Vessels in their various forms are important to the Water Witch. Not only because they hold the sacred liquid that we work with but it also represents so much more; the divine feminine, the cauldron of rebirth, the sacred well, and the holy grail etc!
Years ago I felt a tug to work with a sacred bowl and decided to start working with one as a magical tool. Now years later the sacred vessel/bowl is my favorite and most used tool. I have bowls for scrying, and bowls for making different spells and recipes, for holy waters, and herbal blends, but it is my sacred blue vessels that are my favorite.
I have outlined some of the bowls I use and how I use them but this is in no way the only way or even a complete list, however I hope it inspires you in your own workings! I also want to add that a Cauldron could be considered a bowl, but I am purposefully excluding them and focusing on vessels that are more like the traditional bowl.
The Black Bowl
The Black Bowl is the perfect scrying tool or a vessel for water magic that involves shadow work or more aggressive arts. I have one black bowl that I work with at the moment; it is a simple bowl that I hand painted and added some symbols to it. Though there are many beautiful bowls out there to choose from, bonus if you can get your hands on one of those Obsidian bowls because of the added properties! Black bowls are great for capturing the nocturnal side of nature in your water magic. In fact a new moon sacred water blend made in a black bowl on the new moon would be very appropriate and quite effective!
The Stone Bowl
Stone Bowls come in many different shapes and sizes. The type that I am specifically talking about is the mortar, usually accompanied by a matching pestle. The mortar is a stone bowl used to grind herbs, spices and other natural materials. As seen above you can get bowls in a variety of stones; marble, obsidian, soap stone and a variety of agates. However the mortar is a sacred vessel in which the witch begins working with the spirit of the plant and forms them into magical teas, powders, incense and herbal blends ready for a warm bath or hot cup of tea! While it isn’t a vessel in which water is usually placed, it often holds the ingredients that will be added into warm water to be bathed in or sipped while divining the cards!
The Silver Bowl
The silver bowl is a wonderful vessel in which to create holy water, moon water and angelic waters! Though I keep a few silver bowls on my altar I tend to use my silver bowls for rituals or the more complicated or fancy spells and often to give water as an offering to the spirits. The Silver bowl not only holds water, but it represents the moon and adds an extra reflective quality to the water and as such is also a good vessel in which to scry, perhaps on the full moon. I have a few different types of silver bowls; small sterling silver bowls are reserved for making magic waters and bowls with a silver like finish and are usually bigger are used for large events and public rituals.
The Blue Bowl
My favorite type of bowls to work with are blue bowls! In fact I have a small collection! They are in every size from tiny to dish size. Some are glass and others are made of ceramic and they range in color from dark blue to light turquoise! The Blue Bowl is central to my water magic practice. I have had some custom pieces made for magic, ritual and oracular work. The Blue Bowl is my go to bowl for making water magic, or anything that requires a sacred vessel. They are fantastic for healing magic, (Try drawing healing sigils on the bottom!) floral essences, ritual cleansing and saining or aspersing with a fresh bundle of herbs.
I was first interested in working with a blue bowl after getting a divine urge to work with one. I spent time looking for a blue bowl and about that same time I learned about the Glastonbury Blue Bowl. There is a curious tale that comes from Glastonbury that concerns a magical blue bowl that was once thought to be the Holy Grail! The Glastonbury blue bowl has an interesting history you can read about it here in a previous post as well as how I started to work with it.
I don’t think that a blue bowl is a necessary tool for every water witch to have, but no doubt the water witch will have a small collection of bowls in which she works her magic, makes her gem elixirs, and flowers essences! Sure you can just use a mason jar, but adding the element of sacred and consecrated objects further enhances the magic and ritual of your water magic. Even if you practice the more earthy folk arts, a stone or ceramic earthy bowl would be a good way to connect with the water element and stay true to your own path!
More about Annwyn here www.waterwitchcraft.com