow onion and keep until it forms roots. At this time, the two friends or family members will begin to recall the positive roots of their relationship and let go of their anger toward each other. Do not get rid of the onion until apologies have been made and accepted. You may then offer the onion to the earth in thanks.
Cut an onion in half and put it under your sink to absorb any negativity in your home or nastiness sent your way and replace every week or two — you’ll be surprised how much it absorbs and how quickly it shrivels. Prick a whole fresh onion with black headed pins and place on a window sill to protect from the evil eye and magical attack. Or, simply braid together onions from your garden and hang them in your kitchen or over your pantry door to protect your home.
Folk healers use onions just like garlic cloves – cut them in half and rub on the afflicted area and then discard. The onion becomes as a scapegoat for the illness. Also, like garlic, onion skins are never thrown out, but burned to attract and keep money. The skins can also be burned for protection and banishing and, when finely ground, can be added to incense blends.
In Hungary, onion skins are burned during childbirth to protect the mother and baby who are believed to be most susceptible to the evil eye and evil spirits at this time. In European folk magic, knives and swords are consecrated by running the blades over the juices of a freshly halved onion – why not use an onion to bless and cleanse your ritual knives before and after use?
Onions are used in the practice of hoodoo/rootwork/conjure and other forms of folk magic in a variety of ways.
- Red Onions
Red onions are powerful, but some folks say that you have to steal one from a grocery store to get the best use of it.
When cutting red onions, take the skin and turn on the stove top. Burn the onion skins in the flames. Folks burn red onion peelings because they are lucky for the home; because they draw in business to a bar, restaurant, or boarding house; because they keep the law away; and because they help in love affairs.
For the last-named purpose, you can call your lover’s name and say, “Hold him tight to me; make him come under my command,” three times as the red onion peels burn.
Red onion skins can also be used without burning them. They can be added to incense, oils, powders, and even mojo bags.
For peace in the home, bore a hole in a red onion, fill it with sugar, tie a shoe lace around it, and hide it above the door where folks will walk under it.
- Yellow & White Onions
An old folk remedy for curing baldness is to rub a cut onion on the head. Yellow and white onions are also used to repel and banish a person.
More Onion Magick
If you want to see your future marriage partner in your dreams, all you need do is place an onion under your pillow. If you are trying to determine between two marriage prospects, you should write their names on two onions, place them on a windowsill, and see which one sprouts first.
Onions are very protective. A half onion is kept in the kitchen to absorb diseases and ill-luck. It should be replaced every few days. The onion’s pungent odor is believed to ward off evil spirits. It also provides general protection.
Rub a cut onion on the door frame and on the ground or floor in a line while stating your desire that whatever it is you are trying to repel cannot enter.
If there is someone in your house and you want them gone for good, take an onion, a name-paper for the person and/or a personal effect from the person. Use a knife to make a slit in the onion. Stuff the name-paper and/or personal effect into the onion. Roll the onion out the house and into the street. If the person is known to sit in a specific chair in the house the you can put it there and then slap it to the floor and kick it out the door and into the street. Cussing the person while you do it will make the work stronger.
Another method of banishing someone is to take a cut onion and rub it on the bottom of their shoes, from the heel going to the toes, while telling them to get the hell out of your house.
If your husband is too demanding for sex, take a cut onion and make one pass down your coochie. He will leave you alone that night.
Onions can be used to break up couples. A hollow is made in a large onion and name-papers or personal effects from the couple are placed into the onion, along with items such as black cat hair, black dog hair, and/or red pepper. The onion is then rolled under the home (if the home is up off of the ground), hidden under the porch, or buried near the front of the house where the couple will walk over it. As the onion rots the couple will begin to fight and will separate.
Carrying an onion around with you is said to be good for your health, and ensures that you do not catch a cold. During the plague, onions were frequently hung up in rooms to help preserve good health. Even today, some people will place an onion in the room of someone who is sick, believing that it will help drive the illness away.
