Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo: Limpias Espirituales of Ancient Mesoamerican Shamans - Erika Buenaflor M.A. J.D. 2018

Water Limpias: Cleansing and Rebirth
Commonly Practiced Limpias from Ancient and Modern Perspectives

Using water in a limpia rite can purify the body, mind, spirit, and soul, as well as facilitate spiritual rebirth and rejuvenation. Blessed water can also charge and cleanse other limpia tools, such as herbs, flowers, and eggs, and can revitalize sacred images. Water can be blessed or charged when placed with certain items during different times of the day and night. Bowls of water can be used as offerings to cleanse a situation, see into situations, or act as a portal into divine realms. Certain sources of water are preferred to perform limpias for particular purposes. Specific water temperatures are also preferred for certain types of limpias. Cold water, for example, is commonly used to seal a rite, especially if it started in hot water or in a sweat lodge.

Water limpias were highly revered by the ancient Mexica and the Yucatec Maya. Bathing in water, being cleansed by water, and entering water fostered pivotal life transitions, including birth, adolescence, accession of shaman rulers, death, renewal, and resurrection. The ancient Mesoamericans performed water-limpia calendrical ceremonies for themselves, their sacred images, and their tools. Bathing was an act of cleanliness and a ritual act of absolution, as filth and dirt were associated with vice, laziness, and disgrace. Temāzcalli (sweat bath) rites were believed to heal illnesses, ensure the safety and health of newborns, and purify an individual from various kinds of vices.

Like fire and mirrors, water could serve as a gateway to other worlds, where deities could be accessed, consulted, and conjured.¹ Water-related deities were among the most pervasive in ancient Mesoamerica. The Mesoamericans honored a pantheon of deities associated with water, rain, and lightning and called upon them during their water limpias.

Pools of water such as cenotes (natural freshwater pools), springs, and bowls of water could be used to see into past, present, and future events.² Particular bodies of water were also frequently worshipped as magical sources of water, where water rites took place, and where water was obtained for other limpia ceremonies.

THE WATER LIMPIA RITES OF THE MEXICA

The Mexica, who greatly venerated water, had many elaborate water limpia rites. A love of cleanliness and bathing appears to have been common among the population. Everybody bathed often. Water could wash away sins and illnesses and help keep the body, spirit, and soul strong. Motecuhzoma (also known as Montezuma), the ruler of Tenochtitlan, was said to bathe twice a day.³ Abstaining from bathing was a sacrifice, and an offering. Merchants, for example, would vow not to bathe until and if they returned safely from long, dangerous expeditions.⁴ Water rites also helped procure a favorable transition into the afterlife.⁵

Water limpias were important for welcoming and cleansing newborns. When a baby was born, the tlamatqui (midwife) would first cut the umbilical cord and then bathe the baby in water. As she did so, she would call in Chalchuihtlicue, goddess of lakes, streams, agricultural fertility, purification, and birth, to cleanse the baby of the parents’ vices and other possible iniquities, to purify their hearts, and to welcome in a good and peaceful life for them.⁶ After invoking Chalchuihtlicue, the tlamatqui would breathe into the water, place it in the baby’s mouth, touch the chest and head of the baby with it, and tell the baby that it had come from the place above the nine heavens and had arrived to earth.⁷

Afterward, parents went to the soothsayers to determine the kind of day the baby had been born on. The tetonalmacani (diviner or soothsayer) would refer to their books, paintings, and writings and would look at the tonalpohualli day sign and its companions to determine the baby’s tonalli. If the baby was born on an unfortunate day sign, they looked to see if the companion signs could improve its fortune.⁸

After these signs were prescribed, the tetonalmacani would determine the day to initiate the four-day bathing rite, the water limpia ceremony in which the baby was named, and her or his trade was determined. If the child was born on a favorable day sign, such as ten rabbit, they bathed the baby on another favorable day, such as thirteenth monkey, to strengthen and improve the day sign.⁹

During the preparation for the newborn’s bathing ceremony, the parents would generously pay the tetonalmacani with foods and goods.¹⁰ If the family was rich and prosperous, the bathing could be delayed seven days, so the naming of the baby could take place on the most favorable day.¹¹ The poor probably did not have the luxury to prolong the bathing rite for too long, even if the baby had been born on an unfortunate day sign.

