Bath Salts
The commercial bath salts you find in stores are typically loaded with chemicals, dyes, and synthetic perfumes that can irritate the skin and offer no real benefit beyond a superficial scent. Creating your own bath salts using essential oils and natural herbs is superior, as your personal energy and intention will infuse into them. Aligning the scents of your bath salts and incense helps to optimize your well-being on an energetic level.
On a more practical level, crafting homemade bath salts with a spiritual or esoteric theme can gently introduce oneself to the delights of ritualistic self-care practices in a very approachable way. When we infuse our creations, spaces, and rituals with intention and awareness, even the simplest of acts can become a meditative, transformative experience.
Bath salts made from mineral salts, essential oils, herbs, and flowers provide a rejuvenating, therapeutic experience for the body, mind, and spirit when created with care and purpose. The magical scent of your custom bath salts will linger on your skin even after leaving the bath, allowing you to carry that sense of peace and calm with you.
Ritual Bath
If you intend to partake in a ritual bath, you should take care to properly prepare and charge the water with your intent and purpose. As you add the purifying salts and essential oils to the bath, speak blessings and affirmations over the water to consecrate it for your ritual. Incorporating candles of appropriate colours and scents greatly enhances the experience and power of the bath.
For example, to promote peace and tranquillity, incorporate pink candles and rose or lavender essential oils. For wisdom and insight, burn blue candles and add bergamot or clary sage to the water. Green candles and chamomile or eucalyptus oils facilitate self-awareness and centring. Red candles and sandalwood or jasmine oils ignite passion and desire. Purple candles and lavender or frankincense oils aid in spiritual connection and intuition.
Take time to relax into the bath and breathe deeply of the fragrant steam. Let the warmth of the water relax your body as your mind grows peaceful and still. The blessed and charged water will absorb your intent and carry it out with ripples of energy as you emerge from your ritual bath, purified and ready to manifest your desires.
Oil Blends
Many practitioners find that anointing themselves with sacred oils before ritual work can help them feel spiritually grounded and connected. Before enrobing for a ceremony, or working skyclad (naked), if that is their preference, some practitioners like to anoint key points on their body such as the third eye, wrists, and ankles. When using essential oils for anointing in this way, it is always advisable to dilute them in a good carrier oil such as almond, jojoba, or grapeseed oil. Carrier oils help to dilute the concentrated essential oils and allow them to be applied safely to the skin.
Some practitioners enjoy creating their own oil blends for anointing, combining essential oils that have significance or sacred meaning to them. For example, a practitioner may blend frankincense, sandalwood, and rose essential oils in a carrier oil for use before ritual. Frankincense is considered a sacred oil that helps to focus intention and purify the mind. Sandalwood promotes tranquillity and heightened awareness. Rose is connected to love, beauty and spiritual opening. Blending these oils creates a unique sacred anointing oil tailored to the practitioner's needs and intent. Others prefer to use single essential oils such as lavender, cedarwood or clary sage depending on the desired effect.
When anointing, practitioners will gently massage the oil into their skin, especially on the forehead, wrists, throat, and heart. This helps to activate and align these energetic centres in preparation for ritual work. Some may recite a simple incantation or prayer while anointing to further focus their intention. The residual aroma of the essential oils also serves as a reminder of the practitioner's sacred mindset and can be quite grounding during ritual or magical working.