Onion Weather Forcasting:
Onion’s skin very thin,
Mild winter coming in.
Onion’s skin thick and tough,
Coming winter cold and rough.
Onion Tips and Tricks:
Keeping a piece of raw potato in your mouth wile cutting onions will stop your eyes from weeping. Holding a matchstick between your teeth also works.
Sources
This information was collected from a variety of sources including the following:
Many legumes have seeds, called peas or beans, that are lucky. There are also pasture and tree legumes whose leaves and seeds are carried for luck. There is quite a lot of magick and lore surrounding these little packages of energy.
- Ruler: Mercury
- Type: Vegetable, seed
- Magickal form: dried, raw, cooked
Use beans to appease the spirits of the dead. Throw some around the outside of the home if a ghost or poltergeist is bothering you. Beans inspire creativity and communication and can be carried raw in a pouch or cooked and eaten for inspiration.
Here is a list of the different types of beans and their specific properties:
- Black turtle beans help to jump hurdles and make important decisions.
- Butter beans reduce stress.
- Canary beans bring happiness and success in the arts.
- Cow or black-eyed peas bring luck and increase psychic vision.
- Cranberry (October) beans attract new opportunities.
- Fava beans bring power, and make wishes come true.
- Garbanzos (chickpeas) help beat the competition.
- Great northern beans bring discovery and insight; they also help to protect plans and keep them secret.
- Green baby lima beans bring new income.
- Green split peas are for money or health.
- Green pigeon beans represent resourcefulness and money.
- Large lima beans allow expansion and financial growth.
- Lentils bring peace and financial security.
- Navy beans increase strength and determination.
- Oval white beans protect assets.
- Pink beans bring confidence and romance.
- Pinto beans open channels and create action and movement.
- Red kidney beans represent wisdom, love, and healing.
- Roman beans bring power and precision.
- Small red beans provide energy and lust.
- Speckled lima beans create networking opportunities.
- Tonka beans help in romance, often found in love-drawing mojo hands.
- Whole green beans attract money.
- Yellow split peas bring luck and fame.
Two legumes are widely utilized in rituals to cause wishes to come true. The Fava bean is for general good luck wishes, and the Tonka bean is for love-drawing wishes.
Sea Beans
Exotic to the eye, drift seeds, or “sea–beans” are actually seeds from common trees and vines that grow in the tropics. The beans fall from the parent plant, into streams and rivers, to drift with the ocean’s currents until being washed onto a shore thousands of miles from where they once grew. Floating in the sea by the thousands, only the hardiest endure long voyages on ocean currents which may finally bring them to rest on foreign shores. Sea–beans are known as symbols of good luck and longevity.
Sea beans can include the following:
- Sea Hearts
Heart shaped beans such as Entada gigas found on northern Atlantic shores, and Entada phaseoloides and rheedii from the southern Pacific. Sea Hearts are produced in huge, hanging bean pods, up to six feet long. Sometimes they are found with imprints and lacerations, caused by the teeth of fish and mammals during their voyage. They are impervious to salt water, even after floating in the ocean for several years.
These beans have been fashioned into all sorts of trinkets and useful objects. Sailors carried sea hearts as good luck charms to protect them from sickness and to ward off the evil eye. Seeds were sometimes cut in half, the contents removed and the woody seed coats hinged together. Hollowed out seeds were commonly used in Norway and Northern Europe for snuff boxes, match boxes and lockets.
It is said that a sea heart (also known as fava de Colom) inspired Christopher Columbus to set out in search of lands to the west.
- Sea Purses
Purse shaped beans such as Dioclea sp. found on Atlantic beaches, and the elusive Australian Dioclea hexandra. Coveted by collectors, Sea Purses and Saddle Beans (Dioclea sp.) are one of the rarest and most colorful of all sea beans found on any beach. Distinct color variations range from butterscotch to solid black.
