One of the biggest advantages of being a kitchen witch is being in your magickal workshop practically every day. There's a good chance that you'll be in the kitchen at some point during each day, even if you're just doing the dishes or re-heating your coffee. Each time you find yourself stirring a pot of stew or toasting sesame seeds or reading a recipe, you have an opportunity to practice magick.

I have favorite spells I do all the time, and virtually all of them happen in the kitchen. The spells are easy, fast, and, most importantly, effective.

1. Sweep Away Your Troubles
My kitchen floor always needs sweeping. I can't tell you how many times a piece of carrot shoots off the cutting board and lands somewhere out of sight. Sweeping the kitchen happens several times a week in my house, so it's the perfect time to do a little magick.

I grab my trusty broom and start sweeping. As I do, I think about my day. What needs sweeping away? Is there a conversation I'm holding onto that I shouldn't be? Are my thoughts a little cluttered today? Sweeping gives me the opportunity to clean the kitchen and clear away anything that's bothering me.

Find a place in your kitchen to start sweeping. Move in a counter-clockwise direction. As you sweep, say, "I'm sweeping away my troubles. I'm clearing the cobwebs. I'm cleansing anything that doesn't serve me right now."

If you need to pack a bit more "oomph" into this spell, add a ¼ cup of white vinegar to a gallon of warm water and add five drops of your favourite essential oil and mop the floor. I use lavender, as it is calming. You might choose lemon for cleansing; cinnamon to warm up a cool mood; or peppermint for clarity, tranquility, and an uplifted mood.

2. Cooking with Charm Bags
Charm bags are used in many different craft and folk magick traditions. Typically they might contain combinations of herbs, stones, and charms. There's a kitchen witchery version of charm bags, too. In French cooking terminology, you might know these as bouquet garni: wrapped bundles of herbs to flavour soups, stocks, teas, and milk drinks. It's a long-held magickal belief that herbs can heal us, inspire us, and protect us. What better way to use charm bags than right in the meal you're preparing?

It's easy enough. Cut two six-inch squares of cheesecloth. Place them on top of each other to form a double layer. (You can also use a muslin bag.) Add combinations of herbs, such as thyme, parsley, and rosemary. Tie the bundle with cooking twine and store them in a cool, dry place for up to three months. I tend to make up a big batch and store it in a sealed mason jar. You can make charm bags with herbs you associate with certain conditions, like Happy Home or Love or Abundance.

Here are two versions I use all the time.

Abundance Bouquet Garni
Many of these herbs are associated with abundance magick.

• 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf

Love Bouquet Garni
These are some of my favorite herbs to inspire love.

• 1 tablespoon of dried basil
• 1 tablespoon dried fennel
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• Zest of one lemon

3. Prosperity Cake
I love ginger cake. I can eat it any day of the week. It's easy to prepare and even easier to imbue with a little prosperity magick. I'll give ginger cake as a gift, especially if I know someone could use a little more prosperity. Cinnamon, cloves, and ginger are often associated with prosperity.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup mild-flavored molasses
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 1 large egg

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Grease a 9x9 pan with butter then lightly dust the pan with flour.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients, except the sugar.
4. In another bowl, mix the melted butter, sugar, molasses, and hot water.
5. Whisk in the egg.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and give it a good whisk. You want to make sure there are no dry clumps, but it doesn't have to be silky smooth.
7. Pour mixture into your greased pan and bake for about 35 minutes. Let the cake cool for a few minutes before cutting into slices.

4. Get Outta Here
On occasion, a person comes into my life that I'd rather not have there. When more polite ways of asking them to leave have been exhausted, I head to the kitchen and make up a big batch of Get Outta Here. Hoodoo practitioners will recognise this formula as a version of Hotfoot Powder, and that's exactly what it is. I'm a big believer in using what works and, let me tell you, this little bit of magick does the trick every time.

The ingredients are simple enough; you probably have most of them in your cupboard right now. More, shall we say, potent versions add graveyard dirt in the mix. You're welcome to gather that if you choose.

A word of caution, though, before you make this. You'll be sprinkling this powder in front of your doorway or putting it in the shoes of the person you're wanting to leave, or even dropping it carefully around the office, in the places they walk. Make sure you really want this person out of your life.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried mint
• 1 rusty nail (or the rusty scrapings from a nail)

Instructions
Mix everything together in a small mason jar and seal it with a lid. Write the person's name on the lid of the jar. Light a small, black chime candle or birthday cake candle. (As with any fire magick, never leave a lit candle or flame unattended.) Dribble a few drops of hot wax on the lid and stick the candle on the lid. The candle will only take a few minutes to burn all the way down. While it's burning, tell the mason jar full of Get Outta Here mix to get to work removing this person from your life. When the candle is fully burned out, let the wax cool down and set. Then sprinkle the mixture, a little at a time, as needed.

5. A Meal Shared
By far, this is my favorite kitchen witchery spell. It's deceptively simple, yet its impact can be profound.There are three parts to this working, each as important as the other.

The first step is to invite someone to share a meal with you. If you have a roommate, friends, or family that live in the same household as you, they could be easy choices. If you live by yourself, this might be an opportunity to ask a friend, neighbor, or co-worker over. Perhaps there's someone you'd want to share a meal with that lives hundreds of miles away. Online video chats totally count! However you do it, ask someone to set a time with you to share a meal.

The second step is to create the meal. Again, circumstances may dictate exactly how you do this, but see if you can make a meal together. Perhaps your shared meal includes shopping. Maybe you do the cooking and they set the table. If you're sharing a meal with someone online, do your best to prepare the meal at the same time. The key is that each person has a hand in the meal, somehow.

You get to choose how elaborate the meal is. Maybe you pull out all the stops and prepare a feast for the ages. Perhaps it's a nice cup of tea and store-bought scones.

The third step is to talk, but there's a catch to this. Try and avoid work talk or gossip. Chat about the food you've just made, ask them about a favorite meal they remember, and ask why that meal is so important to them.

There are a couple of guidelines that I suggest here.

• Ask a few basic dietary questions so that you'll know what, if any, food types should be avoided.
• Set a minimum time limit. In other words, let them know the meal will last at least sixty minutes (or thirty minutes or two hours).
• Unless it's absolutely vital, agree to limit or completely avoid interacting with a phone, tablet, or other device that gets you online. See if you can devote the entire time to sharing the meal. If you're sharing a meal online, agree that no other devices are allowed.
• If they offer to help clean up after the meal, let them.

There's a particular magick in sharing food with other people. Two mini chocolate chip cookies served with a side of conversation and generosity can leave you more satisfied than a seven-course meal served in the world's fanciest restaurants.

The Magick Of Food
My kitchen is nothing special. It's not huge. I don't have all the latest gadgets. There's a stove, a fridge, some sharp knives, wooden spoons, a few pots and pans, and a collection of treasured cookbooks. I bet it's a lot like your kitchen.

However, when I think about what I do in my kitchen, the spells I practice and the meals I make, then it transforms into a wondrous, magickal place. Kitchen witchery feeds and nourishes me and all those with whom I choose to share food. Kitchen magick connects me to the seasons and to the vibrant bounty of nature. Relationships are forged and mended and remade over cups of coffee. Covens and magickal deeds have been birthed over late night snacks, whipped up with a moment's notice.

I believe in the magick of food, because I see it working every day.