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Article Specs Article ID: 14330 VoxAcct: 401415 Section: holidays Age Group: Adult Days Up: 914 Times Read: 6,363 RSS Views: 16,411 Winter Holiday Intentions and Food Magik Author: Coleen Renee, CSH Posted: December 19th. 2010 Times Viewed: 6,363 As we enter the dark time on the Wheel of the Year, our bodies want to slow down, regenerate - even hibernate a bit. But our mainstream culture has just hit the “crazy button¨. Buy! Shop! Bake! Party! Go! Go! Go! Listening to the needs of our body is challenging in a world of excess stimulation and major expectations. But Witches do magik and there’s no better time to use our skills to shift our reality. Food magik is the perfect remedy for the winter holiday crazies. Using food magik at this time allows us to participate at some level with the cultural flow, which many of us choose to deal with because of our families, friends, and habit. It also allows us to keep connected to our Witchy magical selves, while serving to keep us grounded and centered. One of my favorite food magik books is Patricia Telesco’s book, A Kitchen Witch’s Cookbook, published by Llewellyn. She includes recipes for all points on Wheel of the Year. My favorite part, however, are her lists of correspondences, which provide great references for choosing foods to energetically align with specific intentions, deities, kitchen tools, numbers, colors, astrology and more. Food magik is not difficult to incorporate into your everyday life. It’s wonderful for imbuing intent and focus into holiday gifting and for ingesting whatever balance you might seek. Here are some basics: Creating Sacred Space At the end of a long day, I will often use cooking dinner as a tool for shifting my energies and moving myself (and those with whom I engage) into an intentional space for the evening. As I wash my hands I let go of whatever stress I might be carrying from the day that isn’t mine. Then I greet Water with a song or just simple words of greeting. I get out my teapot and welcome in Earth. I choose an aromatic tea and welcome in Air. Then putting Water on to boil, I welcome Fire. As I pour the heated water over the tea and into the pot, I welcome Spirit. My kitchen is now a sacred space. If I am alone I cast a formal circle. If I know others will be coming in and out of the kitchen, casting a circle is rather impractical. But holding the intention of sacred space is always doable. The Magikal Acts of Food Preparation Peeling, chopping, stirring, blending, etc. can all be magical acts. Bringing that focus to whatever food preparation you do will shift your experience and can be quite useful. Within the sacred space I have created I use the acts of preparing food to process my day. I peel away anything I have no control over for the next few hours :or the entire evening. This brings me to the present and unburdens me. I might use chopping to help me break down into digestible pieces anything I do want to deal with in the next little bit. For example, I might wish to discuss something over dinner with someone and use the act of chopping to sort it out into reasonable sections. This often helps me to get to the real core of what I need to say. I end up cutting away the fluff or details that are not relevant or might become a distraction. If I have a huge list of tasks waiting to be done (like gift making, shopping, cleaning, etc.) I might use the chopping to break it all down into what I might reasonably achieve tonight. Again, this process allows me to sort through and cut away anything that isn’t necessary- particularly the shoulds and have-to’s of other peoples’ agendas that simply don’t work for me. Blending is quite useful for gathering all the aspects you might want to put into something and mixing them together to make a wonderful ‘stew’ of intentions. For example, I might want to remember (rosemary) my love for my family; while wanting the courage (black pepper) to maintain my own intentions for the holidays; and celebrate the peace (marjoram) of the winter; and maintain my own physical energy and health (garlic) while moving through the busy holidays. I can blend these together by hand or in a mortar and pestle to really get the magical aromatherapy benefits. (See Scott Cunningham’s book, Magical Aromatherapy, from Llewellyn) . The Food - A Tool of Magik Sometimes I choose specific foods around a particular intention. Other times I simply choose to be aware of the energies of the foods I feel like eating. This is a good thing to do in times of stress. It helps to avoid eating poorly in a time when you really need the boost of the healing energies food can bring to you. Awareness is a powerful Witch’s tool! Food correspondences are easily available on many Internet sites. Here’s a list to get you started (adapted from The Kitchen Witch’s Cookbook) : Holiday Foods and their Energetic Associations Allspice: Luck, health Apple: peace, love, health Baking soda/powder/yeast: raising expectations Bay: strength, health Beans: prosperity, decisions Bread: kinship, sustenance Broccoli: strength, leadership Brussels sprouts: endurance, tenacity Butter: tenacity, smoothing relationships Cake: celebration Caraway: protection from negativity Carrot: vision, masculinity Cardamom: strength of unions Celery: passion, grounding, peace Cheese: joy, health, fruition Chives: protection, breaking bad habits Chocolate: love, lifting emotions Clove: fun love, protection, piercing illusions Coconut: diversity, flexibility, spirituality Coffee: energy, alertness, mental awareness Cookies: maternal instincts, nurturing love Coriander: love, well-being, intelligence Corn: eternity Cranberry: security and protection Date: Resurrection, eternity, spirit Eggs: fertility, ancient questions Flour: revealing hidden matters, consistency Garlic: health, protection Ginger: health, cleansing, vibrant energy, zeal Grape: dreams, visions, fertility Gravy: smooth transitions, consistency, and uniformity Hazelnut: wisdom, fertility Honey: sweet things in life, happiness Horseradish: protection, fiery energy Jelly: joy, energy, pleasantness Juice: rejuvenation, vitality Lavender: comfort, acknowledgement Lemon: longevity, joy, faithfulness Lettuce: financial magic, peace, relaxation Lime: cleansing Milk: maternal instinct, nurturing Mustard: faith, mental alertness Oats: prosperity Olive: peace Orange: health, fidelity, love Parsley: luck, protection from accidents Pear: longevity, luck Peas: love Pomegranate: fruitfulness, hospitality, wishes Peppers: Black: cleansing, protection, Green: growth, prosperity, Red: vitality, strength Yellow: empowered creativity Potato: health, grounding Soup: steady change, improved communication Sweet potato: well founded gentle love Tomato: attracting love Walnut: mental faculties Wine: joy, honoring positive action Some Other Hints - As with all magik, the more of your self you bring to it, the more power it will hold. - Remember to breathe! - Involve other household members. Cooking magik is a fun way to teach young ones. -Raise energy with a song before you sit down to the table. Infuse the food and your body with the song. Try the refrain from the Prosperity Song on my Come Walk in Beauty CD. I will never hunger, I will never thirst Goddess brings abundance to all on Earth. Food and friends and rest a play All I need each and everyday. -The energy will be naturally grounded in the eating of the meal. -As you clean up, don’t forget to thank and release the Elements. This information around creating a meal can also be used in making holiday gifts (potpourri, specialty teas, cookies, jams, dried fruit) and for holiday baking. Make your holidays magical with focused intention in the kitchen, at meals and through food gifts. It’s fun, it’s easy - and the little bit of extra time you invest will pay off in ease, joy and sacredness! Blessed Be Footnotes: Patricia Telesco¡¦s book, A Kitchen Witch¡¦s Cookbook, published by Llewellyn Scott Cunningham¡¦s book, Magical Aromatherapy, from Llewellyn ABOUT... Coleen Renee, CSH Location: Ellensburg, Washington Website: www.coleenreneeproductions.com Author's Profile: To learn more about Coleen Renee, CSH - Click HERE Other Listings: To view ALL of my listings: Click HERE Email Coleen Renee, CSH... (No, I have NOT opted to receive Pagan Invites! Please do NOT send me anonymous invites to groups, sales and events.) To send a private message to Coleen Renee, CSH ... 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