The rhetoric of the tlamatqui during these water limpias suggests that the fate of someone born on a given day sign could change. The fate of a fortunate person who failed to be humble and disciplined in making offerings to the deities could change for the worse. Conversely, babies born and bathed on unfortunate day signs could change their fate if they were observant in making offerings, humble, and ethical.¹²

The bathing limpia took place early in the morning, when the sun appeared. At the time of the bathing, an important banquet was held.¹³ Assignments were made, and work was distributed for everything. First came the tobacco servers. Tobacco was served and smoked. The flower servers followed, providing flower crowns and garlands. Participants sat smoking and inhaling the fragrances. Then came the chocolate server. They sat and drank a frothy chocolate drink.¹⁴

The newborns of the pipiltzin (nobles) and well-off would be bathed in a basin for a four-day bathing rite, whereas most of the macehualtin (commoners) would be bathed in small springs or streams. The parents and family would make substantial offerings to the water.¹⁵ The tlamatqui would once again invoke Chalchuihtlicue, breathe into the water, place it in the baby’s mouth, and touch the baby’s chest and head with it. Often many tlamatqui and other shamans were involved in this four-day bathing rite.¹⁶

After the rite, if the baby was a noble girl, she was given miniature implements for spinning and weaving. If the baby was a noble boy, he was given a sword and a shield. Children of commoners received symbols of their future professions, according to what had been prognosticated by the sign under which they had been born. For example, if the signs indicated the baby would be a painter, he was given a paintbrush. If it was determined that the baby was to be a carpenter, an adze would be given.¹⁷

The Mexica also used tobacco and a water limpia to help restore a child’s tonalli. The tetonalmacani would invoke the spirit of tobacco through prayer to find and attract the child’s wandering tonalli. After invocation and prayer, the tetonalmacani would place some water on the top of the child’s head and spray its face with water. The child’s shuddering announced the return of the soul piece.¹⁸

Mexica calendrical rites also involved water limpia ceremonies. After the Pachtontli rite, which marked the end of the flowers and the coming of the cold season, they engaged in a water-cleansing ceremony. For this the tlamacazque, embodying the goddess Xochiquetzal, would weave the rejuvenation of flowers into the succeeding season with a loom.^*20 Afterward everybody was required to go to the rivers and bathe before the coming of dawn. This bathing served to cleanse sins and lesser transgressions committed that year.¹⁹ The shaman would warn the people that if they failed to wash and purify themselves, they would suffer ills and contagious diseases. Thereafter they would go to eat tzoalli, amaranth bread, regarded as the flesh of the gods.²⁰

It was common to wash the sick, because the Mexica believed that disease came as a form of punishment, which water could cure by cleansing the related sins.²¹ If a person went to tell a shaman about their own illness, or that of a child or a spouse, the following prescription was given to them: to make and eat tzoalli by grinding amaranth seed, kneading it with corn, and mixing it with honey. But before doing so, they were to wash themselves and purify themselves of sins.²²

The Mexica engaged in calendrical limpia rites to bathe and cleanse their sacred images. On Tepeilhuitl, the festival of the hills in the thirteenth month, they wrapped all of the wooden serpent figurines that were kept in people’s houses in amaranth dough. On the eve of the feast, toward sundown, they washed the surfaces of these figurines at their temāzcaltin (plural for temāzcalli) and at the shores of water. Thereafter they played wind instruments for the figurines and began to adorn them with human accessories. They applied liquid rubber to their faces, placed a spot of fish mixed with amaranth on their cheeks, dressed them in paper banners, and fitted them with paper headdresses.²³

