Thriftcrafting: Witching on a Budget

Let it Rain

Merry Meet!

There’s an old Led Zeppelin song that ends with the words, “Upon us all a little rain my fall.” I want to show you how that rain can be used in ritual.

One of the directions I turn to each day is west as I honor the element of water. It comes in many forms: tears, sweat, blood, rain, snow, ice, streams, rivers, oceans, wells.

I remember early on my path, there was freezing rain on Yule, forcing the cancelation of an event I’ve come to think of as the Sacred Circle of Deep Dark Silence. I was pouty because I was missing out on the energy and wisdom it brought, which had sustained me through the previous winter. At some point that night, I realized the world outside was beautiful, all black and shiny. The freezing rain was like crystals shattering on the sidewalk, tree branches, windows and roofs. It was a gift – a gift that could be saved with the help of a bowl.

I have come to collect the rain, snow and sleet that falls on full moons, blue moons, dark moons, sabbats and other occasions such as birthday snows, vacation thunderstorms, pagan festival rain and water from a river water during a worldwide ritual. The water is poured through a coffee filter and saved in labeled jars.

I have used melted snow water from Imbolc to water seeds at Ostara. I have mixed water collected from a waterfall at sunrise on the summer solstice with salt when casting my Yule circle. Doing things like this remind me that the wheel is ever turning.

On one of Hecate’s feast days, I placed a bowl of lake water under the almost-full moon. I recharged it on other full moons while honoring Hecate at the crossroads. I keep it in a spray bottle and use it when I want to invoke her wisdom, protection, power or magic.

You can buy tiny flasks of water from the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England for $4.69 and you can purchase 250 ml of water from the Jordan River for $14.95, and 1.5 ounces of water from the Miraculous Spring of Our Lady Apparitions Grotto in Lourdes, France sells for $12.50 – not counting shipping and handling.

There are times the energy of waters such as these might be desired, but I work with what I’ve gathered for free. When someone travels, I always ask them to bring me back a small bottle of water. I’ll even provide the bottle. I’ve gotten water from the Suez Canal, the Jordan River and the White Spring in Glastonbury, England.

I’ve been blessed to become friends with another witch who does the same, and who had amassed even more bottles and jars than had I. One day this past summer, she and I combined our waters, carefully recording their sources. We then filled every small spice jar, canning jar and olive jar we managed to collect. At a pagan gathering, on behalf of our coven, we distributed the bottles along with slips of paper that read: “These waters have been collected from lakes, streams, rivers and oceans, waters of the world, dark moon rains, hurricanes, full moon rains, snow and sleet.There are drops of water from sacred wells. Take courage and stand for the health of all the waters. Speak your own thoughtful healing words. Form your intent and pour the water into running water. Let if flow toward the ocean. The ocean is the beginning of the earth. We all come from the sea. Please do not drink this.”

For a full moon in Cancer, coven members each brought some water to mix together in a container. We infused it with our energy and that of the moon. Stored in bottles, the idea was to use the water for healing.

Consider dripping some on the top of your head and saying: “With this water I heal myself of all the intolerance, resentment, anger, condemnation and frustration I direct at myself and others. I bathe myself in gentleness, acceptance, gratitude, enlightenment, generosity, abundance, peace, self-acceptance and love. As I say, so mote it be.”

I hope you’ll share ways in which you’ve incorporated water into your craft.

Merry part. And merry meet again.