It was originally grown in Asia, but has drifted to islands in the Caribbean and Central and South America, reproducing there. They are found growing on the Hawaiian Islands where they may have also drifted or, like so many other species, introduced by people.
- Hamburger Beans
Such as Mucuna sloaneii, urens, and elliptica along with a few south Pacific natives, Mucuna gigantea and membranacea, so called because they look a lot like this popular sandwich.
Seeds from the Mucuna vine are called Hamburger Beans or True Sea-Beans in the United States. In Mexico, they are known as Ojo de Venado or Deer’s Eye. There are hundreds of varieties growing in tropical regions around the globe. They can be brown, red or brindle shades of red and brown.
These beans are members of the pea and bean family that contain toxic, hallucinogenic or medicinal alkaloids and therefore figure in good luck charms.
In the case of the Mucuna bean, the mature beans are considered both aphrodisiac and very protective in Mexico and Central America against the evil eye. Nowadays they are carried for good luck.
- Vine Seeds
Every collector’s favorite, the Mary’s Bean (Merremia discoidesperma) is a rare find among drift material anywhere in the world and highly prized by drift seed collectors. Named after the Virgin Mary, it is also called the crucifixion bean because of a cross etched on one side of the seed, leading to it being used as a talisman and many superstitions and legends are connected with it.
A woman in labor was assured an easy delivery if she clenched a Mary’s bean in her hand, and the seeds were handed down from mother to daughter as treasured keepsakes. In northern Europe the Mary’s bean was a special find to pious beach-combers. The seed had obviously survived the ocean and they felt it would extend its protection to anyone lucky enough to own one.
In addition to its unique appearance, it holds the record for the longest recorded drift: 15,000 miles., along with some Caribbean Little Marbles and Florida native Bay Beans.
Bay beans (Canavalia rosea) are one of the most common and plentiful of all sea-beans growing abundantly in dunes worldwide. The vines and their pods grow low along the sand and are easy to spot on the berm with long flower-studded runners. These vines protect the dunes by stabilizing the sand along with other plants. The coloration of the beans vary from mottled and swirly browns to different shades of beige.
Little Marbles (Oxyrhynchus trinervius), also known as Black Pearls, are plentiful in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The parent plant is an aggressive climber in the right conditions. A rare find on North American beaches, as they are not good floaters and few get very far from their parent plant.
- Shrub Seeds
Shrubs that produce these beans are some of the most resilient plants found. They came from parents growing in inhospitable conditions such as drainage ditches, along barbed-wire fencing and embedded in hard-pack soil with drainage that would kill anything else.
Recurved spines growing on their branches protect the precious seeds from animals that probably shouldn’t be eating them. They include Coral Beans (Erythrina sp) and Grey Nickars (Caesalpinia bonduc) and the less aggressive Brown Nickar (Caesalpinia major).
Grey nickars (aka Sea Pearls) found on east coast beaches of Florida may have washed in from the Gulf Stream or are from plants growing locally. The name nicker comes from an old English word meaning marble. Nickernuts are used for playing pieces in board games the world over.
Far less common than Grey Nickarbeans, and a bit larger, the Brown Nickar comes from similar plants, but have the color of light milk chocolate.
- Tree Seeds
All trees produce seeds, but not all are considered beans, much less sea-beans. More often the seed pods have flotation abilities, though short as they are since salt water starts to break them down as soon as they get wet.
Guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), one of the most beautiful beans of the New World tropics comes from a huge canopy tree. It is a fast growing species and one of the largest trees found in Central America.
The word Guanacaste, which is also the name of the Costa Rican province of Guanacaste, is of Nahuatl origin and means “ear tree.” The coiled, leathery pods resemble the shape of a human ear. Guanacaste seeds have a distinctive brown “eye” and make some of the most striking seed jewelry.
