Rice in Witchcraft: Magical Properties, Meaning, and Uses

In witchcraft, rice stands for prosperity and fertility, and for protection of the house. Scott Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs lists rice for protection, rain, money and fertility, and the fertility meaning is the one behind the rice thrown over a newly married couple.

Rice correspondences at a glance

Sunday is the Sun’s day, if you time a pot by the planet. Hearthlight’s magical correspondences for 100+ cooking ingredients follows Cunningham. The app’s correspondences feature files rice under earth and the Moon.

Four ways to use rice this week

The pot follows USA Rice and the jar follows Cunningham. The words said aloud, the yellow, the porridge and the New Year refill are Hearthlight’s own.

A plain pot of rice, 3 cups, serves 4. Put 1 cup (200 g) of long-grain white rice, 2 cups (480 ml) of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a 2-quart (2-liter) saucepan. Do not rinse enriched rice. Bring it to a boil, stir once, turn the heat to low and cover tightly. Simmer for 15 to 18 minutes, until the water is absorbed, then fluff the rice with a fork. For brown rice, use 2 1/4 cups (540 ml) of water and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes. These amounts are for American rice, so follow the packet for imported jasmine or basmati. Before the lid goes on, say aloud in one plain sentence what the pot is for. “Enough for everyone at this table” will do. The pot suits a first dinner in a new home.

Yellow rice for a money matter, 3 cups, serves 4. Cunningham gives rice the Sun and says it is “added to money spells”, and turmeric turns the pot the Sun’s color. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter (14 g) or oil in a 2-quart (2-liter) saucepan over medium heat and stir 1 cup (200 g) of long-grain white rice and 1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric in it for 1 minute. Add 2 cups (480 ml) of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring it to a boil, stir once, cover tightly and simmer on low for 15 to 18 minutes. Make it on the day you send an invoice or ask for a raise.

Rice porridge for comfort, 2 bowls. Warm, soft food in a bowl is what Eating for your birth chart suggests for a Pisces moon. Put 1/2 cup (100 g) of white rice, 4 cups (960 ml) of water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a 2-quart (2-liter) pot. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat and simmer partly covered for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes, until the grains have broken down. Stir in a splash of hot water if it thickens before the hour is up. Refrigerate what is left of any of these three pots within an hour.

A jar of rice by the door, 1 jar. Cunningham writes that “a small jar of rice placed near the entrance of the house” guards it. Pour 1 cup (200 g) of uncooked white rice into a clean, dry pint (500 ml) jar, close the lid and stand it on a shelf near the door you use most. Refill it on New Year’s Day and cook the old rice if it is dry and free of insects.

Where the meaning comes from

Cunningham’s entry in the Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs is short. Besides the jar, he writes of rice on the roof to guard against all misfortunes, rice thrown into the air to bring rain and rice thrown after wedded couples “to increase their fertility”. He gives no source for any of it.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica of 1911 reads thrown rice as a wish that the marriage “may be fruitful”. It says wheat was thrown over brides first, and that in north Nottinghamshire wheat was still thrown with the cry “Bread for life and pudding for ever”.

What to buy and how to store it

Cunningham’s food book, Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen, says to “choose the brown variety for the best nutritional and magical effects” and never to use the quick-cooking type of brown rice. Hearthlight’s app has one entry for all rice. Keep white rice for the jar, because it lasts.

Store uncooked rice in a tightly closed container in a cool, dry place. USA Rice says white rice stored that way keeps almost indefinitely, and brown rice keeps about six months because of the oil in its bran, or longer in the refrigerator or freezer. Write the date on a bag of brown rice. Hearthlight’s pantry feature keeps expiration notes for what is on the shelf. Most American white rice is enriched, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says rinsing it washes off the added iron, folate, thiamine and niacin.

Rice in religion and festivals

These practices belong to the people who keep them, separate from the correspondences above, which come from Cunningham’s books.

The South Carolina Encyclopedia says the recipe for Hoppin’ John “came directly to America from West Africa”, and its entry on the Gullah Geechee people says they and their African ancestors “used rice in most of their ceremonies and rituals”.

Safety

Hearthlight follows the stricter figures. Cooked rice goes into the refrigerator within an hour, is eaten within a day and is thrown away if it sat out for more than two hours.

The current edition of Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs marks rice “Do not eat raw”, which covers the rice in the jar.

Snopes rates the claim that thrown rice kills birds false. It reports an experiment by James Krupa, a biologist at the University of Kentucky, published in 2005. Plain white rice swelled by 33 percent when soaked, less than bird seed did, and 60 doves and pigeons fed instant rice for a day showed no ill effects. Snopes adds that churches and halls ban thrown rice because it is hard to clean up and slippery on hard steps.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does rice mean in witchcraft?

Prosperity and fertility first, then protection for the house. Hearthlight’s app adds grounding, comfort and blessing, so a pot of rice suits a new home or a hard week.

What are the magical properties of rice?

Protection, rain, money and fertility, in Scott Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, with the Sun as its planet and air as its element. Hearthlight’s app uses its own set of earth, the Moon, prosperity, grounding, comfort and blessing.

Why do people throw rice at weddings?

As a wish for children. The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica reads thrown rice as a wish that the marriage “may be fruitful”, and says wheat was thrown before rice was.

Does the type of rice matter in a spell?

Cunningham thought so. His Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen says to “choose the brown variety for the best nutritional and magical effects”. Hearthlight’s app has one entry for all rice. Use white rice in a jar, because it keeps almost indefinitely in a closed container.

Can you eat rice that was used in a ritual?

Cooked rice, yes, if it went into the refrigerator within an hour, which is the UK Food Standards Agency’s advice. Throw away cooked rice that sat out for more than two hours. Uncooked rice from a closed, dry jar can be cooked and eaten if it shows no insects or damp. Rice that was scattered on a floor or outdoors goes in the trash.

Sources

• Scott Cunningham, Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Llewellyn, 1985; expanded edition 2000), entry for rice, read in the 2000 edition.
• Scott Cunningham, Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen (Llewellyn, 2003), entry for rice.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition (1911), “Bride”, at Wikisource.
• Kokugakuin University: “Inari” in Basic Terms of Shinto, and “Inari Shinkō”, by Nogami Takahiro, and “Shinsen”, by Iwai Hiroshi, in the Encyclopedia of Shinto.
• Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Dancing with Śiva (Himalayan Academy), glossary, entry for akshata.
• Columbia University, Asia for Educators, “The Lunar New Year: Rituals and Legends”.
• South Carolina Encyclopedia: “Hoppin’ John”, by John Martin Taylor, and “Gullah”, by M. Alpha Bah.
• USA Rice, “How to Cook Rice” and “How to Store Rice”.
• UK Food Standards Agency, “Home food fact checker”: cooked rice.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Serving Up Safe Buffets” and “What You Can Do to Limit Exposure to Arsenic”.
• Snopes, “Is Throwing Rice at Weddings Bad for Birds?”, by Barbara Mikkelson, which reports James J. Krupa’s experiment in American Biology Teacher, volume 67, number 4, April 2005 (ERIC record).

Last revised October 12, 2026.