13 Herb Bath Booster

One thing I like about the 13-herb bath is its convenience, along with its quick effectiveness.  Many practitioners have their own formulas for the herbs, and there are usually some similarities between them.  Books such as Judika Iles "Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells" are full of herbal recipes as well, and most are traditional.  The recipe that I use is one that I actually borrowed from another blogger, but I'd like to share my own spin on it also.  The herbal formula that she shared is here.  My thanks to the author.

The herbs I use are: Agrimony, Angelica, Burdock, Devil's Shoestrings, Dill, Fern, Five Finger Grass, Hyssop, Mint, White Oak Bark, Goat's Rue (or Patchouli, if you have sensitive skin), Solomon's Seal, and Blue Vervain.

At any rate, after I began using this formula, I was able to quit smoking to the point where I can't even be around smoke anymore (which can wreak havoc on one's social life here in Pittsburgh, as it seems that most nightlife places still allow smoking indoors!) and that was before using the booster that I'm about to share.  It's good for many other addictions as well, but long-standing addictions may require multiple baths.  You'll know that it has worked when addictions that you used to find enjoyable start to turn your stomach at just the thought of them.

My idea for using this bath consists of targeting particular chakras where one may need some cleansing.  I'm not going to go into which chakras are for what conditions, because that information is freely available on the web by authors who are much more descriptive than I have the inclination to be during this post.  But if you would like to find out which of your chakras need attention, you could go here.


OK, now that the preliminaries are out of the way, my technique for boosting the effectiveness of the rite is the following.

1. Mix the herbs in equal proportions.  I tend to use a half gram of each herb per bath, but you could do a pendulum divination to determine the proportions of each that are right for your particular situation.
2. Boil some water in a pan on the stove, and then set the pan on a different burner after adding your herbs.  You don't want to boil the herbs, you only want them to steep.  Steep them for at least 13 minutes.  While they steep, verbally tell the "spirits" of the herbs what you want them to do. 
3. Use Google Translate to determine the Hebrew phrase for your intention (such as "clear and balance my navel chakra").  Transfer that phrase in Hebrew to a piece of paper, and cut it out.  It should look kind of like a slip from a fortune cookie.
4. Place the slip of paper with the written Hebrew intention into the water while the herbs steep.  That way the intention is both verbally, and literally, infused into the water, programming it and the herbs with your intention.
5. Take a Sun magick square and cut it out from a piece of paper (MS Word is good for this, or Excel).  You should use whichever magick square corresponds to the chakra that you're targeting, so for the throat chakra you'd use a Mercury square, for the heart chakra a Venus square, etc.  

The Sun square looks like this:

  6.   Draw a sigil on the square of the archangel that rules that planetary influence, using the color of ink that also corresponds.  Since Archangel Raphael is the Divine Healer, you can use his influence for most any of them.  You'd draw his sigil in yellow.  If you're unsure of how to draw a sigil to represent an Archangel, you simply convert his name from Hebrew letters to a numeric form and then trace it.  Archangel Raphael's sigil on the square (which I won't draw here) traces this way: #20 to #8 to #1 to #3.  Those numerals correspond to the numeric values of the letters in his name in the Hebrew language.  There are many resources online where you can find out how to draw angelic sigils if you're unsure, but I personally think it's irresponsible and somewhat disrespectful to him to just willy-nilly have his name all over the place, especially if you aren't calling on his aid at that exact moment.  You can message me and request a Word document that has all of the angelic sigils displayed on it, and I'll be happy to send it to you.

If you are targeting your root chakra, you could also petition the Archangel Samael (or Khamael, if that angel resonates better with your consciousness) for Mars using red ink or better yet, Dragon's Blood ink.  You could draw the sigil for Archangel Tzaphkiel in black ink on a Saturn square.  I think it's a good idea to petition Archangel Raphael primarily, regardless of whomever else you call, because his office is that of a healer.  You could use two prepared squares if you want, so that the Archangels work together, but you will probably want to include Archangel Raphael either way.

7.   Write your prayer on the back of the magick square(s) that you're using, but don't steep the square.  You don't want to "boil" the Archangel's influence, but you do want it in the bath water.  Set the prepared magick square aside for the time being.

