You may pray while bathing, in any way that you find comfortable and effective. You can read a passage of scripture or a prayer from a holy card or prayer book; you can improvise from your heart; you can recite short affirmations or mantras. You can speak aloud or pray within your mind. But do pray. The whole process can be accomplished in a few minutes. When you have bathed yourself, be sure to collect some of the water! You will need it to toss out into the yard. In the old days — from time immemorial until indoor plumbing became widespread — the bath would have been done in a washtub, either indoors or outdoors, and the entire contents thrown into the yard when the bath was finished. It was both a way of disposal and an offering to the sun. Nowadays, to maintain the practice, we collect a glass or bowl of the bathwater to toss into the yard. If you are removing negativity, throw the bathwater into the front yard or into the street, so lingering energies can be dissipated by passers-by. If you are attracting blessings, throw it into the back yard, to keep those good things at home! If you are cleaning up after cursing work, take the bathwater to the crossroads — in modern terms, any four-way intersection. Pour the water out as you pass through the intersection. (If you ever see someone pouring a go-cup out of a car window, they might just be draining the dregs of a soda — or maybe disposing of a cleansing bath. Asè
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