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Kitchen Witch Snippets - The Dark Goddess is Hungry: Dinner with Hekate

Lil’ snippets of my new book Kitchen Witch: Food, Folklore, and Fairy tale

The Dark Goddess is Hungry: Dinner with Hekate

Hekate is a witch-goddess associated with crossroads and the Underworld, gateways, night-time, magic and witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants. She was one of several deities worshipped in ancient Greece as a protector of the Oikos (household), alongside Hestia, and other gods such as Hermes, Zeus, and Apollo. 

Each Greek luni-solar month ended with three days of special ritual and celebrations allowing families to step into a new month with a sense of hope. The new moon was the last day of the lunar month, and the time for cleansing the household with incense carried through rooms, and the clearing away of any leftovers of ashes, sacrifices or remaining food or food fallen on the floor (not to be eaten, as it belongs to Hekate at this point). One would also atone for any bad deeds that may have offended Hekate (which may include animal sacrifice), causing her to withhold her favour, and the offering of Hekate's Deipnon. 

In Ancient Greece deipnon was the evening meal. And Hekate's Deipnon was a sacred meal offered to the goddess at new moon. Offerings were intended to appease not only this goddess and seek her blessing for prosperous daily life, but as goddess of the Underworld, this was also an appeasing of any restless spirits and beings in her company, that may seek to cross boundaries from the Underworld. On the night of the new moon, a ritual would take place and a meal would be set outside. Common offering foods included cake or bread, fish, eggs and cheese. In households this would be laid out in a small shrine to Hekate by the front door with the street in front of the house and the doorway creating a crossroads, known to be a place Hekate dwelled. 

The next day was celebrated as the Noumenia, marked when the first sliver of moon was visible and was held in honour of moon goddess Selene, Hestia and the other household gods. And the third day would honour the agathos daimon (good/noble spirit) as well as one’s own personal spirit. Often a libation would be set at a family altar and prayer offered to seek continued blessings for one’s self and family. 

Due to roaming spirits, Greeks might stay within their homes during the night hours of the dark moon. There are some elements of real fear and importance to these rituals and ceremonies, based around belief: it was serious stuff to protect your family from furious gods or evil spirits and vengeful ghosts. 

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Kitchen Witch: Food, Folklore, and Fairytale will be released on Ostara 2022With Womancraft Publishing books it is always best to pre-order because you are the first to get the book (usually a few days before the official release) but you also get exclusive pre-order goodies as a thank-you for your faith and patience - these usually include bookmarks, a signed copy of the book, and recorded audio/video goodies and gifts!The best way to make sure you don’t miss Pre-order time is to sign up to the Womancraft Mailing List - you can do that here (bottom of the homepage on the right)

Kitchen Witch - The Beer Goddesses

Lil’ snippets of my new book Kitchen Witch: Food, Folklore, and Fairytale

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We’ve seen Kerridwen, Brigid, Medea and the cauldrons in myth and legend. There are some more goddesses here but also - many real women standing at their cauldrons…

On a clay tablet from ancient Sumer “A hymn to Ninkasi” is a recipe for making beer. It is the oldest in the world. And Much of what we know about beer’s ancient history traces back to this Hymn, an ode to brewing etched into clay tablets. And it was women who made this beer. 

Most historians agree that beer originated in the Sumerian settlements between 3500-3100 BCE, where it became a staple of daily diets. Ninkasi was the goddess who gifted women with instructions on beer brewing; and Hymn to Ninkasi was written down, much later around 1800 BCE. Ninkasi was the patron of beer, but she was also the beer itself. Her spirit and essence infused the beer, her name literally means “the lady who fills the mouth.” Sumerian women beers with spices and herbs that were also found in ancient medical remedies. Ninkasi was also associated with healing because  From the beginning of time, the goddesses associated with beer were also the goddesses associated with birth and healing. Which stand to reasons to nourish and nurture go hand in hand. Sumerian women brewed beer for religious ceremonies (including one's dedicated to Ninkasi) as well as for daily food rations. And the image of the woman as ale-maker persisted well into the Middle Ages, moving from a sacred role to a necessity of homemaking.

