Cleansing Tides

Cleansing Tides

You are standing on a white pristine beach, the waves caress the
shore. An occasional piece of drift wood and conch shells dot the
shoreline. Imprinted lightly in the sand are designs left by crabs and
sandpipers. Waves crash against a rocky atoll to your left spraying
the rock surfaces with their salty rain. A lush, deep, tropical forest
stands behind you, the moonlight reflecting on the damp foliage. A
gentle breeze stirs the branches of the palm trees. The luminous moon
in her veil of twinkling stars shines high overhead.

You are dressed in a white gossamer hooded cloak that glistens in the
moonlight, long and billowing, it trails behind you. About your waist
curving around your hips is a belt of shell and red and black coral
that hangs to your ankles. From you belt hangs a small white velveteen
pouch containing incense, shells and stones. Around your neck hangs a
matching necklace of coral and shells including abalone, clam,
scallop, and a conch for a pendant. Your hair, long and loose, dances
about your face in the gentle breeze.

On a large boulder you set up a small alter using the items from the
pouch at your waist. You make a small fire using pieces of dried up
driftwood and fallen branches inside a small circle of gathered
stones. You cast a circle, seeking the blessings of the Lady and Lord
in your endeavors to be free of all negativity in your life, in your
body, in your spirit. Using a coconut shell you take some of the ashes
and add just enough water to make a paste. After removing your robe,
using your fingers, you write upon your body with the ashen paste. You
write your fears, your heartaches, your health issues upon your body.

Walking close to the waters edge you draw upon the shore a pentacle
large enough to lie in. The waves begin to crash higher and closer to
the shore as you lie inside the pentacle upon the beach bringing the
salty brine closer and closer to your toes. As the lunar charged tide
comes in and washes over you, the ashen writing is removed from your
body, and so too all the negativity, sickness, and fears are removed
from your body, mind and spirit.

Eventually the tide recedes. Slowly you stand and looking down you see
that the pentacle too has been washed away. You feel free, alive,
refreshed and renewed. Energized, you turn and walk back to your altar
and don your gossamer robe. Raising your arms high above you take a
deep breath and draw in the energy of the moon and stars above.
Enjoying the gentle breeze and the beauty of the night, you sit near
the fire and relax in the glory of it all and drift off to sleep.

You wake to find yourself in the safety of your own home, well rested,
happy, and refreshed.

By Lady Kiya