The following post originally appeared in an article I wrote for Lewellyn’s 2016 Magical Almanac. The copyright has reverted back to me as of 2018 so I’ve decided to republish the content on The Creative Cottage blog. I’ve also added additional water lore information to the end of this post – this information never appeared in the original article.
Unlock Your Inner Spirituality with the Magical Power of Water
Water is one of the four elements along with earth, fire and air. The correspondences associated with this element are dusk, west, fall, taste, female and moon energy. Invoking the magical power of water causes an emotional awakening and spiritual purification of your body, mind and soul.
Invoke the power of water magic when working spells and rituals dealing with love, friendship, healing, peace, divination, intuition, dreamwork, and psychic awareness. Learn how to unlock your inner spirituality using the magical power of water.
Water Personality Types and Animal Totems
My sign is Scorpio, which along with Pieces and Cancer, is one of the 3 water signs of the zodiac. I’ve been in south Florida for over 20 years and live a short distance from the ocean. I have a dolphin tattoo on my right shoulder and a scorpion tattoo on my left ankle. There are many animal totems you can include in your magical practices when working with the water element including fish, sharks, whales, seals, toads, frogs and turtles.
I am lucky to live by a small pond, home to a variety of aquatic life. We also get the occasional visitor from JW Corbett Wildlife Management Area such as water moccasin, baby gators and a particularly feisty otter that likes to help himself to our pet koi. On any given day, I can choose to work with one of these magnificent creatures as my own personal animal totem. I love living next to a 60,000 acre wildlife refuge and working with the gifts of nature!
Water Colors, Gemstones and Symbols
Water manifests as a variety of colors including gray, green, blue and white. Certain colors lend themselves to specific rituals. You can use food coloring to change your water any shade of the rainbow. Use dark blue for rituals dealing with loyalty, success and expansion of occult powers. Light blue is the perfect shade for inspiration, truth, harmony, inner peace and communication. Silver is a great color for meditation and developing psychic powers. Use white when working spells for purity, truth and spiritual awareness.
If using water isn’t an option simply substitute one of the many gemstones associated with the water element. Water gemstones include aquamarine, aventurine, blue topaz, chrysocolla, moonstone and opal. And don’t forget the gifts from the sea including shells, coral and pearls, which are all wonderful symbols of the water element.
A cup is a magical tool associated with water. The suit of cups in tarot cards refers to relationships, emotions, feelings and connections. A reversed cup card signals sorrow, melancholy, indifferent emotions or an overemotional state of mind.
Cups aren’t the only symbol used to portray this suit; chalices, cauldrons or goblets also symbolize the water element. Really any vessel that will hold liquid, such as an abalone shell or small saucer, can be used as a symbol for water.
Predict the Future with Water
Hydromancy, or water scrying, is a form of divination, or fortune-telling. Water scrying predicts or interprets past, present and future events. Moving or stationary bodies of water, such as wells, rivers, ponds and lakes are used for hydromancy rituals.
A Tibetan singing bowl, or mortar and pestle set would make a perfect scrying vessel, but any bowl or saucer will suffice. Fill your bowl with water and gaze upon the surface. Use your fingers, a small branch, or magic wand to trace circles in the water around the edge of the bowl. Observe the motions of the water and record your interpretation of the symbols you see, in a journal or small notebook, for predictions of what may happen in the future.
Skipping rocks across a pond and interpreting the motions of the rippling water is another form of water fortune-telling. A form of botanical hydromancy is to throw a handful of leaves into a moving body of water and interpret their patterns of movement upon the water.
Water Rituals and Water as Creator
Water is a very powerful force and sometimes, instead of creating life, is a deadly taker of life. Whirlpools, water spouts, tempests, monsoons, tidal waves and tsunamis are some of the most destructive forms of water.
Water is the perfect element to invoke when working rituals for fertility, renewal, rebirth and transformation. Water has many magical curative properties including the power to heal. According to legends particularly potent waters, such as springs, wells and the fountain of youth, were capable of bestowing the power of immortality to anyone that partook of the waters. All you had to do, to enjoy the magical powers, was to either bath in or drink the water from the fountain and enjoy eternal youth.
Wicca, and other pagan traditions, use water in a variety of ceremonies. Magically blessed water is also called consecrated or holy water by certain religions. Create your own magical water by mixing ½ teaspoon of salt with 1 cup of water, or whatever quantity you need. Some people feel that rainwater mixed with sea salt is more potent than tap water mixed with iodized salt, but use whatever products you have on hand. If you live near the beach, you could collect a bit of seawater, which is naturally filled with salt.
Holy water banishes evil spirits and eliminates negative energy from your magical workspace. Use your blessed water as a spiritual cleansing before starting your ritual work.
