The Magick of Water in Witchcraft

 

Water magic uses water's fluidity for emotions, healing, purification, and intuition by incorporating it into daily routines like charging water, performing cleansing baths, scrying, or using specific sources like rain or ocean water for intentions like love, protection, or removing negativity, often charging it under the moon, the sun, or with crystals.

Methods & Intentions

Cleansing & Protection: Use ocean water to which you've added a pinch of salt to purify your space, objects, or yourself.  

*Note: A bowl of salt sitting on your nightstand by the bed provides spiritual protection, both from nightmares, as well as those ethereal beings that move in the night.

Healing & Emotion: Drink moon-charged water with rose quartz for love, amethyst for intuition. Use well water for healing and ritual baths with herbs for specific intentions.

Intuition & Scrying: Place a bowl of water (perhaps with egg white) by your bed for dreams or use it for divination to see hidden truths.

Ancestral Work: Offer a glass of water to ancestors as a gateway for communication and wisdom.

Manifestation: Charge water under the moon, adding to it specific crystals for specific intentions. You can then drink the water, use it in baths, or water your herbs and magickal plants for added potency.

Different Water for Different Intentions

Moon Water: Charged under moonlight for general magical infusion.

Ocean/Sea Water: Powerful for cleansing and protection due to salt content.

Rain Water: For renewal, cleansing, and emotional release.

Well Water: Sacred for healing, intuition, and connecting to the Otherworld.

Steam/Mist: For dispersing energy or creating illusions.

Starting Simple

Magical Handwashing: Set an intention for your day as you wash your hands.

Dream Water: Place a bowl of water beside your bed to enhance dreams and memory.

Crystal-Charged Water: Add a crystal (check for water-safe ones!) to water for a specific intention and drink or use in rituals.

*Note:  You'll find a list of crysals and their intentions at this blog post.

Charging Water

Methods for Charging Water:

Lunar Charging (Moon Water): Place spring or rainwater in a clear container outside overnight during a full or new moon, setting intentions as you place and retrieve it before sunrise. This is believed to capture lunar energy.

Solar Charging (Sun Water): Leave water in a clear container in direct sunlight to absorb solar energy, similar to moon water but for solar purposes.

Crystal Charging: Place a crystal (like rose quartz for love) near or in a water container, focusing your energy on the crystal and water together.

Intentional Infusion: Hold a glass of water, focus your mind, and mentally or verbally state your intention, such as: "I infuse this water with the energy of protection".

Herbs & Salts: Add natural elements, salt or herbs, to the water while charging it to enhance its properties for specific magical effects.

*Note:  You'll find a long list of herbs and their magical energies at this blog post.  Scroll to the end of it.

How to prepare a cleansing bath

Performing a cleansing bath involves creating a calming atmosphere, adding natural elements like salts or herbs to warm water, setting a clear intention (like releasing negativity), and soaking while focusing on breath and mindfulness for 20-30 minutes to promote physical and spiritual detox. It's a ritual for setting intentions, releasing burdens, and restoring energy, using sensory elements like candles, music, oils, and salts for deeper effect.

 

Steps to Perform a Cleansing Bath...

 Prepare Your Space & Mind:

Cleanse the Room: Ensure your bathroom is tidy and peaceful. 

 

Set the Mood: Light candles, use an oil diffuser with lavender or frankincense, and play soothing music. 

 

Gather Items: Have your bathrobe, water, and any chosen additions (salts, herbs, crystals) ready. 

 

Define Intention: Decide what you want to release --  anxiety, negativity, grudges etc., or do you want to welcome something -- peace, clarity, good health etc. 

 

Prepare the Bath:

Water Temperature: Fill the tub with warm, not scalding, water to open pores without overheating.

Add Ingredients: Mix in Epsom salts, sea salt, or a few drops of essential oils (rosemary, chamomile, rose). You can add herbs like mugwort and lavender, or rose petals can be added in a sachet.

 The Ritual Soak:

Enter the Water: Step in and focus on your breath, letting go of tension. 

 

Meditate & Visualize: Allow thoughts to flow without judgment, visualizing negativity leaving your body. 

 

Stay Hydrated: Sip water or herbal tea. 

 

Soak Time: Aim for 20-30 minutes, allowing the water and ingredients to work.

After the Bath:

Rinse: A final rinse, perhaps with an herbal tea or cool water, can seal the cleansing.

Rest: Take time to enjoy the calm renewed feeling.

