Orphic Spiritual Hygiene For Eclipse Season
Some suggestions for ritualized self-care during the weeks that the Sun and Moon pass through the Dragon's Lair
How you care for your spirit-body-mind during eclipse season can vastly support you through its volatility and intensity. Here are some suggestions for ritualized self-care during the weeks that the Sun and Moon pass through the Dragon's Lair. These are simple practices that can be performed with tools and ingredients found at your disposal in the kitchen and home or easily procured from your local market or botanica.
Altar Cleaning + Preparation
The days following the Full Moon and leading up to the New Moon are perfect for cleaning altars and sacred spaces. If you haven't had the chance to tend to your altars or set one yet, now is the time to energetically and physically cleanse your shrines or the space wherein you would like to install your altar.
You will need:
Florida water, Eau de Cologne
Salt, powdered cayenne, bay leaves
Frankincense, Copal or Dragon’s Blood resin, charcoal tablets
White candles
Wine glass or vessel
Gin or water for libations
Clean. Clean. Clean. Get rid of dead flowers, discard old offerings, polish precious stones, wipe picture frames, dust off statues and consecrated objects.
Lightly sprinkle salt and powdered cayenne pepper across the floor (assuming the area is not carpeted), sweep in an outward direction (away from the altar and towards the door). Sweep everything out the door.
Make sure all windows are open. Smudge the altar and area with Frankincense, Copal or Dragon’s Blood. These resins when burned repel unwanted entities and attract your benevolent ancestors and spirits. Burning bay leaves also create a cleansing, apotropaic smoke.
Mop the floor with Florida water or eau de cologne and wipe the altar with a cloth soaked in Florida water or cologne if you have enough for the job. Otherwise sprinkling the water or cologne will suffice.
Once everything is clean, light a white candle and fill the wine glass or vessel with fresh water on your altar. Some of my ancestors consume coffee so I keep a special saucer and plate for serving them espresso on their altar. Libations can be extended from being contained in vessels on your altars to pouring on the ground three drops of water, gin or other liquors/spirits preferred by your benevolent ancestors and spirit guides. Pouring your libations, offer your petitions for releasing, banishing, healing, protection, guidance. Pray at your altar as often as you are called to, and especially during any heightened intense moments thru the course of eciplse season.
✧Avoid placing mirrors on your altar during eclipse season, and keep scrying tools covered when not in use.
Spiritual Baths
Black Walnut Bath for Cord-Cutting + Uncrossing
You will need:
a handful of crushed Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) husks
1-2 gallons of spring water (tap water is fine if you don’t have access to spring water)
1–3 black candles (white is acceptable if you can't find black candles)
base or carrier oil and powedered cayenne for dressing the candles (annointing oils are perfect if you have them)
mesh strainer
Dress the candles with an oil base and the dried, powdered cayenne or any herb blend that is preferrably pungent. Prior to taking the bath, light the candles on your altar.
In the evening before taking the bath, bring the water to a boil then add the black walnut husks. Turn off the heat, cover and steep, allowing to cool overnight. *Strain the water to separate the husks. Please keep in mind that the black walnut will turn the water a dark brown to black tissan, which can stain or dye clothing. In the following morning (after lighting your candles) you will take the bath.
As you take the waters recite your prayers for uncrossing, banishment and psychic cord-cutting, while invoking your benevolent ancestors and spirit guides to walk with you and protect you.
The traditional way of taking any spiritual bath is outdoors in a private, natural enclosure. However, if this is not possible then take the waters in your tub or shower. The most important thing is that the waters should be poured over the crown of your head down to the soles of your feet. Do not drink the water.
*Please note: if you do take this bath outside in your garden, make sure to do so away from other plants since the water may contain chemicals that will inhibit the growth of some plants. The nuts, hulls, bark and wood of the Black Walnut tree have specific health benefits, with the hulls used to make tinctures and dried powders for treating fungal infections, cold sores, eczema, gastrointestinal issues and for detoxifying the blood. In other words, the extraction of these hulls is potent and should be handled with care. Avoid consuming the water and consult your herbalist regarding dosage if planning to take internally.
