Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen (6 page)

Chapter Eight

Bread & Grains

H
umans have eaten bread for at least 8,000 years.
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We have made it round, oblong, square, and triangular; flat as a pancake or fat as a loaf. Bread has been twisted into a symbol of the winter solstice, spiced, sweetened, garlicked, and filled with fresh vegetables. Though it has been made of every grain, it was the raised wheaten form that first inspired human and divine palates.

Bread has long been worshipped as the “staff of life.” But in the West today, bread is usually encountered in plastic bags, presliced and stripped of nutrients, bran, and wheat germ. It is “fortified” with just enough vitamins to satisfy government standards and may be artificially flavored and preserved. Perhaps the greatest indignity to which our bread is subjected is being pumped with air. This creates what is known in the grocery trade as “balloon bread.”

Not long ago, bread was a divine substance, directly linked with the goddesses and gods of the earths, lovingly crafted with grain and water. Flat, unleavened breads sustained millions of humans. Due to our forerunner dependence upon bread, these loaves also played important roles in birth celebrations, spirituality, and death.

Before the advent of agriculture, humans gathered wild grains and hunted. This forced them to live nomadic lives in small family groups. Eventually women—who had always gathered grain—discovered agriculture. As fields were planted with grain, people began putting down roots. Life stabilized and civilization began. Grain, most often eaten in the form of bread or grain paste,
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soon became far more important than meat.

Earlier European civilizations dedicated grain to state deities: Inanna in Sumer; Ishtar in Babylon; Osiris in Egypt; Indra in India; Demeter in Greece; Spes and Ceres (from whose name we take our word “cereal”) in Rome; Xipe, Cinteotl, and Mayauel in ancient Mexico; and various forms of the corn mother throughout the Americas.

Bread, the basic product of grain, was offered to the deities. Ishtar, Shamash, and Marduk were each given thirty loaves a day in Sumer.
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Ra, Amon, Ptah, and Nekhbet received their share in Egypt.
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Demeter, the Greek goddess of bread, grain, and agriculture, was also similarly honored. The Phoenicians stamped Astarte's loaves with a horned symbol (linked with the moon) to deify the bread.
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The ancient Egyptians, whom Herodotus described as “the bread eaters,” probably invented leavened bread. Along with onions and beer, it became a basic part of their diet.
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The Egyptians offered bread to the deities and to sacred animals (including cats), and stocked tombs with enormous amounts of the divine food for future use by the deceased. They are said to have baked fifty varieties of bread in numerous shapes. Some were heavily spiced and salted, though the priests and priestesses dedicated to certain deities avoided salted breads.
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Bread pigs formed from dough were sometimes sacrificed in place of live pigs by those too poor to afford the real thing. The bread pig was accepted as a suitable sacrifice in ancient Egypt.
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Eventually, wheat (or barley) bread became a symbol of life itself. “Breaking bread” was more than a process of nourishing the body; it became a meal that bound together all those who ate it. Eating a simple meal was a part of many Pagan religions, and such a ritual meal, transformed into the ritual of communion, later became an established part of Christian ritual.

Bread has also had its magical uses. In seventeenth-century England, a loaf of bread was floated on the surface of water to find the body of a person who had drowned. Midwives placed bread into a woman's bed while she was in labor to prevent the theft of both the woman and her baby.
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In contemporary Greece, men being inducted into the army are sometimes given pieces of bread, which are thought to confer protection and victory in battle. Field workers in Greece may pack a bit of bread with their lunch. It isn't eaten at midday, but only upon safe return to the home each evening. A small piece of bread secreted under children's pillows guards them while they sleep.
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In other parts of Europe, bread is formally presented to children as soon as they recognize it. This ritual blesses the infant with food for its entire lifetime.
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Carpathian Gypsies carried small pieces of bread in their pockets to avoid danger and trouble during their continuing journeys.
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British and American folklore still acknowledge the potency of bread. When moving into a new home, many carry in a loaf of bread and salt, for continued food and luck, before moving any thing else.
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Other superstitions related to the baking, slicing, and eating of bread still survive in our technological lives.
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The techniques and information contained within this chapter have been gathered from around the globe and from every period of recorded history. Both grains as well as some products made from them are examined here.

Food historians speculate that humans have eaten bread in one form or another since at least the late Stone Age.
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Raised (yeast) breads were probably first made in Egypt in around 4000
b.c.e.
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As we rediscover the value of grains and add them to our diets, it's enriching to know the wonders once ascribed to these simple food stuffs that have been worshipped as life-giving gifts from the forces that watch us from above.

Barley

(Hordeum
spp.)

Planet:
Venus

Element:
Earth

Energies:
Money, fertility, sex

Lore:
Barley was an important grain to the ancient Egyptians, who used it as a medium of exchange and stocked it in tombs, most notably that of Tutankhamun. Thutmose III offered barley to Ra every day, as well as on the New Moon and on the sixth day of every month.
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According to one Egyptian legend, barley grew out of men (as wheat grew out of women). This was apparently linked to the genders of the words in the ancient Egyptian language.
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The Sumerians made barley a staple of their diet. Eight different types of barley beer were made. This drink was manufactured under the auspices of the goddess Ninkasi.
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In ancient India, barley was sacred to Indra, known as “He who ripens barley.” This grain was used for rituals relating to childbirth and marriage, and played a role in funerals as well.
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The Vedas state that barley was also used with fresh water for healing ceremonies.
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The Babylonians were brewing beer with barley as early as 2800
b.c.e.
, and the Greeks planted it around temples to Demeter while asking for human fertility.
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In China, barley is a symbol of male sexual potency.
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Magical uses
:
As a wholesome food, barley is currently experiencing new popularity. It is useful for prosperity diets—those designed to bring additional money when needed or to generally boost your financial state. Awaken this energy through visualization while preparing and eating barley dishes.

