Today is Thursday, September 2. The moon is waning crescent in Cancer. Monday, the 6th will be the New Moon, so it’s time to maybe start thinking about the intentions we want to set at this time. I know that a lot of witches like to use the New Moon to set intentions for things they want to release, or things they want to banish, and I do that myself from time to time.
But I also like the New Moon for things that I want to build over the entirety of the next moon cycle. So if I’m trying to create something with deep roots in my life, and I want it to really germinate and grow over the long term, I find that the New Moon is a very auspicious time for those kinds of workings. The spells that you want to be patient for.
I will also spend the weekend decorating the house for autumn. Before you send those DMs, yes, I know that autumn doesn’t start until the 22nd. But it was 102 degrees here yesterday, so just let me enjoy my delusions. I truly hope that you’re all well, I hope that things in your life are looking up, I hope that you find peace in this weird world.
I don’t know where that came from. But alas. Onward, to the topic of today’s episode, Water Magick. This episode is part 3 of a 4 part series on elemental magick. I’ve already done Air and Fire Magick, so if you are so inclined, please do go give those episodes a listen.
Water Magick is always a fun topic, because it’s such a vast topic. Water is associated with emotion, relationships, and intuition and psychic ability, and there are about a hundred million subtopics that sort of branch off of those main ideas. And from those branches, you get a hundred million other sub-sub topics. Because when we think of water, we have to remember that it is always in flux. Water is never fixed, there are still ponds and deep lakes, and there are flowing streams and crashing rivers, and even broad seas and stormy oceans, and although they are all composed of water, they are so completely different as to be classified as completely different environments, and are home to completely different species.
So consider the simple emotion of regret. A pond of regret might be hitting the snooze button one too many times and being late to work. A lake of regret might be passing on a job that could have turned into a lucrative career. A stream of regret might be losing touch with a dear friend, and a river might be the regret of taking a lover for granted and losing them forever. All of these stem from the same root, and they are all ruled by water, but I think that none of us would equate being ten minutes late to work with losing the love of our lives due to our own mistakes.
But this is why water magick is so special. It can be very shallow, or supremely deep. And I am here for it, so let’s dive in.
When we think of water magick, a lot of times our minds go straight to moon water. And rightly so; moon water has been a time-tested form of water magick for generations of witches, and I know it’s one of the favorite forms of water magick in my family, specifically because it’s cheap, easy and effective.
The long and the short of moon water is this: you get a jar, a bottle, a chalice of some kind, if you’re feeling fancy, make sure it’s clean, you can purify it with smoke, incense or salt as well, and fill it with purified or filtered water. Then you’re going to set your intention for this water. Ask yourself, and then answer, what do I hope to accomplish with this water? Imbue this water with that energy. You can even label the jar with your intention.
For a little extra sauce, you can put a crystal in the water to help charge it, but please be careful. There are many, many stones, gems and crystals that are not safe to put in water, especially if you plan to ingest this water in any way. We will talk about some of those crystals in a bit. So, you cover your water loosely, and leave it outside during the moon phase that corresponds with your goal. If your crystal is not water-safe, you can always just put it next to or on top of the jar.
In the morning, you’re going to retrieve your jar of water. A lot of witches will tell you that it is imperative to get your water inside before the sun rises, but I’ve made a shit ton of moon water, and I am here to tell you that it doesn’t really matter. You just don’t want to leave it out all day unattended. Creepy crawlies may get in there, and it just becomes a nice warm environment for bacteria to start growing once it gets all warm from the sun.
So now you’ve got your water, what do you do with it? Well it depends, if you’re trying to make more money or increase some kind of talent that you use your hands for, like writing or art, you might want to wash your hands with it a few times a day until it’s gone. You can wash your face or your hair with it. You can place it on your altar as an offering if you’re doing any kind of deity or ancestor work. You can also drink it. You can use it to make ritual teas by heating it up and steeping your specially selected herbs in it. Use it to water your plants, especially if you’re growing any herbs that you intend to use in your future spellwork.
You can use it in any way that you like, that’s going to support your own intentions. I will sometimes mix moon water with ashes and black salt to make a paste, and then draw sigils with it. The limit exists only in your imagination. So go nuts.
Now before we move on, I want to talk about crystals, gems, and metals that are NOT safe to mix with water. Obviously, many metals will corrode and rust in water, so unless you’re certain that it’s pure gold or stainless steel, I don’t recommend submerging it. Minerals and crystals that are common, but not safe to put in water are: just about any stone whose name ends in ITE, like selenite, malachite, apatite, pyrite, etc are not water safe, and in fact can become very corrosive and contain heavy metals and carcinogens that are bad for you. Just stay on the safe side and keep them dry. Opal, black tourmaline, turquoise, gypsum, lapis lazuli, ruby, and moonstone are a few others that are very popular, but have no business in water.
