Domicilium
I don't cook much; I'll take raw food over having to turn the oven on any day. However, what I lack in culinary skill, I make up for in kitchen magic. Intention is everything, isn't it? Well, while the better half cooks, I take care of keeping my kitchen clean, organized and most of all, spiritually protected. It's not just the copious shrines to my domestic gods; Corn Woman's basket, my grandpa's Norwegian kitchen witch, Ola, Osain's clay Ikoko, that needs tending, it's the food itself. Every raw ingredient gets blessings and prayers and purification on "kitchen day". Before they get chopped and ground and juiced and fried they'll go through me; me on my wooden stool, bent over the counter, passing tomatoes through spring water and sprinkling salt over eggs, occasionally dipping my little finger into the sugar bowl... you know... for magical reasons...
It's not about believing that my food will somehow now be miraculous and fantastic, it's the comfort of knowing I thought about my food, I put intention into my meals and I thanked creation for the process, the food chain to which we all belong. Just experiencing the moment and reality with appreciation and gratitude is magic. Living well in your home and bringing beauty and cleanliness to your home is a reflection of the love you have for yourself and your spirits. I'm all about harmony and cohesion, and that's what these little rituals like pantry blessings and food purification gives me. And that's enough for me.
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| I douse my fingertips in floral essence waters made in the morning, in the sun, with hyacinth and cherry blossom, orange and rose water, spring water, pink orchids. I coat the hook in the water and the scent, the essence of the water gets carried throughout the thread. Every pull of the yarn, every slide of the hook, binds and reinforces my will. I don't really do much other than speak to the spirits when I'm making the bag; I sing, listen to music about grieving over love and welcoming new friendships; Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Bill Withers usually... I think of my friends and people I love. I say things to myself about compassion and suffering and the current of love upon which the axis turns. And in the end, the love you take... |
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| There's all sorts of green stuff in this particular charm, including; lovage, anise, sumac berries, cacao bean, Balm of Gilead, to name a few. The thing about simple love dusts and powders for the home is that they need to be made with very clear, very good intentions; every single stitch, every knit, every knot needs to be thought of for exactly what it is intended to do. |
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| Healing Candle Dressing Dust. Orange osmanthus, mock orange (local indigenous ethically sourced), orange osmanthus absolute, bergamot orange essential oil, red agates, carnelian, citrine. |
The vibe of green magic is surprisingly unique in identity depending on the part of the city you go to sometimes. I've been getting connected to green mystics who work the urban social justice gardening scene who have a very Rainier Beach/Columbia City- general South Seattle vibe about their mysticism which focuses more on urban agriculture in the inner-city and how to unify culturally and spiritually around the community. These green workers tend to be more about healing the community with green magic and less about witchcraft, I love it.
I've been associating at work with a greenwitch living in Des Moines who has this kick-ass maritime-meets-estuary vibe to her magic; since she and her circle all live near the docks, where you'll catch dozens of people angling for squid or hunting clams, trekking the green belt. They do their rituals under docks when the tide goes out far enough, in the rocks, with the crabs and the kelp. It's a blend of honoring the local spirits of the Sound and practicing tide-pool divination for her circle, mostly, it's a spiritual fondness for that particular area and the spirits there that brings them together, and I really love that. She's been teaching me about sea-songs, about kelp essences and her experiences worshiping the bones of fish; the squid ink in her grimoire.
Most of the time, I meet mystics around here they tend to be; spiritually naturalistic, focused mostly on herbalism, healing practices and self-care. I get along well with that crowd. I do wish there were more witches though, people who I can bond with more on an occult herbalist level in the inner city, which is why connecting with the other green witches in Riverton and the surrounding towns and cities has been so great, and exchanging information about our shared habitat and pharmacopoeia. I'd like for us to eventually put together a collection of folklore, folk magic and plant lore of the green witches of the valley and hills between the rivers and Sound. We've got our own thing going on, a particular garden and shared philosophies, I'd like us to talk about it more.
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