Head washings are generally done in living water such as a creek or river, though in the winter they are done indoors. Head washing can be done alone, but it's commonly done with two people, who wash each other while reciting prayers specific to the other person's troubles or issues.

Foot washing is something you may recognize because it is still done in churches all over the South to commemorate the washing Jesus performed on Maundy Thursday before his crucifixion. This is used for cleansing in the same way as the bath, but can in some instances be more powerful when paired with prayers of driving out illnesses and spirits of misfortune. Both can be done simply with pure water and prayer, but they may also include brewed washes, like the standard blessing bath.

Head Washing

To perform a head washing by yourself, go to a creek or fill the kitchen sink with water. (Scrub your sink beforehand so the water is as pure as it can be.) Once it is full of warm water pray Psalm 23 over it seven times (see page 66), then cup some water in your hands and run it over your head. Moisten every part of your head and every strand of hair while praying for your situation. Wrap your head in a white towel or cloth to dry it. If you perform this at night, sleep with the covering over your head. After your hair has dried, dust a bit of baby powder in it for spiritual protection. Head washing is best repeated on the same day every week for three to nine weeks. Avoid crowds for twenty-four hours after each head washing.

Foot Washing

Take up a basin of warm water into which you have stirred 1 tablespoon of new salt bought specifically for foot washing. (Nana used a foot pan and washcloth for washing her feet before going anywhere—even to church, because churches are filled with “sick folk,” like a spiritual hospital, and their most cared for aren't always put together and are not always best to be around spiritually.) Pray Psalm 31:1–8 over it while you wash your feet with the washcloth:

1 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.

3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.

6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.

7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;

8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

It's better to use a white or light-colored washcloth. I have one that I only use for personal foot washing and one for washing others' feet. Clean the cloth afterward by sticking it in a mug or glass and pouring equal parts apple cider vinegar and soda water (water into which baking soda has been dissolved) over the top. Let it sit overnight, then rinse it out and hang it to dry. You can cast out the washing water to the west point of your home.

SWEEPING AND WASHING

Your home is where you spend a large majority of your vulnerable time, especially when sleeping, so it's best to keep it clean physically and spiritually. Clutter in the home can make for “bad air” because it makes it hard for air to circulate and it's believed this can also make you sick. Clutter can also cause depression—another thing that makes you susceptible to spiritual attachments. To keep your home clean and open, sweeping and washing should be performed regularly.

Sweeping

Whenever my mother cleaned the house, in the morning, after the sun rose, she sprinkled Comet for odors and germs in the carpet, and a mixture of baby powder and salt for the “spiritual germs.” After sunset, she would either sweep or vacuum it up. She would begin sprinkling from the back of the house and work her way to the front, tossing a bit before her each time she passed through a doorframe to enter another room, to “pierce the Devil's eyes.” She did this mostly around the first of every month, but it can be done every few months. When doing this in cleansing, you are cornering the spirit or work until it has no place to go but outside. Powders and salts can also be used for attracting things to the home when laid in the opposite way, sprinkled from the front to the back of the house.

Here are a few recipes for sprinkling salts and powders:

GENERAL CLEANSING SWEEP

2 tablespoons salt per room (½ tablespoon per room for hard floors)

3 tablespoons lemon rind or 1 tablespoon lemon salt

1 tablespoon borax for entire house. (Follow safety instructions on the back of the box. Mama always used 20 Mule Team Borax because it's as strong as twenty mules in cleansing.)

Mix the salt, lemon rind or lemon salt, and borax in a bowl and pray Psalm 23 (see page 66) over it nine times. Sprinkle the mixture around your home as you pray for every negative spirit, entity, or device of the enemy to “flee from the doorframes, from the tiles and cabinets; from every nail and screw and bolt; from every room and shingle and thread of cloth.” (Did I mention we're very specific?) Sprinkle from the back of the home to the front door. If you have many floors, work from the back of the topmost floor to the front door on the lower level. After twenty-four hours, sweep up the mixture in the same way.

SWEEP TO REMOVE WITCHCRAFT

1 tablespoon borax

2 tablespoons salt per room (½ tablespoon per room for hard floors)

1 tablespoon asafoetida

Mix the borax, salt, and asafoetida in a bowl. Sprinkle the powder from the back of the house to the front while reciting Psalm 91 three, five, or nine times, depending on how big your home is.

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

SWEEP TO REMOVE HAINTS

2 tablespoons salt per room (½ tablespoon per room for hard floors)

1 tablespoon asafoetida

3 shakes of baby powder