I am not a kitchen witch (at least I don't consider myself one), but I've always been fascinated with kitchen witchcraft. This is a great reference, and inspired me to add a little magic into my kitchen workings. What I LOVED though is this book doesn't just focus on the good - it also covers the darker side of magic (with a warning of course). Honestly that's what tipped this book into the five-star category for me. I appreciate when authors don't just go the 'love and light' only course.

I found this fascinating. It’s the first book on the subject I’ve read and it seemed very much geared for a beginner. I do agree with other reviewers that it seems most useful as a reference book, rather than one to read from start to finish. It certainly left me with plenty to think about.

I had mixed thoughts on this book. Some things were certainly helpful while others I truly question, not the information but the approach. Part of making a book such as this is being able to maintain the readers trust that the author knows what they are talking about. I feel there were definitely a few spots the author got lazy. But overall it was educational and certainly helpful. Beginners will certainly learn a few things.

This was one of the books that didn't load properly on Adobe but I saw enough t like it, some history and good ideas as well as a nice home basis of herbs

I received an ARC for a fair and honest review of this book.
This book has a little of everything -- candle magick, sympathetic magick, knot magick, binding, banishing, and cursing. Many varied folk magick techniques are covered including spell powders, poppets, honey bottles, mojo bags, fetishes, petition papers, and sigils. Wow! It’s a mouth full.
The spells are varied and eclectic -- not unlike any serious cook’s recipe box. In addition to common spells used in witchcraft, it also references other magickal practices, like those used in root work, Voodoun, and even Hinduism.
I was pleased with the amount of folk magic included in these pages – and Patterson didn’t shrink from the types of magick addressed. It includes some intriguing spells, like to aid in banishing depression, to silence gossip, and soak up pain. There’s a great section on correspondences that includes timing the type of magick being worked.
Other reviewers felt this book was not to be read in its entirety, but used as a reference. I have a different opinion. Beginners without a general understanding of magickal principles would fail to learn what is interspersed throughout these pages. For instance, Patterson cautions the reader from attempting to do a spell when angry, tired or feeling unwell in one place, why you should never draw energy from your own body in another.
I didn’t care for what I felt were conflicting messages. For instance, I feel there may be legitimate reasons to not buy expensive ingredients for a spell nor wear expensive ceremonial robes, but the excuse the author uses of being ‘fairly lazy’ is not one of them. Patterson advises using your intuition and being guided by your instincts when working magic. Good advice, but I would have liked to have seen more written about when to rely on that intuition and when to look up the proper herbs and colors of candle to use. Sure, the answer is often “it depends” and results may even change based on the circumstances, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason things occurred as they did.
Guidelines for magickal practices are given throughout the book, like the importance of a caster’s commitment to the working and setting a time frame for a work to manifest. Rachel Patterson gives great instructions for establishing a solid intent before-hand and writing it down – the who, what, where, why, when, and how of it.
If you are an experienced spell caster, this book is full of folk magick techniques that are varied and fascinating. Have fun giving it a read!
I received an ARC for a fair and honest review of this book.

This is one of those books you keep around and pull up when you are lookigng to help make a difference. It is not a book you read from cover to cover then forget about. It is more of a reference book.

If you like magic and witch craft this is a very good book. It is good for beginners as well. Mot of the items used in the spells are in most peoples homes already or are very easy to obtain with a trip to Wal-Mart or the grocery store. The wording used in the book is easy to understand, and the spells are easy to cast.

I enjoyed the variety of instances that the spells can be used for. This is not a book of spells just for love , money, or good health.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com and chose to leave this review.

This is a great book with some very sound and useful spells and charms to get you going. For our class I am always seeking new tomes to assist our students in developing their BOS and to find practices that work for them. Though our tradition has a long legacy of its own spells and charms, it is great to offer other perspectives and to find ties to practices in other traditions. This book has been a very helpful foundation for precisely this purpose.

I am adding it to our reading list for our witchcraft courses for new and intermediate witches.

Kitchen Witchcraft Spells and Charms by Rachel Patterson
Review by Dawn Thomas

144 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing Ltd / Moon Books
Release Date: July 27, 2018

Religion, Spirituality, Magic, Wicca, Witchcraft

I have read and reviewed many of Rachel’s books. She has an easy to read writing style. She provides the information is simple terms. Most of the ingredients are readily available and directions are not difficult to follow. The author gives advice, suggestions and warnings about using certain spells. She reminds us that you sometimes get what you ask for whether it is really, what you wanted. The book covers the following topics.

Kitchen witchcraft spells and charms
Working with the Craft
Correspondences
Kitchen Witch magic cauldron of spells & charms
Curses, Hexing and Binding
Love spells
Employment spells
Healing spells
Fertility spells
Banishing and releasing spells
House and home spells
General spells

For a small book, it is chock full of information. This would be an excellent beginner’s book but also a good addition to an experience practitioner.

Can y’all believe it’s another witchcraft book that I actually liked?! Wild, I know. It doesn’t happen often, but this one I think might just be a favorite.