8.  After you've run your bath water and the tub is at least ankle deep, strain in the herbs that you've steeped, and then invoke the presence of the Archangel.  Then place the prepared magick square into the water.

9.  Stir the water clockwise with your writing hand (or counterclockwise depending on how you feel about it), while speaking to the water to tell it what you want it to do.  When you can feel the presence of the Archangel(s) you've petitioned, you can stop stirring.  Even if you can't feel their presence, that's OK.  Just stir it until you feel that you can stop.

10.  Invoke the presence of your Goddess.  I invoke Auset (Isis) for this, and inscribe either an ankh (or the symbol for Venus) on two tea lights, and then add a drop of Van Van oil and smear it clockwise around the tea lights while telling them what they're supposed to do.  Place one candle on either side of the tub on the side where you will enter the tub, so that when you enter the bath you're passing between them, sort of like a gateway or doorway.  Light the candles.  I like to say "When I return through this gateway, I will not be the same as when I first went in."

11.  You may want to light some sage incense in the bathroom also, to remove negative influences, but that's up to you.  I also add 13 drops of Van Van oil to the bath, with the intention of boosting the overall effectiveness of the spell, but that's optional.

12.  Aside from that, you'll want to go with the traditional way of doing your bath, reading Psalm 37 (known as the "Uncrossing Psalm"), and then pouring the water over your head and body 13 times, and then scrubbing your body "downward" to remove any negativity.  You can find out the step-by-step "traditional" method of performing a 13-herb bath on sites such as Lucky Mojo with a Google search.  (Gotta love Lucky Mojo!)

13.  After your bath, you can take some of the water to a crossroads that you don't travel to very often or at all, and throw the water over your left shoulder into the center of it.  I like to verbally invoke a god of the crossroads while throwing the water over my shoulder, and prefer to invoke Tahuti (Thoth) (I might say "In the Name of Tahuti, let this spell be completed!"), but whichever god your tradition deems appropriate, or who you have a good relationship with for that is fine.  Don't skip this step; it seals the work.  And if bystanders see you doing all this, so what?  You don't need them, nor should you expect them, to understand what you're doing.  In the big scheme of things, it's perfectly OK if they think you're nuts.  But if you care then it's best to use a crossroads where you aren't likely to run into anyone you know at that time in the morning.  This last step should be done before or near sunrise.  The idea is that the sun's travel across the sky boosts the effectiveness of the spell as the day progresses.  That means you're going to have to know when the sun will rise that morning, and start your bath probably 2-3 hours before that.  The bath can take 90 minutes or more to do.

Finally, just drive away and don't look back, making sure that you take a different route home than the one you took to get there. 


Incidentally, I've had good success with this on or after a full moon, or during a waxing moon cycle near the new moon.  Play around with your timing, and see what works best for you depending on the work.

I imagine you can also use this magick square/Hebrew phrase technique to draw things toward you, during a waxing moon cycle and with different herbs depending on what you're doing.  The only differences in that case, would probably be using a different Psalm (or other sacred written passage), and to scrub upward from feet-to-head to draw it toward you.   If you prefer to use runes, or Latin, or any other magickal language for your slip of paper, that's fine.  You could probably even use a chaos magick styled sigil.  Just use what you're comfortable with.


Keep in mind that when you invoke an Archangel with a magick square for this, with their sigil drawn upon it, and have a sincere heart, they will perform their work perfectly.  That's their office and specialty, and they've been at their work for countless generations.  You have to be OK with the end result of the bath, because the Archangels are going to do exactly what you've asked, especially if it's in your highest and best interest.  For example, if you're trying to quit smoking, and your significant other or roommate smokes (and doesn't want to quit or smoke outside), you may have to deal with that whole situation a bit differently afterward once you lose the desire to smoke.  I know that last part from experience, lol!


Bottom Line: Know what you're asking for, and be OK with the end result.  Better yet know what the end result will be by doing a divination beforehand, and then get ready to see some real Angelic power at work!


That's it!  I hope this technique works well for you if you choose to use it.

My great thanks and honor to Archangel Raphael for what he has done for me while using this technique.