This time of year, almost every food or drink shop has pumpkin spiced something on its menu.
It’s become a staple of Autumn across the US and in more recent years, here in the UK.
Whilst the pumpkin spiced latte is a very recent thing, the actual use of the “pumpkin” spices goes way back into history, right back to medieval times.
There are 5 key ingredients in pumpkin spice - it’s predominantly made up of cinnamon, but added to that is also nutmeg, ginger, cloves and all spice. Some blends use star anise instead of all spice.
Since at least the 1700s, these spices have also been used for pickling a variety of seasonal vegetables and fruits. In cookbooks from the early 1300s, it’s possible to see pies and other meat dishes flavoured with this blend of spices.
It was a common practise to pair meat with these sweet and hot spices. and it worked well as the meat was usually cooked with some form of fruit too - think of images of a stuffed medieval pig with an apple in its mouth!
It’s where we get our pairings we use today from like apple sauce with pork. And this pairing of spices with meats is also where the seasonal staple of the Britain - the mince pie - also finds its origins.
The mince pie is ancient. Back in those times it actually contained minced meat, not just spiced fruit like it is today, but actual meat, usually pork or beef. This was mixed with sultanas, orange peel and other seasonal berries, and spiced with what we now know of as pumpkin spice.
The name 'pumpkin spice' only really came about in the 1950s for this particular blend of spices, and Starbucks only launched their now famous pumpkin spiced latte in 2003.
The spice trade itself has a hugely dark history of violence, piracy, slavery and colonialism which dates way back. It’s still not particularly cleaned its act up even today, with most of the spices we consume in the West having been grown on small farms by poor farmers, traveled thousands of miles, been handled by many people on the way, and the big companies making huge profits while the farmers themselves receive very little.
There is somewhat of a fair trade revolution starting to happen however, but it’s slow.
But aside from all of the that, these spices also play a big role within magick too!
CINNAMON
Cinnamon is a major player in the magickal sense.
It’s associated with the sun and the element of fire. It’s all about healing, protection, love, success, power and sexual desire.
It was one of the spices the ancient Egyptians used to embalm and mummify their dead, so has strong connections to spirit.
Burning cinnamon is often used to attract money, creates a protective shield in your space and helps boost psychic abilities.
It’s also used as a catalyst to speed up the magickal properties of other magickal herbs.
NUTMEG
Nutmeg, like cinnamon, is associated with the element of fire and the sun.
It’s used for spells and rituals to bring good luck, prosperity, creativity, healing, intuition, psychic awareness, protection, clarity, confidence, and general well-being.
It’s also associated with the planet Jupiter and so also has correspondences of growth, expansion, masculinity, success, stability and leadership.
GINGER
Ginger, again is also associated with the element of fire and the sun.
Ginger was used in medieval times to make a type of bread called Podirijanca. This was shaped like a vagina and was used in marriage and fertility rituals.
Its magickal properties are vast, from increasing prosperity and abundance, to spells for love, sex and passion. It also has uses for magickal protection, to boost your own energy and to raise the energy of the home when burned.
CLOVES
Cloves, also have fire and sun correspondences.
In Ancient Rome, cloves were more valuable than gold and were highly prized by the elite classes. Cloves are also associated with the planet Jupiter and so share many of the magickal properties of nutmeg, such as masculinity, leadership, prosperity, protection and abundance.
They’re also used in magick around legal matters, particularly as they are regarded as miniature good luck charms. In ancient times they were often pushed into oranges, known as pomandas, named after the Roman goddess of the fruits of labour, as a talisman of good luck.
ALLSPICE
Allspice is the dried, unripened berry of the myrtle pepper tree, also known as pimento.
This is ground and powdered and has a strong fragrance and flavour which is very much like a blend of several other powerful spices we’ve mentioned above. It’s another fire spice and again, has associations with the sun and masculinity.
It was used by the Mayans as an embalming agent, and was prized by the Native American Arawak tribe, who used it to dry and cure meat. This was known in the Arawak language as ‘boucan’ and as white settlers learned how to do this, those who cured meat in this way became known as ‘boucaneers’ and later changed to bucaneers.
Its magickal properties are that of protection, healing, spirituality enhancing, abundance, good fortune, enhancing romantic relationships and as a ward of negative energy. It’s commonly used in amulets of protection.
MAKE YOUR OWN PUMPKIN SPICE BLEND
To make your own pumpkin spice, just blend together these herbs in the following quantities:
1 tsp of cinnamon or cassia.
Half a tsp of nutmeg.
Half a tsp of ginger.
2 ground cloves.
A quarter of a tsp of all spice.
So there you go. Use your pumpkin spice blend in foods and drinks and add extra magick to this season of the witch.
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