Scrying 

Scrying water is a form of divination (hydromancy), where a person gazes into a bowl of still water, often by candlelight, to receive insights, visions, or glimpses of the future, tapping into the unconscious mind through a meditative state. It involves focusing on the water's surface, looking for patterns, symbols, or images that mentally, helping to answer questions or gain spiritual guidance. Practitioners use dark bowls, sometimes with added herbs or salt, to create a more reflective surface, a technique used for centuries by seers, including Nostradamus.

How to Scry with Water:

Find your space: A quiet dimly lit room with a single candle (placed so its reflection isn't distracting) works well.

Prepare your bowl: Use a dark, plain bowl (like black obsidian or a dark ceramic) and fill it with still, fresh water. Moon water or water with a pinch of salt can be used.

Set your intention: Focus on a question or area where you need clarity.

Gaze softly: Look into the water with a soft relaxed focus, allowing your vision to blur slightly, as if looking through the surface rather than at it.

Wait for visions: Don't try to force images. Let your mind go quiet. Images, symbols, or even feelings might emerge in the water, or in your mind's eye.

Interpret: Take notes, write down what appears, as these are messages from your subconscious or your spirit guides. These are not random thoughts.

Key Elements:

Hydromancy: The specific term for water scrying.

Tools: Dark bowls, or even natural bodies of water like ponds are used.

Trance State: The goal is a relaxed meditative state to bypass conscious thought.

Reflection: The dark surface helps create a clearer more profound reflection for visions.

Using rain water for magic

Rainwater is considered a potent and versatile tool in magic due to its natural direct connection to the sky and its strong associations with cleansing, renewal, growth, and emotional release. Its energy can vary depending on the nature of the storm from which it was collected.

Uses in Magic:

Cleansing and Purification: The primary use for rainwater is to wash away negative or stagnant energy from yourself, your home, or your magical tools.

Empowering Spells and Rituals: You can use it as an all-purpose ingredient in spells, adding it to a cauldron with herbs and oils to give your work an energetic boost.

Anointing and Blessing: Anoint candles, crystals, or other items with rainwater to bless or empower them for their intended purpose.

Manifestation: By tapping into the flow of rain, you can manifest abundance, love, or success by setting intentions while collecting or using the water.

Enhancing Psychic Ability: Keeping a bottle of rainwater nearby or using it in a spray can help enhance psychic awareness during readings or meditations.

Baths and Body Cleansing: Add it to a bath for a spiritual cleansing, or stand in the rain and visualize stress and blockages being washed away.

Types of Rainwater:

The type of storm influences the water's properties and potential uses: Gentle Rain/Sunny Rain: Ideal for peace, joy, healing, and general cleansing.
Storm/Thunderstorm Water: Possesses powerful, quick energy for protection, strength, intense transformation, breaking hexes, or dispelling psychic attacks.
Rainbow Rain: Collected during a rainbow, this water is associated with luck, healing, and charm work.

How to Collect and Store:

Collection: Place a clean bowl, jar, or another container outdoors during a rain shower. For hail, a metal bowl is often used, but the hail should be allowed to melt and the water transferred to a dark bottle within a few hours.

Storage: Store the collected water in a sealed glass or dark brown bottle, labeled with the date and type of storm, for future use.

Safety Note: While some may use this collected water for teas or cooking, generally it is best to avoid consuming collected rainwater without proper filtration and boiling, as it can pick up pollutants and bacteria.

Sources & Recommended Reading:

Water Magic:
Healing Bath Recipes
for the Body, Mind, and Soul

by Mary Muryn

@amazon

Water Witchcraft:

Magic and Lore from

Celtic Witchcraft

by Annwyn Avalon

@amazon

The Way of the Water Priestess:

Entering the World of Water Magick

by Annwyn Avalon

@amazon

Water Magic:

Manifestation Spells

by Artemis Lore

@amazon

Ritual Baths 

for the Beginner Witch

by Ally Sands

@amazon

Armchair Psychology ~ The Dark Triad

 

The "Dark Triad" in psychology refers to a cluster of three distinct but overlapping personality traits:

Narcissism (grandiosity, entitlement)
Machiavellianism (manipulation, cunning)
Psychopathy (lack of empathy, impulsivity, antisocial behavior). 

People high in these traits are often charming but self-serving, predatory, and willing to exploit or harm others for personal gain, exhibiting exploitative, callous, and unethical behavior.

The Three Traits

Narcissism:

Characterized by inflated self-esteem, entitlement, a need for admiration, and superficial charm, but also a fragile ego.

Machiavellianism:

A manipulative and exploitative mindset, cynical view of others, and focus on self-interest, using others as tools.

