Ancestor and Orisha Spiritual Baths
TX and PA Copyrights Zachary Selig 2009


History of Spiritual Baths

Since ancient times, water has symbolized the primeval element from which all was created, therefore it is an archaic symbol of the womb and of fertility; also purification, regeneration, and rebirth. The creation myths of antiquity postulate the existence of a cosmic ocean before the world came into being. Symbolic purification by washing was a necessary preliminary to ensure the subsequent rituals would be effective.

The great civilizations of the world developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. These ancient mother cultures were animists. ‘Anima’ is Latin for Soul or Life. Animism is the philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist in humans, animals, plants or other entities. Animism may also attribute souls to natural phenomena, geographic features, and metaphors in mythology. The animist idea that souls exist in all mentioned forms of life is also a central concept in the various forms of Shamanism. There were Shaman-Priests that were adept at divination systems for determining the Ancestral Spirits and the governing deities or archetypal agents of God for an individual. Today, there are those rare Shamans and Priests that are descendents of these founding cultures that continue the same beliefs and practices throughout the world.

Water is often believed to have spiritual powers. In Celtic mythology, Sulis is the local goddess of thermal springs; in Hinduism, the Ganges is also personified as a goddess, while Saraswati have been referred to as goddess in Vedas. Also water is one of the "panch-tatva"s (basic 5 elements, others including fire, earth, space, air). Alternatively, gods can be patrons of particular springs, rivers, or lakes: for example in Greek and Roman mythology, Peneus was a river god, one of the three thousand Oceanids. In Nigeria, West Africa every body of water from springs, rivers, lakes, and oceans are attributed to a governing Orisha. Oshun is the Orisha of fresh water; and Yemaya and Olukun of the Orishas of sea. In Islam, not only does water give life, but every life is itself made of water: "We made from water every living thing". The ancient animists had spiritual beliefs that involved mysterious offerings, baths, lamps, herbs, oils, powders, sacrifices, that bestowed blessings from the Ancestors and the archetypal forces of nature that emanate from God to man. For these mother cultures water had magical properties, symbolically life-giving. Libations of water were also used during Egyptian funeral rights to ensure reanimation of the deceased and after-life. It was also prophylactic (preventative of disease), and bestowed its powers to avert danger or death.

The archetypal forces of nature became identified as a pantheon of deities to the Babylonians, Egyptians, Hindus, Norse, Celts, Mayans, Hopis, Aborigines, Buddhists, Greeks, and Romans. The Jews identified these archetypes as the 10 Sephiroth, the Christians as the Angels, and the Yoruba as the Orishas. The animists practiced ‘theurgy’, which means ‘divine working’ involving the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as
magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving ‘henosis’, and perfecting oneself.  Christians as the Angels, and the Yoruba as the Orishas.

As animists, they believed that the ‘soul’ or ‘anima’ of man exists in the ‘spirit’, which was the true inner self, versus the ‘persona’ or outer self. It was believed that the spirit that housed the soul was guided by an ancestral lineage of spirits that established the practice of ancestor worship. The spirit was held to be overseen by 1 male and 1 female deity or divine being that radiated from God, which represented the composite characteristics of an individual and outlined their destiny from birth to death. This corpus of animistic beliefs in pagan religions was the founding cornerstone that established the
original hierarchical structures for most contemporary religions that deposed animism. The ancient central archives of most religions that held sacred truths have been lost, from Hinduism to Judaism. In their place are ‘politically interpretative’ doctrines that are filled with religious lies of partial-truths that mislead, corrupt, and confuse. The Judaic-Christian world has instilled fear, shame, and guilt, which are derived from a gross invention of a distant punishing Mosaic God that was created by Rabbis and Priests to control mass populace.

Sadly, wars of spiritual belief systems have transpired since the beginning of time over the use, misuse, and abuse of spiritual power, which has resulted in the destruction of humankind’s values. Spiritual beliefs have evolved away from the truth of the unique nature of an individuated anima and its interrelationship with the universe. In place of this truth, doctrines of lies were created in most religions and societies with false priests and prophets that focused upon the persona that could be collectively organized in order to control and dominate mankind for political and financial gain. A small portion of the truth that was seeded by animistic cultures was revealed in organized religion, while the greater truths were never revealed.

This is why the world is lost today. As the great Afro-Cuban Osaini Oba Ecun stated.  “The corrupt values of governments, societies, and individuals continue to propagate lies, while taking advantage of others with no remorse. No one knows what the truth is anymore, and thousands of years of falsehoods are believed to be factual. All sense of truth and all essences of what is accurate have been diminished to a modus operandi of when what is real is spoken of, only a small portion of truth is revealed.”

