Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen Read Free Page B

visualized. This is why Marjorie saw herself paying her bills and enjoying extra money. This isn’t positive thinking, though that does play a part. Magical visualization is actually positive imagining.
    On a subtle (but real) level, images created and sustained in the human mind affect us as well as objects around us. In visualizing, our heroine was setting both Marjorie-energies and oat-energies into motion and giving them purpose. The final step was introducing those energies into herself, which she accomplished by eating the oatmeal at breakfast.
    Visualization is the most advanced magical technique necessary for the successful practice of food magic. Many good books are available on the subject. Read them if you feel you need help in this matter ‡ , or attend a class if one is held nearby.
    This is food magic. It consists of choosing foods, cooking or preparing them with a purpose, and eating them. Since we all have to eat to survive, why shouldn’t we make our meals more than nourishment rituals?
    Consider again the four statements that opened this chapter. Judging from the example I’ve given, it’s obvious that the energies involved in magic aren’t supernatural. On the contrary, they’re the energies of food and our own bodies—and of life itself.
    Magic certainly isn’t evil, except to a minority of folks who, for religious reasons, have decided that it is. These same folks often consider exercise, psychological analysis, self-improvement, and many other aspects of personal growth to be evil as well. Though their bias is clear, it’s meaningless to those who don’t accept their religious views.
    Is magic dangerous? No more dangerous than any other part of life, from taking a shower to using a ladder. The idea that this ancient practice is dangerous stems from the concept that “magic is evil.” Magicians don’t contact demonic energies, perform sacrifices, or worship fallen angels ( see chapter 22 ).
    The fourth statement, that magic is illusion, is also false. This idea is accepted by most of those who haven’t practiced it and who don’t belong to a fundamentalist religious group. It is difficult or impossible to prove to these cynics that magic is effective precisely because magic utilizes energies that these cynics haven’t yet fully investigated.
    Still, the effects can be seen. Magic doesn’t produce miracles; it produces needed changes. Disbelievers usually discount the fruits of magic as coincidence, as accidents, or as pure psychology. These three explanations are quite handy, but if magic produces the desired results time and time again, and if its practitioners find within its simple rituals ways of improving the quality of their lives, then it isn’t illusion, no matter what others may say.
    The only way you can discover this is by practicing it. Don’t believe that magic works. Try it, so that you’ll know that it does.
    [contents]
    â€¡ Among the finest is Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips’ Practical Guide to Creative Visualization.

Chapter Three
    The Tools of Food Magic
& Magical Cooking
    F ood magic is a direct and simple form of self-transformation. Its most important tools are food and the magician’s personal power. Other implements, however, are necessary to prepare and to cook empowered dishes. This chapter describes the magical qualities of these tools and some basic magical cooking tips. Since this isn’t a gourmet cookbook, no unusual objects are required. Your own kitchen should provide virtually everything you’ll need. §
    Cups, Bowls, and Pots
    The earliest form of food container must have been cupped hands. Later, leather was shaped in imitation of this form and used to contain liquids and solid foods. In some parts of the globe, basketry was tightly woven into bowls and storage units. Baskets made of fresh leaves are still quite common in tropical parts of the world.
    Clay was