Pumpkin Magic: Magical Ways to Use Pumpkins
Pumpkin season isn’t just for Halloween, nor is this fantastic gourd only good for carving jack-o’-lanterns, decorating for Halloween, or baking in a pie. In the Northern hemisphere, pumpkins are in-season from late August or early September through December, so if you’re only putting them to use in October, you’re missing out on loads of good pumpkin time. Pumpkins have a plethora of uses, especially in witchcraft. Much of what you’ll find in magical and herbal resource books only really acknowledges the pumpkin in its association to Halloween and Samhain, but the pumpkin is so much more than this, and in this blog post we’re going to explore some of the pumpkin’s many uses.
MAGICAL CORRESPONDENCES FOR PUMPKIN
Knowing the magical correspondences of something (basically what works it’s associated with or what aspects it can evoke in magical use) will allow you to go forth and craft your own spells and rituals with much greater ease. Some of the magical correspondences of the pumpkin are:
-protection
-prosperity
-abundance & harvest
-fertility
-house blessing
-cleansing
SPELLS USING PUMPKIN
BLESSINGS & PROTECTION
A Protection Spell for the Home
What you’ll need:
-dried pumpkin seeds
-a small bag (for the apartment-friendly version of this spell)
If you’re unfamiliar with how to dry pumpkin seeds, take a gander here to learn how to dry your own seeds. You can also buy pre-dried pumpkin seeds in most grocery stores during autumn.
There are two variations of this spell – one being house-friendly and the other being apartment-friendly.
For the house-friendly version, you’ll take your pumpkin seeds and separate them into four groups. You’ll bury your seeds at each of the four corners of your yard or outside of your house at the four corners of the home.
For the apartment-friendly variation, you’ll need to place your dried pumpkin seeds in a small baggy, which you can hang on, above, or beside your front door. You can also hang the bag of pumpkin seeds from your doorknob if you’re not allowed to hammer a nail or hook into your walls. I’d opt for hanging the bag on the inside (the side that’s actually in your apartment) of the door and not the outside.
A Spell for Protecting the Home from Evil Spirits
What you’ll need:
-jack-o’-lantern(s)
This spell comes from the belief that placing and lighting jack-o’-lanterns outside of the home on Halloween night prevents evil spirits from entering the home, with the jack-o’-lantern serving as a gargoyle-like protector that frightens away any malevolent beings. All you need to do is make a jack-o’-lantern and place it outside (if you don’t know how to make a jack-o’-lantern, check here). Light it up at night and enjoy its ambience while also warding off any meanie haints (that’s a term for ghosties here in the southern US) that might bring you harm. Who says jack-o’-lanterns can’t be made all throughout pumpkin season? Certainly not me!
Pumpkin Bread House Blessing
What you’ll need:
-2 loaf pans
-2 ¼ cups sugar
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. baking soda
-½ tsp. baking powder
-1-2 tsp. cinnamon (whichever suits your tastes)
-½ tsp. cloves
-½ tsp. nutmeg
-½ tsp. allspice
-1 can (~15-16 oz.) pumpkin puree
-1 cup oil (you can use whichever oil takes your fancy for your bakes)
-1 ½ - 2 tsp. vanilla extract (whichever suits your tastes)
- 2/3 cup milk, plant-based milk, or water (I really like using almond, cashew, and soy milks in my bakes, but you can use whatever you like)
-Preheat your oven to 350˚(F) and spray (I just use a vegetable or olive oil spray, but you can use oil, margarine, or butter) your loaf pans.
-Mix together your dry ingredients (sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, allspice) in a large bowl.
-In a separate bowl, combine your wet ingredients (pumpkin puree, vanilla, plant-based milk or water, and oil).
-Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix them together thoroughly.
-Pour your batter into the loaf pans and pop them into the oven.
-Bake for 45-60 minutes (this really depends on how your oven is, so start keeping an eye on it around the 45th minute of your bake). To tell if your bread is baked all the way through, insert a toothpick or a butter knife into the middle of the loaf. If it’s clean when you remove it, the bread is baked thoroughly. If it’s not clean, put the bread back in the oven and check again in a bit.
-When baking is finished, you’ll need to let your bread loaves cool well before attempting to remove the bakes from the loaf pans. You can, however, run a butter knife between the loaf pan and the bread whilst the bread is still warm (warm, not hot) to ensure that the sides of the pumpkin bread don’t stick when you try to remove the bread from the pan.
You can bake this as a house blessing for your own home, though it’s traditionally baked as a gift to someone who has recently moved into a new home. It’s also recommended to bake pumpkin bread as your first bake in a new home to bless the house. It’s not just the pumpkin that’s put to work here, but the spices we’ve used as well:
-Cinnamon is used in protection spells for the home, as well as in blessings and consecrations.
-Nutmeg is used to bring good luck and prosperity.
