The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.
—Isak Dinesan51
While water may not actually cure everything, it certainly does provide solutions and solace for so many things. I find the above quote by Karen Christence Dinesen, Baroness Blixen-Finecke, aka Isak Dinesan, to be truly inspiring. Despite living near lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans my whole life, during the writing and research for this water book I learned quite a lot. Water Magic has helped me see and experience water in many different ways, and I hope it has done the same for you. Water has reminded me that there can be tears of joy as well as tears of sorrow. There are baths to get the funk off and also to bring the fabulous in. The possibilities are limitless because the character of water is limitless.
Water is all around us. It is in our bodies and our environment to help us survive and thrive in every way. Getting in touch with sacred water in all its marvelous forms is one of the most spiritual things you can do. This book has provided a comprehensive look at water in all its manifestations, both large and small.
You can explore water directly through the sacred sites chronicled here—Niagara Falls, the Osun River, Nanny’s Cauldron, and many more. These sites take on the character of the place and also of the magical people who worship there. If you are fortunate enough, you will be able to experience these sites near and far. However, even if that isn’t possible right now, you will know that sacred water is as close as your own faucet. Feel it as you wash your hands or fill the tub and sink in its delightfulness. While the human body is around 60 percent water, our brains and our hearts are over 70 percent. Water isn’t just around us; it is inside us, on the most basic levels.
Water as an element is representative of your emotions, your hopes, your true vision. It occupies the space between inspiration and transformation like no other element does. We can use this energy to go with the flow and seek our own level of divine destiny. There may be rising tides in your future, but with the herbs, crystals, spells, and ritual advice here, you will be able to navigate all of them smoothly.
I hope this book also inspires you to do what you can to help with efforts for water preservation and conservation. So many of the world’s waters are being polluted and disgraced, and part of recognizing their magic is realizing that they are in trouble, too, and need our help.
Wishing you the best watery blessings!
Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries—stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water…Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick
51. Dinesen, Seven Gothic Tales, 39.