The following translation of the Hymn to Ninkasi is based on the translation by Miguel Civil. Woven between the hypnotic words are detailed instructions for brewing beer; a sacred, feminine, life-sustaining craft.  You get a sense of the song and movements that would have been part of making this drink for their goddess.

Hymn to Ninkasi

 

Borne of the flowing water,

Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,

Borne of the flowing water,

Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,

Having founded your town by the sacred lake,

She finished its great walls for you,

Ninkasi, having founded your town by the sacred lake,

She finished its walls for you,

Your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,

Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.

Ninkasi, your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,

Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.

You are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,

Mixing in a pit, the bappir (grain) with sweet aromatics,

Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,

Mixing in a pit, the bappir with dates and honey,

You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,

Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,

Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,

Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,

You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,

The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,

Ninkasi, you are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,

The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,

You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,

The waves rise, the waves fall.

Ninkasi, you are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,

The waves rise, the waves fall.

You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,

Coolness overcomes,

Ninkasi, you are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,

Coolness overcomes,

You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort,

Brewing it with honey and wine

You the sweet wort to the vessel

Ninkasi, You the sweet wort to the vessel

The filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,

You place appropriately on a large collector vat.

Ninkasi, the filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,

You place appropriately on a large collector vat.

When you pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat,

It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.

Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,

It is like the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.

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Kitchen Witch: Food, Folklore, and Fairytale will be released Imbolc 2022

With Womancraft Publishing books it is always best to pre-order because you are the first to get the book (usually a few days before the official release) but you also get exclusive pre-order goodies as a thank-you for your faith and patience - these usually include bookmarks, a signed copy of the book, and recorded audio/video goodies and gifts!

The best way to make sure you don’t miss Pre-order time is to sign up to the Womancraft Mailing List - you can do that here (bottom of the homepage on the right)

Moon Charts

There are apps for the cycles of the moon, and many diaries and calendars mention the moon phases as well. But to get you started here are some moon charts including the Full Moons of 2021 and the New Moons and their zodiac signs. (Each moon phase lasts a little over 2 days, so you may well see slight variations on these dates)

For online resources, you can explore

Farmers Almanac moon calender

Moonology.com

3 Goddesses for Midwinter

Tonight for an insight Timer live session I drew three oracle cards that may offer insight or inspiration for our year just gone, or perhaps our year ahead! Though created specifically for our group on Insight Timer - anyone may take a few simple wise words from these goddesses:

The three goddesses drawn were:

IxChel (Mayan) - The medicine Woman

Sekhmet (Egyptian) - The Lioness Goddess of Love and War

Pele (Hawaiian) - The passionate goddess of Volcanoes

Together, the present three simple and very powerful words: Heal, Strength, Passion

A wise message for the season and the year ahead - take time to heal, connect to your strengths and follow your passions!

Namaste! x

A Gorgeous big list of Witchy Resources!

By popular request!

After the usefulness of The Goddess Resources; this is the witchy version! Witch-lore like Goddess-lore is vast. And as I have often said about yoga philosophy; the more I learn, the more I realise how much more there is to learn! but fear not - there are no tests, no exams, just see what inspires you!

History

If you are diving into this with no prior knowledge of witches and witchcraft my only real advice is this - stories of witches are full of fear and bias, especially stories from previous centuries. So head in with an open mind.

Magic and use of magic are as old as humankind is, and the people that connect to magic have had a huge number of roles in society from high priestesses to the lowly archetype of the wicked witch, to innocent women tortured and locked in a prison.

The Books that fuelled the Burning Times - these books are basically, completely made up of lies, fears and sexism. But an important part of the history nonetheless

Daemonologie by King James I, 1597 This is not easy reading, but along with the Fortalitium fidei, Formicarius, 1475 and the Malleus Maleficarum, 1486; This is where fear and hatred of magic began. Such text caused pain, cruelty and injustice towards women and witches for centuries and supports the extermination of a group of people; mainly female. It’s horrifying but important.

Ideas from Women

Witch Stories by Elizabeth Lynn (under pen name E. Lynn Linton) 1861

The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, by Margaret Alice Murray, 1921. Largely discredited by academics, but she was one of the first to really listen and see value in the words/testimonies of the accused witches. And laid the foundations for the Wheel of the Year as followed by Wiccans.

