The Magic and Passion of Chocolate

When I'm feeling really ghoulish, which has been a major theme in my life lately, there's one thing that helps me get through the hell. A very magical ingredient called....Chocolate!

Everyone has their own preference for how they like chocolate; milk, white, dark, bittersweet..Me, personally, I'm a dark chocolate witch! I like it spicy, biting, and decadent as it can be. And we really know that the reason that adults buy chocolate candy on Halloween is NOT for the darling little trick or treaters. It's for us! I mean, come on...Didn't you always dig through your Halloween bag looking for the best chocolate candy? I did. Forget the lollipops, smarties, etc...I wanted the real stuff. I wanted to win the golden ticket that would gain me entrance in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I never liked either of the movie versions, they just didn't capture the seductive quality chocolate has for me.

The Aztecs and the Mayans knew what they were doing. The Aztec ruler Montezuma reportedly drank up to 50 cups of chocolate each day so that he could keep his harem of 600 women happy. And I bet he succeeded! To spend the night in a Mayan brothel, one had to hand over a handful of cacao beans. And then there was one of my favorite characters in history who also had a passion for women and chocolate...Casanova. He preferred chocolate over champagne. Smart man!

Kitchen Witch's know that chocolate has certain magickal powers and use it with great care and love. I have two favorite movies that blend chocolate and magic together. The first is  "Like Water, for Chocolate." The book is also full of wonderful recipes (not all with chocolate though). There's love, jealousy, passion, and beauty. Perfect for indulging oneself in both chocolate and fantasy. The second chocolate movie (which also happens to me one on my top 5 movie list) is "Chocolat" with the delicious Johnny Depp and the ethereal Juliette Binoche. Chocolate in this movie represents all that is sensual, feminine and powerful. Naturally, there were those who repressed their hunger for this aphrodisiac and suffered for it. Aphrodite, who I believe is the Goddess of Chocolate wreaks havoc on those who forbid themselves of their chocolate fantasies.

The Seventeenth-Century church officials believed that those who "indulged" themselves with chocolate were the minions of the devil. If I lived back then, my soul would have been in perilous danger. If I ended up in hell, so be it, as long as I could burn with chocolate.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite chocolate recipes that I fell in love with after seeing the movie, "Chocolat."

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Ingredients: 3 oz. Mexican Chocolate (which most Latino markets carry or if you can't reach one, you can substitute bittersweet chocolate tempered with a few dashes of cinnamon and just a small touch of sugar. Not too much sweetness because that's the beauty of this drink).

3 cups of milk or water

A dusting of cinnamon on top

Chop the chocolate in a blender or grate by hand. Bring the milk to a boil in a small sauce pan. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate. Using a whisk, hand mixer or blender, whisk the milk with passion until the chocolate melts and the milk is frothy.

Sprinkle with the cinnamon and drink immediately.

If this doesn't warm up your heart and body, then I don't know what would. So, do you like chocolate? Do you have a favorite chocolate candy or recipe? I'd love to know them...from one sinner to another.

The Element of Fire

How many times have you stared into a fire and lost yourself. Watching the flames dance and intermingle with itself as if it were alive and in some way trying to speak to you. What would it say? What would it try to communicate? The element of fire has both a creative and a destructive side. It is used to warm our homes, cook our food, and give us light in the darkness. Yet it can also be all consuming and destructive.

Unlike the other three elements, fire does not exist in a natural state. It can only come to physical form by consuming some other element. It converts the energy of other objects into other forms whether it is heat, light, ash or smoke. In order to benefit from the energy that is brought forth through fire, one must control Fire’s destructive nature. When a candle is lit we are not only calling upon the energy of fire but we are also limiting fire’s power.

Fire is masculine. Its qualities are change, passion, creativity, motivation, will power, drive and sensuality. Fire exhibits sexuality both physical and spiritual. It is often used in spells, rituals and candle magick for the purpose of healing, purification, sex, breaking bad habits, or destroying illness. Fire exhibits authority and leadership.

Man has been fascinated with fire since the first time they gazed upon it. With its possession and ability to control it gave them great advantage over the animals and such. It enabled them to cook, to have light in the night, to forge metal, and eventually to build a civilization. It has the gentle warmth and soft light of a fire contained and controlled yet it can also be the vicious eruption of a volcano. Although it is the strongest and most powerful of the elements it is also the one with the least endurance.

Whether it is in its physical form or its spiritual form fire can be a dangerous thing. Fire physically will overdo its job if there is not some limit put on it. According to the elves and their myths in regards to the element of fire, it is in its nature to try and overcome its boundaries, even its earthen boundaries. They believe that this is why fire spreads whenever it can and tries to consume everything in its rebellion to exceed its boundaries.

