Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen
Read Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen Online
Authors: Scott Cunningham
Tags: #shamanism, #shaman, #shamanic, #dreamwork, #journeying, #pathworking, #self-help, #sel-empowerment, #ancestors, #spirituality, #shamanism100511
About the Author
Scott Cunningham practiced elemental magic for more than twenty years. He was the author of more than thirty books, both fiction and nonfiction. Cunningham's books reflect a broad range of interests within the New Age sphere, where he was highly regarded. He passed from this life on March 28, 1993, after a long illness.
Llewellyn Publications
Woodbury, Minnesota
Copyright Information
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen
© 1990 by Scott Cunningham and © 1996 and 2003 by the Scott Cunningham estate.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.
Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the author's copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.
First e-book edition © 2012
E-book ISBN: 9780738717111
Book design and editing by Kimberly Nightingale
Cover design by Kevin R. Brown
Cover illustration © 2003 by Jennifer Hewitson FR
Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.
Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.
Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publisher's website for links to current author websites.
The old-fashioned remedies in this book are historical references used for teaching purposes only. The recipes are not for commercial use or profit. The contents are not meant to diagnose, treat, prescribe, or substitute consultation with a licensed healthcare professional.
Llewellyn Publications
Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.
2143 Wooddale Drive
Woodbury, MN 55125
www.llewellyn.com
Manufactured in the United States of America
Acknowledgments
Many people have been of assistance during the seventeen years that it has taken to complete this book. In no particular order, some of them are:
Jeanne Rose, herbalist extraordinaire, for her inspiration, friendship, and also for supplying mail-order sources.
Morgan of Hawaii, for allowing me to publish her Fruit Salad Spell.
Barda of Nevada, for her early encouragement and sharing of food lore and recipes.
Vinnie Gaglione, of Spellbound in Bloomfield, New Jersey, for supplying me with Italian food lore.
Laurie Cabot of Salem, for sharing her notes with me while we were working on similar projects.
Virginia Thompson of Arizona, for information about Central American food magic and ritual uses.
Robert and Virginia Thompson, for Japanese food lore.
Ray T. Malbrough of Houma, Louisiana, for many long phone calls and for providing a copy of his paper concerning Louisiana plant magic.
deTraci Regula, for Chinese food magic.
Morgan, my first teacher, who introduced me to the idea that food could be magical.
Lou and Myrna of Las Vegas, for finding all those out-of-the-way print books.
And finally, to my mother, who rarely minded my licking the spoon for all those long years.
Table of Contents
Part One
:
the magic in your kitchen
Chapter One
Food Power!
Chapter Two
Magic
Chapter Three
The Tools of Food Magic & Magical Cooking
Chapter Four
The Ritual of Eating
Chapter Five
Vegetarianism
Chapter Six
The Practice of Food Magic
Chapter Seven
Festival Foods
Part Two
:
the magic of food
Introduction to the Magic of Food
Chapter Eight
Bread & Grains
Chapter Nine
Cakes, Sweetened Breads, Cookies, & Pies
Chapter Ten
Vegetables
Chapter Eleven
Fruit
Chapter Twelve
Spices & Herbs
Chapter Twelve
Honey, Sugar, Chocolate, Carob, & Maple Syrup
Chapter Thirteen
Nuts & Alleged Nuts
Chapter Fifteen
Salt, Vinegar, Soup, & Noodles
Chapter Sixteen
Food from Sea & River
Chapter Seventeen
Beer, Wine, & Alcoholic Beverages
Chapter Eighteen
Tea & Coffee
Chapter Nineteen
The Mystic Egg
Chapter Twenty
From the Dairy
Part Three
:
magical food diets
Introduction to Magical Food Diets
Chapter Twenty-Two
Protection
Chapter Twenty-Three
Health & Healing
Chapter Twenty-Four
Money
Chapter Twenty-Six
Spirituality
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Psychic Awareness
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Peace & Happiness
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Purification
Chapter Thirty
Weight Loss
Chapter Thirty-One
Other Magical Food Diets
Part Four
:
scott's favorite recipes
Introduction to scott's favorite recipes
Chapter Thirty-Two
Appetizers
Chapter Thirty-Three
Beverages
Chapter Thirty-Four
Desserts
Chapter Thirty-Five
Main Dishes
Chapter Thirty-Six
Salads
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Soups
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Vegetables & Side Dishes
Part Five
:
supplemental material
Preface
F
ood is essential to our lives. For many of us, the art of cooking and eating is a chore. For others, it is a great delight. And for some, the culinary arts and their products are indulgences. Food is substituted for love. Food is an excuse. Food is a god.
