A bath is a great way to take care of yourself! As a Sea Witch, baths are a huge part of my practice. It is where I meditate, where I clear my mind, where I relax and unwind from a hard day, and sometimes it is even where I bless objects for my altar! It is important to take time for yourself to detox and relax. Taking care of yourself will enable you to take care of others in your life. Take a day here and there to just pamper yourself and recharge, Or do a little over the course of a week.
The bath can be an oasis of pleasure and solitude. It is a time for tranquil refreshment. Baths have possibilities for healing, pleasure, beauty, and spiritual growth. There are baths to soothe emotions, baths to heal illness, and baths to rejuvenate. Some baths have metaphysical properties that can cleanse the aura, open the intuition, clear away negativity, and help the spirit soar.
Since ancient times, bathing has been considered indispensable to emotional and physical health. Hippocrates knew that good health requires both a healthy body and a healthy mind. As far back as 4000BC, the ancient Egyptians used bathing as a means of healing the spirit and certain aromatic baths were believed to produce magical effects on the body. Perfumes can profoundly affect a person’s emotional and mental states. The Egyptians were very fond of bathing and perfumed oils were often used in their baths to treat both body and psyche.
Peaceful respites from the pressure of life play an important role in wellbeing. The healing properties of water can soothe away your anxieties and gently transport you into a state of deep relaxation. Soaking in a warm fragrant tub can be a sensual delight, offering time to retreat, reflect, and refresh.
Baths can be an opportunity to merge with the herbs or remedies of your choice. To use herbs or substances such as uncooked oatmeal for the bath, simply tie a handful of either fresh or dried herbs in a cloth and tie it off. Use darker cloth as some herbs will stain light colored ones. Use the herb filled cloth to scrub your body as you deeply inhale the benefits. Your plumbing would prefer that you not allow bulky material to go down the drain.
Another way to prepare the bath would be to use five to ten drops of pure essential oil, as a substitute for the desired herb. For example you could make a bath with lavender flowers, either in a sock, or a tea, or simply add about seven drops of lavender essential oil. Choose your oils, colors, herbs, and gemstones. Always pick the one that initially calls out to you.
Here is a list of 3 baths you might want to try out in your practice!
Mystical Sex Bath: Let your spirit soar with your partner with this powerful combination of aphrodisiac oils. This will be sure to bring you a romantic night of romantic and sensual pleasures.
- 3 drops rose (used to open the heart. Rose oil gets the emotions flowing and puts you in the mood for romance)
- 3 drops jasmine (jasmine stimulates the sexual appetite)
- 3 drops sandalwood (relaxes the nervous system while awakening desire)
- 3 drops frankincense (used in rituals to promote dreams)
- 3 drops ylang ylang (has very strong aphrodisiac properties)
Other:
- A few drops of pink food coloring to give a lovely look to your bath water
- Rose quartz for love
- Chocolate (Montezuma always drank a cup of chocolate before entering his harem)
- Champagne or hot chocolate (both proven aphrodisiacs)
- A bouquet of pink or red roses added to the bath water
- Sensual music such as Chopin’s piano waltz
After adjusting the temperature of the bath water to that is it mutually comfortable, make sure the music is on, the flowers are in view, the door is locked, and the phone is turned off. Add the combination of the oils, swirling them around in the water with your hand. Get in and let the magic happen.
Cleopatra’s Milk Bath: To preserve the vitality and beauty of her skin, it is said that Cleopatra regularly took baths in donkey milk. About 7,00 Donkeys were needed to provide enough milk for her daily bath. Cleopatra definitely knew what she was doing when she filled her tub with milk and bathed in it. Milk is a natural source of alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), and AHAs are commonly used in skincare to reduce wrinkles or signs of aging, and improving overall skin texture and smoothness. How does it work? By exfoliating the outermost layer of the skin, leaving a blemish-free skin that’s smooth like a baby’s bottom. Cleopatra was not the only who enjoyed the benefits of the donkey milk baths; historic records show that donkey milk was often used as a treatment to revitalize the skin.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups fresh rose petals
- A few sprigs fresh mint
- 1 lime cut into pieces.
Directions:
While running hot water, add milk, fresh rose petals, sprigs of fresh mint, and lime.
Cleopatra definitely knew what she was doing when she filled her tub with milk and bathed in it. Milk is a natural source of alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), and AHAs are commonly used in skincare to reduce wrinkles or signs of aging, and improving overall skin texture and smoothness. How does it work? By exfoliating the outermost layer of the skin, leaving a blemish-free skin that’s smooth like a baby’s bottom.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups fresh rose petals
- A few sprigs fresh mint
- 1 lime cut into pieces.
Directions:
While running hot water, add milk, fresh rose petals, sprigs of fresh mint, and lime.
Cold and Flu Bath: It seems like everyone is getting sick lately! This may be the bath you need to try this weekend if you have been feeling a bit under the weather.
This bath helps to eliminate mucus in the upper respiratory system while improving circulation and helping to relieve head pain. Hot water on the feet makes the blood vessels open up wider than usual. Blood then rushes in to fill the enlarging arteries and is drawn from the head, which unclogs nasal passages. A hot bath or shower that increases the body temperature to 103 degrees F has been shown to increase the infection fighting white blood cell count threefold for 5 hours. Also, most cold and flu viruses don’t multiply at temperatures above 101.6 degrees F.
Ingredients:
- 15 drops eucalyptus oil
- 30 drops peppermint oil
- 15 tea tree oil
- 10 drops lavender oil
- 8 drops thyme/rosemary oil or a handful of fresh steeped thyme/rosemary
- 2 tbsp vitamin C crystals
Directions:
Pour a very hot bath, as hot as your skin can stand without damage, and add the oils and vitamin c crystals. Mix well and soak. Soak as long as you are comfortable and drink plenty of hot water with lemon and honey. Lie back in the water and llow it to cover your chest and sllow the steam from the water to radiate up so you can breathe it in. Make sure you dry off completely when you get out so that symptoms are not made worse.
After, you can take a second bath with ginger later in the day to pull out additional mucus from your system. It’s always best to take the ginger bath in the evening. Putting a few drops of eucalyptus oil on the edge of your pillow before sleep will help dry up the cold overnight.
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
