A Beginners Guide to Water Magic
The oldest magic on Earth never died. It’s still flowing down the hillsides, literally falling from the sky. Before humans worked with plants or stones, the first source of medicine was water. Across my ancestral lands— the British Isles and European continent— some of the oldest sites of worship are springs, uprisings from the Earth where miracles have been reported. In the mountains where I live today, the Cherokee— the ancestral people of these lands— have a saying: take it to the water. No matter what hurt, illness, imbalance or pain you are experiencing, you can take it to the water for healing.
In the Celtic wheel of the year, autumn is associated with water. A time of depth, reflection, and intention. The fall is a liminal season where we can plant the seeds of new visions, a dream for the world to come.
This past week, as we watched swaths of the western mountains go up in pine-cracking flame, we also celebrated the autumn equinox. As we tip into fall, the reality of global warming and the profound need for humanity’s healing is flaring before our eyes.
If there was ever a time for water magic, it is now.
This time last year I was visiting the holy wells of England, my matrilineal homeland. I made pilgrimages to wells bedecked with clooties, colorful scraps of fabric hung from nearby hawthorns. I climbed into water-dark catacombs with candles dripped to the walls like crystals and hiked through cow fields to find hidden springs lined with ferns. The thing that struck me the most about these water-touched places, spaces where humans have worshiped for thousands of years, was how strongly the prayers still echoed. They were alive in a way that was hard to feel elsewhere— as if the water had kept them flowing.
Some days it can feel like life is hard as stone, the future fixed and immanent. But when we work with water, and its magic, we remember that everything is flexible. The future is malleable, the return to the wellspring already underway. We have the ability to use our intention to help usher in another way of being; a future where the waters run clear again.
As we move into the autumn season, the call to create a new prayer for your life, and the Earth, is rushing in like rain— and the water is here to help. If you are interested in working with the resurrecting magic of this first medicine, check out my new video below: A Beginners Guide to Water Magic.
In the video I go over my three favorite practices for working with water, to shift your life, bless the land and change the flow of fate.
I once had the opportunity to attend a gathering with the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. There was a fire stoked, songs shared, and ashes gathered. When the gathering came to a close these wisdom keepers from around the world were asked to share one final piece of wisdom. In unison, they said— pray for the water.
Human prayer is like water for the Earth. It nourishes the wellsprings of our planet and can move into the deepest aquifers. It is a gift that can refill any cup and help us find our own inner resources when we feel too tired to move forward.
As we go deeper into the fire of this fall, remember the power of your inner upwelling. Pray for a rain that will calm our spirits, springs that can perform miracles, a river of awakening that will show us the way home. And know that all the waters of the world are hearing your prayers.
Hello:
I am hearing impaired and cannot make out the lyrics. If anyone reading this could jot them down in a comment I would be so appreciative,
Thank you, Laura
Hi Laura, thank you for writing. Are you referring to Asia’s video above? If so, when you hover over the video you should see in the lower right corner an option for “cc.” Clicking this will show the written dialogue at the bottom of the screen. If this is too small, you might click the video title within the video box, which will take you to youtube where you can watch the video on full screen and see larger captions. I hope this helps! – Shannon, One Willow Team
Perhaps you’ve heard this before but I felt it was worth sharing here. This video touched me so deeply that I now sing the Water Song whenever I wash my face, fill a teapot or make coffee. I also sang it during the growing season when I was out watering my plants and herbs. Enjoy!
Cathy- Thankyou for this medicine song. I have felt the rising of my Native American ancestors stronger than ever over the last few weeks. As I go back to the healing elements of the earth to remember and teach I am so grateful what appears. I saw a vision of a sea turtle yesterday in the ocean waters and then your water song appears with the turtle 🙏⭐️. Aho ❤️
During the equinox and solstices I like to meditate on nature and the upcoming season during the exact time and shift. This past Fall Equinox I felt inspired to set a bowl of water out during the shift and after it happened I drank the water. I didn’t understand why I did that other than it felt nice. But after watching your video (which I felt drawn to) I think the water was absorbing the Fall Equinox and I drank that for some beneficial reason. Love the idea and concept of how water absorbs and captures energy and thoughts, truly magical.
I also love the idea of praying with the water as it slips through your fingers and giving back. Definitely going to try that out.
Thank you!
Beautiful and inspiring; I never thought to give back to the water by blessing it and praying with it as it slips through my hands and back into the ocean. I will do this tomorrow morning! Water does so much for us in all of our energetic bodies and it makes so much sense to pray over her. One of the rituals I have before going out to surf is crossing myself with the water for protection. It was a lovely way to frame it as “annointing”, especially as I don’t adhere to Catholicism necessarily but rather the cross as sacred geometry for the earth plane. Thank you Asia!
This is so lovely Amanda, thank you for sharing!!!
Living in the Land of 10’000 Lakes, MN, I like to go out into my favorite lakes and float and feel just like a flower creating a flower essence in the lake. I try and radiate my love and gratitude out into the lake. I also like to sit next to streams and listen to the water and join with it and feel like it is flowing through my body. I am now going to add that as it flows through me that I am infusing it with love and gratitude. Thanks so much for your insights on water.
