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