-Allspice is used in spells to encourage healing, to attract wealth, and to banish bad luck.
-Cloves are used to attract prosperity and wellness, to strengthen relationships, and to cleanse and banish negativity.
MONEY & LUCK
A Spell to Attract Money, Luck, and Happiness
What you’ll need:
-a pumpkin
-a sticky syrup or honey
-pennies or coins
Coat one side of your coin in your sticky syrup or honey of choice. Then place that side of the coin on the pumpkin, pressing and holding it in place to help the coin to really stick on there. You’ll want to repeat this process with each of your coins, sticking them to the pumpkin, until you’ve formed a circle with your coins. Pumpkin is associated with money and abundance, while the syrup or honey represents sweetness and happy times to come. The circular shape signifies time and the unbroken goodness we’re hoping to bring on with this spell.
Now you can place your pumpkin charm anywhere in the home or outside of the home and let it do its work.
A Wallet Charm to Help Accumulate Money
What you’ll need:
-a dried pumpkin seed
This simple wallet charm is believed to attract money, financial security, and general prosperity. All you need to do is keep one dried pumpkin seed in your wallet. It’s as easy as that.
HEALTH & FERTILITY
Pumpkin Seeds for Fertility Spells
Pumpkin seeds can be included in any fertility spell jars or bags and can be used in any such charm. Pumpkins are heavily associated with fertility due to their roundness of shape as well as their use to symbolize abundance and harvest.
Healing & Beautifying Pumpkin & Ginger Soup
What you’ll need:
-pumpkin (peel it, core it, and dice into cubes)
-fresh ginger, peeled and grated (1-2 fresh ginger roots, depending on how strong you want the ginger taste to be)
-carrots, peeled and diced (2 large or 3 small-medium carrots, or more if you’re making lots of soup)
-garlic
-onion
-vegetable stock or broth
-water
-Firstly, let’s chop our onions and garlic. You’ll want the garlic finely diced. Cut your onion to your preference.
-Pop the onions and garlic in your soup pot or saucepan with a dash of broth or stock and heat lightly. You want to cook the onion and garlic a bit to bring out their flavors more before the rest of the soup goes on. Be careful not to burn the onions and garlic. Keep an eye on them. Once their scent really kicks in the kitchen, you’re good to move on to the next step.
-Get your cubed pumpkin, carrots, and ginger in the pot. Then add your broth or stock. I usually start with 1 – 1 ½ cups of broth/stock and I’ll add more broth or water if too much cooks out for my liking.
-Cook over a high heat to bring to a boil, and then bring the heat down to the lower side of medium and get to simmering. This is when you’ll want to check periodically to make sure you’re not losing too much liquid. If you feel you are, add more broth or water as you see fit.
-Once the vegetables have softened, cut the heat and let the soup cool down enough that you can transfer it to a food processor or blender. It’s important that you don’t do this while it’s hot. Many food processors and blenders don’t take well to high heat foods and can be damaged if you place too-hot foods inside. Among other issues, their cups can burst or crack, which you don’t want at all. So let the soup cool before getting it into the blender or food processor.
-Blend until the soup is a thick, bisque-like texture.
-Transfer the soup back to the soup pot on the stove and bring it to heat once more. You don’t want to get it boiling again, so keep an eye out for just a bit of steam rising from the top of the soup. That’s when you want to cut the heat.
-Give it a taste and season it as you like.
Pumpkin is associated with wellness and healing in witchcraft and is a well-loved health food by the world of non-practitioners-of-witchcraft as well. It’s packed with nutrients, high in antioxidants, and an excellent source of vitamin a (which can boost your immune system and help your body battle infections and illnesses), vitamin c (which is another immunity booster and promotes quicker healing of injuries and wounds in the body), vitamin e (yet another aid to your immune system), potassium, fiber, and iron. It’s heart-healthy and famously great for your stomach and gut. This soup is perfect for anyone with an infection or illness and anyone with tummy troubles, also helped by the ginger.
Ginger has plenty of medicinal properties and uses by itself. Famously, it’s used to help fight off flu, viral infections, and colds, as well as settle an upset stomach, aid in digestion, and get rid of nausea. Packing that ginger in with pumpkin, garlic, and carrots? When I say this soup is healing, I mean it is healing.
Now, how is this soup beautifying? Well, pumpkin promotes healthy skin and provides your body with the vitamins needed to produce collagen (which is a kind of protein that keeps skin clear and strong, as well as boosts the skin’s elasticity). So, there you have it – a fairly simple pumpkin soup recipe for when you’re feeling poorly (or when you just want some fantastic pumpkin soup).
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Each of the Crowsbone writers and guest bloggers has their own magical background, beliefs, traditions and practices. These post represent the opinions, research and beliefs of the individual writers. We do not believe that they represent beliefs and rules associated with all magical practice or witchcraft; nor do they represent the beliefs and opinions of all of the Crowsbone community.