The Mexica also practiced the casting of lots into water to diagnose illnesses, foretell the future, connect with the deceased, and divine into many different types of situations.²⁴ One of my mentors taught me this practice with flowers, glasses of water, and corn. Depending on where the corn and flowers landed, he taught me how to determine the source of a problem and perform a limpia to clear it. Exactly how the Mexica cast lots is not explained, but they did use grains of corn and a basin or water jar, and then looked into the basin or water jar to discern what was typically unseen.²⁵

Certain waters, such as those found in caves and springs, were identified as sacred. The Mexica bathed in and obtained water from these places to perform cleansings.²⁶ Tezcaapan (water mirror), for example, was the name of a spring where devotees came to bathe in fulfillment of their vows.²⁷

There were also sayings concerning bathing and cleansing oneself at sacred waters. Someone who recovered from a great illness or was relieved of a great burden would say, “May I bathe myself at Chalpultepec!”²⁸ For someone who had committed a heinous crime, there was a saying: “Nowhere is there water with which thou wilt bathe thyself, with which thou wilt cleanse thyself.”²⁹

The Mexica frequently engaged in temāzcalli rites to cleanse themselves from illnesses, strengthen the flesh, and give health and strength to both the sick and the healthy (see plate 5). The temāzcalli, the place where the rites were performed, was a small, low hut that could typically hold ten persons in a squatting position. It was typically heated by volcanic stones and by the water that would intermittently be thrown onto them. Fire aided in heating and cleansing the participants. The water that came out of their pores purified and strengthened their bodies, facilitating a kind of rebirth; fire too aided in the healing and cleansing process. After thoroughly perspiring from the heat, participants would leave the temāzcalli and wash themselves with approximately ten to twelve pitchers of very cold water outside. Temāzcalli rites were so important to the Mexica that almost every household had access to one.³⁰

There were shamans who specialized in heating temāzcalli and would perform special rites when doing so. The nobles had people who cleansed their entire bodies with cornhusks while they were in the temāzcalli.³¹ In addition, the temāzcalli for the high-ranking shamans were located at the cardinal points of Tenochtitlan.³²

When an expectant mother was in her seventh or eighth month, the parents of the married couple consulted with a trained tlamatqui (midwife), who would bathe the mother-to-be in a temāzcalli throughout the last stages of her pregnancy, a process that was believed to strengthen the body of the baby.³³ When the mother was beginning to experience labor pains, the tlamatqui would bathe and wash her. If she was wealthy and experiencing severe pain, her tlamatqui would place her in a temāzcalli.³⁴ Like her baby, who would be purified by water at the time of birth, the mother was cleansed by the fire and water of the temāzcalli and the perspiration that came out of her.

As soon as someone died, the person, regardless of their social status, would be stripped naked and washed carefully. After being washed, the deceased was buried or incinerated. The water was essential to ensure a full transition to a favorable passage after death and to banish the family’s grief.³⁵

THE WATER-LIMPIA RITES OF THE YUCATEC MAYA

The Yucatec Maya also used water limpias to mark and facilitate transitional stages of life. The rites purified individuals of vices and the illnesses that arose from them. They procured a cleansing and an ideal birth and rebirth and enabled living people, supernatural beings, and the recently deceased to travel into other planes. They also enabled shamans to prognosticate the future and discern the circumstances that were affecting people. In addition, certain bodies of water were identified as sacred and as being able to cleanse people and ritual objects.