Psychopathy:

Marked by impulsivity, thrill-seeking, lack of empathy, remorse, and enduring antisocial tendencies.

Common Behaviors

Manipulation & Deception:

Skilled at charming and deceiving others to get what they want.

Self-Centeredness:

Focus on personal gain (status, power, pleasure) at others' expense.

Lack of Empathy:

Indifference or callousness toward the suffering of others.

Exploitative Relationships:

Viewing people as objects or status symbols, leading to infidelity and shallow connections.

Arrogance & Grandiosity:

Exaggerating successes and presenting an image of superiority.

Why They Matter

These traits predict predatory behavior, interpersonal exploitation, and callousness, even without a clinical diagnosis.

They are associated with a higher risk of criminal behavior and poor relationship outcomes.

As we've stated above, but we'll say it again... The Dark Triad consists of three overlapping negative personality traits: Narcissism (grandiosity, entitlement); Machiavellianism (manipulation, cynicism); and Psychopathy (lack of empathy, impulsivity). 

While distinct, they often co-occur, describing people prone to callous, self-centered, and exploitative behaviors, with researchers sometimes adding Sadism (enjoying cruelty) to form the "Dark Tetrad".

Narcissism is about self-focus and grandiosity; Machiavellianism is about cunning exploitation; and Psychopathy is about emotional detachment and impulsivity.  While distinct, they share core features like low agreeableness, exploitativeness, and callousness, leading to their grouping.

The Additional Trait 

Sadism: 

The enjoyment of inflicting pain or cruelty on others, sometimes added to create the "Dark Tetrad".

Understanding these traits helps recognize harmful patterns in interpersonal and professional settings, as individuals high in these traits often cause distress and dysfunction.

Making Crystal Remedies & Tinctures

 

Making Crystal Remedies:

Direct Method

After you’ve decided what crystal or stone you need for a particular magickal endeavor, you will cleanse and charge it.

You can cleanse this stone by passing it through incense smoke (perhaps sandalwood), or by holding it beneath running water.

You will charge this stone with specific magickal intentions and purpose by seating yourself in a quiet spot, holding the stone in both hands, grounding and centering, and then gathering your thoughts, which you will send to the stone from your sub-conscious mind by way of your hands, thus imbuing this stone with your intentions.

Select a nice glass bottle or jar for the amount of remedy that you wish to make, add the water, preferably bottled spring water, to this container, unless you have chosen to use another liquid for your magick.

You can then choose to do several things to charge this tincture:

• You can allow this bottle to sit beneath the moonlight for several hours to energize (or the sunlight).

• You can consecrate this bottle of remedy to the four elements.

• You can leave it sit upon your altar to charge.

Note: If this remedy is not going to be used within a relatively short period of time, you should add to it brandy, vodka, or cider vinegar to preserve it: two-thirds preservative to one-third tincture.

This also makes a ‘mother’, a batch of remedy that can be used to create new batches. Never allow the ‘mother’ batch to run dry. Keep feeding it as necessary.

Indirect Method

Occasionally a stone will have properties about it that may be poisonous, such as malachite, and you can’t make a tincture destined for human consumption with this stone using the direct method.

To make a tincture using the indirect method you will need two bowls, one small enough to sit within the other. Place the crystal or stone in the smaller bowl and sit this bowl inside the larger dish. Add your spring water to the large bowl; and these bowls should be of an appropriate size as to allow the water in the large bowl to rise above the crystal or stone contained in the small bowl.

Everything else will be done just as you would with the direct method: allow these bowls to be charged in the moonlight or sunlight, add this water to your jar, along with a preservative, and you’re all set. This tincture will be safe to use, should you consume it, and it is just as magickally charged as the tinctures made with the direct method.

When in doubt about a crystal or stone, be safe and use the indirect method if you plan on consuming the tincture.

Matching Crystal Energies to Intentions:

Addictions (to cure): amethyst

Astral Projection (to aid): calcite, clear quartz crystal, kunzite

Astrological Tinctures:

• Aries: garnet, bloodstone

• Taurus: jade, emerald

• Gemini: agate, aventurine

• Cancer: moonstone, sapphire

• Leo: amber, topaz

• Virgo: blue lace agate, sapphire

• Libra: lapis lazuli, turquoise

• Scorpio: spinel, quartz

• Sagittarius: amethyst, blue topaz

• Capricorn: apache tear, onyx

• Aquarius: aquamarine, jet

• Pisces: blue topaz, aquamarine

The Aura:

• To Align: clear quartz crystal, amber

• To Cleanse: herkimer diamond, smokey quartz, green jasper, bloodstone

• To Energize: quartz

• To Remove Negative Energy: apache tear, obsidian

The Chakras/to align:

• Crown Chakra: amethyst

• Third eye Chakra: sodalite

• Throat Chakra: blue lace agate

• Heart Chakra: pink rose quartz

• Solar Plexus: citrine

• Sacral Chakra: carnelian

• Root Chakra: garnet

• All seven charkas: alexandrite

Curses (removing): tiger’s-eye

Elemental Tinctures:

• Earth: green moss agate, brown jasper

• Air: amber, yellow topaz

• Fire: garnet, carnelian

• Water: aquamarine, blue topaz

Entities:

• To Banish: onyx, jet, obsidian

• To Facilitate Contact: pearl, green onyx, mother-of-pearl, selenite

Goddess Magick: moonstone, mother-of-pearl, coral, pearl

Grounding: smokey quartz

Healing: blue lace agate, green stones-- jade, agate

Hexing: black stones-- onyx, jet, black jade, obsidian

Life’s Transitions (coping): lilac kunzite, amethyst

Love Spells: pink stones-- quartz, rhodochrosite

Money Spells: green stones-- aventurine, green moss agate

Planetary Tinctures:

• Sun: amber, carnelian, tiger’s-eye, diamond, zircon

• Moon: moonstone, chalcedony, sapphire, selenite, aquamarine

• Mercury: agate, mottled jasper, ruby, red tourmaline, pumice

• Venus: jade, green jasper, kunzite, lapis lazuli, coral

• Earth: brown jasper, green agate

• Mars: bloodstone, garnet, onyx, red tourmaline, flint

• Jupiter: amethyst, fluorite, aventurine, charoite, green moss agate

• Saturn: hematite, jet, onyx, obsidian, apache tear

Personal Acceptance/Emotional Healing: pink rose quartz, blue lace agate

Psychic Awareness (to enhance): amethyst, moonstone

Sex Spells: red stones-- ruby, garnet, red tourmaline

Spirit Contact (to promote): lilac kunzite, holy stones, geodes

Truth (to reveal): obsidian, mottled jasper

Unusual Tinctures

• Sealing a Curse

After your curse has been carried out, the deed is done, and the candle wax and other remnants are buried in the earth in some secret reclusive spot; it’s time to seal this sucker-- really nail it to the wall.

Your tincture will consist of a bottle of your own urine to which you’ve added a stone of jet or black onyx and a pinch of belladonna or cayenne pepper. Allow this brew to sit in the  sun for several hours, absorbing the heat and energy, perking and festering.

You will take this concoction to the location where the spell remnants are resting, and you will pour this tincture over the ground upon the burial spot. I swear, you’ll almost hear your target howl.

• Intoxicating Love

To make a tincture for a love spell, you’re going to use wine-- I don’t care what brand it is or how expensive it is, but it must be red wine. To your wine tincture you will add a stone of pink rose quartz, a rose petal, and a drop of your menstrual blood. You’ll energize this magickal tincture with the energy of the moon.

On the day of your choosing, which must be during the waxing moon phase, you

will serve your target:

• 1) a glass of this wine

or

• 2) another drink of their choice with three drops of this tincture added to it

*Note-- The spell above was written for a female occult practitioner. If you are a male practitioner, substitute the drop of menstrual blood with a drop of your semen.

• Draw the Line

If you are in conflict with a person or particular people, you can use the following tincture to seal the thresholds of your home, preventing them from entering.

To a bottle of spring water add:

• a pinch of black pepper

• a pinch of sea salt

• a stone of moss agate or obsidian

If you’re feeling really wild and magickal and you want to be very precise about who you are targeting, you could add a very tiny strip of paper with their name written on it.

Use this tincture to asperge (sprinkle) the thresholds of your doorways. This will basically have the same effect as brick dust, but without the mess.

• Protection for Your Child

This is a tincture you can use to anoint your child when you feel they might need a little extra protection:

• before a trip or vacation

• if they are having problems at school

• if they’ve been threatened or seem prone to illness

• or any other unique number of reasons where you feel their safety is compromised

This tincture could also be used just as a precaution by anointing them once a week, or on the full moon, as part of your magickal routine.

To a bottle of spring water add:

• Personal effects from your child-- baby teeth, a snip of their hair, or fingernail clippings are excellent.

• Add a stone of selenite or moonstone.

• Add a pinch of flax seeds, rosemary, and sage.

Allow this tincture to cure beneath a full moon, imbuing it with the energy of the Mother Goddess.