You're about to embark on a journey into a familiar yet exciting realm. This book is a guide to choosing, ritually preparing, and eating foods to manifest necessary changes in our lives. The only tools that are necessary to practice this ancient branch of magic are food, common kitchen implements, and yourself. Food magic is a natural art, in which we unite our own energies with those that exist in food.
Part one of this book consists of introductory material: the processes of magic and cooking; foods associated with ancient festivals; vegetarianism; and a step-by-step guide to the practice of food magic.
Part two is an encyclopedia of magical foods. Concise articles explore the spiritual backgrounds and magical uses of hundreds of foods, including bread, fruits, vegetables, ice cream, tofu, sugar, chocolate, seafood, spices and herbs, nuts, coffee, tea, and alcoholic beverages. Many common and exotic foods are discussed. Why is bird's-nest soup so prized by some Asians? What magical energies lie within apple pie, sprouts, oatmeal, and chocolate bars?
Part three could be called “The Magical Diet Book.” Eleven chapters describe fifteen diets, each designed to create a different change within the diner's life: protection, love, money, psychic awareness, health, magical weight loss, and much more.
In part five I've collated some of the information contained within part two into tables for easy reference. A list of foods ruled by the signs of the zodiac and a table of the magical properties of fast food complete this section.
Finally, two appendices discuss magical symbols and mail-order sources of unusual foods, herbs, and spices.
This isn't a book of gourmet cooking; nor is it a cookbook. It is a guide to transforming our lives with the foods that we eat. It's a practical introduction to an ancient subject.
A Note on Notes
I've chosen to use this method rather than standard footnoting with good reason: it doesn't burden the pages of the text with lengthy footnotes, yet it allows the reader to easily check the sources of any information.
Some statements aren't followed by a number. I've lost the source for a few of them. Others are part of the knowledge that I've accumulated over years of study. Still others stem from oral sources or from the results of my own experience. In any case, a published work is unavailable for these few statements.
Numbers following a statement in this book refer to a specific entry in the bibliography. To find the source of the information contained within the statement, see the number list of books in the bibliography.
Introduction
F
ood is magic. Its power over us is undeniable. From the sweet, rich lure of a freshly baked brownie to an exquisitely steamed artichoke, food continues to seduce us.
Food is life. We can't continue to live without its magic. Food, however, also harbors energies. When we eat, our bodies absorb those energies, just as they absorb vitamins, minerals, amino acids, carbohydrates, and other nutrients. Though we may not be aware of any effect other than a sated appetite, the food has subtly changed us.
In times of scarcity as well as plenty, peoples around the world have subjected food to religious reverence. Rice in Asia; fruit throughout Europe; grains in Africa; pomegranates and beer in the Near East; acorns and pine nuts in the American Southwest; bananas and coconuts in the Pacific; vegetables in tropical Americaâthese foods have all played significant roles in religous and magical rituals.
Sacred meals are shared with the goddesses and gods (or their priestesses and priests). Today, eating with others is still an act of energy sharing, bonding, and trust.
The magic of the hunt and the sacredness of gathering rituals in fields and groves are still remembered by a few isolated peoples. Most of us now, however, buy presliced bread, gather our fruits and vegetables from gleaming counters, and hunt in refrigerated cases.
As we've lost the knowledge of the old magics, so too have we forgotten the mystic lore of food. But timeless energies still vibrate within our meals. They wait for us to sense and to use them.
Lengthy magical spells aren't required, though a simple ritual is necessary to boost the food's effectiveness. If you have little knowledge of magic, follow the instructions presented in this book. You'll soon discover its power.
*
I've tried to speak to all tastes in writing this practical food magic manual. It isn't strictly vegetarian, nor is it concerned solely with healthy or organic food. You'll find the magic of wine, sugar, and hotcross buns here, along with that of seaweed, carrots, and tofu. This book has something for everyone.
Eating is a merging with the earth. It is a life-affirmimg act. Ritually preparing and eating specific foods is an effective method of enhancing and improving our lives.
It's also fun. Magic pretzels? Sacred chocolate? Passionate pickles? They're all part of the magic of food, and the spells to create them begin in your own kitchen.
