How to Survive Thanksgiving

Here's how I do Thanksgiving, both mundane and Magick:

I start cleaning the house on November 1. First thing I do- get rid of everything I intend to throw out. Cleaning is much easier when there's less stuff.

If I was going to replace something or move furniture, that happens second.

If there's anything that needs to be repaired, such as a dripping faucet, a flickering light, squeaky doors, stuck drawers, or a place with trim has come loose, I take care of it now. My reasoning is two fold. 1. I don't want anyone to get hurt. 2. If it can be made worse, one of the guests will finish breaking it, regardless of warnings issued.

Fourth is major kitchen cleaning. As in take everything out of the cabinets. Figure out what food I have. Make sure there is enough dishes for everyone AND they are all clean. Do I have enough bowls, pots, and storage containers? Are my kitchen knives sharp?

Fifth is to have a menu AND a schedule. I cannot stress the food prep schedule enough. I read recipes and make note of oven temperatures and cooking times. Dishes that need the lowest temps are cooked first. I pack the oven full and I have a multitude of timers. As things come out of the oven, I gradually raise the temperature. This saves time because the oven is already preheated.

Also, when possible I do food prep in advance. I will mix dry ingredients together several days before. I leave notes on the Tupperware and the boys will finish making the dish. This prevents the burden of cooking from being entirely on me. Pies can be made well in advance, then frozen. Sides can be made the day before and refrigerated. Everything doesn't need to be cooked on the same day.

The smartest thing I do is have someone else cook the turkey. Usually we order a smoked turkey from a church who sells them as part of their charity drive. My husband picks it up on Thanksgiving morning. It is still warm when he gets home. I refuse to get up at 3a.m. to cook. Our ham is cooked in the slow cooker. The house smells wonderful, there is plenty of food, and no stress. I serve dinner at noon. The latest I have ever been with Thanksgiving dinner is 12:15. I think it is sheer stupidity to begin cooking at an ungodly hour, not let anyone eat all day, then serve food at 2p.m. People behave badly when they are hungry. Don't fuel drama.

After dinner, I start fixing plates of leftovers. I send several with my Mom and my adult son. The entire family helps clean. Then we lay around and watch t.v. We watch the parade or the dog show or have a movie marathon. I don't do black Friday. I do not decorate for Christmas until December. During the weekend, we are outside a lot. We usually burn leaves. Sometimes we go hunting. I don't cook again until Saturday evening when we all a little tired of leftovers.

The Magick I do is usually hidden. The first thing I do is ward the door. I don't allow problems to enter. I have a series of spells I do. I seal the door with an equal arm cross. I put an open safety pin under the door mat. I put the aces of cards under my walkway to prevent unwanted people from entering. A few times, a guest never showed. That's fine. They were probably going to cause conflict.

I use mirrors to deflect negativity. The candles are empowered for peace. I use family pictures to promote unity. I have found the best way to do this is to use pictures from last year's holiday. I frame them and put a piece of paper with sigils in the frame behind the picture. This ensures the sigil stays with its target without anyone seeing the spell.

I also do a lot of kitchen witchery while I cook. I do spells for everything I can think of. Things go much smoother when people are happy, loving, and not stressed about health or money. After Thanksgiving, I ritually clean the house of negative emotions. Even if there wasn't an argument. You can't really tell what someone is feeling.

I have done Thanksgiving this way since the second Thanksgiving I was married. The first Thanksgiving I was married I did what my mother-in-law wanted. I've never been so stressed in my life. When I was a little girl, my mother would not go to my grandmother's house. I used to think that was wrong of her. But after my first Thanksgiving as a wife, I called Mom and apologized. Now I get it.