Public - Newsletter

Welcome to our June 2026 Kitchen Witch newsletter

A warm welcome to our June newsletter. Halfway through the year already! There has been a bit of an energy shift here at Kitchen Witch - we feel that there are things afoot. What - we are not sure of just yet, but we feel that it could be very exciting! The three of us are quite different - although we always say that we share a brain as we often come up with the same ideas, do very similar things and will speak the same thing at the same time. Although different, our vision for Kitchen Witch and our collective friendship has a strong bond and this shift has brought about an eagerness to discover what it is the universe has planned for us. Whatever it is, we are sure that it is going to be fabulous!

Lots on this month - Heather is with the Temple of Elen at the North Wales Paganfest at the beginning of the month. She will also be with the Temple of Elen at Greenoaks Gathering and Rachel, Heather and myself will be at the Pagan Tribal Gathering at the end of the month. Details below. 

There won't be an online ritual this month as it is so busy, but we do have one for July, so keep an eye on our website under events and all of our socials for details of that. 

Ness x

 Pagan Tribal Gathering

Rachel, Ness and Heather will be at this years' Pagan Tribal Gathering. This fabulous event now has a new home near Oxford and you can find us there on the Saturday. Rachel will be one of the speakers that day. This is always a well run event by the lovely Pia and her team with lots of talks, music, stalls and plenty of other things to keep you busy for the entire weekend. 

Tickets and full information can be found at -

https://lwww.pagantribalgathering.org.uk

Oracle Card for June by Ness

This months' card is taken from our very own Kitchen Witch Herbarium Card Deck. 

It is Pineapple Weed and Friendship. Pineapple Weed is a lovely flower. It looks a bit like a squashed daisy or chamomile flower. It grows quite close to the ground and is often trod on as it grows on side of footpaths and fields. If you pick the flower from this plant, and smell it, you get the unmistakable and sweet scent of pineapple! 

We gave the word 'friendship' to this plant and it is a lovely word for this month.

Think of your friendships - the people in your tribe, those around you that you share passions with, can talk to about anything and the laughter that you share. 

Think of old friendships - people that you have known for a long time, but maybe have not spoken to in a while. Perhaps this is a time to reach out and reconnect. 

With the summer almost here, we are out and about a bit more. Paths cross for many reasons and new friendships may be forged. 

Take this month to show gratitude for your friendships - old and new. 

What's Going on in Nature this Month from Ness  

The month of May was a bit of a wash out - at least towards the end, we are promised warmer weather. Chilly winds and showers have been the forecast for a couple of weeks now in the UK, so I am hoping that June will be roaring in like a lion - with blue skies, sunshine and finally time to offload the jumpers and boots for a few months. 

The chilly weather hasn't deterred Mother Nature at all. Everything is growing like mad out in the hedgerows and along the fields and footpaths. Grasses of many kinds, Cow Parsley is about 4 feet tall, Nettles are strong and tall now that they are established. We saw an early showing of Hawthorn flowers and as I type this mid-May, I have seen very tiny Hawthorn berries just beginning to take shape. One of my favourites, Elderflower is now blooming. The scent on a warm day is wonderful. I haven't harvested any yet as the rain will make the flowers taste bitter if you intend on making a cordial.

I have spotted so much growing, it will take the whole newsletter up, so here are my favourites -

Elderflower

Hawthorn Flowers

Mugwort

Ox Eye Daisy

Bramble Flower

Gorse Flower

The Summer Solstice is this month and it is the high point of summer, from then on, the days will become shorter again, which sounds quite depressing seeing as Summer has only just begun. But it will still be long, hazy days of summer for hopefully another few months yet, so get out there, enjoy all that nature has to offer and take some time to sit and soak it all up.

My Goddess of the Month by Ness

Way back when I was a Kitchen Witch student, I took the Arc of the Goddess course which meant working with a particular Goddess each month for a whole year. I found this course to be very enjoyable and it allowed me to work with many Goddesses during that year that I had not worked with before. There was a title to go with each month's meditation and June's was 'meadow'

I made a felt dolly to represent each of the Goddesses that I connected with and added to them, what I was gifted from them in my meditation. I found the Goddesses tucked away in a box, while I was looking for something, so have decided to show you one each month with a paragraph or three about them, how I worked with each Goddess and their correspondences.

June - Hera

The month of June gave me the Greek Goddess Hera to work with.  Hera was known as a Queen and also a Goddess of marriage, family and women, the sky and the stars.

Her parents were Cronos and Rhea and being a daughter of Cronos, she and her siblings were swallowed by him and later on released.

Hera was also a sister to Hestia, and also to Zeus who she then married. 

One of her well known stories is the Eyes of Argus.

Hera's husband and brother Zeus wasn't a faithful God to his wife and had a bit of roving eye.

On one occasion, he was having an affair with Io - a mortal maiden. and in order to hide her from Hera, he transformed Io into a Heifer. Hera, however, was suspicious, so demanded that Zeus gift her this beautiful young heifer. She couldn't watch it as much as she wanted to, so entrusted that job to a giant with 100 eyes called Argus.

Even while sleeping, at least one of is eyes would remain open - always watching. Zeus was quite annoyed at this, so sent Hermes disguised as a shepherd to kill the giant. Hermes played soft music and told Argus stories for many hours, so that one by one, all of his 100 eyes closed. When the last eye shut, Hermes killed the giant. 