Listening…

Events like these are amazing for listening to the interpretations and ideas of modern day witches and what their path means to them (I happen to be involved in this one too!)

Healing the Witch Wound - FREE Online Summit 6-day immersive event created for these times; especially to support and nourish you on your journey. With 19 Speakers Presenting from 29 November - 4 December, 2020

Youtube Witches - These guys are some of the best

Thorn Mooney - Wiccan, Author and often does great videos reviewing witchcraft books

Esoterica Channel - Witches and Witch Hunting

Benebell Wen - I love Benebell! She writes books about and creates tarot decks. Here videos and tutorials are academic and in-depth - Witchcraft Fundamentals

Reading list of Recent Witchy Books

I, as you might imagine have a LOT of witchy books and I’m always buying new ones! This is a varied list of fiction and non-fiction books I have really enjoyed the last few years that I thought I would share. (Oh and mine of course!)

Wassail!

The tradition of wassailing is thought to predate the Norman conquest in 1066. The purpose is to appease the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.

The Wassailers sing and make noise; often banging on pots and pans to scare off evil spirits then, and depending on the local customs; hot spiced cider or ale, is served from a special wassail bowl - meaning ‘good health’ in Anglo-Saxon, the wassailers may offer a libation to the trees before toast soaked in the hot drink is offered as a gift to the tree spirits, and hung amongst the branches. Various techniques are used to execute the skill of hanging wet toast such as - using very crisp toast, pouring the cider over the toast once hanging, or nestling soggy toast in and on branches instead of hanging.

Wassailing may also see people calling door to door offering wassail the tiding and wassail the drink to all inside! Wassailing is thought to have inspired such festive traditions as mulled wine, mulled cider and possibly even the practice of ‘Raising a Toast’ to others! inspired by real toast!

Simple Letting Go

In the last 48 hrs more than one person has reached out to me about spells and rituals to let go and to ground. I am also feeling incredibly ungrounded myself. I don’t think its coincidence that the dear ones who have reached out to me are empaths like me, It’s obviously something we are connecting to - a disconnection, and uncertainty, manifesting in many forms right now.

They asked me for a spell or ritual and I find myself just absolutely unable to come up up with anything fancy, or barely even a ritual at all - which makes sense too. We empaths just don’t have the energy right now!

But, here are some simple little things you can do, that I wholeheartedly recommend:

Morning Pages - Goddess bless saint Julia Cameron - she gifted us the simple beautiful magic of morning pages! they are exactly what they sound like. Each morning sit yourself up in bed, or wrap up in something cosy and head to a table with a hot drink. And with a paper and pen - fill 3 sides of paper with words; 3 pages, no more, no less. ‘stream of consciousness’ style. And that’s it, you can throw the paper away or file it away, it’s not meant to be read, or done anything with. You can write about whatever's on your mind: worries, plans, angry tirades. The pages must be done first thing ‘Brain-sweep’ complete, it's time to get on with the day. Morning Pages are powerful; at calming anxieties, producing insights and resolving dilemmas. After all, the psychological benefits of externalising thoughts via journalling are well-established. And that bleary-eyed morning time has been shown to be associated with more creative thinking: with the brain's inhibitory processes still weak, "A-ha!" moments come more readily.

Burn - When I was training to be a Priestess of the Goddess one thing we had to do every morning for a year was great the goddess each morning. I, wanting simplicity lit a candle, each morning I took a few breaths and watched it burn, blew it out and got on with my day. You may want to imagine any anxieties burning in the candle flame, or go in with no expectation at all. Just start the day with a little spark. and then head on to the next thing.

Meditate - You guys know I love the Insight timer app. And there are some gorgeous teachers on there, and I wanted to share a few of my beautiful friends and kindred spirits - who just nailed it with these meditations; just what I need right now!

Fenella Powel - For When You Don’t Know

Kamala Brown - Compassion to Self

Snow and Winter Meditations

As winter rolls in here are some meditations of snow, winter and snowy goddesses!

