Thanksgiving doesn’t seem like a very magickal holiday. We shop, clean cook, bake, and get our homes ready for the onslaught of family and friends. While we are pitching ourselves into the holiday frenzy, let’s not forget that we can always add a little magick to this day.
Food and family are the cornerstone of this holiday. What a perfect time for a little Kitchen Witchery. While we may celebrate this day of thanks in a traditional sense with turkey and all the trimmings (sans pilgrims and Indians in this house) or perhaps choose to experiment with our meals, we can stir in some magick while making those mashed potatoes. Below are a few suggestions you may want to incorporate into your preparations:
- Use blessed utensils for cooking. – These could be simple wooden spoons or spoons that have been carved or engraved with runes or sigils. Each clockwise stir will add the energies you desire to your food.
- Add some magickly imbued spices into your food – Mix in some rosemary into the mashed potatoes for protection. The sage added into your stuffing will bring prosperity and long life. A pinch or two of thyme in the gravy adds love and a positive outlook on life.
- Cleanse and consecrate your stove and oven before cooking or baking- Fill it with the energies of love, good health and joy. Anything that is cooked on or in it will in turn be filled with the same energy.
- Create a chant to sing while you stir – Write a chant for peace, love, prosperity or even familial harmony. Repeat the chant with each clockwise stir of your dish. If there is something you wish to dissipate or be rid of, such as family squabbling or Uncle Harry’s dirty jokes, sing your chant while mixing counter clockwise.
- Add sigils or runes to the bottom of your serving dishes and plates -Find or create a sigil or rune for such ideals as harmony, prosperity, peace, joy, etc. Draw these runes or sigils on the bottom of the plate or dish – either with permanent marker or, if you wish them to be invisible to your guests – with consecrated salt water. As you draw envision the rune/sigil being filled with the energies you desire.
Decorating can have a definite magickal vibe as well. The traditional horn of plenty seen on many a Thanksgiving table can be filled with magickal symbols. Apples for love and healing, oranges for joy and inspiration, pears for fertility, almonds for prosperity. the list is endless. Pick and choose what works best for you.
Candles used as part of the table decorations can add another element of magickal energy to your celebration. Empower the candles with the energies you wish by coating them with a corresponding oil or sprinkling herbs in the candle holder. Holding your celebration in a place where it is inappropriate to have an open flame? No problem. You can do the same with the battery operated tealights or tapers. Just be careful not to place any oil directly on the battery opening.
Feeling really creative and crafty? Make a magickal holiday wreath for your front door. Use items that reflect the energy you wish to greet, and share with, your guests. Rosemary sprigs wound around wire and tied with fall colored ribbons invites love, peace and protection to your home and guests. Add some acorns for prosperity, and some oak leaves for stability and you’ve created a wonderful addition to your home. Not very crafty? No problem. I found the simplest acorn wreath at a local store, just perfect for adding a bit of fall color as well as luck and abundance to my entrance.
If you are fortunate enough to have a fireplace, not only will a cozy fire add ambiance to your gathering, the hearth can add its own magick to the festivities. Decorate the mantel with seasonal swags, candles and nick knacks. Strew fragrant, magickal herbs around the hearth and directly into the fire. Before the party goers arrive, write a petition for harmony, love and a peaceful gathering on a piece of parchment and burn in the fireplace, adding your wishes to the energy of the home and into the Universe through smoke up the chimney. Turn an ordinary hearth broom into a “witchy” accessory by adding a few ribbons, sigils or messages in Theban script on the handle. Same with the fireplace tools, minus the ribbons which would go up in smoke the first time you tried to rearrange a log or two.
These are just a few of the many things you can do to make your holiday a witchy, magickal one. Take some time to think of other ways you can add a bit of yourself and your Craft to this holiday. Remember that our Craft is as unique and individual as we are. Use that to create the atmosphere, the magick, you want to share with your family and friends.
Once the turkey has been consumed, the last of the happy guests have gone, the left-overs placed in the fridge, and the mess cleared away, you can finally sit back and relax. As you put your tired, but happy, feet up, think back on the feeling of the day and how the magick you’ve stirred into your holiday manifested. Hold onto that magick, knowing that you’ve shared a bit of yourself with those you love, whether they were aware of it or not. May the love and abundance of this season bless you and yours always.
Blessed Be!