Water limpias were performed when babies were born. Afterward, the parents took babies to a shaman who would declare their fate and the office or post they would have and give them their childhood names. The name of the child remained the same until the coming-of-age ceremony, the caput-sihil, when they took the name of their father. After they were married, they took the name of both father and mother.³⁶

The elaborate caput-sihil ceremony, in which the child was initiated, or reborn, into adolescence, involved many different kinds of limpias, including a water rite. The child was anointed with a sacred blend of flowers, ground cacao, and virgin water taken from the hollows of trees or rocks in the forest.³⁷ Whenever a parent wanted their child to experience this ceremony, they informed the ah-kin, who announced it in town. Afterward four old and honored men were chosen to assist the ah-kin on the day of ceremony as chacs. For three days beforehand, the parents, as well as all officials, fasted and practiced sexual abstinence.³⁸

On the day of the ceremony, parents, children, and officials assembled at the house of the host. They brought all the children who were partaking in the ceremony into the patio or court of the house. An aged woman cleansed the girls, and an aged man cleansed the boys.³⁹ Afterward they cleansed the house and had the children engage in a confessionary platica. Thereafter the ah-kin began to bless the children with long prayers and began to sweep them with hyssop. The director of the fiesta took a bone, placed it on the foreheads of the children, and wet the bone in a jar that contained a sacred blend of water. He anointed the children with the sacred water on the forehead, the face, and between the fingers of the hands and feet.⁴⁰ Then the shamans’ assistants brought a bunch of flowers for the children to smell and a pipe to smoke.⁴¹ The sacred water marked the children for a coming of age at which they could now take the name of their fathers.

Water gathered from the dew of leaves and flowers, as well as from the hollows of trees, understood as virgin water (sujuy ha’ ), was also used to cleanse their idols and spaces, such as their temples. Shamans often consecrated areas by spraying this water from a serpent-tailed aspergillum. They also aspersed this virgin water during platicas and consecration rites.⁴² One of my mentors had me get up at dawn to gather the dew on particular flowers, indicating that both dew and flowers had magical properties ideal for limpias. The ancient, and many modern, Yucatec Maya associated flowers with the breath soul that symbolizes the life force, and with the process of death and rebirth (see plate 8).⁴³ Florida water made from spring or blessed water, along with certain flowers, is still one of the most common tools for limpias of self and space.

The Yucatec Maya bathed constantly, but principally for health rather than cleanliness. Vice caused illnesses, and it was believed that water could cleanse vice.⁴⁴ They bathed frequently in cold water, especially after leaving the chitin (sweat bath). Like the temāzcalli of the Mexica, the Yucatecans’ sweat bath houses were usually heated by volcanic stones and the steam from the water that was thrown onto them. The water was commonly infused with cleansing plants.⁴⁵ The sweat bath houses were sacred spaces, where people could cleanse themselves from physical illnesses to keep the body strong. Babies were also born in sweat bath houses, and then bathed with water. They were also ritually charged spaces, where time itself took on different representations and where deities could be consulted, conjured, birthed, and rebirthed.⁴⁶ The ancient Maya constructed both physical, functional sweat bath houses and metaphorical ones, pib naah shrines. The pib naah was a sort of inner sanctum, probably a private space where the elite Maya conducted sacred rites, including limpias.⁴⁷

Cenotes were highly revered. They were the principal sources of water in the northern lowlands of Yucatan, where there are neither rivers nor lakes. At these cenotes the chacs, Maya rain gods, were worshipped. Surfaces of particular cenotes were also understood as having divinatory qualities. It was common for the Maya, especially in the northern lowlands of the Yucatán, to conduct pilgrimages, sacred ceremonies, and offerings at particular cenotes. The cenote at Chichén Itzá, for example, was likely one of the most important destinations for the precontact Yucatec Maya. The great round surface of water was likely perceived as a mirror for divination and auguring (see plate 9).⁴⁸

The Classic Maya often depicted other worlds or underworlds as watery realms. From these watery realms, deities, such as the Maize Deity, could be rebirthed and travel.⁴⁹ There is also strong evidence suggesting that the Classic Maya believed that at the time of death, the soul entered a watery underworld realm and went through a process of further death and transformation.⁵⁰ Entering this watery realm was probably seen as a means of traveling through other realms to become something else.⁵¹