Hera was devastated and was said to take all of Argus's eyes and place them in the tail feathers of her sacred bird, the peacock. They remain there to this day.

It was interesting connecting with Hera - she gifted me a rose quartz crystal during my meditation. The message was to be kinder to myself. To look at my relationships with the women in my life - to reconnect, to connect. She gave me food for thought and I spent the month working on her messages with her support and guidance. 

Angrbodr by Heather

 The children of Loki and Angrbodr by Willy Pogany 1920

We know from the myths that Angrbodr is Loki’s partner, but not His wife, that is Sigyn.  Angrbodr is mother to three of His children, the three that have a major role in Ragnarök and She is a giantess from Jotunheim. 

All three of Angrboda and Loki’s children are banished or imprisoned when born as they are so dangerous.  As a mother, giantess or not, that must have been heartbreaking for Her. She is depicted as a symbol of chaos and destruction in Norse mythology, probably why She and Loki become lovers, they understand each other. Her association with monstrous children and the uncontrollable forces of nature, make her a personification of the unpredictable aspects of our lives, those that can’t be controlled either by human or divine intervention.

From the descriptions available, She was considered an outsider and a rebel against the established order, again like Loki, which means She can be a powerful ally for those fighting for social change or who are involved in any activism.  Angrboda is not defined by Her relationships but by her strength of character and ability to shape Her own destiny.  She demonstrates that women can be both nurturing and fierce, that femininity and strength are not mutually exclusive.

Magical associations –

Life, death, rebirth, protection, defence, safety, survival, nurturing, Seidr, divination, activism, self- acceptance, empowerment, self- esteem.

A Day at Fat Clay Pottery by Ness

A couple of weeks ago, Rachel, Heather and myself had a day at Fat Clay Pottery in Portsmouth. It was something Rachel wanted to have a go at doing while watching Pottery Throw Down on television and asked us if we fancied having a go ourselves. What a fabulous idea! I had seen it being done on the Generation Game with Bruce Forsyth many years ago (showing my age now) and the pots collapsed all over the place. The people that do make pottery make it look so easy, but we rose to the challenge and set off for Castle Street in Southsea. It decided to rain that day, quite instantaneously, and we got wet going from the cafe where we had a delicious brunch, to the pottery shop itself. 

We were handed special aprons which had a slit up the front to allow for sitting at a potter's wheel, which is astride a stool with the wheel between your knees. We had watched a tutorial with one of the staff beforehand and she did make it look very easy, although we were watching where her hands were on the clay - different formation of palms and fingers will determine the shape of the pot. 

We were each given a lump of clay and we started our wheels spinning. You do literally throw your clay onto the centre of the wheel so that it sticks. You don't want it moving around. Lots of water is required for hands and clay and it can get quite messy. But it was a lot of fun to do and we each managed to make 4 pots of varying types. I can see how it can easily go wrong - you can work the clay too much, spread it too thin, not spread it enough so that it is too thick and I was quite nervous of doing anything else once I had a reasonable looking pot on my wheel. Heather produced a wonderful 'Loki' pot on one of her goes, but unfortunately, it wouldn't have fired properly. Rachel had to have one of pots cut in half and somehow, I produced a dish instead of a pot. 

We were only allowed to keep two of the four that we made, so all of us opted for the first and last pots that we made. See what we mean about sharing a brain?!

They should be ready by the time you read this and we are looking forward to seeing how they turned out once fired. 

It was a fun day out, so if you are in the Portsmouth area, have a go yourselves! 

 Recipe for the Month by Heather

Pesto and Orzo Salad

Magical properties also listed -

1 ½ cups orzo (uncooked) - psychic powers, protection, communication, creativity, abundance

¼ cup pine nuts – happiness, strength, centring, dragon magic, protection, hospitality

½ cup basil pesto, bought or homemade – wealth, money, prosperity, love, exorcism, protection, happiness, peace

1 Tablespoon olive oil – spirituality, integrity, passion, fertility, healing, peace, protection, luck

8 oz/225g cherry tomatoes or chopped regular tomatoes – love, passion, protection, creativity

8 oz/225g mozzarella or feta or goats cheese – success, happiness

½ cup fresh basil – see pesto above

¼ cup chopped red onion or chopped spring onions – passion, fertility, protection, health

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the orzo according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool, drain again, and set aside.

While the orzo is cooking, place a small pan over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast until golden, stirring often to prevent burning, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the toasted pine nuts to a heatproof dish to cool.

Into a large bowl, add the pesto and olive oil and whisk well to combine. Add the cooled orzo to the bowl and stir until the orzo is well-coated with dressing.

Add the cooled pine nuts and cherry tomatoes to the bowl. Tear or break up the cheese and basil into small pieces and add them directly to the bowl. Finely dice the red onion and add it to the orzo, then stir well. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for later.

Adapted from https://www.everydayhealthyrecipes.com/caprese-orzo-salad-pesto/

Summer Solstice Water by Heather

You will need –

A jar

Water

Optional - Herbs or flower petals

If you want, before 21^st June 2026, decorate your cleansed jar with paintings, pictures or stickers that remind you of summer.

In the morning, as close to dawn as possible, fill your jar with water, place the lid on.  Take it outside or to a windowsill that will get most of the day's sun.  Place it safely, hold your hands around it and say –

Sun above, let your rays fill this water with joy, abundance and illumination.

Leave the jar in the sun until sunset.

Bring it indoors, use the water to clean your sacred spaces, anoint your third eye or as an offering on your altar.