Wooden Kitchen tools - and the magic they hold

When I was a kid, I loved to be in the kitchen. Whether it was with my grandmothers, my mom, my aunt, or even the mothers of my friends, it was where I wanted to be. The smells, the herbs and spices, the slow stirring and the fast tossing about. To me, at seven years old, it looked like they were stirring magical potions of happiness and warmth.

One day my grandmother asked me why I wasn't outside playing with my cousins instead of sitting with her while she cooked. So I told her that to me it looked like she was making potions and the smells of her food made me happy.

Her smile grew big. She brushed her hand along my head and explained that I was right about it being a form of magic. She told me why we use wooden spoons, and what all those markings on hers were. They were runes, though I only came to understand them when I got older. She told me why you clean your pots and pans with soap and some salt. Besides the hygiene, it is also a way to clear out the energies and intents that stay behind after a meal has been made and eaten. The soap takes care of the bacteria, the salt takes care of the energies and water takes care of both.

She told me why you have to tend to your wooden ladles and spoons or other wooden tools, every so often by lightly sanding them, cleaning them, and then oiling them with a food safe wood oil. And she told me that when a wooden tool breaks, it has served it's purpose.

That was only the start of cooking with magic, but I was so excited to learn that cooking really is magic. From then on I kept learning more and more over time.

My grandmother is gone now, but her lessons live on in my kitchen. Her spoons taught me that the tools were never the point of the magic, they were simply where the magic happens to live. And the thing about kitchen tools is that almost everyone already owns them.

You don't need a consecrated blade or a silver chalice to begin. You need what's in your drawer.

Your wooden tools

Who doesn't have them? Spoons, ladles, spatulas, a rolling pin, a chopping board or a wooden bowl. Most of you have a few tucked in a drawer or standing in a pot on the counter. They start out looking neat and over time they go dark and worn, stained by everything they have touched.

Just a piece of wood, most would say. But wood is a straight line to the earth, and like the earth it soaks up whatever it is given and dries out when it receives nothing. That makes it perfect for holding love, happiness and warmth or other energies that we wisefolk work with.

When we cook with those feelings, they go into the food. It is why people say food made with love tastes better. Comfort food is only another way of saying food made with the intent to comfort, and intent is another word for magic.

Now let's take it a step further. Remember the runes on my grandmother's spoons? Those are there to add or amplify the energy they carry. Algiz for protection, because we want the people we feed to be safe and to come home safe. Uruz for strength, vitality and health. Carve them into your own wooden tools and that energy goes into the pot with everything else. And the best part is, you can use any magical symbol you want.

Caring for them

Wooden tools need tending if you want them to last, and that means the wood and the energy it holds. Day to day, wash them by hand, never soak them, and keep them out of the dishwasher. The deeper tending is best done during or around the new moon.

Start by sanding the wood with fine sandpaper, always working away from you, widdershins, counter clockwise, the direction of undoing. Then wash it in hot water with salt, and while you do, picture all the old energies lifting out of the wood and running away with the water.

If you want to re-engrave the symbols on your tools, or add them for the first time, this is the moment to do it. The wood is bare and open, you just need to make sure you wash the tool before you continue with the following step.

Next, dry them. Stand them upright to air dry, or take a kitchen towel and dry them by hand. Move your hands (and thus the towel) upward, deosil, clockwise, the direction of building up. Imagine the wood clean and ready to receive again, like an empty house you have just scrubbed out before you move in.

Last, feed the wood with a food safe wood oil. Work it in and picture the wood drinking up new energy, healing and protective. Let it soak in overnight and wipe away what is left in the morning.

If you want to give them one more thing, set them somewhere the moon can see them when you are done and leave them overnight so they can charge properely.

When a wooden tool breaks

So what happens when a wooden tool finally goes? You have cared for it, sanded it, oiled it, fed it with intent, sometimes for years. Then one day, without warning, the tool snaps in half or simply breaks beyond repair. It means the work that tool was made for is done.

Thank it. Thank the tool for every meal it helped make and every bit of magic it carried into your food. Then, if it is plain wood with nothing on it, bury it in the ground. Some tools have painted handles or rubber grips, and those cannot go back to the earth, so check before you dig.

And the one that vanishes? Thank it anyway. It has found its own way back. Afterall, what comes from Mother earth goes back to her.

I hope that my passed down knowledge on wooden tools have given you a new look on them. Go ahead and give it a try and perhaps you can share your thoughts on this with us.

Brightest blessings,

Moon Wyld