Both then and today, through the use of animistic spiritual practices, many people are able to successfully thrive in a more ‘sensory’ versus ‘intellectual’ way that allows them to change the negativity and imbalances in themselves, which then reflects in the quality of life they lead. Life’s problems in the ‘persona’ can be solved and future one’s averted if the root cause is identified accurately within the ‘anima’ through qualified diagnostics in accurate time-proven methodologies of divination. and designated prescriptive applied correctly to the core issue, which many times can be removed permanently.

Such animated transformations are then able to occur in a three-fold manner:
1. Through man’s faith that is ‘sensed’ in feeling a truth, which becomes a belief.
2. Through the will of man that is ‘intellectual’, which becomes intent.
3. Through the will of God that issues life force.

The symbol of water as the ‘life-giving’ source and purifier has been consistently used throughout the world in spiritual practices. The Nile, Tigris, and Indus rivers provided nourishment and sustenance for these civilizations to flourish to this day. The Western culture’s religious history of ceremonial baths began in the Fertile Crescent between the Nile of Egypt and the Tigris of Iraq with the birth of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. The Jewish culture followed in the occupied land of the Negev over 7,000 years ago. Both Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures influenced the Jews in their development of spiritual ceremonies, utilizing baptismal water cleansings that were later adopted by the Christians. These purification rites with holy water were later called ‘mikvah’ (ritual immersion). Abraham was the father of Judaism, and both Judaism and Christianity are referred to as the “Abrahmaic Religions.”

In Babylon of Mesopotamia, which engulfed Judah in 6th century BCE, the Jews learned of divination, oracles, rituals, baths, sacrifice, botany, prayer, dream interpretation, astrology, numerology, almanacs, and omens that established the first Kabbalistic Priesthood. The Kabbalah, lit. “receiving” is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mystical aspect of Judaism. According to Kabbalistic tradition, knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, and sages (Hakhamim in Hebrew), eventually to be "interwoven" into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to
this tradition, Kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel.

The original canon of Jewish occult knowledge that contained the spiritual marvels of the Kabbalah’s 10 Sephiroth, which represented archetypal emanations from God, was written over 5,000 years ago and lost through the great destruction of the ancient libraries of Jerusalem, Alexandria, Carthage, and Rome over the centuries and replaced with Talmudic scriptural references that are in perpetual conflict between modern Kabbalists that are founded upon either Solomon ben Gabirol (1021 -1058) or else to the 13th century CE Spanish Kabbalist Bahya ben Asher. The Kabbalah teachings today are
mere fragments of the once omnipotent occult science that had the secret knowledge that created the Ark of the Covenant in King Solomon’s temple. Most religions have been edited and re-interpreted from their original content to suit human political requirements for power with the invention of a dogmatic order to control and organize any given society.

There are a handful of truly competent and gifted Kabbalah Rabbis in the world today, who have retained this arcane wisdom. The world has become much more intellectualized in religious dogma, versus sensory in the natural human experience of spirituality. The Spanish Inquisition began in 1478 and was abolished in 1834. Most of the surviving ancient Kabbalah documents at that time were amongst an index of prohibited books, which were found to contain heresy, and were destroyed. Thus in its reinterpretation and clearly in its contemporary revival, the Kabbalah became merely a set of esoteric teachings meant to define the inner meaning of both the Tanahk (Bible) and the traditional Rabbinic literature, as well as explain the significance of the Jewish religious observances, versus the original lexicon of divination principles for natural phenomenon with regulatory standards for ritual offering and sacrifice applications as it was in Babylon. Those secrets have been kept well hidden and not written so as to be guarded from profane human access.

In Babylonia, for the first time, the Jews encountered the notion of a personal ‘immortality’ and the fantasy of ‘resurrecting’ the dead. Impressed by the high culture of their Babylonian hosts, the Jews adopted the lunar calendar of the Babylonians, and, like them, began their year in the spring. In the Babylonian setting the Jews met in ‘gatherings’ (‘synagogues’ in Greek) for the first time. Leadership of these assemblies assumed a ‘priestly’ character. One such leader, Ezekiel, kept the clan together by stressing the role in the community of this Yahweh priesthood and how the ‘glory’ of their god, even without an Ark or temple, was there with them in Babylon. Thus Yahweh floated free of confinement to ‘sacred space’.