The Postclassic K’iché’ Popol Vuh also identifies a watery realm, or literally a body of water, as a source of transformation and resurrection. In the Popol Vuh, the hero twins enter the underworld of Xilbalbá and its many levels, such as the House of Bats, the House of Knives, and the House of Fire. The bones of the twins are then ground and thrown into the river, after which they are resurrected once again as handsome boys.⁵²

INTEGRATING ANCIENT MESOAMERICAN WISDOM

My mentors taught me early on about the versatile uses of water for limpias cleansing items, people, and spaces; they also taught me how water could act as a gateway to other realms, while at the same time serve as an offering. They provided me with important recipes for baños, instructed me about the types of limpias that were recommended for certain bodies of water, and about the use of certain water temperatures for limpias.

Exploring the ancient Mesoamerican rites enabled me to develop my limpias with water and deepened my comprehension of the many benefits and uses of these rites. Inspired by my ancestors, I began to use them to mark and facilitate life transitions, and to activate, vivify, and renew sacred spaces. I also began leaving bowls of water at strategic places with the intention that they would serve as offerings and gateways to specific planes.

Charged or Blessed Water

For water limpias, it is necessary to use charged or blessed water. Typically, blessed water, as its name suggests, is understood to be water that has been blessed by a Christian priest in curanderismo traditions. Charged water, by contrast, has been blessed by someone who is not necessarily a priest. The term also refers to water that comes from a sacred source, whether it is one that has been identified as such by a shaman or one that has been widely revered as being sacred.

My first set of mentors taught me to always have on hand a glass of charged water for the day. The water could be used to prepare eggs for limpias; to dip my hands into before a card reading; to place on the forehead of my clients after limpias in order to seal the cleansing; to sprinkle on a bundle of herbs or flowers for a limpia sweep; or to leave as an offering on my altar. Some ways to charge water include:

Water, crystals, and light. Put filtered water, or preferably spring-water, in a clear glass or bowl, and place a clear calcite or clear quartz crystal inside the bowl. Then place the bowl on top of a parchment paper on which a prayer has been written with a number-two pencil. Leave the glass of water outside or on a windowsill for a full twenty-four hours to get both the magical energy of the moon and the stamina of the sun. Be aware of the moon phase: the new moon is for new beginnings; a waxing moon is for increase or expansion; the full moon, for completion; and a waning moon, for decrease. Keep in mind that even if it’s cloudy, the rays of the sun will go through the clouds to raise the water’s vibration.

Water with plant cuttings. Water with plant cuttings that can produce roots is also a great source for charged water if it has also been getting sunlight and moonlight. Plants such as coleus, mint, African violet, oregano, basil, sage, lemon balm, thyme, and rosemary can grow from cuttings in a glass of water. Water the parent plant a day or two before taking cuttings. Take cuttings from a healthy, vigorous, and disease-free plant. Cut three- to six-inch sections of a stem that has a growing tip. Make a clean, angled cut just above a leaf node. Trim off any leaves on the lowest one-third to one-half of the cutting, keeping at least two leaves on each cutting. Place the cuttings in a water-filled jar so that the leafless portion of the stem is submerged and the remaining leaves are out of the water. Set the jar with cuttings and water somewhere that gets partial sun, like a windowsill. If the roots turn brown and mushy with rot, discard the cuttings and water.

Prayer or invocation. Say a prayer or invocation over the water and send your loving intentions into it. If you are using a glass of water, it helps if you also place a label with one or two words reflecting what you would like the water to do for you personally or for loved ones.

Water from a sacred site. Obtain water from a source that has been identified as sacred. Place some of this water into a glass of spring water or distilled water, say a prayer over it, leave the glass open, and let the water absorb at least eight hours of sunlight. After that point you can seal the glass, and you now have more sacred water.

