We take our tea witchery very seriously around here (jk we're full of whimsy) and I am here today to teach you to incorporate tea into your craft! Welcome to Friday's super easy basic intro course on...
I like to think of tea as having broadly three potential roles in witchcraft: "Surrounding," "Creating," and "Inhabiting." Let's break it down.
Tea as Surrounding
This role makes use of tea as ambiance. The aroma, the flavor, the aesthetic...tea is an exquisite mood-setter. When your tea is used to surround you, it's like an intangible circle being drawn. Where you may use a ring of twigs or string or salt, you can use steam, smell, setting. A great example of this is traditional Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu), in which a beautiful space to enjoy tea is as much a part of the experience as the matcha itself, if not more. The space must be clean, the art curated to match the season, the snacks paired thoughtfully, and the tea used as an anchor point for the point of the ceremony: presence. In this case, we consider tea to be one ingredient, but really the whole experience (art, snacks, cleanliness, pottery) is TEA.
Another example is the ever-popular simmer pot. By selecting your ingredients to suit the intention and allowing the scent and steam to permeate your space, you are sitting inside your brew: it Surrounds.
"But Friday," you will argue, "doesn't the act of making a simmer pot or whisking the matcha count as Creating?"
To which I will respond "Shyeah, we are definitely working with hella fuzzy classification edges, stick with me," and move you right along to category two:
Tea as Creating
This is the joy of handcrafting, the connection between your action and energetic reaction, where what you do with your own body to create your experience is directly impacting the flow and focus of your intention. When you plant, water, prune and pick your own herbs? Creating. When you select the type and quantity of each spice from your cupboard to add to that simmer pot? Creating. When you stir the pot, whisk the matcha, light the flame in your pot warmer? Creating!
Some witches are drawn to working with wands. Me? I've got ten perfectly good wands on the ends of my hands and I love the feeling of energy running through them. Give me manual labor and agricultural witchcraft, kneading of bread and stirring of demitasse spoon, and I feel powerful. If you are drawn to the physical act of crafting, of making, of transforming your surroundings, tea can be a perfect tool!
Next time you are scooping tea leaves into an infuser, pay attention. Did you select your scooping utensil with care? Do you feel more connection with your tea when you pick up the leaf with your fingertips? Is there a certain set of tongs that calls to you instead? This is one of a million touchpoints to your tea craft, and you get to customize every single part of it to best suit your intention. YES the details matter. YES you can zoom as much in or out of the specifics as you feel called to. The crafting itself is magic.
"Ok Friday, that makes sense," you may concede, "but what the heckedy-hey do you mean by Inhabiting? What a weird thing to say!"
To which I will admit "Yeah, fair enough, that's a strange one, but go with me here..." as I introduce you to the concept of:
Tea as Inhabiting
Now this is energetically adjacent to "carrying" a deity or channeling work. When you physically consume your tea, take in the texture of it, the aroma, the feeling of the liquid descending into your body, its temperature spreading through you. Every intention you set with each ingredient and utensil you selected can be considered a part of the decoction, and is then energetically absorbed into your body for use as fuel. What a great opportunity to select ingredients with medicinal benefits to suit your needs!
This category of Work gives us a touchstone that we can carry around through the everyday with us, from noticing the rev of energy and focus your Yerba Mate gives you to feeling your muscles soften after drinking your raspberry leaf and fennel brew, inhabiting your tea is an invitation to be present and connected during and after teatime.
"Wow Friday," you shall perhaps cheer, "That's so simple! Is that all there is to it? Does that even qualify as witchcraft?"
To which I would remind you that folk witchcraft of all traditions has roots in the simple, the domestic, the details. The number of times you swirl your spoon to mix that special infused honey in the tea brewed from leaves you picked up at the little tea house with sigils & charms painted under the top coat of each wall (that's us, btw, in case you didn't know), the way you sit with the tea in your body, what it does to take care of you...that's all intention, all energy, all assertion and direction of your will.
DIY Your Tea Ritual
I have built out a useful little "recipe card" to help you map out a totally custom approach to incorporating tea into your craft. Let's take a walk through the garden of your potential practice, shall we?
Intention: First, decide what you are trying to accomplish. Are you healing an inner wound? Bolstering your focus? Invoking strength for your community? Grounding after a long day?
Tea or Herbs: Next, select your plant partners. Remember to think about energetic associations, physical attributes, and your personal relationship with the ingredients at hand. What feels like the correct tea, herb, or blend for the task at hand?
Vessel & Tools: Now, pick your tools. Which teapot is calling to you? Which cup? Which spoon? Which whisk? Which pot warmer or charcoal stove?
Energetic Prep: This is important: how will you prepare your space? Is there certain lighting that will serve best? Soft clothing? Candles and/or incense? Whatever you need to feel present and ready to dive in.
Aftercare: Give yourself the gift of pre-considering how you will return to your walking life. When you're finished in the zone and need to transition back to the usual energy flow of your day, it's always nice to have a bookend! This can look like a walk around the block, speaking a key phrase aloud, wrapping up in a heavy blanket, or anything else that speaks to you. Make it personal; this is self-care!
Words or Symbols of Power: If you have a mantra, a written or spoken spell, sigils or power animals you can have represented in picture or tea pet form, these are all fantastic energetic touchstones to further focus your intention.
Method: Finally, note down your order of operations and any other pertinent information.
Eg. "Draw a circle with tea steam. Sit on the floor with the teapot on the tea light warmer before you. Take three deep breaths and visualize the intention. Pour tea into the cup, drink and feel the intention take root with every sip. When ready, take three more deep breaths and extinguish the candle."
Feel free to print the card below or adapt this format to better suit your own needs!
That wraps up your introductory lesson on tea witchcraft! What areas would you like to explore more? I so look forward to continuing to share and learn from each other. Leave comments below with your own thoughts, adaptations and input to help your tea coven build more of a practice repertoire!
