Friends,

If I were being traditional in writing a blog post involving food and a recipe, I would start 80 something years ago with my father’s childhood on the Oregon coast and work my way forwards through time and primary characters and points of view and then only after roughly 180 pages of text and ads THEN finish with the recipe and a couple of lines of instructions.  I hope you will not be offended if I get the food & recipe out of the way early and then get into the body, or perhaps I should say meat, of our brief discussion?

My bear and I are in the habit lately of starting our days with a few strong cups of coffee and perhaps some snack.  Then later in the day, we have the sudden shocking realization that man does not live by snack and dehydration juice alone! 

(Many thanks to Mr Devin Hunter for that delightful term for ones caffeinated morning beverage of choice…)

Last week there was exactly such a day and late in the afternoon I realized I was hangry.  I checked in with the fabulous Jonathan, and he was much the same.  I poked around the fridge, freezer, and pantry and came up with the following…

Sausage & Onions #1
Ingredients:
2 fresh Onions, slivered.
1pkg frozen Three Peppers blend, thawed.
4 generous pats of Irish Butter.
A dash of Adobo Seasoning.
2 Turkey Kielbasas, sliced.

Preparation:

1. Take the Onions, peel them, cut them in half, then cut each of the halves into thin crescent shaped slivers.  Add to a pan over medium to high heat with some butter.
2. Quick thaw the frozen 3 peppers blend, in the package, under some hot water.  Then drain excess liquid and add to the pan.
3. Stir this mixture occasionally as it simmers, add a few dashes of Adobo seasoning.  PRO-TIP: oftentimes in listings of ingredients the first ingredient listed is the one that forms the majority of the product in question… Adobo brand seasoning lists Salt as it’s first and likely primary ingredient, so given we both have High Blood Pressure and are on meds for such, I tried for a light hand with the seasoning.  Especially as the meat for the kielbasa, like many sausages, has a good amount of salt and other seasonings in it already.
4. While the mixture simmers, slice the kielbasa.
5. Once the onions are softened but not yet translucent and the liquid has simmered down a little, add the kielbasa.
6. Simmer a few more minutes until the kielbasa slices plump a little bit and the onions are fully translucent, then serve and enjoy!

If I had it to do over again, I might start by frying up the heat and serve kielbasa to brown the slices a bit and bring some of the meat juices into the mix from the start.  But it was delicious regardless of aesthetics.  As the mixture was simmering, I started thinking about the similarities between cooking and Witchcraft and how one’s journey within each of these arts is quite similar.

In both cases your learning starts with recipes and (hopefully) detailed instructions.  As you practice you start learning more in depth about the different techniques and ingredients that contribute to a successful outcome.  Each of these arts takes time to learn, and practice, and perseverance, and a willingness to mess up spectacularly at some point in your journey from newbie to proficiency or even expertise.  Witchcraft is more like regular cooking you can pull together a good meal, like the one I mention above, with a few simple techniques and whatever ingredients you have on hand.  Ceremonial Magick on the other hand, is a bit more like baking.  In baking you need very specific measurements and need to be very careful with the balance of your ingredients and process or you may craft a total mess rather than a delightful treat.

Another similarity I have noticed is that folks are often in a rush when they are starting to learn either Witchcraft or Cooking.  Everyone wants to start by making an amazing soup or stew, or some big Holiday meal worthy dish when the most they have done before is maybe making Ramen.  Which is where recipes and recipe books come in.  You start with some recipes and detailed notes or examples of various techniques and what herbs or seasonings add to a dish and even what flavors go well with one another.

Now in our extended, but hopefully not tortured, metaphor you may think that spells are a one for one substitution for recipes in our narrative.  They are not.  The thing is part of the ingredients that go into successful magick include things like particular ideas or cosmological concepts or symbols or references or specific phrases or words with purpose or meaning, most especially magick involves using one’s mind and emotions and the imagery and imagination.  This is part of why Witches and Pagans are often referred to as People of the Library.

Now don’t let the word Library fool you!

In our time, ones Library can include Books, TV shows and Movies, Music, Youtube playlists, saved images on Instagram, bookmarked Tweets, favorited Tiktoks, Podcasts, and online links and resources of all sorts.  Also do not think that all these need to relate specifically to Occultism or Paganism or Witchcraft.  We end up in our Craft journeys researching poetry and history and science and so many topics that interweave with our Craft and our relationships with the Holy Dead, the Holy Spirits, and the Holy Gods.

…

I am not sure what else to say except dinner that night was quite delicious.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this exercise in metaphor and rambling and let me know your thoughts in the comments?

Bliss and Blessed Be,

Pax / Geoffrey