Makha-Mong (Afzelia xylocarpa). This tree grows in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma in deciduous forests. In Southeast Asia, the seeds are harvested for medicinal purposes. The seed pulp can be used to make cigarettes, and the bark and seed are used for herbal medicine.
Laurelwood (Calophyllum calaba), also known as santa-maría or false-mamey, this medium-sized tropical evergreen tree is frequently used for reforestation, as a shade tree or a protective hedge. The seeds are perfectly round and coloring runs from light beige to dark brown. At certain times of the year, they can be plentiful on beaches, looking like small ping-pong balls. Polishing brings out their natural coloring.
Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia). In the Caribbean, the pods from these trees are used for fuel and called “woman’s tongue” for the rattling noise they make when the wind blows them. The empty pods are classified as sea-beans but only have a maximum flotation of about a month. The seeds are gathered from pods and fashioned into jewelry around the world.
Large brown beans
Some large brown beans are tropical species that accidentally get distributed worldwide because their pods float. Swept downstream, they make their way to the ocean before the pods fall apart, and when these “Sea Beans” wash up in Northern climes, they are carried as lucky pocket pieces.
Other large brown beans are cultivated as fodder. Their seeds are often mildly toxic, containing DMT compounds or L-dopa, but some find use in local medicine as vermifuges. Most are carried as amulets.
One exception to the “large brown beans are toxic” rule is the greenish-brown Fava bean, which is cultivated for use as a food despite the fact that some people are highly allergic to it. Fava beans are also known as Mojo Beans, or African Wishing Beans and are widely believed to have the power to make wishes come true.
Some large brown beans are drilled through and hung on a cord, often for protection.
Large brown beans are often treated in the same way as other large brown botanical curios like Buckeye, nutmeg, and High John the Conqueror – that is, they are oiled and carried in the pocket as a lucky piece or combined with other curios in a Mojo bag. Sea beans are handled in this way, and in addition to general good luck and gambling luck, being seaborne seeds, they are also said to protect from death by drowning.
Large poisonous brown beans carried as lucky pieces include the following:
- Entada Gigas: Sea heart, Sea bean
- Entada phaseoloides: Matchbox bean
- Mucuna pruriens, Mucuna spp: Cowhage, Cow-itch, Horse-eye nut, Nipay, Ojo de Llama, Ojo de Vaca, Ojo de Venado, Pica-Pica
Small Wild Red Beans and Peas
Many sub-tropical or tropical red beans or red peas are toxic and psychedelic, containing DMT or LSD-like substances. Some are fatal if eaten; others produce a visionary trance or altered state of consciousness. Although local shamans may prepare these dangerous seeds for ingestion, their most common magickal use is in amulets.
One exception to the “red beans are toxic” rule is the kidney bean or red bean well known as food. Like its white, brown, black, and spotted relatives in the Phaseolus genus, it plays an important role in edible bean ceremonies.
Small poisonous red beans crafted into amulets include the following:
- Abrus precatorius: Abrus a Chapelet, Colorine, Crab’s Eye, Jequerite, Jequirity Bean, Lady Bug Bean, Ojo de Cangrejo, Peronilla, Precatory Pea, Rosary Bean
- Adenanthera pavonina: Circassian seed, Jumbie, Jumble Bean
- Erythina spp: Coral Tree, Frijol de Arbol, Gallito
- Ormosia coccinea: Barakaro, Huayruru, Kokriki, Panacoco, Peonia, Wo-ka
- Ormosia macrocalyx: Alcornoque, Chocho Grande, Huayruru, Tento
- Ormosia nobilis: Huayuru Hembra, Mulungu, Tento
Bean Lore
Beans, like many other plants with strong-smelling flowers, are traditionally associated with death and ghosts, and have been so from early pagan times down to our own day.
In ancient Rome, edible beans were distributed and eaten at funerals. Until about the beginning of the 19th century, a similar custom was observed at some, though not all, north-country English burials. When it finally lapsed, a memory of it was preserved in the children’s couplet:
God save your soul,
Beans and all.
