Water is the essence of life. We are, in fact mostly water. As a fertilized egg
we are 96 percent water; our adult bodies consist of more than 70 percent
water. Amniotic fluid has a similar make up to seawater, and the fetus in the
womb echoes our evolution from the ocean. Seventy percent of the Earth is
covered by water. We are born in water and all life depends on it.
Water can take the form of a liquid, a solid, and a vapor. It is colorless but
it enables us to see the colors of a rainbow. Water has no form, but gives form
to everything. Water is billions of years old but can constantly rejuvenate
itself.
Water is at the heart of many of life's rituals, from baptism at birth to the
ceremonial washing of a body at death. There are water rituals for almost any
event in life. Ensuring an easy birth, recovering from illness, succeeding in
an examination or new job, attracting more money
or peace or wisdom--all can be encouraged by the ritual use of water.
Immersing yourself in a river is perhaps the most intimate contact you can have
with a deity, and this symbolic consummation of the man/woman-god relationship
may be the origin of the earliest water rituals. Shrines were often built in
places of natural beauty where there was a river, a spring, or a waterfall.
today's "shrines" have a more urban slant, and can be as mundane as
the kitchen sink. Your bathtub, washing machine, swimming pool, or any other
fixture of modern life can all be used for water rituals.
Water rituals include bathing, baptizing, cleansing, and purification. Even
perfumes are an example of a small water ritual. Other rituals include having a
home sprinkled with blessed water, spraying yourself with charged water to
restore energy vibrations, and soaking in a
charged bath to draw in or release energy. Even the simple act of drinking a
glass of water can be a ritual if you want it to be.
Ritual water works in two ways: it gives energy and it takes away energy. Water
gives health, wealth, and wisdom because of its sacred origins or its blessed
condition. It takes away evil, bad luck, or the spiritual grime of daily life
by virtue of its purity and simple cleansing properties.
Water and Emotion
Water is the element of emotions and feelings. Qualities such as intuition,
compassion, empathy, sympathy, devotion, aspiration, intention, appreciation,
integrity, harmony, beauty, balance, serenity, fluidity, grief, apathy, joy,
and love all have a different kind of
watery feel. Think of the different ways water moves. It can be like the
tumultuous tumbling of a waterfall or the stillness of a stagnant pond. The
magic of water is involved with pleasure, friendship, marriage, fertility,
happiness, healing, sleep, dreaming, psychic acts, and
purification. If you are facing any sort of life problem in any of these areas,
working with water can help.
Just the same as water itself, emotions are best dealt with if they are allowed
to simply flow on their own. When you call upon water in your rituals, you will
find that it has a smooth, calming effect. Its energy is crisp, cool, and
refreshing. Water tends to have an initial impact,
and then it slowly dissipates. It has a ripple vibration that means its effects
are lasting but can have a few waves here and there.
If you are using water to work with relationships, remember that it is a
receptive element and is governed by the female aspect. Water is also a giving
element, and it usually gives unconditionally. Any gift of love should come
with no strings attached. Water teaches us to feel on an inner level, and this
is why water is usually associated to intuition. Using this inner intuition
almost leads to success.
Drinking Water Ritual
You can do this easy ritual with your children, family members and friends.
Place a glass of water on a table in your kitchen or dining room. Gently say to
the water, "I love you," and "thank you." At the same time,
visualize all the waters on Earth connecting with each other.
Your love and thanks will be sent out to all the water on Earth through the
water in the glass.
Place small notes or stickers saying "thank you" near your faucets or
sources of water to remind you of the importance of expressing your gratitude
to water. Each time you have a drink, bathe, water plants, wash laundry, or do
anything involving water, give thanks for its
availability and usefulness.
The water element can help you manifest what you want in life. Think of how
water can help things pick up speed and flow. Before drinking a glass of water,
write down a word that embodies something you are trying to manifest in your
life, such as "success." Tape the word to the glass and focus
intently on it, then drink the glass of water, imagining it filling you with the
qualities of the word.
Household water Ritual
While you are doing the dishes, washing vegetables before cooking, or washing
your clothes in a sink, imagine your love and gratitude for water overflowing
from your heart through your chest, shoulders, and arms, and going out through
your hands into the water going down the drain pipe. Your vibrations will go
through the flow of water very easily into the drain, into the nearby rivers,
and finally into the ocean. The vapour from the ocean will build clouds and
then the water will fall down as rain onto various parts of the world. In this
way, the
energy of love and gratitude that originated from your heart will be
transmitted all over the world through the water network. This is an easy
ritual that you can do every day and every time you use water.
