You will need:
1 handful dandelion root (better if harvested while the moon is in the chest or Leo)
1 handful five-finger grass/cinquefoil
3 tablespoons church dirt
Bring a gallon of water to a boil, then add the dandelion root, five-finger grass, and church dirt and return to a boil for 7 minutes. Strain the herbs and let the water cool. Store the infused water in a gallon jug and use a third of the jug per tub of water for each washing, repeating the bath for three days in a row.
Take your normal bath before you take this spiritual bath.
When washing, do so either before the sun rises or as the hand of the clock goes up. Likewise, wash upward from your feet to your head, from your hands to your shoulders. After this bath, either air dry or pat dry with a towel but do not rub—otherwise you will be rubbing the work off. After the bath, lightly dust yourself with baby powder.
Again, save a bit of your bathwater to scrub your front doorstep or porch. This sets it further to draw your blessings.
HEAD AND FOOT WASHING
The head and feet are the roof and foundation for the home of the soul. Because of this, they are also the most vulnerable to being the targets for “shots” or “poison”—that is, works placed against you.
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.
