I’ve always noted the similarities between “cooking” and the
Craft – both evolutionary and practically. In other words, I don’t just keep
my rituals in a recipe book for no reason, because rituals – for the most part –
are in fact recipes. That’s not a new concept, but one adapted by many folds of
the Craft. It is also one I haven’t seen thoroughly discussed here (and that might
well be my fault for not. looking hard enough, admittedly). As such, I thought
I might as well write a short explanation of the symbolic equivalence of the
two.

In essence, when broken down, cooking and magic can be
explained as the act of: combining items in such a way that they might be
transformed into something grander than their individual constituents. Many
things in nature can be described as so (specifically chemistry, which cooking
is a form of), but I’ll just stick to cooking – as it is something everyone can
understand to some extent or another. To perform this action and render wanted
results, there are things that must be accounted for.

Ingredients

Without a doubt, these serve the most important aspect of
both cooking and the Craft. Let it be noted that I am a traditionalist, and as
such, believe plants have as unique an energetic fingerprint as they do a
flavor. There is no such thing as substitution. Two “Love” plants are no more interchangeable
than two “spicy” herbs. They may well render similar results, but they are not
and will never be wholly interchangeable. I’ve read a few posts recently wherein
New Agers were attacking traditionalists for saying that there were no
available substitutions. The New Agers were angry – saying that the
traditionalist believed that: “You just think people with lesser means shouldn’t
be practicing!” That accusation was so off-base I nearly spat out my tea.

I vehemently stand with the other Traditionalist in question
in that, he/she is right. Not everything can be just replaced all willy-nilly
and be expected to render the same results. You wouldn’t rightly expect an
onion and a clove of garlic to render the same flavor profile (even though they’re
in the same family), so how on earth could you expect to replace one with the
other to meet the same end? What you were asking was for something that would compromise
the integrity of the given ritual – something I, myself, would also refuse. The
audacity one must have to come to a witch and demand that they give you a cheaper
substitute that brings the same results is astounding. That isn’t to say
witchcraft cannot be performed economically, but you can’t simply demand
cheaper options to an already composed ritual and expect the same results. It’s
as foolish as it is naïve. I, personally, am very understanding when it comes
to the spectrum of financial means in the community and would always be open to
– not offering cheaper substitutes for an existing ritual – but offering an
entirely new ritual with more
economical ingredients. However, if someone were as rude to me as these
particular New Agers were being, I would not only have not done this – but may
well have found it fitting to rain down a maelstrom of hellfire on them.

I digress, however, to ingredients. They are important and they
serve a practical purpose. These needn’t always be plants, obviously, as
ingredients can extent to curios, powders, oils, seeds, etc. And while I think
I’ve covered substitution, I have not
yet covered omission.

In all honesty, I believe I’d omit long before I’d substitute
– especially in the case of accessory ingredients – which some spells have and
others don’t. In that regard, it’s very much about knowing the correspondences
of your herbs. These will not always align from craft to craft – just as
identical spices are used in conjunction with other spices that produce unique
profiles from culture to culture. They may taste the same (though that isn’t
always the case: Mexican Oregano, for example, has a much different taste than
the usual oregano with which most are familiar), the other ingredients present
can amplify, detract or transform the flavor into something entirely different.
A big part of this is that cultures cook with (and use ceremonially), those
that grow in their area – for the obvious reason that they’re there. While we
live in a modern age where most herbs and spices can be gotten year round and
from all over the world, such was not the case until maybe 30 years ago. As such, there are pros and cons with this.
Pros extend to the fact that we have a much wider range of available
ingredients, ones that can be documented and reproduced much more efficiently
in the craft. Conversely, depending on locale, some of these can be very
expensive to obtain – and, additionally, we shirk off the herbs that grow
commonly in our area. I am very much an advocate for collecting, drying and
using the herbs present in your location – it connects you to your specific
location’s flora, it allows for the opportunity to expand your knowledges by
having to familiarize yourself with and identify the herbs and plants common to
your area (especially those that are unique and not sold commercially), and –
for the most part – it’s free! Witches have been collecting and identifying for
as long as we have been – it would
seem a shame to stop it now, just because buying them can be easier. We live in a modern world, I know, but if things had
not been broken for millennia, I highly doubt they need any fixing now. It’s a
lot easier to keep something alive than try to resuscitate it later.

Pot/Pan/Vessel

Symbolically, the pot/pan exists as a microcosm – the place
wherein your ingredients might be combined, and from them, wrought the new.
This could be your circle, work space, even your hands. In cooking, it serves
to contain and control the working – and the same can be said for the magical
element. This is where you control and augment the energies in combination, to
bring forth the results you desire – but the pot is a place that is
energetically neutral – a place that is conductive to the “heat” that cooking
requires, which brings us to:

The Stove/Fire

This is wherein your influence resides. This is the catalyst
point, wherein energy might be funnel through you into your working – “cooking”
the ingredients. Of course, this isn’t the only place wherein your influence as
the “chef” might be noted, as you must tend the whole process – the process
that first begins with your desire. You cannot cook if you do not first turn up
the heat! (Unless we’re making a ceviche or something, and I don’t think we are…) 

Electricity/Gas/Wood

This is the element few think about when drawing comparisons
to cooking and the Craft – but while we (witches) exist as the heat, this heat
is not born from nothing (see the Law of Conservation of Energy, if you don’t
believe me) – this heat is born from underlying energy. And what this energy is
depends heavily on the witch performing. Some choose to draw from Deities, Nature
(not personified), the Sun, Moon, Cosmos, specific locations, even Self. It is
this energy – that exists at its rawest state that makes the Craft possible. It
doesn’t depend where you draw from,
only that you do – for without it, all other steps would be wasted. Without
this energy, there would be no heat. Without heat, the pan would not conduct,
the food would not cook and the whole process would be futile. You could call
this Faith – but that is not always correct, as witches and their energetic
influences are as varying as possible cooking ingredients. It isn’t about what
the chosen source is, though, it’s about choosing one and using it! Find your
source, and after that, the rest is cake.

As I’m sure you all know, the list of cooking implements
seems to expand almost infinitely, much like instruments in the Craft. For
this, however, I’ve stick to the most basic elements as I can: ones
unspecialized and easily relatable, and hopefully have helped some in
understanding the correlations between cooking and Crafting so that, perhaps,
they might gain a further understanding of their own process.

image source