The Jewish priesthood held their clandestine ancient knowledge in schools designated only for the initiated High Priests and their students. These Jewish High Priests obtained adept divinatory principles of the laws of natural occurrence and the prescriptive to bring about political and societal harmony, childbirth, rich agriculture, healing, prosperity, health, averting danger, and a myriad of issues that address human life and sustenance. The ancient Master Kabalists shared the same knowledge that had arrived in Babylon through the Egyptian priesthood that was the originating methodological source.

Later, the mystical Christian Gnostics adopted Jewish ceremonial traditions mixed with remnants of Egyptian and Roman religious theology that were composed of a myriad of supernatural theory in magical formulas for healing practices that were attributed to Jesus.

Along with Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley civilization, in what is today Punjab, Pakistan, was the third great mother culture of the world. The Indus Valley gave birth to the Eastern religions. Over 5,000 years ago, the Aryan invaders arrived in Northern India from Persia, who later became the Brahman founders of the Hindu Vedic religion that was based upon the principles of nature with nature gods and spirits – animism. The core animistic theology of the Vedas was derived from a mélange of knowledge gained through Mesopotamia conquering the tribes of northern India and the Tamil and Dravidian tribes that made up the great Naga people of southern India, who had received their knowledge from Egyptian priests that had colonized Sindh, India possibly as early as 10,000 years ago. The Naga of the Sindh culture gave birth to the Indus Valley civilization.

It was the serpent cult of the Naga in Sindh, who preserved the prestigious sciences of ancient sages and the secrets of magical powers. “The Veda in fact is the knowledge of serpents”. The regeneration and resurrection power of Kundalini lexicons were the core formulae brought to the Naga of India by the Egyptian priests and later adopted by the Aryan religion that gave birth to Hinduism. The Kundalini symbol of two snakes encircling Mercury’s caduceus and Esculape’s healing wand indicate the magic power and reflect the healing sciences that were originally in the province of ancient godpreserved the prestigious sciences of ancient sages and the secrets of magical powers. “The Veda in fact is the knowledge of serpents”. The regeneration and resurrection power of Kundalini lexicons were the core formulae brought to the Naga of India by the Egyptian priests and later adopted by the Aryan religion that gave birth to Hinduism.

The original Kundalini (life-force) and Chakra (psychic vortexes in the human body) paradigms were diluted by opposing Hindu priesthoods for thousands of years and were lost, yet retained in fragmented philosophies of the later Tantric texts of India. Nonetheless, the residual Hindu and Buddhist ritualistic practices and beliefs continue to this day throughout not only India, but also most of Asia. Today, Ancestor worship is a societal practice of most cultures of Asia more than it is anywhere in the world. East Indian Ayurvedic medicinal sciences are the oldest documented preventative and curative therapies in the world, followed by Chinese Medicine, which modern Western medicine has extrapolated from for centuries.

Much the same is true in regard to lost knowledge not only of the Hindu, but the Chinese, like the Jews that historically organized later, in the loss of the original doctrines and their formulae of the natural phenomena philosophies and the laws to achieve and sustain a healthy and balanced life.

Ritual washing in Islam requires a sort of washing called ‘Ghusul’ (Arabic word means washing), similar to Judaic practices mentioned above, which should include the washing of the whole body in special order or immersion of the whole body (submersion), in a river for instance. This ‘Ghusul’ is required for an adult when adopting Islam, after each sexual intercourse or a wet dream or a menstrual flow. Also, it is required to be done for
dead bodies. The notion that prayers must be invoked to ask God for forgiveness from impure thoughts and actions is incorrect; it is only desirable. Such ‘Ghusul’ is very different from practices in other religions. A person performs it alone privately, whenever it is indicated or desired.

Apart from this, washing before daily prayers is essential and is called ‘Wudu’. Muslims believe no one should approach God in prayer, before first asking God to forgive them for their sins. Formal prayers are offered five times per day. While washing, one prays to God asking for forgiveness of the sins committed throughout the day, whether intentional or unintentional. This is a Muslim's way of reminding him/herself that the goal of this life is to please God, and to pray to attain His forgiveness and grace.