• Uncrossing Tincture

You’re going to use a few drops of this tincture in your bath water to clear away the heebie-jeebies that have either been drawn to you through the cosmos like a dirty magnet, or have been thrown your way by negative nasty people who need a good swift magickal kick in the butt.

Sometimes negative energy acts like a magnet and once we get a good dose of it our way, it seems to take on a life of its own, building and growing in intensity. It takes some deliberate action on our part to clean ourselves up, so to speak. You’ll do this by lighting a white candle, running yourself a good hot bath, and adding a generous dash of this tincture to your bath water.

To create this cleansing tincture, you will add to a bottle of spring water:

• a stone of clear quartz crystal

• a good pinch of sea salt

• Cut the Tongue

Some people just never know when to shut up, maintain silence, and whip that weapon of a tongue back into their big fat mouths. This little tincture will give them a hand with that.

To a bottle of white vinegar, or your own urine, add:

• a pinch of slippery elm

• a stone you’ve found on your property

• a razorblade

Use this magickal little tincture to asperge (sprinkle) over an image of your target, or over a paper with their name largely and boldly written upon it, if you can’t get your hot little hands on their photo. But quite frankly, in this internet world, it’s pretty easy to get hold of someone’s image. (I’m cackling now.)

• I’m the Boss

Who doesn’t want to be in control?... admit it.

If your marriage is becoming more like a battle of wills instead of a lovers’ paradise, this is the tincture you need. It will put you right back where you want to be…at the top.

I’ve also included a tincture to be used in the workplace, particularly to target your boss, someone who may have way more control than you are comfortable with. Use this tincture to put things back into proper perspective.

For a spouse:

To a bottle of red wine add…

• a pinch of nutmeg

• a dash of Commanding Oil

• a stone of red jasper

• one of your spouse’s pubic hairs

• your saliva…spit in the bottle

Anoint the target directly with this little tincture when the opportunity presents itself, just a touch of the finger to their forearm or back, wherever. It can be done very discreetly so that they won’t even know. You can also dab some on their clothes, sprinkle some over their photo or add a single drop to whatever they are drinking.

For your boss:

To a bottle of spring water add…

• a dash of Commanding Oil

• a pinch of salt

• a stone of apache tear

• a personal effect from the target, or a name paper

• your saliva…spit in the bottle   
  
  This tincture can be sprinkled in the target’s space, or poured upon the soil of their property, touched to their body or clothing, or sprinkled over their photo. If all else fails, be a good employee and fetch your boss a cup of coffee.

• Money Drawing

You’ll use this tincture to sprinkle your wallet or purse; the threshold of your business, magickally drawing money from customers coming into your shop; your altar set up for money spells, or on a dish of coins you leave sitting near your front door.

Sprinkle this magickal mixture on lottery tickets, good luck charms, or upon your own hands if you’re going out to gamble.

Wherever you want to draw wealth, prosperity, money, you’ll use this tincture with magickal assurance of success and prosperity.

To a bottle of spring water add:

• one of each coin-- a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter

• a stone of pyrite and aventurine

• a pinch of silver or gold glitter

• a single leaf of mint

• a pair of dice

SOURCE:

My book.
Natural Magick the Gray WitchWay

@Amazon

Natural Magick the Gray Witch Way explores the magick and mystery of old world traditions from a unique perspective, that of the Gray Witch. While the modern world and everything in it are often viewed as either black or white, there are those magickal practitioners who recognize a more realistic normality ~ that shady gray area where the lines are blurred, and the adventuresome practitioners will discover that witchcraft can consist of power and justice, as well as love and peace. And in this realization comes an epiphany, one is not so different from the other.

Natural Magick the Gray Witch Way is an excellent companion book to The Gray Witch’s Grimoire!

This book is a perfect companion to my best-selling book,
"The Gray Witch's Grimoire".

@Amazon

What makes this book unique? The world of the gray witch has been largely avoided, misrepresented, or glossed over with various books geared gingerly towards ‘protection magic’. These books, though informative and well written as they may be, have totally missed the spirit of the gray witch – who she really is, how she relates to the world of shadow and light, and exactly what she’s willing to do to stand her ground. In our society ‘dark’ is automatically viewed as ‘evil’; and ‘light’ is automatically viewed as ‘good’. We’re expected to live completely within one realm and to totally avoid the other. This creates imbalance and is a great injustice to the true spirit of the ancient wise woman. This book puts matters to right and gives the public a view of just what the gray witch is – and what she isn’t. The gray witch does not live in a world of chaos or unbridled black magic. She has a code of honor, a sense of propriety, and a relevance in today’s society.