In regards to spiritual fire, we speak of strong emotion; emotions such as hatred and anger yet also of love and happiness. Fire is what burns in ones soul moving them to fight for the causes and ideals that they believe in. Fire represents a dream or desire or belief. It represents not only ones commitment for this dream but also the realization of it eventually coming to fruition. Much like the physical form of fire, if one has a spiritual fire burning within them, they will strive towards said goal until they have consumed and conquered it or they are burned down or destroyed in the process. Although this sounds as if one would be talking about an aggressive act to explain something that would move one to take such strong measures, the inspiration of love, or compassion could also fuel such a flame.

Fire should always be treated with respect and also an acknowledgement of its capabilities and its desire to break free of its “boundaries”. It is by far the element that will try and convince you that more is ok when in truth, it could eventually burn you alive.

Fire Attributes:

Direction: South – the place of heat

Type of Energy – Projective

Basic Nature – Purifying, destructive, cleansing, sexual, force

Color – Red

Correspondance In Tarot – The Suit of Wands

Fire Signs per zodiac - Aries, Leo And Sagittarius

Gods – Agni, Hepaetus, Vulcan

Goddess – Brigit, Peleand Vesta

A Familiar by any other Name

I've always had at least one cat familiar in my life and vow I will never live without one. Yes, even when I was a little girl and my peers were playing with "Barbie" dolls, I played with my cats, who were my kindred spirits and confidants. I've blogged before about how my mother "introduced" me to magic, not on any formal level, but she was a witch and had an intelligence and love for animals that I inherited from her. Like most other childhoods, I had nightmares, terrors and anxieties, I couldn't trust any adult or other child with my secrets, so I turned to my cats. We always had at least one cat and a few dogs for our family. I loved my dogs and would play with them for hours outside, but it was my cats, I turned to, for my inner-world of thoughts and feelings. In archetypal language, the cat represents the feminine, intuitive, secretive and magical. Before anyone objects that dogs or other animals can't represent the feminine or there aren't cats who are more like dogs, I agree. My son has a cat who is completely opposite of what a "typical" cat is supposed to act like. He likes to hang out with dogs if there are any, he comes up to greet anyone he meets with a loud, demanding voice, and I doubt he'd have any patience for the workings of magic. In my life, cats represent the feminine spirit. I'm not the only one who matches cats with the feminine.

 During the Burning Times, cats, especially black ones, were associated with the witch as her or his counterpart. The black cat could slip through the night unseen, when one looked at it's eyes, you can see the moon and a cat holds secrets that we can only guess about. I can understand why so many fearful, ignorant people who were terrified of the Goddess in her many forms. Notice, I didn't say, that the cats were owned because everyone who owns a cat agrees with the saying, "Dogs have Masters, Cats have Staff," and isn't that true? 

There are of course many different animals besides a cat that can be a witch's familiar. In the play "Macbeth" the Wyrd Sisters had "Paddock" a toad, "Harpier" an owl, and "Grimalkin" a cat. In the book and movies of "Harry Potter" all the students as well as the faculty have familiars, cats, rats, owls, bees, dogs, bees even.The black cat just seems to personify a witch. So don't feel too badly if you don't have a cat familiar. Really any animal "companion" as Mother Moon so beautifully wrote can be your magical partner in crime. However, not every animal is destined to be a familiar. 

I live with two very beloved cats who are sisters, Bella and Sele. Bella looks exactly like Mother Moon's Jimbo, right down to the exact size of the white diamond on the chest. She's elegant, leggy, athletic and extremely moody, like her mother. She would love to venture out under the moonlight if I let her outside, which I don't. She sits in the window communing with the moon and then whispers into my ear mysteries and dreams. Sele is a tuxedo kitty (black and white patches) and is Bella's opposite. All she wants to do is play, eat and sleep. In that order. If I tried to perform any magic with her, she'd run under the bed in fright. I love how Lynelle wrote about her cat "Cici" who can always put a smile on her face, that's Sele!

It's strange how often I wake up from a horrible nightmare choking, gasping for air and burning hot. I have a continual dream about how my cats and I have been burned in my house. Knock on wood, I have never had or never will have that happen to me. I can't watch or read anything about any animal being harmed, especially a cat. That's when the real witch in me comes out as I chant a curse aloud to those perpetrators. Animal familiars were also known as "imps" because they were believed to be one of the devil's minions send to a witch as a messenger.One of the most famous names for a familiar is,  "Pyewackett." This name has been used for cat familiars in fiction throughout the ages and continues to be one. One of my favorite Pyewackett familiars is from the movie, "Bell, Book and Candle." The television series "Bewitched" was based upon this movie. The infamous, witch hunter, Matthew Hunter said that, "Pyewackett, was a name no mortal could invent."