Another option is to fill your tub with water (no soaps) and add the strained black walnut water into the tub. Submerge completely head to toe in the water while reciting your prayers and envisioning the binding cords you wish to sever being cut.
Afterwards, rinse with cold water —do not use soap or shampoo. Allow your body to air dry (do not use a towel).
✧This bath may be repeated up to 9 times throughout eclipse season.
Purifying Bath for Atonement + New Beginnings
You will need:
1-2 handfulls of lemon or lime leaves, common sage leaves (Salvia officinalis), lemongrass, cilantro, thyme
3+ gallons of spring water (tap water is fine if you don’t have access to spring water and more water is fine if filling a tub)
1–3 white candles
base or carrier oil, powdered cinnamon and dried jasmine flower buds for dressing the candles (annointing oils are perfect if you have them)
mortar & pestle
Crush the dried jasmine flower buds with a pestle in a mortar, adding the powdered cinnamon to make an herbal blend. Dress the candle(s) with the carrier oil, sprinkling the herbal blend on top. Light the candle(s) in a candle holder or on top of a plate (this should be a plate that is used only in ceremony; do not use plates that you eat off of).
Fill a basin or tub with water, adding all the herbs (preferrably fresh and not dried). Mix and squeeze the herbs with both hands — this should turn the water a light green. Ideally, you will prepare and take the bath outside in a garden or private natural enclosure, but if this is not available then preparing and taking the waters in your bathroom is fine.
While pouring the bath water from head to toe, pray or petition for the forgivenees of past deeds, for the gentle purification of the auric field and to be prepared for receiving prosperity and equinimity in this next chapter of your life. There will be plant matter involved, which can be used to “scrub” the skin and wash the physical body. If this is bothersome for you, however, you have the option of straining the water into a second basin from which you will pour the water onto yourself without any of the plant matter. Do not rinse and allow to air dry without a towel.
✧This bath may be taken at the beginning of eclipse season and in the days following the final eclipse.
Warding
To the Anishinaabeg, yarrow is said to scare off evil. It is hung or tied along with sweetgrass and cedar on doors and/or windows. The yarrow is to scare off the bad. The sweetgrass is to encourage and attract the good. And the cedar is to balance the two...
In a case where a person is very worried about evil attacking them, for instance in a Bear Walk or in a haunting situation, dried yarrow is pounded and mixed with sand. The mixture is then poured across doorways and window sills or around the entire foundation of a home or around the entire perimeter of a property.
It is said that evil will not cross a line of yarrow.
–Mary Siisip Geniusz
Yarrow Warding Sand
You will need:
3-5 clusters of dried Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) flower heads — more depending on length of perimeter you wish to cover
4-8 oz of DRY fine grain sand — gathered from nearby water shore, if possible (allow to dry in the sun before adding to mixture)
jar or container for keeping
large (stainless steel) bowl
mortar & pestle
Separate the dried Yarrow florets from their stems, then crush them to a powder with the mortar & pestle. In a large bowl mix the powdered Yarrow with the sand, allowing for their consistency to be an even match.
Sprinkle lines of the mixture across your windowsills, at the entrances to your home, and along the perimeter of your property while the Moon is waxing or waning. As you draw the warding sand lines, recite your prayers of protection.
Yarrow is all about boundaries and helps us determine if something isn’t good for us, giving us a sense of protection and reducing anxiety. It is also beneficial when establishing healthy boundaries with other people.
Not only does it act as a powerful ward, keeping unwanted things at bay, it also allows for what is desirable to pass through uninhibited… It aids in psychic awareness by enhancing energy flow and blocking out unwanted chatter, allowing messages to come through more clearly.
–Coby Michael
Admonitions
REST - When undergoing major transformation or cyclic changes, it is imperative that the body rests to allow the mind and spirit to integrate any changes. Prioritize your rest, do not overexert nor overwork yourself.