Right from the beginning, it felt like Rachel Patterson was saying all the sorts of things that *I* would say.

Working with the Craft is very personal; everyone will walk their own pathway and take a very individual journey. I don’t believe there is a right way or a wrong way to work with anything within the Craft…

This is a key point here, and that outlook is certainly why I think the book resonates with me. Unlike some books which try and lay things out as The Only Way, we find here instead a personal journey. She is sharing what she has learned as a witch, and frames it in such a way as to encourage you to find your own journey.

…no one person should tell you that you MUST do something a certain way. We can only share our personal experiences and the knowledge that we have learnt, but only as an opinion or an option, NOT a definitive. I firmly believe that each person should trust their own intuition and be guided by pure instinct when working magic. Just because a book or the internet or someone else says “do it this way” does not mean it will be the right way for everyone.

I’m telling y’all, it’s hard not to just quote the whole dang book! It reminds me, a little, of my favorite hearthwitch book by Arin Murphy-Hiscock, and that is high praise! For any new witch looking to get into hearth or kitchen witchery, I cannot recommend this book more!

Like with most books out there, I’m not sure that experienced witches will find too much new knowledge or theory in here. But I still think it’s worth the read. Sometimes it’s nice to just read something we can generally agree with. New words for the beliefs we hold can help us better define our path.

Are there things I disagree with? Sure. I think unless I personally write a book that’s going to be a case. (and heck, a decade after I write a book I bet I’d find bits to disagree with). I think that’s the nature of this journey… there are no bibles, no sacred texts, so we’re all learning and doing our best. On that note, she does make a very brief mention of smudging, and her personal deities which touch on some appropriation issues. As always, it’s important to remember people learn at their own pace, and I do not believe these brief mentions invalidate the rest of the book.

Honestly I could go on and on, but I’ll just wind up quoting the entire damn book, haha. Check it out in your local library if you aren’t sure (remember that if they don’t carry it you can always request it, I’ve never yet had a library deny my request for a book!)

Although I received this book free for review I would 100% recommend and purchase this book for myself. I loved that Rachel's writing and teachings came across as having a talk with a sister or good friend. She makes a topic that can be intimidating or not something you could incorporate in your everyday life and makes it approachable. I know that I could complete the spells and rituals she discusses in the the book and she gives you the encouragement to actually but your spin on them.
This book is a great reference to spell casting and witchcraft in general and I feel like it would become something you'd reach fro time and again. I look forward to getting my own copy and reading more from the Kitchen Witchcraft series.

It's refreshing to see a book of this nature start with warnings about allergies and toxicity when working with herbs or essential oils. This is so often missed out! It's the first book of a series that looks very interesting for beginners.

The tone is like one of those teenage witchcraft books, but there is some good information and from more modern paths included that you don't often see in Wicca/Witchcraft books, like a very basic explanation of sigil magic.

There were a few things I would disagree with, like being very specific when doing a spell to get a job. If you target just one application, you don't leave room for other opportunities to pop up out of nowhere! And some of the correspondences didn't sit quite right, though these will always bring disagreement. The lists looked more like examples and weren't extensive.

Overall I found it light on instruction. Someone wanting to construct a formal spell will have to look elsewhere for details, but there are a lot of books on the market for that. The one worrying thing is that although how to banish something from your life was mentioned, there was nothing about banishing residual energies after doing a spell.

What it was strong on was folk magic spells. There were a lot of examples for how to apply these to various purposes and a lot of definitions for forms of magic, if only partial information on how to do them. There was also a lot of "use your intuition" and plugs for the author's other books, as well as a story told about a candle flame gone wrong that could have been avoided by using a proper candle holder. This surprised me after the good advice at the beginning about toxicity safety.

Overall I think it would make a good first book for someone who wants to dip their toe into magic and see how it sits without getting into too much trouble. I'd still like to have seen more detailed information about how to clear unwanted energies, just in case.

An interesting books with lots spells , easy to follow even if you are a beginner .The book also guides you on how to make your very own good luck and protection charms.

I really enjoyed Kitchen Witchcraft, it’s an approachable and down to earth book on Witchcraft. I liked the writing, it feels as though the author is sitting at your kitchen table and chatting with you.
Rather than give a definitive way to practice Witchcraft and spells, the author encourages you to create your own way, to trust your own intuition. I would recommend this book to others who are starting their journey with Witchcraft

This is a great book for anyone looking to make positive changes to their lives that have a passion for magic and witchcraft.

Very thorough how-to guide with a multiplicity of types of charms for all situations. Recommended! Perfect for beginners or existing practitioners. I look forward to more by this author.

I really liked this book because in the beginning it had explanation of what exactly is one spell, how you should work, work ethics, where to work your magic, etc. before moving on actual spells and charms. You also have a basic list of herbs and their usage. As well as the list of crystals and colors that can be used for specific purposes. You also get explained what are Things good for what or what exactly they are used for; for example; mojo bags, Talismans..
I think that this book is perfect for a beginner but also someone who wants to learn something new (or perhaps get back to the roots. I will be using this book in the future as well. Not only because of the spells and charms but if I need a reminder for something. Also, some of the things from this book have found it's way in my Grimoire.

