Title: Serving Fire: Food for Thought, Body and Soul: Rhythms and Rituals of the Hearth
Publisher: Celestial Arts Publishing
Creators: Anne Scott and Catherine Rose Crowther
Pages: 160 pp
ISBN: 0890877394 / 978-0890877395
Price: Varies [out of print]

Its funny how sometimes the right book comes along at the right time … some would say downright eerie!! Although I cannot say I agreed entirely with the views expressed in the book, Serving Fire had a lot of wisdom that could be applied to just about any path, any spirituality, or really anyone that wanted to perhaps find harmony again. That sense of peace with cooking and the art of balance.

Anne Scott finds ways to express her thoughts clearly using plain language that is simple yet poetic in nature. The tone of the book comes across like talking with a girlfriend over coffee; its friendly and very ‘generic,’ making it very personable. The only down side to Anne Scott’s writing is the seemingly implausible situations to which she finds herself. There were points of the book that made me scratch my head several times wondering why I have never just ‘happened’ into a Native Shaman’s home who I happen to run into because he ran out of gas … the unlikely and implausible was often woven into Serving Fire, but in fairness she might have done this to back up her theories.

Overall the book provided a lot of peace, harmony and understanding about the hearth and to me actually provided some good overall tips for those trying to achieve harmony with our kitchen. The thing that struck me the most was that, for the author, the kitchen became more than the physical one that we all know; she transcended it, making it something that all of us carry with us. That feeling of spiritual fullness is something that I believe all of us ‘strive’ for in one way or another. There were things within Serving Fire that mirror and translate to the way we ‘honour’ and worship that I have never quite found elsewhere, but believe are tenets that many pagan and heathens adhere to.

I would recommend Serving Fire to anyone who wants a better understanding of the hearth, home or the goddess as it could be the ‘starting’ point for anyone wishing to cultivate a path to them, especially for folks that may not have that kitchen connection yet ….

[Larisa Hunter is the Publicity Rep and Administrative Assistant at Immanion Press/Megalithica Books, and the author of Fulltruí.]