Group Water Blessings
Host a gathering of friends and family around a pond or a lake, or along a
river or the seashore. Stand in a circle, holding hands, and say simple
expressions of gratitude for the water. Remember that the power of prayer is
proportional to the square of the number of people. What you give out, you will
receive back. This is a great ritual to do for local bodies of water that need
healing, but can also be extended to other places in need.
How about sending love and gratitude to the Jordan River
to raise the vibration of water there? Many Israeli and Palestinian people are
living along the river's banks. There is no border in the path of flowing
water. People on both sides certainly drink the water originating from this
river, and their bodies will be filled with the vibration of love and peace
that you send.
Other areas of the world where wars and conflicts are continuing, such as the United States
and Iraq,
India
and Pakistan,
Afghanistan,
nations in Africa, and so on, can all benefit
from healing water prayers. Send love to the water where people are suffering
from pain and sorrow. It will change into healing water, and everything and
everybody will be filled with a vibration of love and harmony.
Alone or in a group, visualize that the vibration of love and gratitude is
transmitting into the world's water as golden or silver light. Imagine that all
of the waters of the world are clean, clear, and sparkling, making the whole
planet shine brilliantly. When filled with the highest vibration of light,
everything is healed and harmonized. Visualize the faces of all the people on
Earth smiling. Then visualize the vibration overflowing like an endless
fountain, reaching every part of the glove and healing the whole world.
Bathing Rituals
Water is the element of purification and can be a highly useful element to work
with in solving everyday problems. If you've had a stressful day or you have
pain in your body, you can use the water element to literally wash your pain
and stress away. Just stand in the slower for several minutes and imagine all
the pain, tension, anxiety, and strain leaving your body, and see the water
carrying it all down the drain. The heat from warm water will also help melt away
muscle tension.
Soaking in a bath can either help you purify and cleanse your aura or help draw
in certain energies. For a purification bath, start with a clean tub. Fill it
with warm water and add about two cups of sea salt. Swirl the water around
counter clockwise with your hand to dissolve the
salt. If there is a particular issue you want to be freed of, focus on this
while you imagine it dissipating and dissolving away with the salts. Soak in
the tub for about twenty minutes, then pull the plug out. Stay in the tub while
the water drains away completely, taking with it
any negativity.
If you are trying to attract a mate or want to make yourself more beautiful,
take a copper scrubber (often used in the kitchen) and rub down your body with
it gently in circular motions while you are in the shower. Copper is the metal
of Venus and is said to change your
vibration so you can attract a lover.
Water Elements
You may also wish to call upon water's elementals and spirits in your rituals,
or use its associations to enhance their effect.
Although water is technically clear, it is associated with shades of blue.
Medium blue represents water used for healing physical conditions, such as
increasing hydration. Deep blue is more attuned to mental and emotional aspects
of water. Water that is blue-black has to do with spiritual matters, and is
usually associated with the subconscious. Water can also take on shades of
green, gray, or indigo, depending on your purpose. Use different colored
glasses or pitchers, such as cobalt blue, to lend different moods to your
water.
Any sort of receptacle can represent water, such as a chalice, cup, goblet, or
cauldron. Mirrors, too, can represent water's reflective surface. But don't
limit yourself to the usual household objects. Sinks, buckets, puddles, silver
spoons, birdbaths, umbrellas, washing machines, garden hoses...anything
associated with water can be turned into a magical tool. The sea, fog, or rain
can all be used to perform water magic, too.
Many flora and fauna can be symbolically used to represent water. Exotic
flowers such as water lilies, jasmine, gardenias, and roses, and the herbs
yarrow, Irish moss, and sandalwood all complement water rituals. And of course
the graceful willow is always found growing near water sources. All animals
that live in the sea, including fish, whales, and dolphins, are obvious choices
for water magic, but don't forget mythical creatures such as dragons, mermaids,
naiads, and nymphs.
The zodiac signs of Scorpio, Cancer, and Pisces are all water signs, so
conducting rituals during their months could add an extra boost to your desired
effects.
Using stones as aquamarine and amethyst, or the metals of mercury, silver, and
copper (particularly in the form of an instrument such as a resonant bell) are
all excellent choices for use in water magic.
Many water-magic rituals involve an object being tossed or placed in or on a
body of water, like a penny in a fountain for a wish. The surrounding waters
can charge up an object, such as a crystal placed in a bowl of water under the
Full Moon, or can help to purify an object with a symbolic pouring away of the
water afterwards.
How you use these elements is entirely up to you. You may choose to surround
yourself with pictures of the flora or fauna, add food coloring to your bath,
pour a glass of water from a silver pitcher, or any number of things to honor
the role of water in our daily life. When your cup is full, have a drink in
honor of life.
Chandra Moira Beal ©2007
Magical Almanac: Practical Magic for Everyday Living
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