HYDRATE - You will be eliminating and releasing toxins especially if working with Black Walnut, but even through eclipse season a lot is being surfaced for expelling. Make sure you are staying hydrated to flush out toxins and emotional residue that can otherwise pile up in the bloodstream.
BREATHE in NATURE - Immerse yourself in nature as much as possible. Walk barefoot as much as possible when in the forest or on the beach. Focus on your breathing. Practice forceful exhalations when releasing heavy thoughts, feelings or pain. Breathe in deep, lung filling inhalations while envisioning light entering your cells. Swim in large, natural bodies of water to clear psychic residue and recharge.
FASTING - In some cultures, religious people fast or abstain from preparing and eating food during an eclipse. Please keep in mind this is usually done in community and in consideration with one’s overall health condition and needs. For example, pregnant people should not fast under any circumstance. It is not intended as a prolonged fast or starvation which can lead to energetic imbalances and increase aberration of eating disorders.
GROUNDING - Aside from literally grounding the feet into the earth, eating roots and grains prior to or after an eclipse can assist psycho-physical grounding on the cellular level. Yams, potatoes, carrots, beets, gluten-free grains all benefit the gut and aid in bringing balance if feeling spaced out or excessively ethereal.
SOMATIC BODY-WORK - If you have access to a licensed professional massage therapist, invest in at least one body-work session. This benefit the lymphic and nervous system by stimulating blood circulation and gently releasing any stagnant energy in the fascia in the process of addressing any stored trauma in the body. Breath-work and movement techniques such as breath of fire and full body shaking are also potent ways for moving any stuck energy.
MANTRAS - Streaming and/or chanting mantras are potent remediations in the Jyotish tradition, which I picked up from my time spent as an ashramite and through the teahings of Sri Achyutananda’s lineage. Dakshinamurthi is the manifestation of Shiva as the ultimate, benevolent Guru. Jyotirlinga is the radiant devotional form of Shiva. These mantras are recommended during eclipses since it is admonished to lean into one’s spiritual practices. Rahu-Ketu Beej and Gayatri mantras remediate any afflictions of the lunar nodes. Compiled here is a playlist of Dakshinamurthi, Jyotirlinga and Rahu-Ketu Beej & Gayatri mantras:
MEDITATION + SPIRITUAL PRACTICE - In various spiritual traditions, eclipses are regarded as portals of destiny. During an eclipse, it is said that whatever one does is magnified, and therefore it is admonished to lean into meditation, prayer and spiritual practice.
THINGS TO AVOID - Avoid exposing yourself to the baleful rays of the occulted luminaries during an eclipse. Taking a spiritual bath or performing a limpia after being exposed to an eclipse can act as a remediation, however. So if you do find yourself enraptured under, make sure to cleanse from the crown of the head to the soles of your feet afterwards, either with sacred waters or sacred smoke.
Many cultures prohibit those who are pregnant or trying to conceive from going out under an eclipse. This is tied to the possibility of early miscarriage or preterm labor induction as it is common for labor to commence at the new or full lunar phases, with volatility increased by the occultation of the Sun and Moon.
In some spiritual traditions, temples will be closed during an eclipse and it is prohibited from making contact with sacred objects or shrines. After the eclipse has passed, ritual cleaning of holy sanctuaries, temples and idols takes place.
During and in between eclipses, it's admonished to not initiate important projects or affairs due to the instability of the luminaries. In the astrological tradition it is advised to not begin important activities when the Moon is conjunct either lunar node, as it will likely not reach its fruition. Therefore *manifestation magic* may be the least effective during Solar and Lunar Eclipses.
The best thing to do is to practice relinquishing control during this time, and to heighten your spiritual practices of prayer, hymn or mantra recitation and meditation.
References
Hounon, Naji — Spiritual baths, ritual protocols and admonitions from family folk remedies and personal experience.
Geniusz, Mary Siisip. Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings. University of Minnesota Press, 2015.
Michael, Coby. The Poison Path Herbal. Park Street Press, 2021.
Rana, Narayan C. Myths & Legends Related to Eclipses. Vigyan Prasar, 1995.