FOR THE LOVE OF WATER

It's been a month since I have had running water. A month of lugging water, and really looking at just how much I use daily. Water for dishes, water for laundry, water for showering, washing the floors, drinking, and soaking...

Being without water brings things up close and personal, my life feeling like the microcosm of the macrocosm. As a water witch and priestess it has been particularly painful. Not just because it's inconvenient, but because water has been my go-to for emotional and empathic balancing as long as I can remember. While my problem is not technically a lack of water, as the handpump at the sacred well is still going strong, it is a problem that feels prophetic...showing the problem that we are all facing as the Earth moves through changes, and weather patterns become more extreme.

Most of New England is currently in severe to extreme drought conditions. Well Drillers and plumbers are working round the clock, as wells run dry and the air feels parched! I started crying the other day driving home as I felt the thirst of the trees that lined the road along my scenic drive; leaves dry and dull, the vibrancy of autumn a muted haze of its normal fabulousness. This sorrow led me to my favorite river in New Hampshire for solace, however I found that my beloved Ammonousuc was running lower than I had ever seen in the 40 plus years that I have visited it. All of these things compounded until I found myself so overwhelmed that I called my sister and said "I need a reading, I need something, I am not ok!"

Having a kindred/bonded relationship with water; as priestess and witch has been a blessing in my life. I have used sacred bathing as a way of centering myself and removing empathic static from my life. While I have been fortunate enough to have a place to shower, I had not sat in, soaked in, connected with water in a month and I was starting to feel a bit like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown; my aura filled with debris like a cloud of dirt!

When I got to my sisters she agreed to give me a reading, to help me focus my mind, but informed me that what I really needed was a good soak; which she prepared ceremonially for me in her tub. Like myself my sisters bathroom is a sacred place, designed to do more than clean oneself. As I sat in her living room crying softly, she puttered around her bathroom filling the tub, adding crystals, laying out oils and sprays, and lighting candles. When she was finished she put on some Nordic Trance Music (my favorite) and left me to it! I should add that I had smoked copious amounts of cannabis before entering the tub, as it was my hope to get guidance from my spirits and with my clouded mind I was looking for any help I could get going deep!

Entering the tub, I began crying again, my emotions so close to the surface that even the slightest thing could activate my personal water to flow! The water was hot, really hot; my favorite, the room was dark, and the music just loud enough. At first my mind ran, going over my troubles, and sorrows and then remembering the words my friend Corey had spoken to me prior to my sacred bath, "You have water!" She was right! I did have water, I had ample flow of water coming from my sacred well, it just wasnt going into the house. While I had been mourning my water, I was never missing it; just experiencing more work getting it!

I then began to talk with the Spirit of Water 'Ae-Ah', recognizing that the spirit of water is in all water, and I was desperately in need of guidance. All my questions felt like too-much chatter, the rambling of someone who was chasing their own tail, letting their mind spin in circles. Then the water spoke to me in my mind 'Listen, be, allow, flow...'

I then found myself moving through temples with vaulted ceilings, so vividly that I could make out details of architecture; ceilings, floors and walls changing as I moved through temple after temple. I walked down stairs, I moved through tunnels, and everywhere I was seeking the water! Water that flowed through canals deep under ground, water that was seen as deeply sacred, water that I knew flowed deep under deserts, and arid landscapes... places throughout time! I recognized that these were all places I had been before, that it was me; the eternal me, that had served water in these holy places, praying, honoring, and loving water!

As I finished my bath I went through some kind of annointing, as if Water was preparing me for the times that we are in, removing my scared 'I don't want the World to change' childself from the drivers seat and replacing it with the Priestess I need to be in these times; reminding me that I am here on purpose and I have work to do!

I left my sisters bath with my mind centered, and a lot more clarity then I have had in a long time. Being reminded of purpose reminded me of my responsibility, to the water and to my community. It gave me a direction, and put me on notice that I needed to start using the water that is so sacred. That I didn't need to carry water from away, I needed to fill my pail and haul the water inside, that I need to drink my water, bathe in my water and be thankful for it even when it's not convenient. We are still working on the well issue as we wait for the plumber to have time for us.

Today I filled my pails with grace and thanks, I honored the water as I pumped it from the well; annointing myself first, and this afternoon I bathed with my water, shallowly filling my tub with 8 gallons of water; pumbed from the well and heated on the stove. I cried with joy sitting in my shallow tub of water, thankful for the precious sacredness of the water from my home. My skin celebrated the lack of chlorine, and my soul sang with joy!

While my situation is temporary, it has taught me a lot about water and responsibility, About the value of every drop...

spreading love-salicrow

Ps- It rained briefly while I was writing this, I pray for more!

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