Fermentation, Intuition, and the Magic Within
I may have a vinegar problem. The cupboard where I store it is bursting. Every day, the magic in those bottles is sprinkled, combined, and stirred into the meals I brew in my kitchen.
My larder and brew cupboard are overflowing with fermenting goodness – and both of these things are entirely by design.
I’m not ashamed of my vinegar habit. More details in alt text. These two cupboards help me be a pretty spooky psychic witch.
My journey in creating them led me down the path of Belly Magic – a practice fed by communion with the Land and Spirt, and by the ongoing work of listening, recording, reflecting, and discerning. I nourish my ability to do that in as many ways as I can, which started with strengthening my intuition.
As I developed a relationship with my intuition, I began to notice the deep interconnection among mind, body, and Spirit. Shaping that relationship through attention, reciprocity, humility, and devotion led me toward a new understanding of the food web – and of all the ways it may nourish our witchcraft.
Your magic begins in your belly – or less smoothly but perhaps more accurately, in your guts.
Once you understand the relationship between the gut, the brain, and the rest of the body, your magical world can expand dramatically. And when you begin integrating that knowledge into your Practice, you may develop a vinegar problem of your own.
Having well-honed intuition takes work. As one of my teachers, Althaea Sebastiani wrote in By Rust of Nail & Prick of Thorn, “Remember, it’s called witchcraft not witchthink: the magick you work will always be more effective than the magick you don’t work.”
Learning does nothing unless you practice what you’ve learned. Integration is key. I’m inviting you to learn and integrate.
What if supporting your gut could also support your mood, motivation, and intuitive sense? What if paying closer attention to your body could lead to a more grounded and productive spiritual practice? What if this Patreon could give you the tools to explore that relationship for yourself?
A larder & brew cabinet featuring kombucha, fermented vegetables and pickles, along with other long-storage goods.Would Thou Like To Live Deliciously?
Vinegar and other fermented foods, such as yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, and naturally fermented pickles – can be part of a varied and healthy diet. Fermentation creates distinctive flavors and compounds, and some fermented foods contain live cultures that may support digestion and microbial diversity. Good mood, happy belly: what’s not to like?
But no single food works for every body. Some people cannot eat fermented foods because of allergies intolerances, medical conditions, medication interactions, personal choice, or simply because those foods do not feel good in their bodies. Fermentation is not a requirement for good health, and your magical ability is not measured by what you can eat.
The gut and brain are in constant conversation. Through that relationship, digestive health can interact with stress, sleep, mood, motivation, and energy. For many of us, this conversation is part of what we experience as a “gut feeling,” intuition, or knowing.
That does not mean that the gut determines your intuition, or that changing your diet will automatically make you more magical. Rather, tending to your body can offer another way to notice your patterns, signals, needs, and boundaries. With time and discernment, those observations may help you feel more grounded and connected in your Practice.
Food Web Magic
How do we bring our intuition into conversation with our bodies? How do we distinguish intuition from fear, urgency, or wishful thinking? How might food and drink support – or complicate – that relationship? Which kinds of fermentation are worth exploring? How does vinegar fit in? And what can science, lived experience, and witchcraft teach us about the connections among the gut, brain, emotions, and intuition?
There is no single formula for becoming a powerful witch. But we can begin with a simple invitation: Tend the body. Listen with discernment. Practice the magic.
Keeping your physical belly comfortable, your intuition clear, and your magical practice responsive may involve habits that are new to your Craft path. It may also involve releasing habits or expectations that do not serve you. I am excited to lead you on your exploration of this path, dear Covenstead.
Come Learn With Me
My upcoming course, Belly Magic: Cultivating Your Intuitive Garden, will explore these questions through practical approachable lessons designed to help you connect with the way you think, feel, function, and perform your magic.
Each month we’ll gather around a new lesson, such as training your intuition, learning about the relationship between the gut and the brain, practicing discernment, exploring food and fermentation, and considering why witches might care about these connections in the first place.
This course is available to everyone in the At The Witch’s Table tier and above. If you’re ready to bring curiosity, care, and discernment to the belly beneath your magic, join us at the table.
You may develop a vinegar problem along the way. You may also become a more grounded and powerful witch – one who shows up to tend not only their magic, but their body, kindred, community, and whole self.
Belly Magic starts with its first lesson on September 26. Every full moon there will be a new lesson, so you have an entire moon cycle to learn and implement things into your personal practice. Come sit At The Witch’s Table and Cultivate Your Inner Garden.
Creator’s Note: This course is for education, reflection, and spiritual practice. It is not medical advice, a treatment plan, or a substitute for professional care. Please work with your medical team when making changes related to diet, digestion, mental health, or medication. Fermented foods and vinegar are not appropriate for everyone. There is no one “right” way to support your body.
I have studied and practiced this material for more than five years. I continue to approach it with curiosity, humility, and respect for the many ways bodies and magical practices differ. My hope is not to prescribe a single path, but to offer tools for observation, discernment, and personal exploration.