In the early 20th century, the Greek-Armenian mystic George Gurdjieff made contact in Asia (Hindu Kush – Northern Afghanistan) with the Sarmoung Brotherhood through Islamic Sunni Sufi Masters called Khwajagan. Many Muslims believe Sufism is outside the realm of Islam, relative to beliefs, practices, and to the fact that it predates Mohammed. The Sarmoung Brotherhood were elusive guardians of Ancient Mystery

School traditions that were (and some say still is) an esoteric group that persevered occult wisdom doctrines of Zoroaster dating from “The Inner Circle of Humanity” originating in Sumer 6,000 BC and developed later in Babylonia circa 2,500 BC. The Sufi have held the secret knowledge of ‘Barakah’ or “divine presence”, which like Hindu ‘Kundalini’ and Yoruba ‘ashe’, brings blessings and protection from God from the greater good derived from any act.

There were many other cultures such as the Mayan, Norse, Celts, and Polynesian, who practiced initiation rites with ceremonial baths. There were Mystery Schools of sacred knowledge that existed from the dawn of history such as the Sarmoung and Yoruba, and then there is the term 'mystery cult' that applies to a few of the numerous religious rituals of the eastern Mediterranean of late classical antiquity, including the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Dionysian Mysteries, the Orphic Mysteries and the Mithraic Mysteries. Some of the many divinities that the Romans nominally adopted from other cultures also came to be worshipped in Mysteries, so for instance Egyptian Isis, Thracian/Phrygian Sabazius and Phrygian Cybele.

"Plato, an initiate of one of these sacred orders, was severely criticized because in his writings he revealed to the public many of the secret philosophic principles of the Mysteries.” Apuleius, a second-century Roman writer, described an initiation into the mysteries of Isis:

“The priest brought me to the next baths, surrounded by the pious troop, and after I had had an ordinary bath, he prayed for the grace of the gods and cleansed me completely, sprinkling me with water from all sides”.

In regard to medicine derived from botanicals for traditional medicine, the bulk of today’s pharmaceutical companies extract their plant ingredients from the Amazon, Africa, and Australasia. The discovery of modern medicinal applications was founded upon ancient herbalists’ of indigenous people’s timeworn naturopathic traditions, followed by scientific research. The difference in the traditional medical applications and those of a shaman or priest is that traditional medicine does not have the spiritual ingredient added to the botanicals that makes their effectiveness optimal through Spirit, Mind, and Body – in that order.

Much the same is true in principal if one were to buy a well-packaged and advertised commercial Mind, Body, and Sprit aromatherapy bath product that has many of the right topical herbal ingredients to heal, but without the spiritual properties of prayers and blessings necessary for a specified individual to be truly effective. The sacred baths herein discussed cannot be commercialized or mass-produced, as each bath can in reality only be prescribed and prepared for one person and their issue at a time by an initiated and knowledgeable priest or shaman.

As Oba Ecun states, “The written word, initially man’s recorded history, happened long ago in Babylonia Mesopotamia. Those written words came about due to man’s necessity to keep a life with a multitude of possessions. Naturally, it was a brilliant invention, and one that was soon to be adopted by all the ancient worlds, but it was not the only way of keeping the truths of life preserved.”

The first of the ancient Mystery Schools to keep their knowledge secret were the early Egyptian priests of pre-dynastic Egypt, who were adept at dealing with the divination systems and prescriptive applications derived from a comprehensive knowledge of the cosmological principles of both the archetypes and their compositional forces within nature and humankind. There is great anthropological and archaeological debate in the controversy of the origins and dates of Egyptian religious and scientific knowledge. Historically, the great Egyptian Masters were later forced through civil wars in the 4th century BC, and later by Greek, Roman, Islamic, and Christian invasions to hide their sacred knowledge in the trusted Yoruba Kingdom of West Africa. It is curious that the Yoruba were entrusted with Egyptian arcane wisdom at various times when Egypt was in crisis. It is believed by the Yoruba that their ancestors were the founders of the Egyptian Osirus religion, tracing their roots back over 9,000 years ago to Abydos, Egypt.

The Ancestor and Orisha Spiritual Baths

Oba Ecun states, “There were other ways and other people such as the mysterious Yoruba of West Africa that preferred to keep those words and thoughts in their mind and in their hearts, secreted from the evil intent of mankind that sought ill gained power.” By not writing the knowledge and giving it to only the initiated where it would be protected, it was kept alive and thrives to this day. The Yoruba believe in the Orishas, which are a pantheon of archetypes that compose the forces within nature that are manifestations of God. This philosophy is akin to the pantheon of gods of the Egyptians, the Sephiroth of the Jewish Kabbalists, the gods of the Greeks and Romans, and the Saints and Angels of the Catholics. The Yoruba believe that the Orishas work in tandem with the Ancestral Spirits of humankind that are both divined by ‘Olorisas’ (Yoruba priests/priestesses) through the divination system called the ‘Dilogun’ that is a pre-dynastic formula composed of a combination of numbers in 257 Oduns of shells and 256 Oduns of Ifa. The Dilogun is possibly the oldest living divination system in the world.

