I recently received a very interesting Ask A Witch question, one that I’m honestly surprised I haven’t
been asked a hundred times before! It’s a great question that brings about the need for us, as magickal practitioners, to take into consideration our own personal perceptions of things verses what other people may say is the “way it is”. So here is a great question concerning the using of “large bodies of water” in magickal work and my double-edged response.
Hello. I have a question about utilizing the element of water, particularly the ocean, in spellcasting. I’ve come across a variety of spells that make use of running water such as a river or stream, which I understand, but they often indicate that not only lakes and ponds but also the ocean do not qualify as running water. This confuses me, since I see the ocean as one massive, continuously moving body of water. Why would so many people consider the ocean non-moving in regards to magickal purposing? Also, as someone who lives at the ocean, I’m particularly interested in working with this awesome force of nature. What types of magick do you feel would be best benefitted by working with the ocean? Thank you.
– Sunny
I have to day, Sunny, that is a wonderful question! There are really two different ways to look at this and I’m going to explore both and then let you decide what is best for you and your work. Remember, going with what you feel is the best for you is always going to lend more confidence and, in turn, energy and power to your work than doing what someone else says is “the way”.
As another Witch that lives at the ocean, I share your love of the this great, powerful representation of the Mother. I spent many years trying to find a way to live as close to the ocean as I could and finally, after a little magickal intervention, at the beginning of this year I was finally able to make that happen. But when it comes to using the ocean and certain types of magick we can find a little bit of an impasse.
First, the issue of rivers and streams verse the ocean as a running body of water. Think about the way that an ocean moves as opposed to how a river moves. They both have definite movement, this is true, but they have very different flows and currents. The river moves in one distinct direction where as the ocean churns, the tides move in and out and roll back and forth on the shore. When we’re working a spell, like a banishing spell for example, and we create a representation of what we wish to banish or wash away from our lives and we need to toss it in a running body of water, using a river will fill this need a bit better than an ocean. With the river, we can stand at a distinct point and throw the object into the water and see it carried away from us, never to be seen again and thus taking away the unwanted energy (unless, of course, we went and chased it down to the mouth of the river). With the ocean, were we to stand at the end of the shore and toss in our magickal object for banishing to have the sea take it away, there’s a good chance that it’s going to roll back to the shore a number of times before it gets pulled out further into the water. This keeps the energy from swiftly leaving and it also can mean that this object, and the energy contained in and around it, could just as easily find its way back to us if the seas are too rough or not rough enough.
For certain types of magick the ocean is a great resource where a river might not be the best option. The ocean being a large body of salt water makes it the ideal place for cleansing magick where, with a river, you have to rely on the current for cleansing to carry things away. So if the river you have near you doesn’t have a strong current you may not find the cleansing power of that river to be terribly strong, but the river is always full of cleansing power and energy. As for lakes and ponds, their currents are very deep under the surface and do not have the same pull and flow that an actual, moving body of water has; typically because a lake or pond doesn’t have a visibly moving current they are not considered moving bodies of water (and for the most part ponds are stationary). While a pond or lake will have some sort of small run off or outlet, they aren’t current generating and aren’t considered a good option for spells and magick that call for water that will pull, move and cleanse something in the way that a river or stream will.
It all comes down to what you’re using the body of water in the first place. So consider first your purpose and what you’re using the water for. If you want the water to carry something away then you’re going to want a body of water that is going to be moving away from your in a distinct way. If you want to use water for cleansing or consecration you can use the salt water of the ocean and see the lapping waves as the hands of the Goddess cleanings you or you can use the freshwater of a lake to diffuse any negative energies from you or an object. Just consider the ultimate goal of the spell, the available body of water you’re looking to work with, and how that body of water actually moves and flows since that is going to impact the energy of your work. For example, at the ocean you can use a piece of drift wood, a wand, or your finger and draw symbols or words into the sand at the edge of the water with a wish or desire and then speak an invocation or prayer as the waves wash up and pull away your magickal images into the seas to churn away and create energy for your desire, knowing that once the images are completely smoothed out your spell is in motion. This isn’t something you could do at the beach of a lake because it doesn’t have the same sort of current or flow behind it.
All that said, I think that you should also work with what seems to make sense for you. If you see that ocean as once big moving body of what (which I don’t think anyone would ever deny is true) and you feel it will work for such spells, then try and see! If you find that, through experience, it works for you then you have found your answer. If you find that the results are less than what you’d hope for, then try working with a river or stream and see what different outcome you have. The best way to formulate how to work your magick is to work it and learn from your experiences. Magick never works the same for everyone.