Moonlight Water Purification Ceremony
The moon influences all water bodies on the earth. The monthly cycle of the moon phases causes an ebb and flow of tides in oceans, seas and large lakes. You can create magical water imbued with the energy of the moon, and use it as your own special form of consecrated water. Use your purified moon water to wash away any negative energy before casting a circle for spell work.
Refer to an almanac, such as the Old Farmer’s Almanac, to learn what phase the moon is in on any given day. The full moon is a perfect time to work abundance spells while the waning moon is better suited to banishing spells.
Add a bit of water to a small container such as a glass or ceramic bowl. Place the bowl outdoors, in a sheltered place, so small animals such as the neighbor’s cat can’t disturb it. Let the bowl of water soak up the rays of the moonlight, either overnight, or at least for a few hours.
Recite the following charm while decanting your moon purified water into a clean container:
- Beautiful mother moon,
- We hope to see you soon,
- Imbue our water with your silvery rays of light,
- Shine down your energy and lend our spell some might
Fresh Water Direct From Nature
Some people think that moving water from streams, lakes and rivers is more spiritually alive than tap water or water collected from a non-moving source such as a pond, pool, or canal.
I remember collecting fresh mountain spring water when I was a pre-teen and teenager living in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate NY. We never worried about pre-treating the water before drinking it as we thought it was pure and all-natural. These days, unfortunately, it is usually a health hazard to drink untreated water.
Freshwater is not as safe as it once was. Stormwater runoff, sewage discharge and contamination from fertilizers make much of our freshwater supply unfit for human consumption. Common freshwater contaminants include Giardia, E. coli, brain-eating amoeba and flesh-eating bacteria.
You must devise other means for obtaining safe drinking water. It’s okay to collect water used for ritualistic purposes, and not for drinking, from just about anywhere including a stream or lake. Treating water by boiling, bleaching or iodine tables leaves a product that is bland, inert and sometimes has a funny aftertaste. Using a filter, such as a ceramic cartridge, to cleanse the water is about as close as you’ll get to the real thing.
If you think tap water is lacking in spiritual energy, try collecting your own water the next time it rains. I like to collect rainwater as it falls from the sky, but you need some sort of basic filtering system to strain out any dirt and debris that is present. I used to have a large rain barrel set up under a downspout gutter at my house. I took a large piece of plastic window screening and placed it across the top of the barrel to keep larger bits of debris from falling into the barrel.
There was a small spigot towards the bottom of the barrel for pouring off the desired quantity of water into a watering can. My house plants loved a drink of fresh rainwater. Prior to using the water for ritual work, I strained it through cheesecloth to remove the finer bits of dirt and sand. I also mixed the cleansed water with a bit of sea salt to create my personal stash of blessed water. I think it’s time to set up a rain barrel at my new house and start collecting the magical element of water!
About the Author
Lynn Smythe lives in south Florida on 1 ¼ acre of land devoted to herbs, vegetables and butterfly gardening. She is a freelance writer and the founder of The Creative Cottage blog. She is also a Contributing Writer for Arianna Huffington’s health and wellness website, Thrive Global.
Additional Water Spirit Lore
The following section is extra water magic content which I cut from the final article appearing in Llewellyn’s 2016 Magical Almanac.
There are many water spirits and deities associated with various cultures, and they don’t all have a friendly disposition. Mermaids, merfolk, undines, and naiads are just a few of the water spirits found in folklore and ancient literature. For example, who can forget the Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legend?
Water gods include Neptune (Roman), Poseidon (Greek), Manannan mac Lir (Irish) and Vu-murt (Finnish). Water goddesses include Anahita (Persian), Mamacocha (Peru), Tefnut (Egyptian) and Chalchihuitlicue (Aztec).
- Sea Shell Charm
- White foam of the sea,
- Dancing on high waves,
- Treasures of the ocean,
- Adrift on strands of seaweed,
- Search the tide pool cave,
- Find an abalone shell for me
Water Fun Facts
This element comes in many forms; ice is a solid, water is a liquid and vapor is a gas. Select the exact form you need for your next ritual or magical ceremony.
You can buy a water mister from home improvement and garden supply stores. These devices convert the water from a liquid state to a refreshing mist. While some people may argue the mist is not a true gas, cool water vapor is a safe substitute for hot steam created by boiling water.
Water Elemental Gardening
Water features are essential in Chinese Taoist and Japanese Zen gardens. Make your sanctuary a quiet place of relaxation that can be enjoyed by the entire neighborhood. Incorporate a number of items into your garden to make it more inviting to friends and family and attract the water spirits to your yard.
Benches and chairs urge your friends and neighbors to relax and enjoy the flora and fauna throughout your sanctuary. A birdbath, water fountain, or water mister are great features to use in your yard to welcome the water spirits and water nymphs into your garden.
I’d love to hear what other ways you like to incorporate water into your home and garden.
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