Divine Feminine Handbook Volume III

Chapter 4 Bring Love Back Into the Kitchen “At feasts, remember that you are entertaining two guests: body and soul. What you give to the body, you presently lose, what you give to the soul, you keep forever.” Epictetus Processed foods are not made with love. How could they be? Factories churn out hundreds, if not thousands of nearly identical processed items each day and all or most of the seasoning, cooking and stirring is done by machines. Processed food companies do not have the optimal wellness of their consumers in mind, its all about profits. Therefore many companies use inexpensive ingredients and pump their products full of chemical additives to enhance flavor, color, texture and prolong the shelf life. The result of so many people turning to processed foods as their main diet are without doubt linked to chronic illnesses and obesity. Homemade foods made in your own kitchen have completely the opposite effect. Making meals at home just seems to make everyone happy. Do you remember the last time you made a loved one their favorite meal and their eyes just lit up? And do you remember the last time you all ate together as a family and how special it was? Sitting down and eating a meal that you created together is a daily celebration of love. • Home cooking allows you to come together, with your family and friends at home or college or wherever you live or are visiting. • It's about finding a way to connect with your community. • Good food is the greatest gift of gratitude you can give your body. We live in a culture where parents were never taught how to cook as a child and don't cook as adults. They aren't teaching their children to cook and turn to fast food or commercially prepared food for themselves and their families. Cooking homemade food isn't just about physical health, it's about connecting with each other. Learn how to cook and spend time in the kitchen and at the table with the people in your life, even if it is only for a few days a week to begin with. If you live alone, love your Divine Feminine self enough to cook for yourself and show your divine body some love. Ancient women put a special sacred meaning in everything they were doing. Cooking, embroidery towels, brushing their hair, etc. was a magical ritual. Everything that women did, they charged with their energy through their prayers and manifestations. It is time to bring love back into the kitchen. You don’t have to spend hours slaving over a hot stove. There are plenty of nutritious, yummy meals that can be made in just minutes. It is the quality, intent and the care that are key. Honor Your Kitchen Space • Begin by cleaning your kitchen and removing clutter that doesn’t belong. • Light a candle or incense. • Bring in a vase of flowers or fresh herbs. • Say a prayer or blessing to dedicate your cooking area as a sacred space. • Make your kitchen the heart of the home again. • Remember to be patient with yourself as you are learning to cook with love, trying new recipes and being mindful of preparing nutritious meals. • Limit your distractions while you are cooking and creating in the kitchen. Talking on the phone, watching TV and thinking of the days problems will distract you from the practice of cooking with love. Gratitude Ancient native people believed that everything had a spirit, and they understood the importance of communicating with the life force in all things. For example, they would ask for blessings from the Spirit of the Sea before fishing, or they would ask for support from the Spirit of Rain for their crops. Plants were honored before they were harvested. Before the hunt, hunters would give thanks to the Spirit of the animal being hunted and ask forgiveness for the life that was taken. To our peril we take food for granted and don’t give much thought to what it is, where it came from or how it was grown, raised or killed. One of the most powerful mind shifts we can have is to realize preparing fresh food for ourselves and our families is a privilege to celebrate not an inconvenience to dread. Spirituality Of Food By re-adopting our ancestors plant-based diet, you'll be assisting in the reconfiguration of your spiritual tie to the Mother Earth. When you strengthen that spiritual tie, your mind will operate with more clarity, empowering you to think with a Divine Feminine mind set. Natural, whole food is organic matter that is made up of energy, just like everything else, because it is created by the earth’s soil, it exists at a higher vibration than something that is created by a factory. As a result of being whole and organic, natural foods are more reactive to good thoughts you send towards it, as thoughts are also a form of energy. When there is emotion behind your thought, a physical manifestation will soon follow. Our ancestors understood this and that is why they always prayed over their food and water. We should continue this practice. Conversely, processed foods resonate at a low vibration. Prepare Your Food With Love Energetically, love is the rock star of our highest vibration, it's what we ideally should be operating from. And because we radiate love at higher vibrations, we attract love in return. Our aura is healthy, and we acknowledge that we are joy and are experiencing joy. Your energy, love and joy will be infused into the food you are preparing. Organization Eliminates Frustration It is hard to feel peace and love when you are frustrated in the kitchen. Make a plan and follow your plan. • Organize your pantry, cupboards, drawers, fridge, and freezer • Stock your kitchen with nutritious food • Once a week make a weekly menu plan for the following week • Make a shopping list and get every ingredient you need on your menu • Every evening make a menu for the following day and write it down. • Wash your dishes and clean your kitchen every single day. Raise the Vibrational Energy of Your Food Prepare your meals with love and eat with gratitude. Say a prayer or grace before eating. Blessing your food may be considered old school thinking, but l think it works like this: it binds us together in reverence and gratitude for our mother, the earth, it revives the ‘old ways’ of creating blessings for ourselves, our family, community and the planet herself, and it reconnects us with the joy of nourishing and being nourished. Eat mindfully and enjoy the colors, shapes, tastes, textures, and aromas of your food. Believe that you are receiving nourishment and healing from your meal. This practice will raise the vibrational energy of your food even when it isn’t the most perfect food all of the time. Women’s Relationship With Food Once, women were honored as strong, beautiful, creative, sensual beings. The feminine aspect of life was necessary for our very survival, and the sacred feminine was honored by ancients around the world as the bringer of life. Woman was life itself. The power of women in those ancient times was undeniable, without women, we humans would not be here now. As male dominance succeeded in stripping women of their power and spiritual heritage, civilizations also lost their connection to Mother Earth. Skills women possessed, once considered sacred, have been turned over to industry, mass production, and big business. It was the shift to ownership of crop and land (usually by an elite class of landholders and the Church) that spelled the end of the goddess and her gift economy. In order for the new capitalistic order to succeed, women’s role in food production and their spiritual authority had to be removed. Women’s traditional access to land, and control over the crops they cultivated was replaced by a labor force.