What is a White Bath?
The white bath is a type of spiritual cleansing bath and it is probably one of the most popular types that you’ll encounter. While many different magical or spiritual traditions have a version of this bath, the way that I was taught was by my Madrina in Lucumi. We also practice espiritismo cruzado in our ile, so the way I make this bath is reflective of that practice. She showed me how to make this bath on the day I attended my very first misa (spiritual mass) many years ago and it is one that I still use to this day, regularly.
I use the white bath as part of a larger cleansing routine. I like to use this bath once every month and when I take it, I do it for 3 or 5 nights in a row. Remember, there is nothing more empowering to your magical work than good spiritual hygiene.
A white bath is helpful when you feel overwhelmed or emotionally heavy or feel spiritually “off”, lost or disconnected.
In order to make this amazing spiritual cleansing bath, you are going to need a few things…
A baño blanco (white bath) being prepared at Bayou Root House
Various types of milks & colognes, cascarilla, and white carnations are the most common elements of a white bath for spiritual cleansing
Ingredients
- Cool water
- Cows milk
- Goats milk
- Coconut milk
- White carnations
- Florida Water or other spiritual colognes you prefer
- Cascarilla
- A white candle
- A cigar
- A washbasin (a white metal palangana is generally what I use when making spiritual baths but any large bowl you have is fine)
How to Make a White Bath
When you are ready to make and use your white bath, choose a time when you won’t be rushed.
You should take a normal shower first, if possible. This doesn’t have to be a long shower, just a quick wash and rinse is fine. Before you step into the bath, it helps to create a calm, relaxed environment. Turn down the lights, set a couple of candles and turn on some quiet, soft music, or it can be silent if you prefer.
To begin, you just pour a small amount of cool, fresh water into your basin. This can simply be water from your kitchen sink.
Next, you will add each of the milks to the basin. There is no specific amount of each that you add, I off add each in equal proportions but you should listen to your spirits and your own discernment to determine what feels right to you.
Now, take a small handful of cascarilla, crush it up and add it into the bowl. Cascarilla is most often used as a protective material as it is crushed eggshell powder. So, like the shell of the egg, it represents a protective barrier to the new life forming inside of it.
After you’ve got all of that added to your basin, you will pour in some spiritual cologne(s) you prefer. Most people add Florida Water or other more common cleansing perfumes but feel free to experiment with this. There are so many wonderful smelling spiritual perfumes out there that work great in baths so don’t limit yourself and you should aim for even the scent of your spiritual baths to resonate with both you and your spirits. Other perfumes I like to utilize in my spiritual baths are things like Pompeia, Siete Machos, Sandalo, etc. Just as with everything else in this bath, you add however much to the mix as you’d like.
Lastly, take a few of the carnations and pluck the petals off and add them to the bowl. As you do that last step, you will pray to God, your ancestors and to “all the good and helpful spirits who walk with me” to bless and infuse the spiritual bath with cleansing and protective energy.
To seal it all in, take your cigar, light it and place the lit end in your mouth and blow smoke out of the other end, blowing it into the bowl. Do this in the form of a cross and/or a circular motion while you mentally speak a final closing prayer. The smoke carries that final prayer into the bath and gives it life. With this action, your spiritual bath is ready to be used.
When you are ready to use your bath, you should take a normal shower first, if possible. This doesn’t have to be a long shower, just a quick wash and rinse is fine. Before you step into the bath, it helps to create a calm, relaxed environment. Turn down the lights, set a couple of candles and turn on some quiet, soft music, or it can be silent if you prefer, whatever helps you get into the right frame of mind to perform sacred work. Place the candle on the floor and light it. Step around it and into the bathtub with your wash basin. You then hold the basin up at neck level and pour the bath down your body (only from the neck down as we typically reserve cleansing of the head for major situations, or in some cases before initiation into specific traditions, as it is too easy to strip away things that are supposed to be there).
When you get done, step out of the bath, stepping directly over the candle as the flame acts as a barrier that keeps any and all of that heavy energy you just cleaned off of you in the bathtub. Allow yourself to air-dry or you can lightly pat yourself dry, but try not to swipe too much.
Clean up and place your candle wherever you’d like and let it burn itself out. If you still have some of your used spiritual bath left in the bathtub, collect some of it and toss it outside your front door.
For the rest of the night, you should try to wear white or light-colored clothing, preferably loose fitting. Try to avoid arguments, going out after dark or anything that brings about stress or anger. When you perform cleansings on yourself, it is sort of like having an open wound. Yes, all the negative or dense energy will be able to flow out of you freely, but likewise, negative energy can also get in easier at this time.