During the Roman festival of the dead, held in May, black beans were used in ceremonies intended to placate and ward off ghosts, and in early Greek ritual, the scapegoat who annually died for the people was chosen by means of a black bean drawn in a lottery.
In his Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme (1686) Aubrey mentions a charm used in his boyhood to avert evil spirits, which consisted in saying very quickly, three times in one breath:
Three blew beans in a blew bladder,
Rattle, bladder, rattle.
A very widespread country belief that persisted at least as late as the end of the last century, and perhaps later, was that the souls of the dead dwelt in the flowers of the broad bean. These flowers were still thought to be ill-omened in many districts. Old colliers in northern and midland England say that accidents in the pit occur more frequently when they are in bloom than at any other time.
Cases of lunacy are also thought to be more likely then, for the scent of the flowers is supposed to induce mental disorder, bad dreams, and terrifying visions. A Leicestershire tradition says that if any one sleeps all night in a beanfield, he will suffer from appalling nightmares, and will probably go mad afterwards.
Another very common superstition is that if in a row of beans, one should come up white, it is a death omen for someone in the grower’s family.
A well-known charm for curing warts is to rub them with the white inner lining of a bean pod, and then throw the pod away, or bury it in a secure place. As it rots, so will the wart disappear. This charm has been tried with success in Oxfordshire within the last ten years.
In Ireland, poultices made from the flowers were sometimes used to reduce hard swellings. A former use for the plant, half medical in origin and half magickal, was to make women beautiful. The pods steeped in wine and vinegar, or the distilled water of the flowers, improved the complexion, and so, according to Bulleyne’s Booke of Simples (1562) did a lotion made from bean-meal mixed with cold milk.
In Leap year, broad beans are said to grow the wrong way up. Various dates are given in different districts (in England) as the only fortunate days for setting beans (and peas) but these seem to spring less from superstition than from agricultural custom and the knowledge of local weather conditions. In the northern counties gardeners should:
Sow peas and beans on David and Chad,
Whether the weather be good or bad,
David and Chad refers to March 1st and 2nd, the festival days of St David and St Chad. Farther south, beans are set “when elm leaves are as big as a farthing,” or on certain dates in early May, often connected with local fairs. A limit to the variety of these days seems to be set by a well known rhyme which says:
Be it weal or be it woe,
Beans should blow before May go.
Edible Bean Ceremonies and Celebrations
Edible beans have had religious and magickal associations for millennia. The ancient Egyptians held the red kidney bean sacred, and thus taboo as food. The high priest of the Jews was forbidden to eat beans on the Day of Atonement. Beans were thrown to the spirits of the dead during the ancient Roman feast of Lemuria in May.
Bean soup is eaten to commemorate the dead on All Souls Day in Austria and is also a feature of Jewish mourning feasts. Bean cakes are eaten in Taiwan at the August full moon ceremony. New Year’s luckiness is associated with red kidney beans in many parts of the world including Europe, where the beans are eaten, and in Japan, where priests clap their hands and throw uncooked beans upon temple goers.
Sources:
- Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients
- Encyclopedia of Superstitions
- Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic
- Beach Beans – a source for sea beans
The preparation of food, with a particular intention in mind, is old magick. Look at food as sacred, let the act of preparing, cooking and eating food be a sacred act. Your kitchen can be a place of powerful magick, work slowly and deliberately to hone your craft.
When preparing foods for specific magickal purposes, cook with purpose and care. Keep your goal in mind, love, money, protection, health, fertility, sex, strength, psychic awareness. Always stir clockwise, clockwise motion is thought to be in harmony with the apparent movement of the sun in the sky, and has been linked with life, health and success. Cut foods into shapes symbolic of your magical intention, such as a Pentagram for protection etc.
The following foods can be used, prepared, and eaten with protection as the intention, and used in conjunction with your protection spells.
