The Magick of Simmer Pots

November 21, 2024
Estimated Read Time: 10 Minutes

Simmer pots are an accessible form of magick. Even while following all the steps typical of a Wiccan spell, they can be easily integrated into your daily life. In addition, they don’t require many fancy tools or ingredients. They’re mostly items that you already have in your pantry or that can be easily purchased at your local supermarket. If you’re in the broom closet, you can easily say you’re just doing a simmer pot for the scent.

Besides accessibility, simmer pots integrate all the elements:

• the heat that warms the pot represents Fire
• the herbs, flowers and fruits represent Earth
• the water in the pot represents Water
• the scented vapor represents Air

Altogether, the whole spell represents the Akasha or Spirit. It’s (literally) a melting pot for all four elements.

This type of spell has strong associations with the Goddess. The pot can be seen as a symbol of her womb and the way She creates. It takes a spark from the more subtle planes (in this case, represented by the fire lighting the pot) and brings it into the material world. Contemplating the pot can help you come to your own conclusions about the cycle of life and creation.

As Wicca is a duotheistic practice, we can integrate the male God through the ingredients we place inside the simmer pot. All three of my suggestions for simmer pots contain at least one ingredient associated with the Horned God – basil and cinnamon in the case of the simmer pot for wealth and abundance, maple syrup in the case of the simmer pot for self-love, and sage in the case of the simmer pot for protection.

How Do Simmer Pots Work?

Add all of your magickal ingredients to a pot of water, then simmer it on the stove. The heat and water extract the energy from the ingredients. Then, the water vaporizes and spreads throughout your space.

You can do this with any pot, even a crock pot. Ideally, if you work with simmer pots a lot, you should use a pot only for magickal workings. It’s a good idea to cleanse it physically and spiritually before and after the spell.

Once you are done with the simmer pot and it has cooled down, you can dump its contents outside or straight into your compost bin. Straining out the liquid makes it easier.

For this article, we assume most of you will be making your simmer pots in your kitchen.

However, if it’s a possibility for you, don’t miss out on doing the spell in an old-school manner. With a cauldron and a natural fire you light yourself (preferably outdoors). The sacred fumes of the simmer pot can be a wonderful gift for Mother Nature. If you have access to a portable stove for camping, you can bring this spell wherever you want and even do it in the room where your altar is.

What Goes Into a Simmer Pot?

Besides water – herbs, spices, fruits, and essential oils are the most common ingredients. Herbs and spices can be fresh, dry, whole, or ground.

Water can be tap, bottled, or filtered. Try moon water, rain water, or spring water for an even more powerful brew.

Check the correspondence of ingredients for:

• your desired outcome
• correspondences with the elements
• association with the God and Goddess

to create the most balanced simmer pot possible. Of course, you should always check whether the ingredient is safe to boil, but more on that note later. It’s just a matter of putting together the ingredients and start brewing!

A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

1. Gather all of your ingredients.
2. Do any prep you need, slicing fruit, etc.
3. Add each ingredient to the pot, one at a time. Focus on the effect of each ingredient.
4. Add enough water to cover all of the ingredients in the pot.
5. Meditate on your desired outcome. Put your intention into the pot with all of the ingredients.
6. Bring the water to a boil, then turn the temperature down to a simmer.
7. Periodically stir the pot. When you do, focus on your intention. You can do a stirring sigil to add even more power. You can ask others in your household to stir the pot as well.
8. You can let the pot simmer as long as you’d like. If the water starts to get low, add more so that the ingredients don’t burn.
9. Once complete, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool.
10. Do your best to allow the ingredients to return to the Earth when you dispose of them. You can strain the solids from the liquid to make things easier.

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A Formal Step-by-Step Guide

Here is a checklist of all the steps you should follow if you want to do a more formal simmer pot spell. This is a more advanced version. I won’t go into detail on the steps themselves because the main focus of this article is simmer pots, not the sequence of a Wiccan spell.

Remember that you don’t need any extra tools to do any of these steps. Focused visualization makes for extremely effective magick.

If you invest in a few tools, you don’t need to break the bank. If you have the money to treat yourself to a nice tool, that does have its value. After all, Wicca places equal value on the material as well as the ethereal plane.

For example, an athame or sacred blade, often used to draw magick symbols, cast circles, and purify or bless water and salt. However, any knife whose blade has never touched blood will do, including a knife you picked up at the dollar store. Provided you have cleansed and consecrated it.

