Whenever you have made a batch of salts, scrubs, or magic potions whether for your own use or as a gift, you should stop and count your health blessings in with this mindfulness practice. Sit in a comfortable position with your bottle of potions placed in a bowl or dish in front of you. Think about the blessings in your life and the gifts your particular item offers; visualize your skin and hair gleaming with vitality. Picture your loved ones wearing a big smile as they use your handmade remedies. What are you grateful for at this moment? There is a powerful magic in recognizing all that you possess and in having an attitude of gratitude. Breathe steadily and deeply, inhaling and exhaling slowly for twenty minutes. As you meditate, send the positive energy into the bowl containing your personal potion. Now, the blessings are there any time you or a loved one may need them.
A bath blessing that will both relax and purify you is a rare and wonderful thing. To prepare yourself, place one quart of rough sea salt or Epson salts in a large bowl. Add the juice from six 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, as 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:
Thalassa, 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 the sea goddess Thalassa, 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 Greek goddess from whom eloquence, inspiration and blessings flow.
The Goddess of Love, Venus, rules this most popular day of the week, Friday. Small wonder this is the night for a tryst. To prepare yourself for a night of lovemaking, you should take a Goddess bath with the following potion in a special cup or bowl. I call mine the Venus Vial. Combine:
One cup sesame oil
Six drops orange blossom oil
Four drops gardenia oil
Stir with your fingers six times, silently repeating three times:
To rid yourself of negative emotions, try this purification bath. Draw a warm bath at noon when the sun is at its healing peak, and add the essential oils into the water as it flows from the faucet:
After any magical work involving employment, you should immerse yourself in the waters of prosperity with a money bath. This particular ritual is most effective if practiced on Thursday night during a new or full moon. Pour pine, mint or green apple essential oil into running bathwater and bathe by the light of a single green candle. Immerse yourself completely and, as you rise, close your eyes and meditate on your truest desires. What does personal prosperity mean to you? What do you really need and what do you really want? Focus on the candle flame while whispering:
The lean times are past and possibilities are vast.
Here and now, my intention is set. New luck will be mine and all needs will be met.
With harm to none and plenty for all, so mote it be.
I have a few shrines around my house: an ancestor shrine on the hearth mantel; a "winter shrine" in the corner of the kitchen for my home's land spirit; and a shrine in the window of my bathroom. This last one might seem like a strange location for a sacred place, but peoples around the world have understood that the places where we clean and care for our bodies are hallowed places, housing certain powers.
Erin Lale
Fellow faculty at Harvard Divinity School posted an open letter to Wolpe in response to his article. It's available on this page, below the call for p...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. The Wild Hunt has a roundup of numerous responses on its site, but it carried this one as a separate article. It is an accoun...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. This one is by a scholar of paganism. It's unfortunately a Facebook post so this link goes to Facebook. She posted the text o...