With that behind us, let’s talk about another favorite form of water magick: the ritual bath or shower. A ritual or ceremonial bath can be as simple or as elaborate as you would like it to be, depending on exactly what it is that you’re trying to get out of it.
So for a simple, indulgent, self-care sort of bath, the ritual can just be lighting a few scented candles, turning down the lights, pouring some gentle oils into the water, and maybe placing a water-safe crystal in the water with you, like maybe an amethyst or a rose quartz.
When I say to use oils, please, for the love of the gods, make sure that it will not irritate your skin, Just because it says essential oil on the bottle doesn’t mean it’ll be safe on your skin, especially in and around your vaginal area. Like, cinnamon oil is lovely for dressing candles, but it will give you a scorching UTI if you dump it in your bath water.
Now for a more intentional bath, you’ll want to start adding herbs to your water, and you’ll also want to maybe consider the moon phase as well to align with your desired outcome. You can even draw a sigil for your intention, which you can paint onto your own body with some kind of skin-safe oil with relevant magical properties.
As an example, if you’re having a lot of emotional and spiritual stress or oppression and you’re feeling like there’s a lot of stagnant, undesirable energy hanging over you, I recommend some cedar for courage, rosemary for healing, hex-breaking, and personal power, rose petals for peace, lavender , tobacco, and clove for purification.
Obviously, you don’t want to just whip a handful of loose herbs into the bathwater unless you just really enjoy backing up your plumbing. So I suggest putting your herbs into some cheesecloth or a muslin bag, or if you’re on a budget or just don’t want to make a run to the store, you can absolutely use a cotton sock. Tie up the open end and drop it in the tub like a teabag and let it steep.
And speaking of tea, if you listened to the spellwork episode, you may recall that we talked about inexpensive sources for different herbs, and I mentioned that herbal teas are cheap and easy to find and they have a lot of applications for spellwork. So drop a few bags of nettle tea in the water as well, for protection, purification and healing while you’re at it.
Dress, carve, and light your candles. Get into the bath, and just soak. Envision your end goals, really see the end result that you want to achieve from this bath. Whisper a mantra or a spell, over and over again until you really internalize the words. Whatever the intention of your bath is, do the research, gather your ingredients, and carve out some time for your bath.
Now not every home has a bathtub. And it’s also not always practical to take up the bathroom for an hour or so when you share your home with other people. So in those circumstances, I recommend the ritual shower. The preparation is similar, you’re going to figure out what you need for your spell and gather those items together, you’ll write your spell, mantra, your sigil, and you’re going to figure out when is the most opportune time for the work.
But instead of putting the herbs in the bathwater, I suggest steeping all your herbs together in a good size bowl or jar for a good half hour or so, and you can also drop a water-safe crystal in with them, and then strain the herbs out and just keep that water. That is what you’re going to use in the shower. Light your dressed and carved candles, run your shower water, and then carefully wash yourself with the herbal elixir that you’ve made. Pour it over your skin, pour it over your hair. Speak your spell, do your vision work, make it nice.
You can also do these ritual water ceremonies in natural bodies of water, if you’re fortunate enough to live near a pond, lake, river, or sea. Make sure, as always, that none of your spell ingredients are harmful to the wildlife that lives in that body of water, of course, but using a natural body of water for your spell work is a great way to invoke the spirits of that body of water to assist with your intention.
And if that is something that you decide to do, leave an offering when you go. Some rose petals, a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, or if you’re going to a lake specifically, you can toss a spoon full of brewer’s yeast or good quality corn meal to feed the fish there. Make sure if you do that, you don’t do it overly often. It’s a treat, and it won’t harm the habitat, but be sparing and judicious in your use of it.
Water spirits love the attention, so if you’re respectful and you approach them with deference, you’re likely to have a good result when invoking them for your work. Remember, remember, to write down everything. I say it every week, but it is my favorite piece of advice for witches. If you don’t write down what you did, you’re not going to be able to replicate it, or to make specific changes for next time. You have to have a recipe before you can start making adjustments according to your taste.
When it comes to magick, the best thing you can be is bold and experimental. Be willing to fail, and that’s how you’re going to see the best results. Trial and error are the cornerstone of becoming a more confident witch. The more willing you are to stretch beyond what you find in spell books and what you read online, the more you’re going to find yourself creating powerful, original magick.
And that is where the real magick begins. I hope you’ve found something useful in this episode, or at least the willingness to try something new and out of your comfort zone. Keep the cauldrons bubbling, try some weird shit, and I’ll talk to you witches next time. My name is Eli, and this has been the Middle-Aged Witch podcast.