Florida Water Limpia

A Florida water limpia is an all-purpose cleanse that removes dense or stale energies and then renews the person with charged or blessed water. I start out by taking a tiny bit of Florida water in my mouth (but not past my teeth) and spraying the person with it. I make sure to always get the head, heart, solar plexus (abdomen), root chakra (genital area), knees, and feet. If the person is sitting down, I also spray the spine. I run a rattle over their body to shake away stagnant or dense energies. I then sweep away these unwanted energies with a feather fan, flowers, herbs, or an egg (chapter 7 explains how to conduct sweeps). Finally, I anoint the person with charged or blessed water, placing it on their forehead, throat, and heart chakra. The water at the end seals the limpia and facilitates a rebirth. (As I explain in chapter 7, see here, sometimes I will use an oil to anoint the person and facilitate a rebirth. The choice, of course, has a lot to do with intuitive guidance.)

Water Limpias for Graceful Life Transitions

Placing glasses of charged water in certain configurations is an ideal water limpia for going through a significant transition, such as leaving a job that is no longer in alignment with oneself, initiating a divorce or separation, or beginning a new business. The following items will be needed:

· Four- to eight-ounce glasses. The number of glasses needed depends on the kind of configuration that will be made with them. (Please do not use these glasses to drink from after this or any limpia. The items that are used for these rites are sacred and magical. They should be placed in a separate space, out of reach, so they are not mistakenly used.)

· Incense or charcoal and resins, preferably copal.

· Epsom salts and rubbing alcohol (to cleanse the space first with a white fire limpia).

· Charged or blessed water. There should be enough water to fill the glasses of water more than halfway.

· A prayer or invocation.

Begin by cleansing the space where the water limpia will take place, possibly with a sahumerio or white fire limpia (chapter 8, see here, discusses how to conduct these rites). Then make a configuration with the glasses of water, and leave a space through which it will be possible to walk to the middle. Here are some basic configurations:

· Squares: to seal an intention. It is also recommended to use a square to inspire peace in families and nonromantic relationships. Five glasses of water will be needed (see figure 6.1, below).

· Triangles: to strengthen and focus an intention. It is common to use triangles for business or entrepreneurial ventures, or when clarity is needed. Using triangles is also ideal for enhancing the charge of an oil, tincture, salve, or mister. Four glasses of water will be needed (see figure 6.2, below).

· Circles: to influence outcomes. Circles can change misfortunes to great fortune and can heal physical and emotional illnesses. The number of glasses to be used depends on the intention and intuitive guidance (see figure 6.3, below). Here is a little insight into numerology using basic numbers, as well as some master numbers:

o Five: flexibility and freedom

o Six: matters of love and compassion

o Seven: good fortune and wisdom

o Eight: unity and divine power

o Nine: securing divine aid and cooperation

o Ten: completion

o Eleven: connection between all that exists, that has ever existed, and that will ever exist

o Twenty-two: actualization of the God within the self, recognition that God is in the totality of existence, and understanding of the God outside of the self

o Three-three: ease in actualization and manifestation

o Forty-four: metamorphosis and continued change

After making the formation, walk into the middle of it and close it with the glasses of water. Focus on the intention, and pour the water into the glasses, moving clockwise. Return to the center, sit with the central glass of water, and focus on a rebirth. Sometimes I bring my brazier, charcoal, and copal in the middle to further cleanse the space and myself, as well as to serve as an offering. I sit with my intention of rebirthing, say prayers, sing a medicine song or two, and journey. If I am doing this limpia for another person, I may also do a barrida for them and/or take them on a shamanic journey while we are in the middle of the formation.

I stay in the center until I feel the intention has been set and the limpia is complete. After I am done, I pour the water on a plant, so that the plant’s spirit helps to nourish my intention of rebirth and spiritual growth.

A Water Limpia Petition

A water limpia petition can be done instead of doing a velación to cleanse a situation or manifest something that is in ideal alignment with oneself. This rite opens pathways for ideal outcomes. The following items will be needed:

· Four- to eight-ounce glasses. The number of glasses that are needed depends on the kind of configuration that will be made with them. (Again, please do not use these glasses to drink from after this or any limpia. These are sacred, magical items and should be placed in a separate space, out of reach, so they are not mistakenly used.)

