There is something so captivatingly mediation-like about cooking. There is a pleasing rhythm to it, a poetry of movement.
Start with the dry.
Measure the flour.
Pour it into a bowl.
Measure sugar.
Pour.
Measure salt and baking powder.
Pour.
Mix all ingredients until combined.
Now the liquid.
In a separate bowl.
Measure milk and vanilla.
Add eggs.
Add softened butter.
Combine.
Pour into flour mixture.
Mix until just combined.
Spray the cookie sheet with Pam.
Shape into cookies.
Bake.
Check to see if done.
Bake.
Check to see if done.
Bake.
Done.
As someone who likes to have her hands constantly moving to help organize thoughts, I enjoy the repetition for my hands that I can find buried within the pages of a cookbook caked with the ingredients of meals memories ago.
The consumption and preparation of food are heavily embedded in ritualistic traditions, not to mention that different religions all have their own ways of interacting with food. For me, the process of cooking is in its own way a religion with its own traditions and rules.
Rewind to two years ago. I felt listless. It was time to find something I could believe in and have faith in, like many have in their respective religions. I knew I always enjoyed cooking and found a calmness in it, so I decided to learn more about one of my favorite goddesses: Hestia, the Greek goddess of cooking, the hearth and the home. Honestly, I could not find much. She is one of the calmer goddesses and as such she does not appear in many myths. But I eagerly absorbed any knowledge I could find. I saw myself and my values mirrored more in her than I did in any of the religions I had thus far explored. I wanted to adopt her as my own patron goddess. So, I decided to make my own little tribute to her: a poster, something that gave me a craft to occupy my hands, and a place I could turn to when I needed it. For weeks, I collected images online and in magazines, quotes symbolizing home and practiced my drawing skills, so I could adorn the poster paper with a multimedia tribute to this age-old Greek goddess.
During my search, I had discovered a religion that expanded upon what I loved about Hestia. It is called Kitchen Witchery, a form of witchery that is centered around food, kitchens, cooking, and nature. The main idea of this widely practiced religion is to find the sacred in the mundane, basing itself in the home. In essence, this religion encompassed many ideas that I had heard were practiced in the art of slow food, something that my family absentmindedly practices. “Cookery and food is an integral part of kitchen witchery. The kitchen witch honors what she cooks, preparing meals with loving intent. Using fresh ingredients, often from her own garden, she makes magic in the kitchen by creating delicious, seasonal food...” (http://suite101.com/article/what-is-a-kitchen-witch-a70752)
I loved learning about this new religion. Finding new ways of making the kitchen or a home a more hospitable place were skills I eventually applied to decorating my room in college. I am not sure I entirely believe in Kitchen Witchery, but I do try and adapt the principles to everyday life. To find the sacred in the mundane. A clean, organized, yet cozy space makes for a good work and rest environment. Try to be as environmentally friendly as possible. And of course, to be respectful of food, food preparation, the kitchen and the joys of eating.
References:
http://suite101.com/article/how-to-be-a-kitchen-witch-a71410
http://www.squidoo.com/kitchenwitch
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/pagantraditions/p/KitchenWitchery.htm
http://hearthwitch.tripod.com/kitchen.htm
http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_hestia.htm
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