The Power Place

One of the most important first steps in making your kitchen a sacred space is to create a place of nurturance for yourself there.  We deserve to have a special spot where we can relax, close our eyes and meditate, daydream, or simply think about food in peace.  Tuning in to your inner self—and feeling empowered—are more difficult when your muscles are tensed.  You are the goddess of your kitchen: you deserve to be comfortable.

All you really need is a special, cozy chair—one that everyone in your home recognizes as yours.  Every time you sit in it, you will remember that you are doing sacred work when you cook, and you will remember that comfort was once the special gift of the kitchen.<O:P> </O:P>

Even though many of our modern kitchens are sleek, almost chilly places, something in our bones remembers when kitchens were snug.  Deep inside us, we remember the magickal glow from a cave-fire: outside its bright circle of protection were all our fears—hungry wild beasts, killing cold, shapeless terrors that waited in the dark.  But inside the golden circle we were safe.  Kitchens—places where the hearth-fires burn—mean safety, warmth, peace.  For centuries, the kitchen was virtually the only comfortable room in the house.  Before central heating, its roaring fires and ovens kept out the chill when the world was blanketed with snow.  The kitchen became a natural gathering place, with special seats built near the fireplace where one could rest and be at ease, warm, and comfortable.<O:P> </O:P>

Hold that image of warmth and comfort in your mind while you look around your kitchen.  Is the seating soft and inviting?  Is there any seating at all?  If you live in a tiny city apartment, you may not even have room for a chair.  In this case, you can design a movable cushioned space for yourself on the floor: you can move the cushion when you need to open the oven door.<O:P> </O:P>

If you do have space for a table and chairs, really notice how they feel.  Kitchen chairs are often hard and bumpy.  If your chair makes your seat and your spirit sore, consider haunting yard sales and thrift shops until you find a rounder, softer, or more cushioned alternative.  An acquaintance flouted convention recently and bought herself a lush, forties-style brocaded armchair from the Salvation Army for her kitchen corner.  Now she can curl up and read cookbooks (or murder mysteries) lapped in luxury.  She reports that it has changed the way she feels about her kitchen forever.  Having a place to plop down and relax while the stew is bubbling or the bread is baking feels very soothing to the soul.<O:P> </O:P>

We create inviting kitchens, not only for ourselves, but for our families.  Most of us have a real longing to share our emerging sense of deep nourishment with the people we love.  But, even though we want to share our kitchens with loved ones, it is important for us to stake out this special chair or spot for ourselves alone.  Accessing our inner power is much easier when we have a place from which to access it.  A Power Place becomes an important part of our conscious effort to reclaim the role of Kitchen Priestess, freeing ourselves from the martyrdom and domestic slavery so long associated with kitchen work.  And children who see their parent consciously modeling this claiming of the kitchen will have an easier time growing into their own some day.<O:P> </O:P>

So, claim your spot, and fill your kitchen with textures and colours that make you feel nourished and safe.  When we make the kitchen a serene and comfortable place, we create a heart of safety in a very unsafe world.  It is what women have done for eons: made nests of nurturance and peace for their families.  We need those nests now more than ever.<O:P>