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| Healing bath, 1548. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY |
Ritualistic Bathing is a religious or sometimes magic ceremony involving the element water to anoint or purify one's body and mind. This has played a part in almost all cultures and religion's and is a very old practice helping fight the spread of diseases before germ theory was even established. In Greek mythology specific natural springs were said to be blessed by the god's to cure disease so they built bathing facilities. Legend in Egypt says that Cleopatra would bathe in donkey milk and honey for her complexion, also Ancient Egyptians would utilize salt from the Dead sea to exfoliate their skin. Both Egyptians and Greeks used the healing properties of Rose water.
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| Man and woman feasting and tippling in a bath. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY |
In modern times The most common spiritual baths today are seemingly from Hoodoo and Rootwork almost all contain hyssop possibly because of Psalm 51:7 So it has become somewhat Christianized in nature regardless it can still be left out or reworked to fit different pantheon's and cultures for the most part no one seems to know when the modern practice of spiritual baths started with some hinting toward the late 60s - 70s it is no doubt more hoodoo in nature then Egyptian or Roman obviously but it could draw inspiration from that. Spiritual baths today are done in the comfort of our own home with effortless running water unlike using natural Spring or filling a Iron tub also it is no longer only a thing of royalty because of ingredients like fresh milk, Epsom salt and Rose water being easier to obtain then having to seek a far traveling merchant, Mine or make.
Usually spiritual baths cooked with herbs can have a unsightly Tea like color like greyish white, Reddish brown, Gold, Green and dark brown depending on the ingredients used. To make the environment more bright people tend to add dyes and fresh ingredients particularly Flowers which has brought an all new thing people like to call Bath art if you don't wish to do this For whatever reason is perfectly fine. People use spiritual baths for all kinds of things like money drawing, beauty, cleansing of negative energy, love, empowering the body and much more partaking in this ancient cleansing by the element of water certainly isn't something to miss out on.
Sources
“Wellcome Collection.” Wellcome Collection, 2019, wellcomecollection.org/works/hcyxfsj8. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
Contributors to Wikimedia projects. “Milk Bath.” Wikipedia.Org, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 3 Apr. 2006, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_bath. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
“Ritual Bath | Britannica.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2020, www.britannica.com/topic/ritual-bath. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
---. “Salt Extracted from the Dead Sea.” Wikipedia.Org, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 20 Feb. 2008, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_salt. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
---. Wellcome Collection, 2019, wellcomecollection.org/works/zss5324h. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
Coughlin, Sara. “Hear Us Out: Bath Recipes Could Change Your Life.” Google.Com, Refinery29, 9 June 2017, www.google.com/amp/s/www.refinery29.com/amp/en-us/spiritual-cleansing-bath-salt-recipe. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
Contributors to Wikimedia projects. “Book of Psalms, Chapter 51.” Wikipedia.Org, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2005, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_51. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
---. “Flavoured Water Made by Steeping Rose Petals in Water.” Wikipedia.Org, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2 Aug. 2002, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_water. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