Magical Midwinters Journey - Journey with the Goddess of Winter The Cailleach

Winter Solstice

Winter Evening Calm

Fjords of Norway

A Gorgeous big list of Goddess Resources!

By special request from my lovely Insight Timer Live Crew!

Where might one go to learn more about the goddesses? This is of course, in addition to listening to me tell you about them on Insight Timer !

Books

For Archetypes and mythology look at

Naming the Goddess edited by Trevor Greenfield which is full of insightful essays from various authors and essays of notable goddess archetypes.

and Goddess by Sue Jennings is a really sweet illustrated book full of lovely Goddesses and ideas for working with the goddesses.

For an overview of Goddess wisdom take a look at Goddess Wisdom by Tanishka and The Inner Goddess Revolution by Lyn Thurman.

Sophie Bashford has written a fabulous book You are a Goddess which journeys with various goddesses.

I can also recommend Oracle cards as a beautiful way to explore many goddesses: I love the Goddess Oracle Deck by Amy Sophia Marashinsky.

And, two books by me that feature sections about goddesses;

Yoga for Witches and Yin Magic they are both published by Womancraft Publishing who are worth checking out for their glorious selection of books on the divine feminine.

Online Resources

We are so lucky that we have such a wealth of information at our fingertips!

I love the wheel of the year information at the Goddess and the Green Man (one of my favourite shops in Glastonbury!) which talks of the goddesses of each season.

A great resource that looks at goddess, fairies, myth + folklore is Folklore Thursday

Blogs about Goddesses that I have written:

Sun Goddesses

Hina: Hawaiian Moon Goddess

Feline Goddesses of Egypt

Podcasts + Apps

Listen to your Goddess Stories via podcasts and Insight Timer! open your podcast or IT app and type in goddess - there are lots!

Places

More and more goddess temples are arising all over the world - I trained at Glastonbury Goddess Temple - but there may well be one near you!

Mabon

Autumn Equinox or Mabon

Northern Hemisphere: September 21/22 Southern Hemisphere: March 21/22

Named after the Welsh god, Mabon, son of the earth goddess, Modron. At the equinox, night and day are again of equal length and in perfect balance. But from now the year now begins to wane and from this moment the nights become longer than the days. This is the second harvest when we gather in the sweet fruit harvest: apples, pears, and berries.

Mabon Traditions

A time for harvesting, feasting and preparing for the cold months ahead. Today many pagans, witches and druids celebrate Mabon much as our ancestors would have. Simple practices may include:

Picking and preserving apples; a common symbol of the second harvest.

Setting up an altar with symbols of the season, such as fruits, and other seasonal harvests.

Celebration with a feast for family and friends.

Working the Seasonal Energies

The time in between each festival also has its own unique energy and significance, which can be honoured and acknowledged in ritual, spellwork and yoga practice. I've suggested practices to nurture our creative spirit during each of the seasons. Your inner yogi, witch and creatrix may just need a little encouragement to emerge or this can be a reminder to reconnect. After all, the witch, yogi and creatrix energies live within us all, just as the changing energies of the seasons do.

This is a time to Gather and Harvest

GATHERING (Lughnasadh to Mabon)

Gather with your inner yogi: Explore fluid movement – being in flow with body and breath. Gather in a feeling of gratitude for the abundance of wonder that is your beautiful body.

Gather with your inner witch: Gather herbs, flowers, wood and seeds in the late summer sun to add to your altar or spell supplies.

Gather with your inner creatrix: Explore and celebrate ways to get closer to nature while the weather is still warm: organise a beach clean, a tree planting, or track animal footprints. 

HARVESTING (Mabon to Samhain)

Harvest with your inner yogi: Practice gratitude, non-judgment and non-criticism in your yoga practice.

Harvest with your inner witch: Reflect under the September full moon, known as the Harvest Moon. Consider what you've worked for: where has your path led you? What fruit has grown from your actions?

Harvest with your inner creatrix: Create beautiful and nourishing foods with the harvest of nature; jams, soups and wine will bring joy and sustenance!

This article is drawn from my book Yoga for Witches take a look for more seasonal magic!