Without further ado, here are the steps for a simmer pot or any Wiccan magick working:

1. Clear out the area where you’ll do magick. Physically and spiritually cleanse the area.
2. Cast a circle, either through visualization or by drawing it on the floor with chalk, salt, or your athame. You draw the circle clockwise in the Northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the Southern hemisphere. Make sure the stove is right in the middle of the circle.
3. Make sure you are in the same frequency as the circle you created. For instance, by visualizing your chakras moving in the same direction as the energy in the circle.
4. Invoke the protection of the Guardians of the Quarters or Mighty Ones.
5. While the simmer pot is brewing, stay in the center of the circle for at least twenty minutes. Focus on your intention and stay present in the moment. Make a mental note of everything you see, hear, and smell. Participate with the magick of the spell by lending it your energy.
6. Once the simmer pot is all done, remember to call back the Guardians and undo the circle in the opposite direction in which you cast it. If you have opened up your chakras after casting the circle, close them. While the circle is set up, the area becomes sacred and protected and becomes an area in between world. Once we are all done, though, everything, including the energies, must return where they belong.

Safety Note

Since simmer pots include using the stove-top, you have to stay vigilant when it comes to basic safety. Check your simmer pot doesn’t dry up and have extra water already prepared if you need to add some to the pot. If it dries up, you can start a fire in your kitchen! Don’t leave the pot unattended for too long and check that children don’t touch it. 

This magickal spell involves checking some basic data of the chemistry of the ingredients. We want to stay away from toxic or poisonous ingredients. If you or anyone in your household is allergic to any of the ingredients suggested, leave them out.

All of the ingredients for the simmer pots I suggested are non-toxic for humans. Nevertheless, be wary of any asthmatic people, small children, or pets. Treat a simmer pot as you would potpourri or incense.

It’s not recommended to drink the remains of the simmer pots.

The list of ingredients is more a suggestion than a strict rule. There’s no need to go to the supermarket to stock yourself if you’re only missing one or two ingredients from the list. You can always swap the ingredients as long as you check the correspondences and safety first.

While crystals are great to use in other magickal spells, leave them out of simmer pots. Some can become highly toxic if heated up and wet. Others are damaged by heat and water.

3 Ideas for Simmer Pots

Simmer Pot for Wealth & Abundance

Ingredients: Fresh basil, cinnamon, mint, coffee beans, consecrated salt (you can bless it yourself using an athame and doing some visualizations), orange slices, bottled water (it’s better if you cleanse and bless it before use).

This wonderful simmer pot combines a lot of powerful herbs related to wealth and success with the incredible power for advancing processes that coffee has. The orange slices give the smell some freshness and adds a more joyful note that is still associated with wealth and success. Finally, the salt keeps your wealth and success protected and grounded.

Simmer Pot for Self-Love

Ingredients: Fresh or dried rose petals, grated coconut, apple slices, consecrated salt (if you can, splurge on pink Himalayan salt, but no worries if this is not a possibility), a couple of drops of maple syrup, and bottled water.

This simmer pot smells amazing and can help you connect with your Feminine energy independently of gender. After doing it, you’ll be able to be kinder and more compassionate towards yourself, be more open to love, and be ready to see your own value more clearly. It combines roses, which are a sacred flower the Goddess adores, grated coconut and maple syrup for sweetness, apple slices for health, love, and abundance, and salt for being protected and grounding. If you can splurge on pink Himalayan salt, we’re integrating a bit of color magick in this spell, and pink is associated with the heart chakra and giving.

Simmer Pot for Protection

Ingredients: Blueberries, consecrated salt, rosemary, lemon slices, sage, and bottled water.

This simmer pot for protection smells as delightful as it is effective. Blueberries keep you protected on the astral plane, rosemary gives force to the spell, lemons repel any negative energy present in the environment, and sage cleanses and purifies. Finally, salt keeps everything clean, grounded, and protected.

Which one will you try out first? Tell us in the comments!

Sources

• Crowley, Vivianne. Wicca: A comprehensive guide to the Old Religion in the Modern World. Element, 2016.
• Vanderbeck, Paige. Green Witchcraft: A Practical Guide to Discovering the Magic of Plants, Herbs, Crystals, and Beyond. Callisto, 2020.

Check out our other articles:
Exploring Popular Divination Methods: A Beginner’s Guide
Jar Spells Made Simple
Herbs for Protection
The Goddesses and Gods Love You and Want You to Be Happy
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