Have you tried the Chili?

Our triplets (one boy, two girls) are 13 years old now. You can imagine the craziness this presents with the hormones flying, them trying to figure out who they are, topped off with all the normal teenage stuff. As you can guess, it can get wild at times because it isn’t just one – it’s three who are all at the same stage at once. Some days can bleak. Not that they aren’t great kids, but they are also siblings that tend to get irritated with each at times.

When the fighting starts, I head to the kitchen!

I am not this fabulous chef – Just a mom who has a lot of experience with southern cooking. So all that I am about to say here is for every cook’s skill level.

Plant Spirit/ Ally Cooking

I experimented in different ways to imbue magic into the food I am cooking to help my kids through this time (and for my own sanity). When I started it was way more complex than it needed to be. I was thinking about the specific herbs and plants I was using. Blending them in a way to produce the effects I wanted, for those who ate it to experience.

This isn’t a bad approach and it worked well enough. It took a lot more preparation and energy though than what I found really worked for me. Some times we feel we have to have this complex magic – when really that complexity can just get too convoluted. Blending the right plants and herbs based on their own spirit, getting the exact magical effect you desire to come forth, along side tasting great in the dish, is an art.

I am sure for the kitchen witches out there, you are looking at this and shaking your head. Here’s the thing though – I cook because I have a family to feed – not because I love it. It’s fine but I am definitely not a kitchen witch in that sense. Your culinary arts and skill in doing that kind of work just leaves me in awe. It is amazing! It is also not me.

Water and Fire

If you can’t tell yet, Water and Fire, are my two main elements and hold deep significance in all areas of my life, spirituality, and practice. Knowing this allowed me to let go of these preconceived notions of what kitchen witchcraft needs to look like. What it needed to look like was something that actually worked for me.

Due to my views on the Voice and Vibration especially when it comes to water, I decided to lean into that. By using my words to infuse the intention and job I needed it to do. I don’t have any set words, It is what I am feeling in the moment.

If I need them to stop nit picking at each other – my emotions reflect that as much as the words I choose. This brings harmony between emotion, thought, and voice – and all need to be aligned in order to infuse the right vibration into the water I am cooking with.

Singing

So I have my intention – I have harmonized my emotions and thoughts – now comes Voice. I sing to my food as I am creating it!

A great example is when I make chili. It is a comfort food unto itself. Yes it has spices that awaken the senses and light the fires within, but it also sit heavy in stomach, warming us from the inside out and slowing us down physically.

The song takes shape as I blend and stir, nothing set, just what I need at that moment. So for example, I may sing something like “As you fill their bellies, fill their hearts. Swelling with love and appreciation of their differences.” In this I am asking the chili to not only make their bellies feel full, but to also have love and compassion for each other. Seeing their differences as strengths instead of an annoyance. I will sing what ever comes to mind, in tones that resonate the emotion I want to bring forth.

The results of this act just blew me away! I could not believe how well it worked and how quickly I could shift their mindsets through it. So when they start getting nit picky – I cook chili.

Incorporating Galdr

We all have different needs in our families at different times. We go through periods of hardships, that you all have to face together. Most often, I see this in people when it comes to finances, especially the last couple of years. This is a hardship that the whole family feels.

So in those times I incorporate the Galdr I feel will be most useful for the situation. For example, strength, endurance, creativity, wealth. I generally have ones already created for this, but sometimes I need to do a little prep to alter or create something new.

As I am prepping or cooking the food, I will sing the Galdr and incorporate the Bind. Sometimes it is carving it into the food, using the spoon to draw it in (like for soupy stuff), or drawing it in the air above the food.

Kitchen Witch Your Way

There is no one way to Kitchen Witch, just your way – the way that works for you.

Yes, I got results with the really complex approach, but I got the best results using my own strengths. The aspects of water and fire – the aspect of voice and singing – using Bind and Galdr with the Runes. These are things I am already deeply connected to and use in all areas of my life, so it makes sense they would also be my tools in kitchen magic.

Anyone can do kitchen magic, food magic – you just have to find your way to do it. Where the results you are looking for, manifest in the way you need them to. I tried so hard in the beginning to follow what others said, and I wish someone would have just told me to look to my own strengths first. It was good experience and knowledge, don’t get me wrong, but it did not serve me well.

That applies to most things in my experience. Get inspirations and ideas from others, but look to your own strengths, connections, and skills to find how to do it your way. Experiment and find what works for you.

Have you tried the chili?

We all have to eat – so why not use that to do more than just nourish the body. We can alter, change, create, and enhance through the magic we infuse into our food. Taking the idea of food and what it can do for our lives in a whole new way.

If you have never tried it, I would really encourage you to at least think about it, but hopefully you will experiment with it to see what you can do.

As for me – when my teens get a little out of whack, my response will be – “Have you tried the chili?”