· Incense or charcoal and resins, preferably copal.

· Epsom salts and rubbing alcohol (to cleanse the space first with a white fire limpia).

· Charged or blessed water. There should be enough water to fill the glasses of water more than halfway.

· Charcoal tablets.

· Wooden matches.

· A brazier or steel urn for burning the charcoal.

· Parchment paper.

· A number-two pencil.

· A picture that reflects whom or what the petition is for (optional).

Begin by cleansing the space where the water limpia will take place, possibly with a sahumerio or white fire limpia. Write the petition or intention with the pencil on the parchment paper. (I highly recommend following the guidelines for writing petitions described here.) Arrange the glasses of water in a geometrical configuration, and place the petition in the center. If a picture is being used, place it on top of the petition, and then place the glass of water on top of the picture. If there is no picture being used, then place the glass on top of the petition. Place a glass of water in the middle, and then place water in the rest of the glasses moving clockwise.

Finally, light the charcoal and place the copal on it. Plan beforehand to place the charcoal on the steel urn, as the charcoal gets very hot, and leave the urn outside the geometrical formation. Make offerings of copal regularly, preferably at night before going to bed and in the early morning. Leave the water in the glasses, and let the formation stay intact long enough to coincide with one of the following intentions.

Figure. 6.1. Square Water Limpia Petition.

Illustration by Carolina Gutierrez.

Figure. 6.2. Triangle Water Limpia Petition.

Illustration by Carolina Gutierrez.

Figure. 6.3. Circle Water Limpia Petition.

Illustration by Carolina Gutierrez.

· New moon: new beginning; a three-day ceremony. Begin one day before the peak of the new moon, and end on the day after the peak.

· New moon transitioning into the waxing moon: new beginnings that will lead to the expansion or increase of something; a ten-day ceremony. Begin the ceremony on the day of the peak of the new moon, and end it nine days after.

· Waxing moon: focusing simply on the expansion or growth of something; a nine-day ceremony. Start four days before the peak of the waxing moon, and end it four days after the peak.

· Full moon: sealing an intention; a three-day ceremony. Begin one day before the peak of the full moon, and end on the day after the peak.

· Full moon transitioning into the waning moon: sealing an intention and clearing off residues that may not be in alignment with this closure; a ten-day ceremony. Begin the ceremony on the peak of the full moon, and end it nine days after.

· Waning moon transitioning to new moon: winding something down prior to a new beginning; a nine-day ceremony. Begin eight days before the peak of the new moon, and end on the peak.

What to do with the water after this rite:

If a new beginning or an expansion was requested:

· Pour the water on a plant inside the house or in a special area of a garden, preferably somewhere where curanderismo work is done.

· Bathe in this water.

· Use this water in a mister.

If a closure or decrease was requested: What to do with the water depends on the energy of what you asked for. If it is something dense, consider placing the water in the sun for a day while in the glass and then tossing it into a dry area of land. If you’d like to get rid of the water immediately, flush it down the toilet. If the closure or decrease is not necessarily dense, place the water on a succulent or bathe with it.

Baños and Bucket Cleansing

Baños are baths that cleanse and revitalize the mind, body, and spirit and can also aid in soul retrieval. For a bath, make sure the water is hot; not scalding, of course, but hot enough to produce a sweat. To further detoxify the body, add a cup of Epsom salts to the water. Here are some recipes for these types of limpias:

All-purpose herbal cleanse and renewal. Use any or all of the following herbs: rue, rosemary, basil, parsley, mint, chamomile, sage, or vervain. It is very important to communicate with the soul essence of the herbs prior to using them, and to thank them for the cleanse and renewal. This will strengthen the effectiveness of the limpia. Place the herbs directly in the tub, or steep herbs in water and then pour the water into the tub. An easy and effective way to steep them is by using a coffee or tea maker. Typically, a twelve-cup coffee or tea maker and a handful of herbs will yield five to seven pots of steeped water.

