WATER MAGIC [ PART 2 ]
Water Meditation
The Healing Magic of Water
Without water our planet has no chance to survive‐without water man is incapable of life. Our very constitution is based upon the need for water. Water purifies....water feeds...water sustains all life as we know it.
This book is a plea to make water sacred once again on this planet. Look at the joy water brings to humanity. Children frolicking in ocean waves at the seashore, sea shells, and beautifully colored stones washed clean by the tide, the wondrous coral reefs that are home to the ocean’s denizens. Consider the vast amounts of oceanic food that has been feeding societies for millennia.
Water is mysterious.Siddhartha sat under a tree at the river’s edge and listened to the flow of the water until he realized the cosmic secrets of the universe the river had to reveal. Siddhartha became realized at the water’s edge. He became the Buddha.
Man has always sought the meaning of life’s mysteries, and water is the greatest mystery of all. This book has been conceived to help bring new awareness of a very powerful healing tool that comes right out of your faucet and is always available to you.
Your health is the most valuable asset you have. Maintaining this treasure is an ongoing process that demands much more than a yearly check‐up. A doctor may tell you your organs are working, but what can he see of your emotions? What can he know of your spirit? Water will help you get in touch with spirit. Your body and mind will surely come into harmony, if your spirit is at peace.
In order to fully experience life, one must allow the spirit to soar‐and when the spirit is depressed or discouraged, we must help to revive it. Baths can do this creatively, for water embodies within it many magical healing and life‐giving properties. We all know that lack of water brings disease, drought, and starvation to attack the well‐being of our planetary neighbors and ourselves.
So let us begin a journey of loving kindness to ourselves. We can make the world a better place through loving ourselves, through taking good care of ourselves. It is the little things that count, and a healing, soothing bath takes very little time and effort, yet gives so much back in return.
Baths: A Brief History
The Way to health is to have an aromatic bath and scented massage every day. ‐Hippocrates
Greek Physician, Father of Medicine
Since ancient times, bathing has been considered indispensable to emotional and physical health. Hypocrites knew that good health requires both a healthy body and a healthy mind. As far back as 4000 B.C., 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.
They discovered that 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.
Kyphi was the opium of the masses, used as a liquid perfume and known to produce spiritual visions. Plutarch, the great Greek historian, said of Kyphi: “It’s aromatic substances lull to sleep, allay anxieties, and brighten dreams. It is made of things that delight most in the night.” Kyphi is thought to have been the world’s first perfume. The only surviving bottle was discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamen. Remarkably, after 3,300 years it still has perceptible odor.
Egyptian perfume was as fashionable in ancient Greece as French perfume is now throughout the world. Although the art of making perfumed oils for anointing the body and scenting the bath started in Egypt, the Greeks and Romans raised it to an art form. Caligula spent enormous sums on scented baths, for he believed that aromatic baths could restore a body jaded by sexual excesses.
Before the development of today’s sophisticated medicine, people took the matter of health and healing into their own hands. Primitive people’s instinct were finally attuned to nature. Just as animals in the wild instinctively gravitate towards the plants that will heal them, so people applied their inner resources to intuit ways and means of healing themselves, using natural responses.
All ancient civilizations had in‐depth knowledge of herbs, massage techniques and breathing therapies that could be used to sustain health.
At the peak of the Greco‐Roman civilization baths were celebrated for their majestic splendor and elegance. These grand bathing halls were elegantly designed by finest craftsmen. Inlaid precious gems and metals dazzled the eye; great works of art were commissioned or brought back as battle spoils. Statues of Hercules, the God of Strength, and of Hygeia, the Goddess of Health, were always present as cosmetic overseers of the rites of bathing.
For warriors, the main object of bath was to provide a means for attaining good health and physical strength. The bath was not merely for luxury or pleasure; it was an integral part of a warrior’s rigorous training to prepare for future battles.
Each town had a “Great Bath.” People frequented them on a daily basis. There were lecture halls, galleries, and massage rooms, all maintained at public expense.
In Hippocrates’ aphorisms, he wrote “Aromatic baths are useful in the treatment of female disorders.” He has been dubbed the Father of Holistic Medicine because of his brief in curing his patients with as little discomfort as possible. He advocated the use of massage, music, and perform as soothing and healing agents, and he also believed that bathing along girth drinking wine had curative properties. Needless to say, combining the two had delightful possibilities for soothing the body and the psyche simultaneously.
Today we are beginning to rediscover these ancient pleasures. Water Magic will give you guidance on how to proceed on watery odyssey of healing your mind, body and spirit.
Peaceful respites from the pressures of life play an important role in well‐being. So we invite you to turn inward to create a mood of peaceful solitude that will allow you to go on a wonderful journey. Let your spirit be your guide with relaxation, rejuvenation, and pure unadulterated pleasure as your goals.
A Few Words Before You Begin
As You read on, you may find baths requiring some exotic ingredients. At the end of this book you’ll find resources that will make even volcanic ash available to you‐but happily, most of what you’ll nee is obtainable in your nearest grocery or health‐food market.
How to Use the Ingredients in Your Bath Recipes
Oil: For all baths containing essential oils, you may either use the essence alone, or mix it with vegetable oil, honey, or cream. A honey‐and‐cream bath with will have the added benefit of nourishing the skin and giving it a silky feeling. Essential oils do not always dissolve easily in water; mixing them with vegetable oil, honey, or cream will allow them to be dispersed properly by the water, and absorbed better by your skin. Pour the oils into your bath after you have been in it long enough to adjust the temperature. If you pour the oils directly into running tap water, they tend to quickly evaporate.
Bach Flower Remedies: These are natural preparations made from the healing essences of flowering plants and trees. These remedies were discovered, researched, and texted about sixty years ago by noted English scientist and physician Dr. Edward Bach. They dissolve easily into water. As with the oils, put the drops of Bach Flower Remedies into the water after the tub is filled, gently stirring the water with your hands to disperse the essence into the bath.
Homeopathic Remedies: The form of homeopathic remedy recommended in this book is pellets. They dissolve quickly in warm water.
Herbs, Spices, and Flowers: Whenever an ingredient calls for “steeping,” the proper method is to bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove, gently put the ingredients, and also them to simmer for twenty minutes, never boiling again. Then add the steeped contents to your tub. One word of caution: don’t steep herbs, spices, or flowers in aluminum. Use only ceramic, glass, or metal containers, to avoid altering the therapeutic value of the essence.
Stay tuned, more to come............................
MARY MURYN
AUTHOR | HEALER | EDUCATOR |
THE STORIES CONTINUE .............
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