How beautiful Dan… thank you!
Hi Asia
I ‘make’ my own drinking water for the family. I filter tap water and add some spring water (feels a bit like a homeopathic treatment) into a glass container. I leave it out each night on my lawn under the moon and stars. I love Emoto’s photographs.
Lovely to hear your ideas. Lots of possibilities. Thankyou.
This is so special Bernice! What an exquisite gift for your family.
Thank you so much for this! I love my special connection to Water in Autumn. The practices you noted are already part of my rituals, but I love how you reframed them for me… seeing them through the eyes of magic. One of my favourite ways to work with Water in the autumn is making Falling Leaf Essences (essentially the same process as for making Flower Essences) which are very helpful for me in releasing and letting go with their waning energies.
A falling leaf essence! This is so lovely!!
Asia, in my garden, beneath a wise old silver birch, I have a natural spring that I call the ‘vulva garden’ because of its shape, but also because it feels like a portal. Similar to the Chalice Well, it draws me deep into the earth, where I can connect to the creative juices in the womb of the Great Mother! Surrounded by soft green moss and lush plants and flowers, the spring is a crystal clear pool. This year rainfall has been abundant so it’s remained full to the brim all summer! There is a large mossy stone where I sit. Chosen quartz and amethyst stones remain there all the time and a candle that I light when I am present. I go there often, sometimes to cry or to pray, sometimes to sit and give thanks for all the blessings. I am there for new moon and full moon, for turnings of the wheel, in sun, snow and rain, darkness and daylight. It’s the place where I speak aloud about everything and know that I am heard. My worries and troubles and when I have old painful stuff to release. It is especially potent when it rains, every raindrop as it hits the water feels like a wish being hand delivered. I float rose petals, dried herbs or drop tiny rose quartz crystals in, as a gift. Often I get down and kneel close so I can look into it, wondering if I might see the future or the past or be shown some hidden wisdom like the women in ancient times who used the wellsprings for scrying. I’ve not seen anything… not yet… 😉
It is a portal into the earth, into this mountain, a place where others have been before me. The spring is sacred, it’s been here forever, I’m sure. She knows me now and everything becomes still when I go there to sit. It is a place to call in my guides, my higher council, a place where I am heard, the water witnesses everything I feel. I have a place of entry and I leave the same way I came in, it’s part of the ceremony, like walking a labyrinth.
I love what you said about using a bowl of water if you don’t have access to a natural spring or river. I believe a sacred place can be created anywhere by placing a bowl of water outside, make it beautiful, place flowers around it, or make a small pond…. a simple place to connect with the earth energies and to communicate with our magical helping spirits! Thank you Asia for this beautiful video!
Wow Debbie… this place in your garden sounds SO special!!! Thank you for sharing it with us here. I can feel the energy and its magnificent. And I *love* the idea of creating your own small pond of healing energy around a bowl of water. Gorgeous!!!!
Thanks for sharing, Asia. Wonderfull intro on water magic. Last year, I visited Lourdes in Southern France. It is known, especially in the catholic world, as a place of devotion for the holy well where Mother Mary came to Saint Bernadette in visions to tell her that the water needed attention, that it was healing. Now it is this beautiful sanctuary where people from all over the world come to experience the holy waters from the grotto. I never visited a place where people hold such reverence for the water before. It was truly magic. Universal, healing water energy. The water in my body holds the memory of that place and I will never forget it.
Oh wow, how special Miekje! I would love to visit Lourdes one day. What a profound gift.
Thank you for this beautiful reminder! Greatly enjoyed as it softly rains.
I keep a couple of blue glass liter bottles that I fill with water and set on a sun-filled window sill to make ‘solar water’. Before I drink it I apply reiki, blow love gratitude and compassion into it and ask that it help heal me and upgrade my dna. A shaman taught me long ago this practice.
Taking a bath is a great use of water’s magic, especially when adding flowers and essential oils as well as meditation and daydreaming while in your bath. During these special private moments, we could set an intention. I’ve always heard that water soothes our emotional states too.
Thanks for sharing Davorah! And I agree… baths are divine!
So informative and beautiful to hear. Thank you, Asia!
Thanks for reading Susan!
Always in the shower, And whenever I am running water from the tap, I use Emoto’s “ water we love you water we thank you water we respect you.” mantra chant
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing this Teresa.
Lovely. Thank you, Asia. This took me back to my time in England last year, visiting the Chalice Well and walking beside streams and brooks. It’s time for me to reconnect and bring water magic into my home and daily experience.
It took me back too Sara. What a sacred place. Sending so much love to you today.
Beautiful Asia. Thank you.
I am working on a model of nature-based images to walk the paths through the kabbalistic sephirot. I have placed Air and Water in Da’at. Your words and images added to my understanding.
I would love to share the model with you at some point when it is a little more developed.
Very cool Sarah! Sounds like an amazing project.
I have gallon size water jugs that I fill with drinking water and I tape written words of intention to the outside of the jug (LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, COMPASSION, UNDERSTANDING, etc.) I also tape same or similar words of intention to the sink faucets so that the water that passes through them absorbs them.
I never thought of taping words to the faucet!! What a brilliant idea Suellen!