- Artichoke
- Basil: (also love and money)
- Bay leaf: (also psychic awareness and healing)
- Black Pepper: (also purification)
- Blueberry ice cream
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Chili peppers
- Chili powder
- Chives: (also health)
- Cloves: (also love and money)
- Cranberries
- Fennel: (also strength and health)
- Garlic: (also health)
- Horseradish: (also purification)
- Leek: (also strength)
- Mango: (also sex and love)
- Marigold: (also happiness)
- Mustard: (also courage)
- Onion: (also health)
- Parsley: (also sex and money)
- Pineapple: (also healing, money, love)
- Pineapple pie: (also love, healing, and money)
- Potato: (also compassion)
- Quince: (also love)
- Radish
- Rhubarb: (also love)
- Salt: (also grounding and purification)
- Soy: (also awareness and spirituality)
- Sunflower: (also success)
- Tangerine
- Tomato: (also health, money, and love)
- Vinegar: (also purification)
- Walnut: (also conscious mind)
- Watercress: (also fertility)
Source: Witches Lore
The preparation of food, with a particular intention in mind, is old magic. Look at food as sacred, let the act of preparing, cooking and eating food be a sacred act. Your kitchen can be a place of powerful magic, work slowly and deliberately to hone your craft.
In addition to the energy of money and prosperity, many of these foods exert other magickal influences. Don’t be afraid to experiment. You can mix and match the various ingredients to come up with your own magickal recipe for abundance.
When preparing foods for specific magical purposes, cook with purpose and care. Keep your goal in mind, love, money, protection, health, fertility, sex, strength, psychic awareness. Always stir clockwise, clockwise motion is thought to be in harmony with the apparent movement of the sun in the sky, and has been linked with life, health and success.
Foods for Prosperity and their Magical Properties:
- Allspice: Money, healing
- Almonds: Money, healing
- Bananas: Spirituality, love, money
- Banana cream pie: Money
- Barley: Money, fertility, sex
- Beans: Money, sex
- Blackberries: Money, sex
- Blackberry pie: Money, sex
- Buckwheat: Money
- Buckwheat pancakes: Shape with a money sign for prosperity, add maple syrup for attracting money
- Butter pecan ice cream: Money, employment
- Cabbage: Protection, money
- Carob: Love, money
- Carrots: Sex, prosperity
- Cashews: Money
- Chocolate: Love, money
- Chocolate chip ice cream: Money, love
- Chocolate cream pie: Money, love
- Chocolate fudge: Money, love
- Cinnamon: Love, psychic awareness, money
- Cloves: Love, money, protection
- Cookie shapes: Cut cookies into shapes to represent the magic you want to perform, or decorate with magickal symbols for money, prosperity, and abundance
- Cookies and cream ice cream: Money
- Dill: Conscious mind, money, health, love
- Eggplant: Spirituality, money
- Ginger: Love, Money
- Grains: All grain foods are connected with abundance
- Green Candles on a birthday cake: Abundance
- Greens (all greens): Money
- Lettuce: Peace, money
- Macadamia nuts: Money
- Maple Syrup: Money, love
- Millet: Money
- Mince pie: Luck, money (always make a wish when eating a mince pie)
- Parsley: Protection, sex, money
- Peanuts: Money
- Peanut butter: Money
- Pecans: Money, employment
- Pecan pie: Money
- Pineapple pie: Love, healing, money, protection
- Pine nuts: Money, physical strength, love
- Pralines: Money
- Pumpkin: Healing, money
- Pumpkin pie: Money, healing
- Oats: Money
- Rice: Money, sex, fertility, protection
- Spinach: Money
- Square sweet pies: Prosperity
- Tea: Conscious mind, money , courage
- Tomato: Health, money, love, protection
- Wheat: All dough products bring prosperity and money into your life, also purity and fertility
Source: Witches Lore
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