Intention Before Correspondence; You are the Power: Kitchen Witchery Basics Part 3

Intention before correspondence. This is a concept that I think is really helpful and important for beginners. What you put into your work is far more important than trying to find the perfect correspondence. In addition to this sometimes you want to look at the parts and sometimes you want to look at the whole. You may see basil as a use for money drawing but lasagna might feel more like a spell to reveal secrets rather than an abundance spell. It’s not going to cloud your intention as long as you are clear with what you want. That's why it’s okay that most ingredients have 5 or 6 or 20 different associations. It’s also okay if you don't have the correspondences you think you need. You can ignore correspondences all together and use just your intention: stir it in, fold it in, visualize, breath, use your own energy.

Your intentions and associations will always trump whatever books and websites tell you. Through life experience you are going to make connections of your own so if they don’t line up with the correspondences you find in research that is okay. Listen to your intuition. If you’ve made an association with something that's always going to end up overpowering the traditional ideas because at the end of the day it is your energy that is being used to catalyze your spellwork. This is especially important if your association has the opposite effect. For example, if you despise the taste and smell of cinnamon but you try to use it for it’s love associations, that spell is probably going to fail. And likewise if you have a loving memory of a recipe where the primary flavour was lemon that’s maybe not going to be the best thing to use in a hex despite its sour taste.

Witch craft is a personal thing. That's really what it comes down to. You don't need to feel pressured to follow anyone else’s correspondences if you don't resonate with them. That being said there’s a reason there are traditions. So I am also not saying to completely disregard anything you read either. In fact there are a lot of correspondences that have their roots in mundane effects. Ingredients that help with heart health are also usually associated with love, the heart chakra and, well, a healthy heart. Ingredients that help with nausea are often associated with calming anxiety, the sacral chakra and, well, digestive issues. Ingredients that are known to help you have better sleep are often associated with divination, the third eye or crown chakra and, well, a good night's sleep (and maybe even protection from nightmares!) I think it’s important to use your intuition but it’s always handy to follow it up with a little research. Witchcraft is a practice after all and we should always be learning new things.

** extra tip ** Tradition also tells us that there are simple substitutes: for any herb you can use rosemary; for any colour, white; for any crystal white, quartz; and for any flower, rose.

So, tradition shouldn’t be completely disregarded and it may help you learn more about yourself too. Which brings me to intuition. I spoke a little on this in my 3 Can Casserole post (and I will do another post which delves a little deeper into it) but basically it goes like this: you’ve been drawn to use an ingredient in some fashion or have noticed you've been grabbing one a lot lately, just like food cravings there's probably a reason! It’s time to sit down and think about what you associate with it and then also do a little research. Keep notes and see if you notice why spirit has drawn you to this ingredient. If you notice a pattern this is called a synchronicity (another term that I guess I should do a post on!) It’s just something to pay attention to. The energies might be trying to tell you something. Not everything is a sign but that doesn't mean ignore everything that could be!

So get out there and do a little soul searching. Here’s two exercises to expand your learning! One, sit down and think about the ingredients you use most often and what you would associate with them and then research them and see what you “got right” and what new ideas you brought to the table. Two, walk into the kitchen and let your intuition guide you to 3 ingredients and do the same and see if you can find anything in your life that lines up (right now and within the next and the last few weeks) with these correspondences.

Let me know in the comments if you try either of these exercises and how they worked out for you!

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