When the Yoruba culture with its ancient knowledge and secrets was transported to the Americas from the 16th -19th centuries it became even more guarded and hidden behind a mask of Christianity and Saints. It was precious then like it is today. The Yoruba High Priests and royal families were transported as a group from Nigeria, Africa and taken to Cuba, which developed into today’s Afro-Cuban culture. So, in essence, the great Egyptian mysteries were once again hidden in a foreign land, which now has spread throughout the world in a Diaspora via a few knowledgeable Priests. One of the greatest things that has happened to humanity is the existence of the Afro-Cuban Osainis priests, who practice one of the most authentically preserved Ancient Mystery School methodologies and theurgies.

The contemporary practitioners of Yoruba wisdom, such as the wise Oba Ecun, believe and feel that “by keeping the secrets that this is a way of saving and guarding the essence and the purity of their faith. In modern times it may be said that this is not the safest way of keeping history, but for those that follow Yoruba beliefs, it is the most secure”. The structure of Afro-Cuban Osainis (shamans) was such that the protocols were that they had
to spend the first half of their life learning the process, mysteries, and virtues of the plant world. Once learned and mastered, they were then allowed to practice.

The secrets and magic of the Yoruba geomantic divination systems have worked and survived the passing of 9,000 years, and they have proven to be exacting diagnostic methodologies and potently effective for material and spiritual needs. This mysteriously divine system accesses natural phenomena in ways that cannot be understood, nor explained by the scientific mind, just as the emotions of love cannot be delineated or duplicated. As with Einstein, who studied alchemy, these secret methodologies are constantly being examined by modern doctors of all sciences and have yet to be unraveled or explained.

These undisclosed formulae have been handed down word of mouth through initiations that have been given to Yoruba Priests, and they have worked for thousands of years, and they continue to work as long as they are kept in the original structure and administrated correctly. The magical formulae bring what the Yoruba call “ashe” -the power to make things happen. The spiritual baths will guide an individual to the realm of sustained stability with the creator and with their individual spirit in a life of fulfillment.

The Orisha and Ancestor Baths are effective as long as one follows the specific directions. Be sure that if the baths call for a specific number of times to perform, they should be finished to the end of the time frame stated. Do not start a bath and then be interrupted, by doing this it will do no good and the whole procedure will have to be started over. The day and hour specified for the bath must be adhered to.

Orisha Baths have specific days in which they can be done. The Ancestor Baths can be taken only on a Thursday or a Friday. Baths can be from 1 to 7 weeks duration. Females are allowed to participate in baths when they are menstruating. Sexual intercourse is allowed during the bath cycle, however, abstaining from sex the night before a bath is advisable.

The spiritual baths are effective only when they are followed in the manner in which they are prescribed. Please keep in mind that this method of fighting evil, problems, illness, and malefic forces or in manifesting good fortune, health, and benefic forces is as old as creation. From the beginning of time man has bathed himself, purifying his body and spirit, such as Pharaohs of Egypt, Rabbis of Babylonia, Priests of Christianity, Sultans of Arabia, Maharajas of India, Emperors/Empresses of China and Japan, Lords of the Maya, Shaman Priests of indigenous people, and Kings/Queens of royal houses of Europe to remove the negative and manifest the positive.

Oba Ecun states, “There is no difference today with man; the realm of the spiritual unknown is still looked to for purification and for those things that make the spirit full of positive energy, which is achieved from the spiritual baths. The baths will not only enhance one’s life, they most of all will cleanse the Body and Spirit for evolution.”

Ever since the ancient times of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley, religious practices have involved offerings and sacrifices of one nature or another. As long as these ceremonial practices are continued and maintained in their original format, this way of life will bring harmony and perpetuate good fortune.

Oba Ecun states, “In the spiritual realm something must be given in order for something to be received – nothing is free. Everything has a price, and the price paid is the choice to continue in a way that has worked for millenniums. From the beginning of time divine blessings have been proven to miraculously occur through these benevolent ceremonies and bath rituals”. When these blessings occur, it is though one becomes lit from within by
the fire of God.” “The water must have something holy, when everyone has taken the time to be blessed.”

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