I want to stand by the river in my finest dress. I want to sing, strong and hard, and stomp my feet with a hundred others so that the waters hum with our happiness. I want to dance for the renewal of the world.
~ Robin Wall Kimmerer, 'Braiding Sweetgrass'
Perform a search for “water healing” on Google and you’ll be met with many resources for using the power of water to heal yourself. Reiki infused water, water bottled from Lourdes, and the works of Masura Emoto will quickly splash on the page in front of you. However, what if the call of the Anthropocene is not how water can heal us, but instead about how we can heal the water? What if the waters cry out for us to reciprocate the relationship it has long had with the essence of our being?
Water In Danger
Despite water composing roughly 60% of our bodies, people in America where I make my home have increasingly played fast and loose with the safety of the waterways. Environmental spills more frequently make the news with the highly publicized incident in East Palestine, Ohio where contaminants drained into the Ohio River and surrounding environment. Other smaller incidents have also occurred such as a latex chemical spill in late March in Pennsylvania. Mainland oil pipeline leaks have become so banal that they seldom make the news.
The water coming through the pipes in American cities is also seeing more frequent hazards. More are likely to come with our nation’s aging infrastructure. Flint, Michigan is the most prominent example with massive lead exposure occurring in the population through the aging pipe system. Jackson, Mississippi has also faced major water contamination issues with poor infrastructure which has resulted in more than 300 boil notices over the last two years. The mayor of the city cites racial injustice as a primary factor in the continued nature of the crisis.
The full long term human health effects of all of the above incidents remain to be seen. The BP oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico approximately a decade ago is now culminating in many workers involved in the cleanup having increased cancer rates. They are now fighting to sue but are having little success so far. The effects of lead poisoning are better described but the brunt of the poisoning is currently being born by the poorest communities in America that are the least able to afford replacing the pipes. Water bottle use increases vastly when the only safe water available comes from the store which further exacerbates the single use plastic crisis.
Animals unfortunately cannot speak for themselves and oftentimes only show their suffering through mounting death tolls such as the thousands of dead fish in the wake of the incident in East Palestine. Plant life is barely spoken of in the wake of such tragedies. Some charities do work to rehabilitate wildlife but many creatures go surely unseen in their suffering, washed away in the tides.
Finding The Spiritual Value Of Water
While the section above paints a bleak picture for the future of water, the solutions are already beginning. The work, as always, begins with the individual, then the community, then the world.
When water is a sacred, your relationship with the element changes. A beautiful relationship with water is described with the worship at the Osun Festival In Atlanta, GA. If the goddess both has dominion over the water and is the water, does that not give us an obligation to both reverence and protect her body here on Earth? If you drink from the sacred well, do you not want to protect it from microplastics? If you are baptized with water, do you not want to have the blessed waters for baptizing your own children?
Actions To Get Started
On the magical and energetic level, I urge you to watch water song which was gifted by multiple Algonquin elders as a song to be sung to heal waters around the world. Sing it four times in the order of east, south, west and north the next time you visit the beach, a river on a hike or even a small burbling brook in your neighborhood.
Nee bee wah bow
En die en
Aah key mis kquee
Nee bee wah bow
Hey ya hey ya hey ya hey
Hey ya hey ya hey ya ho
If you are part of a spiritual group, work with them to dedicate a time such as a full moon esbat or a sabbat for the work of giving back and healing the waters of your area. The image at the start of the post came to me through meditation with the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids in their Water Weavers’ group which is just starting and is currently urging ritual work with the waters every full moon. Pray for the waters which each incident you see.
And of course, don’t forget the mundane actions. Find your nearest river and search for “[my river name] riverkeeper” for local groups taking action, typically hosting water testing and cleanup days along with urging political action at critical moments.
Finally, drink water regularly. Appreciate the blessing you have with every drink of clean water you consume. Just remember to pass that blessing back to the water too.