Rachel Patterson is a prolific writer, having been the sole author on 12 books previous to this lucky 13 -- and that’s not even accounting for the several books she has co-authored or contributed to. Despite the copious amount of written material that Patterson has produced, I felt less that I was reading a book and more that I was sitting down with a dear friend over a cuppa, discussing our craft as witches. Her style is warm, welcoming, and generous while also gently guiding and suggesting ways of channeling intent into change. As the High Priestess of the Kitchen Witch Coven and Elder at the Kitchen Witch School of Natural Witchcraft, her advice comes from years of experience, study, and practice.

“I like simple. I like practical. I like hassle-free spellwork. If I see a spell that lists 57 different ingredients and takes four hours to set up I am very unlikely to even read past the first page let alone attempt it.”

One of the things I like so much about this book is how accessible it is. Rachel Patterson is a witch after my own magical heart. Perhaps as a hearth witch I am connecting to her no frills kitchen witch style, perhaps we are truly the kindred spirits I believe us to be. Either way, every page of this book was a delight. Her take on magic in general (”If I have an issue or problem I tend to look for the mundane solution first”), her position on curses (”...It’s not my place to judge or tell you what you can and can’t do. Just make sure you think it through properly and be mindful of any return”), and even spells more broadly (”Although it’s part of my way of life to do so it is not something I do every single day”) the style of witchcraft portrayed in the book is a near-perfect overlay for my own: Simple, accessible, and to the point.

But back to the book. Patterson gives the ubiquitous overview of what magic is, her take on magical ethics (cautious but never preachy), and then gives an outline for how to create your own spell. The three steps are, in a nutshell, determine your purpose (e.g., finding the perfect job), set your intent (and make sure you’re willing and ready to follow the spell with good old elbow grease and do the mundane stuff too), and then fill in the details. This is followed by a section on different kinds of spells -- everything from witch bottles to knot magic to candle spells -- and the basics of how to work each one. She also includes several lists throughout the book of correspondences -- herbs, colors, crystals, tarot cards, etc. However, she always emphasizes that these correspondences are ways to layer your intent, so the most important thing is that they are associations that you hold personally.

Finally, the entire second half of the book is chock full of spells. Fertility spells, banishing spells, the basics of curses and hexes, healing spells, spells for getting a new job... There are so many, y’all. And they’re wonderful! She reminds us throughout to “layer” our intent when working magic; the moon phase during which we should work a spell is never prescribed, but she offers ideas of when each phase might correspond to a given intent. Herbs might be suggested, particular crystals advised, but she encourages the practitioner to always use what they have to hand and what feels right to them.

I have said in the past that there are few books about magic and witchcraft that I would recommend without reservation, but this may be one! There are a couple of times Patterson mentions working with Ganesha and Lakshmi, but only in passing as part of her own private practice. She uses the term “smudging” which, in my understanding, refers specifically to the First Nations/Native American practice, but never suggests using it as anything other than smoke cleansing.**

Honestly the biggest critique I have is hardly a critique at all, and it’s only to say that there was less kitchen-specific witchery in the book than I anticipated given the title. The emphasis on small daily practice certainly is consistent with kitchen and hearth craft, but I guess I expected more of an emphasis on food magic or something. That observation notwithstanding, this book was a delight from beginning to end, and I am certain I will go back to it again and again, in addition to seeking out more of Patterson’s work for my own reading pleasure and personal craft.

Bottom line - 5/5 stars, would absolutely recommend. Get thee to a bookstore!

I always love Rachel's works and this is no different. So handy to have around, I'll be looking for a physical copy soon! Full review to come

Kitchen Witchcraft Spells & Charms offer advice to beginners that allow them to understand the workings of magic. The author shares her experiences and beliefs with absolute candor. She lets you know that you can adhere to strict ways of doing magic or you can take a more laid back relaxed approach. The author makes sure you understand that she is offering guidelines, not concrete rules of how to do things. She emphasizes the importance of putting your own signature on your magic.
The book is a simple to follow step by step guide that introduces you to correspondences and show you how to do simple spells and charms using the ingredients that you have on hand. It is an easy fun read, with an explanation for everything that you need to know to do successful magic. The author makes it very clear that you can do successful magic without buying a lot of expensive ingredients. I enjoyed reading the book and found much of the information on correspondences helpful.

What a delightful and approachable introduction! Recently I've been interested in modern approaches and perspectives on witchcraft. I was intrigued by the title because it seemed more approachable to someone like me (curious but not a practitioner). Rachel Patterson provides the novice with basic guidelines but instructs in a manner is uniquely hers--much like an art book often provides guides without imposing inflexible rules. I appreciated that she also provides a section of spells like recipes to follow in its own section. The structure of the book made it an enjoyable read as well as a useful reference guide to return to.