I'm thinking of buying a cauldron. I do believe every witch should have one - a proper one that can be used for cooking up a tasty stew to enjoy after an outdoor ritual as well as being used for various magical purposes.
At the moment, I only have a very tiny cauldron just big enough to put a tealight in and which is only really useful for holding my altar candle.
I started to browse various websites, but then realised that so many lovely witches read my blog I could probably get the best advice just by posting my question here. What should I look for in a cauldron and where might be the best place to buy one from?
7 comments:
Are you from a line of witches or did you choose the Pagan path?
I don't think you need to have a cauldron. If you want one, fair enough, but I don't think it's essential kit. A decent stew pan works for me!
If you have family in the tribe, what's your tradition?
The primary reason I'm thinking of buying one now is for an idea I've got for some nice photos. However, I've been at some wonderful witch camps when lovely stews have been cooked in Dutch Ovens and large cauldrons. For ritual work, the coven I was in many years ago would use them to light fires inside when we were in places where you couldn't really light a bonfire for safety reasons (indoors for example). I also have some other spells that require a cauldron. I currently use an old jam making pan, but I want something that looks better - and works better as a Dutch Oven too!
You don't want to cook in a cauldron you use for spellwork. I have a large wonderful cauldron but I only use it for spellwork or for my altar. Because I put candles in it, anoint it with oils, and burn things in it, it wouldn't be healthy or appropriate to use it to cook in.
I got my cauldron on eBay.
I think there are two different attitudes to keeping kitchenware and items used for magic separate. Some witches believe that it is ideal to use ordinary kitchen items as magical tools, and point out that country cunningfolk of bygone eras would not have been able to afford separate items for magic and for cooking etc. That was rather the way I was trained many moons ago. Other witches believe that magical items and cooking items should be kept entirely separate, which I think is a traditional that comes more from high magic rather than low - or kitchen - magic.
My wonderful parents bought me a No 3 Potjie Pot (now I just have to wait to Xmas to get it - damn!) because, like you, my cauldron is one of the tiny ones and I wanted a larger one. This is like the one they bought me: http://www.bbqgurus.com.au/3-legged-potjie-pots.html, so most camping or African cookware places should have them. I think they're fab!
That potjie looks exactly the kind of thing I am looking for. I wonder if I can get one in England.
Well, I've done some web browsing and found this: http://www.southafricanshop.co.uk/store/show_product/18657
A No 3 Potjie Pot that I can order in the UK. Unless anyone points me to a better one a similar one at a lower price, I'll probably order it soon. Thanks very much to the anonymous poster who suggested I look at Potjie Pots.
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