The plagues that happened in the fourteenth century killing over 25 million people, 1/3 of Europe's population was believed to have come from fleas that lived on black rats which then infected everyone. I believe in karma, not as a principle to bring about vengeance or an event to justify the means, but I can't help but think that after all those seven million and plus who were killed as witches along with their animals that a horrible justice was served.
 

I always keep in mind with any type of magic I perform one of the oldest witch's credes, "Three by Three by Three." This means that whatever thought or action either positive or negative projected onto another can come back to you in threefold strength. Please know, I am not saying in any way that what happened to all those victims of the plague was deserved or justifiable. Most of the victims were the youngest children or the oldest citizens. Not the most likely to have been part of the witch hunt. In fact, the greatest population of people who were persecuted as witch's were the elders. Magic is powerful and the responsibility of working with a familiar is not to be taken lightly. They are able to access worlds which most humans can't. They stir the inner-cauldron of an instinctive animal realm which must be used with great consciousness and care. But most of all, our familiars bring out the best in us...Patience, humour, humility and a wisdom that is a sacred gift. I don't know where I would be if it weren't for the familiars I have loved. Blessings upon you and your familiar in whatever form they take.


How to Name Your Familiar 
When the devil brings him, like a Christmas puppy, examine his downy fur and smell his small paws for the scent of sulphur. 
 Is he a child of hell? O clearly those soft brown eyes speak volumes of deviltry.
O surely those small pink teats could suckle witches.  O those floppy ears hear only the devils hissing.
O that small pink tongue will lick at your heart until only Satan may slip in.
A fuzzy white dog? Name him Catch.
A little black kitten? She is Jamara. 
A tiny brown rabbit? Call her Pyewackett. 
Beware, beware-the soft, the innocent, the kingdom of cuddly ones-All these expose you to the jealous tongues of neighbor's flames, all these are the devil's snares!
~Erica Jong~

My Everyday Magic

Practical everyday magic. I think that many of us perform this far more than we may even realize. How many of you greet the day and give thanks for yet another opportunity to live? How many of you gather flowers from your gardens and bring them into your home as a means to liven up the space. How many of you light a candle for a friend who may be passing through a hard patch in their lives? All are simple every day magic.

Greeting the morning as the sun rises over the horizon is one thing I try to do each day. This is especially true as spring approaches. I love the early morning and the time right before the sun lifts its head to yet another day. The world is still quiet (at least where I live) from sleep. The birds slowly begin their song to wake mother earth and those around. It is a peaceful time and often a time when I commune best with the earth and the energy it can bring.

My garden is truly full of practical everyday magic. From the rosemary that continuously grows in my kitchen window, or the aloe that is close at hand for healing, to the multitude of plants I have in and out of my house their magic is everywhere. Although I still feel myself such a babe in this area I have learned so much in regards to herbs, flowers, and trees and their many uses. A constant in my home are Rosemary for protection and purification, Mint for protection and to attract prosperity and Lavender to bring peace and healing. I use all of them on a consistent basis whether it is in my cooking, when burning incense, or simply to pluck a small piece off and wear throughout the day.

Outdoors the possibilities are endless. Mother earth gives her own gifts to us if we only look. The strength of an Oak can felt simply by carrying an acorn in your pocket. Each fall I gather oak leaves and place them in the house to help clear the negative energy. The wild thistle which has many varieties can be found in abundance. Although I am thought silly for doing so, I love to gather its flowers and place a small vase in my home. It is said they give energy and strength as well as ward off evil from a home. I just love their appearance. There is also the well known wild clover. Another “weed” that can be found in abundance. Most think of the possession of a four leaf clover for luck as the best use for this plant yet there are many others. Clover blossoms combined with vinegar for three days can be used as a protection tincture. Sprinkled around the perimeter of one’s home this is said to discourage unwanted visitors from entering. Carrying clover flowers on your person is also said to not only protect you yet also aid in the finding of new love.

As for candle magic once again I feel this is done far more than many realize. I myself am a true lover of the flame. And because of this I use candles in my home on a daily basis. When I have concern for someone, I light a small white candle and ask that they be blessed. When the concern is more evident and I am able to know exactly what it is they may be in need of, I will light the white candle along with another in the color which represents their need. An example of is: lighting a red candle representing the need for health or strength. Also each time I work in my kitchen preparing food, two candles burn. One is white representing that the food be blessed. The other is colored according to what I may want the emphasis to be. Blue is my favorite as it represents peace and harmony.

I believe that all of us use everyday practical magic much more than we may admit. For it truly is around us everywhere. Magic is the power that comes forth from each one of us when we believe in what we are doing.