Your Kitchen Witch Doll Questions Answered

Classic Kitchen Witch with a broom and a spoon.

What is a Kitchen Witch?

A Kitchen Witch is a traditional home décor with the functions of an amulet, that has deep roots in European traditions. It usually is a hanging poppet with a broom, witch’s hat or headkerchief, and often also other attributes like spoons, forks, bowls, herb sachets and so on.

In Germany, Scandinavia and other places around Europe a hanging witch poppet in the kitchen is considered a good luck charm that protects the house warding off the bad spirits. She also brings warmth and harmony to the family living in the house, and might even aid in cooking up some magick in the kitchen. Nowadays it’s not just Europe, Kitchen Witches live around the world.

There is also another kind of a Kitchen Witch too. Not a doll, but a human who cooks food, potions, teas and lotions using magickal ingredients and casting spells in the kitchen, but that’s another story. It’s about Kitchen Witch dolls here. Kitchen Witch charm isn’t considered a bad wicked witch who will curse and hex, it’s good witch - the one who helps to enhance the happiness in the home where she has been given a place to live.

Kitchen Witch with a huge spoon and red sachet filled with grain - a symbol of prosperity.

Why Kitchen Witch has to be a hanging doll?

It can also sit on a shelf or windowsill, but hanging it somewhere higher has many benefits and beliefs associated with it. Hanging above the heads your Kitchen Witch won’t take up the precious kitchen space, won’t be on the way, and she will also have a look above everything in the hearth to keep it all safe and sound. Nothing will slip by unnoticed by her. Hanging doll is a mobile creation - it swings and swirls in the current of air, but swirling decorations are believed to have a positive effects on the energy in the room, as the swirling doesn’t allow the energy to stagnate, but keeps it moving and flowing. And while the witch is spinning and dancing, the broom she holds is cleansing the invisible, sweeping everything unnecessary out and everything good - in.

Who invented Kitchen Witch?

There is no answer to that. It’s a tradition kept for who knows for how long. In written history we meet Kitchen Witch in England in 16th century, in the will of a man who divides his belongings between his family members paying special attention to who gets his “witche in the kytchyn”. The custom to keep a Kitchen Witch in the hearth of the house is probably much older. Some consider it originated in Norway, where it is considered that such a poppet “keeps roasts from burning, pots from boiling over and sauces from spilling.” In any case, the origin of a good witch amulet hanging in the kitchen is most likely coming from Northern Europe.

Where to get a Kitchen Witch doll for my kitchen?

You have two options - buy it or make it. Actually, there is a 3rd option - you can inherit one or get it as a gift (ask your loved ones to get you one, they might not know you want or need one!), but if that isn’t happening, we are back to the previous two options.

Where to buy a Kitchen Witch doll?

Look for a hanging witch poppet in flea markets or handmade craft shops and markets or find someone who makes and sells them online and can tell you everything you want to know about the doll you would like to bring home. Handmade things have a vibratory signature you can’t find in mass produced things. After all, Kitchen Witch is a talismanic creation with a potential to become a family value that’s associated with warmth and comfort of home and family, so, choose wisely.

How to choose a Kitchen Witch?

First of all, ask yourself how do you feel about a specific Kitchen Witch doll you are looking at. Do you feel drawn to it? Does it reflect the properties you want it to have? What associations come to your mind looking at it? Remember, that a hanging poppet doesn’t embody magick unless you associate your doll with it and treat it like a magickal item. Don’t look for the promise of magickal properties, look for your feeling about the creation that might be coming into your home. You will share the place with that hanging witch doll. Do you want to see it every day, even if that’s just with the corner of your eye? Some people need motivation and productivity, others - peace, cool head and harmony - what do you want your Kitchen Witch to remind you about?

Other things to consider are colors and attributes of the specific doll - will it fit in? Do you want it to blend in or stand out? Do you want it to become a conversation starter in your kitchen? It might happen if you choose a bold one that’s standing out. And again, pay attention to your associations the specific doll brings up in your mind or feelings it ignites in your heart.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a hanging witch poppet sold under the title “Kitchen Witch”. Any hanging witch doll can become your kitchen witch, even if she doesn’t have the stereotypical witch look or kitchen witch attributes - all that matters is how you feel about her.

Don’t settle for the first one that comes. It might take time to find what feels like truly your kitchen companion. If you can’t find the one that feels right, talk to crafters and makers who can make one that would carry your values and comply with your aesthetic needs.

How to make a Kitchen Witch doll?

If you are crafty and inspired, go for making your own Kitchen Witch and putting in it all you best intentions. You can choose any medium to make it from. You have to craft a poppet, hang it in a string and give it a broom to resemble a witch. The rest depends on your skills, talents, willingness to learn and fantasy. You can sew or knit it filling it with fabric scraps, wool or even herbs and crystals. A popular diy Kitchen Witch doll is a corn husk or hay poppet. When crafting your Kitchen Witch doll you can also choose a specific time to make it accordingly to your beliefs - it can be on specific dates celebrated accordingly to the wheel of the year, full moon, your birthday or any other day that you recognize as special and suitable for creating the charm for your home.

Where to hang a Kitchen Witch doll?

Hang it in the kitchen. It’s considered the most magickal place in the house, it’s the place that hosts fire and water, the place where the food comes from, but food - that’s the fuel for health, satisfaction and wellbeing. They are often hung by the door - as guardians who control what enters and leaves the room. They are also hung in windows to keep and eye not just on the inside, but also the surroundings, just take in account that most of materials will be affected by the sunlight and over time you will see some discoloration on your witch if she is hanging in a sunny spot. Hung by the door, window or a fan your Kitchen Witch will naturally be in the current of air from time to time, so she will swirl and do her magickal workings without your efforts. It doesn’t mean she can’t reside in a dark corner if that feels like the right place for her in your kitchen. Also, take care she can look from above and doesn’t hang in the way, after all, you want a happy living with your witch not regular cursing at each other, right?

I hope you’ve found your answers here!

Happy witching!

Kristine