Peace of Mind Blessing Bowl

While a bowl is not a tool in and of itself, you can utilize bowls in your spellwork often, anytime you are inspired to do so. Three simple ingredients—a red rose, a pink candle, and water—can bestow a powerful blessing. The rose signifies beauty, potential, the sunny seasons, and love for yourself and others. The candle stands for the element of fire, the yellow flame of the rising sun in the east, harmony, higher intention, and the light of the soul. Water represents its own element, flow, the direction of the west, emotions, and cleansing. This ritual can be performed alone or with a group in which you pass the bowl around. Float the rose in a clear bowl of water, and light a pink candle beside the bowl. With your left hand, gently stir the water in the bowl and say:

    I give myself life and health, refreshing water for my spirit.

    I give myself time to rest and space to grow.

    I am love. My heart is as big as the world.

    I am peace of mind. So be it, now and always.

Keep the blessing bowl on your kitchen altar for three days and three nights. Dry the red rose and keep it on your nightstand or desk where it will always fill your heart with love.

Designing Your Own Water Rituals

From the depths of your imagination, you can create a water ritual of your own by invoking other water deities. By inviting the energy of water into your sacred space, you will find the words will flow into you as you fashion ceremonial language appropriate to that god or goddess.

You can create your own ceremonies and spells to call forth the power of water for psychic development such as dream work, emotional balance, healing, creativity, joy, love, and letting go.

Water Deities

Lakshmi is also called Padma and is associated with all forms of wealth and abundance, both spiritual and material. It is said that Lakshmi can be found in gems and jewels, money, newborn babies, and in all cows. She is depicted floating on a lovely lotus blossom.

Naiads are freshwater nymphs that inhabit various bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and springs. Naiads have the power to seduce, inspire, heal, and tell the future. You will do best by calling forth their gentle energy for healing rituals.

Poseidon is the Greek god of oceans and can use his might to create tidal waves, earthquakes, and typhoons. You should always appease Poseidon when you travel over water with an offering of olive oil; pour a few drops into the sea and you will enjoy smooth sailing all the way. His consort is Amphitrite, the Queen of the Sea.

Nereus, the “old man of the sea” from Greek mythology, is an oracle. You can invoke Nereus to inquire about the future, and for safety during travel by water.

Taking the Waters—a Releasing Ritual

Sarasvati is a Hindu goddess of the arts, and originally a river goddess. She is invoked by individuals seeking to improve the flow of their creativity and self-transformation.

A bath blessing that will both relax and purify you is a rare and wonderful thing. To prepare yourself, place 1 quart of rough sea salt or Epsom salts in a large bowl. Add the juice from 6 freshly squeezed lemons, 1⁄2 cup of sesame oil, and a few drops of rose and jasmine oils. Stir until the mixture is completely moistened. You can add more sesame oil if necessary, but do not add more lemon because it will make the mixture overly astringent and potentially irritating to your skin.

When your tub is one-third full, add one-quarter of the salt mixture under the faucet. Breathe in deeply ten times, inhaling and exhaling fully before you do this recitation. You may start to feel a tingling at the crown of your head. The water should still be running when you proclaim:

Sarasvati, O Harmonious One,
Goddess and mistress, I ask your guidance.
Remove from me any impurities
Of heart, spirit, and mind. I open myself to you.
My wish is to once again become whole,
Free of pain, sadness, and all that is better in me.

When the tub is full, it is time to step inside and breathe deeply ten more times. Repeat the prayer to Sarasvati, and use the rest of the salt to gently massage your body. Rest and rejuvenate as long as you like, allowing yourself to feel refreshed and renewed by the ministrations of this Hindu goddess of harmony and artistry from whom eloquence, inspiration, and blessings flow. 

Elemental Rituals: Water

 The human body is made mostly of water, and our connection to this sacred element is primal. People are especially drawn to the ocean, whose water is a blend of minerals and water similar to the chemical mix of our blood. Have you ever noticed how blissful you can feel when you’re at the beach? The negative ions produced by water are soothing and create an overwhelming sense of optimism. In the presence of water, we feel refreshed. The ocean tides are a rhythm of life and a regulating force of nature.

Water cleanses and restores us, determines our climate, enriches our crops and forests. Water has long been used in ritual and continues to this day to be employed by nearly every culture. In India, the sacred Ganges River cleanses the souls of Hindus from birth through death, when they often float off to eternity in a river burial. Christian baptisms are done with the sacrament of water. The Chinese deity Kuan Yin, goddess of compassion, offers spiritual seekers the comfort and solace of a holy lake. Aphrodite herself rose up from the ocean, and the Yoruban divinity, Ymoja (Yemaya in Brazil and Cuba), is believed to rule all the waters of the earth.

I was born with both my natal sun and moon in the astrological sign of Pisces. As a double Pisces, I receive much spiritual substance from water and turn to my element for succor. Water is the element that rules Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio. It reconnects water folk with their native element and keeps them in tune with their true nature.

The Japanese have elevated water ritual to the level of an art form with baths, water meditations, water gardens, and tea ceremonies. Through the centuries, they have perfected the presentation of tea as an inventive and spiritual practice.