Add barley to diets if fertility or male sexual potency is a problem.

Buckwheat

(Fagopyrum esculentum)

Planet:
Jupiter

Element:
Earth

Energies:
Money

Lore:
Buckwheat pancakes are common enough in the United States, but few seem to know the magical history behind buckwheat itself. In Japan, this grain is used to make
soba
—buckwheat noodles. These are eaten on the Japanese New Year for “money luck,” i.e., the ability to amass large amounts of money in the coming year.
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Buckwheat noodles are also served on other festive occasions. Upon moving into a new home, the owners may give soba to the neighbors on each side and to the three houses across the road. This is a gift of good fortune and friendship.
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Japanese goldsmiths have long used buckwheat dough to collect gold dust in their shops. This ageless practice has firmly connected soba with the promise of riches.
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Magical uses:
Because all grains are connected with abundance in one form or another (fertility, money, life), eat buckwheat pancakes to attract this energy. For even more money power, pour on a bit of maple syrup.

Corn

(Zea mays)

Planet:
Sun

Element:
Fire

Energies:
Protection, spirituality

Lore:
Corn has played a central role in North and Central American religion for thousands of years. The Quiche Mayas of Guatemala and the Navajo believed that the first humans were created from corn.
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The Mayas, Incans, Aztecs, and nearly every American Indian tribe ate corn and incorporated it into their religious beliefs and rituals. The corn mother was perhaps the most widely worshipped deity in the pre-Columbian Americas.
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As a symbol of life, fertility, eternity, and resurrection, corn was a sacred gift of the Mother Goddess.

To the Zuni, various colors of corn were related to the four directions:

Yellow corn—north

White corn—east

Red corn—south

Blue corn—west

Blue corn was often considered to be the most sacred form, and so was the most useful for spiritual rituals.
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The Hopi offered corn meal during religious rituals of all types in thanks to the corn mother.
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Divination with corn was common throughout the Americas and Mexico, and a corn-divination ritual from early Mexico has survived. Originally used to diagnose illness or the extent of a sickness, this ritual can also be called upon to answer other types of questions.

Fill a small bowl with exactly thirty dried kernels of corn of any color. Concentrating on a specific question, take a random number of kernels from the bowl. Place them on the floor (or the table) and divide them into groups of four. If you create an even number of piles with an even number of leftover kernels, the answer is favorable. However, if you form an odd number of piles with an odd number of kernels, the answer is negative. Finally, if you come up with an even number of piles, but an odd number of leftovers, no answer can be given.
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Another form of corn divination was apparently practiced by the ancient Aztecs. During a preliminary curing session for a severe illness, a priestess would lay a piece of white bark cloth before an image of the god Quetzalcoatl. A bowl of corn was then placed before the cloth. Inspired by the god, the priestess would take a handful of the corn kernels and scatter them on the cloth. If the corn was evenly scattered, the patient would eventually attain good health. If the corn was separated into two portions, death would eventually result from the illness.
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Corn was one of America's priceless gifts to the world. As it was introduced into other countries, its sacredness was forgotten; but it still feeds millions of persons, especially vegetarians who combine beans with corn to form a complete protein.

It is still used in magic. A curious Ozark ritual for curing hiccups consists of naming three kernels of corn for three friends, placing these into a vessel of water, and holding it above the head.
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Many still feel that corn is sacred, and that wasting it will cause poverty. This belief is similar to the Asian taboo against wasting rice.

Magical uses:
Place ears of blue corn on the altar or hang them in the home to induce spirituality. Scatter corn meal around outdoor ritual sites for blessings and heightened spiritual rituals.

Now that blue corn is being offered for retail sale, utilize it in spirituality producing diets. Blue popcorn and blue cornbread are two possibilities (see
appendix 2
for possible sources).

Place ears of red corn in baskets on the floor to protect the home. Corn is also added to protection diets. To make corn-bread for this purpose, run a knife through the top of the unbaked dough in the shape of a pentagram.
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Bake and eat with visualization.

Maize (from the Haitian or Cuban name for corn) is known as corn only in the United States. In other English-speaking countries, “corn” refers to any grain except maize. Maize is not an Indian term.

Lentil

(Lens culinaris)

Planet:
Moon

Element:
Water

Energies:
Peace

Lore:
In 1085
b.c.e.
, Egyptians traded lentils for the prized cedars of Lebanon. During Graeco-Roman times, the Egyptians offered lentils to Harpocrates.
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This wonderful food was also eaten by the Sumerians.
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The Roman naturalist Pliny prescribed lentil soup for creating an even temper.
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Magical uses:
Lentil soup is a warm, nourishing staple of many diets around the world. Eat it for peace. The Romans believed that lentils hindered sleep, so it might be better to eat them at midday.

Millet
(Pucium miliacaeum)

Planet:
Jupiter

Element:
Earth

Energies:
Money

Lore:
In ancient China, grains of millet were used as a unit of measure: ten millet grains placed end to end constituted one inch, one hundred grains was the measurement of one foot, and so on.
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