To improve fortune. For seven straight days take a bath with dew water, river water, well water, holy water from a church, coconut water, or goat’s milk. The dew water can be gathered from plants in the early morning.

For calmness and removing negative energies. Carry out the same process as in the all-purpose herbal cleanse and renewal described above, making sure to use all of the following herbs: basil, rosemary, chamomile, and rue. They are great for ridding yourself of negative energies and for calming the nerves.

To resolve money issues. Boil seven heads of garlic, and take a bath with this water. Repeat this process for three straight days. After the third day, write a petition on a piece of parchment paper with a number-two pencil to clear any money issues and welcome in financial abundance. Light a seven-day candle, and place the petition between a glass of water and the candle.

For alleviating depression. Boil basil, rosemary, peppermint, cinnamon sticks, coffee grounds, and sugar together. Bathe with this water. Repeat this process for three straight days.

As an alternative to using a tub, use a five-gallon bucket, and repeat the above steps by mixing regular hot water and the prepared water into it. Spread out the prepared water so that you can pour five to six bucketfuls over yourself, letting the water drench first the head and then the rest of the body.

After a water limpia, wash off with cold water, the colder the better. Both hot- and cold-water hydrotherapy have great benefits for the body, boosting circulation, reducing stress, and stimulating the removal of toxins from the organs. The first time I experienced this water hydrotherapy, it was after a temazcal ceremony. I had several buckets of ice-cold water poured over me, which I was not expecting. Every part of me wanted to run away, but I was in shock and unable to move. I began to become more accepting of this practice after I experienced the amazing clarity and focus I had after this water limpia. Now, after every baño, I take a shower with cold water. My ancestors knew that this practice cleansed and revitalized the body, mind, and spirit, and I too have embraced it.

How a Water Limpia Helped Me

Approximately in September 2005, when I finally came home after my catastrophic injury, I was hospitalized for a couple of months and was at my mother’s house for another month. Both of my ankles had fractures, but my right heel had been injured especially seriously: all of my bones from the knee down had come out through it. Unfortunately, the doctors did not do a culture when they placed the bones back inside my foot, and six weeks later they determined that I had severe osteomyelitis, which caused me to lose many of the bones in the heel. They had been contemplating what kind of surgery they would do to close the hole up, but after they discovered the osteomyelitis, they delayed surgery because they wanted to wait and make sure the infection was completely gone first. In the meantime, they placed a wound vac on the heel to keep the open wound clean and help it to heal.

When I came home, I was alternating between a wheelchair and a walker while I was awaiting surgery. Until then, I was told, I could not place pressure on my right foot. I had also been taken off the wound vac, leaving me still with an open wound.

After a shamanic journey, I knew I had to charge some water, place my feet in it, and let the water heal my feet, so I’d be able to walk normally again. I placed a bucket of water outside in the sun for one hour and put into it pyrite, rose quartz, amethyst, black tourmaline, and a spikenard-based oil blend I had made. Spikenard releases fear and doubt, and I was ready to let go of any residual fear and doubt that I had about being able to walk again or being in constant pain, which I had been told would be highly likely.

After the hour, I wheeled in my bucket into my sacred room and placed it on my lap. I opened the ceremony with a New Fire and lit a charcoal in my brazier and placed copal on it. I placed my hands over the water and said a prayer of gratitude. I thanked the water and all of the accompanying elements to help me to release fear and doubt and to help heal my feet. I placed my feet in the water. Immediately I began feeling electrical surges coming up from my feet and running up and down my body. The surges were not painful in any way; rather, they felt as if they were stimulating the muscles that had not been used for months.

I continued to perform weekly water limpia ceremonies. In two weeks, the wound finally closed. The pain had also subsided, and I was able to get off the pain medications. After the surgery on my heel, I was walking with a completely normal gait in less than two weeks. I am grateful for both my spirit guides and human mentors who taught me about the amazing healing properties of water. My healing was realized because of their help and guidance.