Learning to Cook like a Witch: From Recipe to Spell (short ver.)

Originally published October 16, 2023, on Tumblr and Ko-Fi.

Cooking and spellwork have a lot in common. Just as a witch might craft a spell from disparate odds and ends, so too might a cook create a meal. It's not such a jump to consider that any food, no matter how simple, can become a spell.

In my practice, the thing that differentiates a mundane action from a magical action is the doing. If I'm doing something just to do it, it may have a magical effect. But if I do the same thing with the understanding that it may have that magical effect, it will have that effect.

Therefore, to go from recipe to spell is a simple act: Cook with purpose. The particulars are a bit more involved, of course, as most things often are as you become more advanced.

You have to know what your ingredients are for. When cooking, you can't just throw things together and expect them to taste good with no technique or thought. What does a particular ingredient add to the mixture? Is it for flavor? Does it add or change the texture? Does it bind the other ingredients together or provide a base to be added to?

The same idea applies to spellcrafting. You can't just throw random things together and expect it to work. There has to be a pattern, an understanding, a purpose to what you include. If your materials don't apply to your goal, how on earth will they work?

Success in spellwork comes from the intersection of purposeful doing and appropriate material selection -- just like in successful cooking.

The art of taking a recipe and turning it into a spell is rather simple when it comes down to it. It requires two fundamental cooking skills:

• Recipe reading and comprehension
• Understanding how and when to make substitutions

If you'd like the food you make to still taste good, as well, you have to also understand what various ingredients taste like. Rosemary and mint might both be good for cleansing or purification, but they taste so vastly different that replacing one with the other will wildly alter your food.

You've got to choose wisely and within the bounds of your tastebuds. Cooking up magic is no good if you can't eat what you make!

(This is the short version of this post. The full version is available on Ko-Fi for folks who tip, commission, or become members.)