Personal Rituals for Renewal

Since the time of the ancients in the Mediterranean and in Mesopotamia, salts from the sea combined with soothing oils have been used to purify the body by way of gentle ritual rubs. From Bathsheba to Cleopatra, these natural salts have been used to smooth the skin and enhance circulation, which is vital to overall body health as the skin is the single largest organ. Salts from the Dead Sea have long been a popular export and are readily available at most health food stores. You can make your own salts, however, and not only control the quality and customize the scent, but save money, too. The definitive benefits that is far and above cost saving is that you can imbue the concoction with your intention, which is absolutely imperative when you are performing rites of self-healing. Cook up your own “kitchen cupboard cure."

Shekinah’s Salts

Shekinah translates as “She who dwells within” and is the Hebrew name for the female aspect of God. Legend has it that she co-created the world side by side with Yahweh, the god of Israel. The simple recipe for salts calls up the scents and primal memories of what the Edenic paradise must have been like. A real plus to this recipe is that you can change the essential oils to suit your needs and mood.

The ingredients for the recipe are as follows:

3 cups Epsom salts

1⁄2 cup sweet almond oil

1 tablespoon glycerin

4 drops ylang-ylang essential oil

1 drop jasmine essential oil

1 drop clary sage essential oil

Mix well and store in a colored and well-capped glass bottle. You can use these special Shekinah salts in your ritual rub. Prepare for what I call the body glow session by lighting citrus and rose-scented candles. Step out of your clothes and hold the salts in the palms of your hands and pray aloud:

Shekinah, your wisdom helps me reflect your image.
My body is a temple to you.
Here I worship today with heart and hands,
Body and soul.
I call on you for healing.
Shekinah, bring me breath and life.
Ancient One, I thank you
With heart and hands,
Body and soul.

Use these salts with a damp, clean washcloth or a new sponge and gently scrub your body during a waning moon at midnight. Rinse with warm water. (Women with sensitive skin should avoid this salt rub. Instead, blend the essential oils into a quarter cup of almond oil and massage the blend into your skin with the damp washcloth or sponge; then rinse. Use the salt scrub only on your body, never on your face.)

Love Your Linens and They’ll Love You Back: Secrets of Stain Removal

If you spill coffee or red wine on your couch, carpet, or tablecloth, pour plain table salt into the spill and it will soak the staining liquid right up. The salt turning purplish blue as it soaks up red wine is truly spellbinding! Vacuum it up and the stain will be gone.

Stained clothes, linens, and such should be soaked in cold water with either baking soda or white vinegar, and then washed in cold water only to avoid setting the stain.

There is no need to use bleach in your laundry; for white fabric, use a cup of Borax in your load.

Goddess Glow (Waxing Moon Phase)

Many witches prefer whipping up their own healing beauty magic. Here’s a simple recipe for a homemade salt rub. The beauty of this recipe is that you can change the essential oils to suit your mood. For example, if you are feeling romantic or preparing for a big date night, use rose and amber oils.

Combine the following:

• Three cups Epsom salts
• One tablespoon glycerin
• Four drops lemon essential oil
• Two drop jasmine oil
• Two drop vanilla
• One drop neroli oil (made from orange blossoms)

Mix well and store in a colored glass jar with a tight lid. Use these salts with the Salt of the Earth body purification ritual to help exfoliate your skin and give you a goddess glow.

Salt of the Earth Rejuvenation Ritual

Salts have been used to purify the body, by way of ritual rubs, since ancient times in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. Beauties from the biblical era utilized this simple curative of natural salts to exfoliate the skin and enhance circulation, vital to overall body health. There are wonderful imported Dead Sea salts readily available at most bath and beauty stores, or you can make your own using Goddess Glow recipes, one of the kitchen cupboard cures that follows.

To prepare for your body glow session, light a white candle, step out of your clothes and into your tub or shower, and hold the salts in the palms of both hands, praying:

Aphrodite, in your wisdom, help me reflect your image;
My body is a temple to thee, goddess.
Here, I worship today with my head and hands, heart and soul. 
Blessings to all, blessings to thee, blessed be me.

Use the salts with a new loofah sponge and scrub yourself vigorously during the waning moon or new moon at midnight.