Sacred Water

I’m floating in the void, high in the heavens captured by an image that leaves me breathless. I’m swept away by the sight of the Earth rising in space, and for a profound moment, I catch a glimpse of divinity in the luminosity of the blue planet glowing in a sea of wonder. For the astronaut, Dr. Edgar Mitchell being in space and viewing the earthrise was a life-changing experience; he was suddenly aware, at ‘a deep emotional level’ (Spiro 2001), of the supreme interconnectedness of the universe and his place within it. This iconic image of the blue globe spinning in space not only inspired the space traveler, but it also became the symbol for the awakening of a global environmental movement. We define ‘deep blue’ as that glimpse of divinity resonant in the life-affirming connection between humans and water. Embedded in this lived and living religion is a deep reverence for water and water bodies that manifests in a profound relationship with the divine other. It is an expression of the sacred that honors the flow of this precious liquid through a multitude of waterscapes – rivers, oceans, embayment, lakes, swamps, springs, rain, snow, and ice – including the human body. Like other forms of nature religion, the deep blue venerates the ecological processes on which life depends and acts in service to preserve and protect these essential and life-sustaining ecosystems.

Authors: Sylvie Shaw and Andrew J.P. Francis

Water is the most life-sustaining gift on Mother Earth and is the interconnection among all living beings.  Water sustains us, flows between us, within us, and replenishes us.  Water is the blood of Mother Earth and, as such, cleanses not only herself but all living things.  Water comes in many forms, and all are needed for the health of Mother Earth and the world.  The sacred water element teaches us that we can have a high strength to transform even the tallest mountain while being soft, pliable, and flexible.  Water gives us the spiritual teaching that we, too, flow into the Great Ocean at the end of our life journey.  Water shapes the land and gives us the great gifts of the rivers, lakes, ice, and oceans.  Water is the home of many living things that contribute to the health and well-being of everything, not in the water.

All life requires water, and yet our global water supplies are quickly being dried up and polluted.  The First Nations peoples of North America have a special relationship with water, built on our subsistence ways of life that extend back thousands of years.  Our traditional activities depend on water for transportation, for drinking, cleaning, purification, and provides habitat for the plants and animals we gather as medicines and foods: our ability to access useful water shapes these traditional activities and our relationships with our surroundings.  As Indigenous peoples, First Nations recognize the sacredness of our water, the interconnectedness of all life, and the importance of protecting our water from pollution, drought, and waste.

Water is the giver of all life, and without clean water, all life will perish.  First Nations are seeking the recognition of their authorities over water. They require resources to build capacity to advocate for our water rights and to protect the health of the water that Mother Earth gives.  Many First Nations seek to restore the traditional ways of sharing and preserve the health of the water in the world.

Water symbolizes regeneration, fertility, purification, and transformation. Across the globe, spiritual traditions revere water and use it in rituals of purification, blessing, and connection into divine paths.

Healing Waters

People search the world for sacred water sites where they can immerse and experience oneness with God. Healing water rituals have existed in all cultures since recorded time and are thought to have lived in pre-historic cultures for millions of years. Most ancient cultures maintain spiritual creation stories crediting water as the origin of life.

Mythological stories of water gods passed down through verbal traditions, and many continue to live on in modern religions and ceremonial rituals. Every culture on Earth has a spiritual reverence for water and uses water symbolically in ceremony, christenings, baptisms, and initiations.

Many shrines constructed to praise the element of water, and often, these particular sites attract hundreds of thousands of people who make regular pilgrimages to participate in water healing rituals.

When water emerges from underground, it is right there where it experiences its first exposure to light. Water is sacred and appears with the resonance of the heart, the Earth, and within its cells. These sacred wellsprings may be in very remote places. It is no surprise that people will travel through rugged terrain and suffer hardship to touch those pure waters. When the water has flowed over rocks, minerals, soil, and roots, the energies present in each molecule are bursting with electromagnetic energy, and they have not been distorted by human contact or toxic resonance.

You can create sacred water rituals wherever you are, and you don’t need to find pure springs or holy sites. Here are some ways you can transform the energies of the water using whatever water you have access to.

An Offering Ceremony

Bring an offering to the water. If you are visiting the ocean, river, or lake, bring a stone or an object that you have imbued with your love. Pray and express your gratitude for the healing and abundant flow of water where you are, and then dig a small hole near the water’s edge and place the object into the hole, and offer your prayers for the health of the water and for what you want to experience. Carefully covering the hole, release your prayers to the object you buried, and then to the sea. Visualize the resonance of your prayer seeping into the stream and flowing wherever that watercourse takes it.

Immersion Healing

Find a place where the water seems exceptionally clean and welcoming to you. You may do this ritual clothed, but it is best to remove all clothing so the water can make contact with the entire surface of the body without taking on the resonance of apparel. Look for a private spot where you will not be disturbed or offend anyone who may happen to pass by. Pray at the water’s edge for your healing, your perfect vibrations to flow into your blood, your cells, your organs. Imagine that when you step into the water and then submerge yourself, the water will flow through you as if you are a net, taking with it all of the impurities which have contributed to your lack of well-being. Try to immerse yourself up to your neck, if only for a moment. If the water is cold, do not say in longer than 60 seconds. In this amount of time, your cells will be transformed. Thank the water for your healing, immediately wrap yourself in something warm. Dry yourself and leave an offering at the water’s edge to show your appreciation.

Sacred Water Healing

Collect rainwater or snowmelt water in a glass vase or jar. No plastic ever! Place a quartz crystal in the container and allow the water to sit for 10 days. During this time, keep the vessel on your altar or a place where it will be undisturbed ultimately. Each day, pray and send your healing blessings into the water morning and evening. At the end of the 10 days, carry the vessel to a significant watercourse in your community that may be polluted or take some toxins (just about all of them do.) If you want, you may let the crystal flow out of the vessel into the water and become part of your offering. If you wish to retain your crystal, place a silk cloth over the container, and pour the water through the silk. Pour the water with great joy and imagine that you are pouring the water of compassion into the public watercourse.

This container of water became healing medicine and will immediately begin to transform the public watercourse. Visualize the blessed water spreading out like a vast cloud, changing all the toxic water it mixes with downstream. If you want to do this is in a more public way, invite hundreds of people from your community to participate. Each should bring a glass jar and collect a sample of the water from the place you wish to heal. Each person will take their pot of water home and pray and send love into the water. In ten days, call the group together again at the same site or same body of water and release all jars of blessed waters at the same time. Water is incredibly useful as a healing ritual for the entire community as the power of intention is amplified exponentially each time more than two people gathered for the same intent.

As a peace demonstration, your spiritual group can pray for peace into the water and release it on a pre-planned day.

“The voice of the sea speaks to the soul” ~ Unknown Author