My first blog. What to say? Well, first, let me introduce myself. My name is Noxious Mae and although I am not what you would call a full Wiccan or pagan by religious preference, I was raised Paganistic my whole life and was taught how to cook in accordance with it. Since that time, I have incorporated Buddhism into my life, and therefore, am a Vajrayana Buddhist -Pagan. (And yes, you can do that with Buddhism..)
My family was both Episcopalian, and Pagan, with emphasis on Irish Paganism, similar to that of Druidism. Since I was very young, my family taught me the traditional ways to live: herbs to use for healing and keeping evil spirits and faeries away, metals to avoid to keep bad energies and magical creatures away, minerals to use in order keep energies aligned, how to cleanse a house from spirits, how to speak with them, what pagan holidays occur and what foods to make for them, and foods that cure almost any daily ailment and bring forth the Divine in our own daily life.
I was taught that all days require a special attention to what can be referred to as the Dharma of life (the basic principle of the cosmos) and thus, should be celebrated by food. My mother always baked her own bread, made home made, organic dinners, lunch, and breakfast for my family daily, and taught all 5 children to cook, bake, and understand the essence of the traditional values through spells, other world understanding, and teaching us the ability to look beyond the reality of what others see as our world. She taught us the importance of good food and how much it really brings to the world.
Because of this, since I was little, I have always cooked and baked constantly. It has been my passion for my entire life and to me, it cures, celebrates and emphasizes any mood, any feeling, any holiday, any person. I am constantly being asked for recipes, and have finally reached the point in which I figure I will just post them for all to see. My goal, therefore, is to post two recipes a week, paired with the season or festival that may be occurring within the Pagan calendar with an explanation to why they exist.

A Wee Lesson From My Family (Notice the emphasis on family, meaning that this is what I was taught, not the truth of the world.)

Within every year, there are eight sabbats, each holding a sacrosanct place on the Great Solar Wheel of the Year, also known as the Mandala of Nature. The sabbats give way to each other like the changing of the seasons. Each sabbat is celebrated with a corresponding symbol, traditional foods, herbs and sacred spaces and divinations for those who practice.
My mother always taught me that every person, every dish, and every spell is unique, so feel free to bring your own emotion, spell or addition to the recipe..what is cooking without a little experimentation? With that in mind, if using divination with these recipes, please remember that these recipes and festivals are for the good, and are used to bring positive energy to the world, not negative. You will be invoking sacredness into being while you are cooking, and therefore, I do encourage that one keep the the threefold law in the mind: Whatever you do comes back to you three times. (Do you really want to mess with that?!?!)
I will be posting recipes that include edible flowers and medicinal herbs, whose uses date back to before the middle ages, but can be found very easily withing your local grocery and herb stores. Remember that each flower and herb possess a unique characteristic that not only enhances the flavor, but also adds a sacred quality that imparts the Divine in every dish, so if you cant find something, post a comment, and I will tell you a substitute. Also please remember that if you are using dried herbs compared to fresh, halve the required measurement of fresh herbs to get the desired amount in dried herbs.
With all this in mind, I will be starting on my next post: The Celebration of Ostara, or the Spring Equinox.