Holy water

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Holy water stoup in a church

Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from Christianity to Sikhism.

History

In the Bible, the water of lustration was the water created with the ashes of the red heifer, according to the instructions given by God to Moses and Aaron in the Book of Numbers.

Any Israelite who touched a corpse was ritually unclean. The water was to be sprinkled on a person who had touched a corpse, on the third and seventh days after doing so, in order to make the person ritually clean again. The same water was used in Numbers 31:23 for the purification on the metallic booty brought back by the Israelites following their victory over the Midianites.

Christianity

The Apostolic Constitutions, whose texts date to about the year 400 AD, attribute the precept of using holy water to the Apostle Matthew. It is plausible that the earliest Christians may have used water for expiatory and purificatory purposes in a way analogous to its employment in Jewish Law ("And he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle into it", Numbers 5:17).

In the Middle Ages, Christians esteemed the power of holy water so highly that in some places fonts had locked covers to prevent the theft of holy water for unauthorized ritual magic. The Constitutions of Archbishop Edmund Rich (1236) prescribe that: "Fonts are to be kept under lock and key, because of witchcraft. Similarly the chrism and sacred oil are kept locked up."

Usage

Sprinkling with holy water is used as a sacramental that recalls baptism. In the West the blessing of the water is traditionally accompanied by exorcism and by the addition of exorcised and blessed salt.

Holy water is kept in the holy water font, which is typically located at the entrance to the church (or sometimes in a separate room or building called a baptistery). Smaller vessels, called stoups, are usually placed at the entrances of the church, to enable people to bless themselves with it on entering.

Use by non-Christians

In Wicca and other ceremonial magic traditions, a bowl of salt is blessed and a small amount is stirred into a bowl of water that has been ritually purified. In some traditions of Wicca, this mixture of water and salt symbolizes the brine of the sea, which is regarded as the womb of the Goddess, and the source of all life on Earth. The mixture is consecrated and used in many religious ceremonies and magical rituals.

Creating holy water

In Christian traditions, holy water is only that water which has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, for the blessing of persons, places, and objects, or as a means of repelling evil. There are four formulas which may be used to perform the blessing: the original Latin blessing, three other formulae found in the Book of Blessings for blessing water.

"holy" vs. "lustral" water

Many rituals in occult practices involve the use of blessed water. However, because this water was not blessed by an ordained priest, it is not truly considered holy water. Instead, the word "lustral" is used to describe this water. The primary benefit of lustral water is that it may be created by anyone, thus, magicians are not dependant on a priest or religious authority to obtain their materials.

The consecration of water and salt for use in ritual magic was a common theme in grimoires of magic from the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

Ritual to consecrate water

This invocation comes from the The Grimoire of Heaven and Hell, but it closely follows pre-existing recipes used to create lustral water.

First, obtain pure water from a natural spring or well, placing it into a large vessel. Then, holding your hands over the vessel, recite the following words: "I exorcise you, creature of the water, in the name of God the Father Almighty, in the name of Jesus Christ his Son our Lord, and in the virtue of the Holy Spirit: for you to become holy water that dispels all power of the enemy, that you may tear up and dislodge Satan himself with his fallen angels: by the power of that same Lord Jesus Christ who is to come to judge both the living and the dead, and to pass the world through fire."

Next, pour consecrated salt into the water three times in the shape of a cross while reciting the following passages:
"May this mixture of salt and water be made together in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
I - Who used water for the destruction of the army of the Pharaoh in the Red Sea.
II - Who made water the instrument of your mercy to serve our salvation through the atonement of original sin.
III - Who is a fountain of living water and the river of mercy."

Finally, fold your hands in prayer over the water and recite the following: "This creature of water, I bless and consecrate, in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and by the power which I received by my baptism; and by my priesthood, we are guaranteed protection from our enemies, both visible and invisible. So be it!"

Hell water

In 2020, occultist Travis McHenry perfected a technique for creating Hell water, which is formulated as the opposite of Holy water and is intended for use with demons.

In popular culture

Holy water is believed to ward off or act as a weapon against mythical evil creatures, such as vampires and werewolves. As a result, the concept has widely proliferated into fiction about such creatures.

  • The Castlevania series of video games utilize holy water as a weapon and a means to uncover hidden features.
  • The Devil's Advocate (1997) Al Pacino's character dips his finger in the baptismal font, causing the entire fountain to boil, but seemingly causing him no pain.
  • Constantine (2005) holy water burns the skin of demons and makes them vulnerable to attack.
  • From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) Harvey Keitel's character blesses ordinary water so it can be used to fight off vampires.