Several years ago I found Kathleen Rouleau’s group Ocean Rituals around the world on Facebook. This is a space where one can both post upcoming water rituals and look for events to attend. Kathleen not only maintains the group but also performs and hosts several water rituals a year. I was very honored to hear that she would be interested in answering some questions and getting some of the work she does with other Witches and Pagans out there!
Who are you and what is your background?
My name is Kathleen Rouleau. I currently reside in New England but have plans to have a tiny house and travel the United States. I am a death midwife, registered nurse, an eclectic lover of conversing with the universe in many diverse languages. I founded a New Year ’s Eve event that was held in Harvard Square dedicated to world peace and religious solidarity. My background in Water Rituals is very diverse. The seed that sprouted into my water work was planted by the late great Dr. Masaru Emoto back when I was in my late teens. I heard about this man who was going to be at a lake in California to do an experiment proving that water has memory (is alive) and that prayer could change the health of the water. I went from knowing in my head that water was alive to feeling (wanting) to have a relationship with water! My path as a water guardian is based in the deep love and gratitude for water. All of my most profound experiences in this lifetime have always been around water.
Everything we experience in life informs us and changes us. Every time I meet another water protector I would be revitalized and new creativity would come into my life. I have heard about a wonderful woman from Germany who helps the waters speak to each other since we have disrupted the energy lines (Lay Lines) they use to communicate to each other. Since finding out about this woman I have opened to deeper ways to communicate and listen. I recently walked with a woman named Carole Bubar-Blodgett, an east coast water guardian, who walked through two states to raise awareness for the Merrimack River pollution level.
Please introduce us to your sacred body of water or the waters you work with
While in general I pray with any body of water, when I first started doing water blessings I was only focused on the Ocean. My first two years of monthly water blessings were almost exclusively at the ocean, unless for some reason I couldn’t make it and then I would do that month’s water blessing where ever I was. Since this time I have incorporated all bodies of water.
I started doing monthly water blessings in response to Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, hence the focus at that time on the ocean. The knowledge of the amount of oil gushing into the waters and the pictures of the animals and the water that was coming in catalyzed the seed planted many years ago in my heart. On the day, I saw my first news report about the oil spill my heart became aflame and the seed sprouted.
The week after the oil spill was made public it was a full moon and I already had plans to meet with some friends on that night. I asked if we could bless a bottle of water during our time together that I would then pour into the ocean to hopefully bring some solace to the waters and all her children. (I since have new protocols so as not to introduce microbes from one water source into another. While prayer is proven to change the water even on a molecular level I do not take chances with introducing something into an environment that isn’t naturally a part of the environment)
So on that night two friends and I held a special bottle that had water in it and filled each water molecule with our loving light. We said prayers, gave reiki, and spoke words of great love for all those in the water who were suffering. The truth is until the next day when I brought the water to the ocean and placed it in the sea, I thought this was going to be a onetime deal. I had no idea at the time that this would become part of my life forever. That ceremony on the beach was life changing and while not a long story I don’t want to add another paragraph to what’s already going to be a long-winded interview!
For the next year on every full moon I went to the ocean and prayed for her healing. At first, I was praying for all the gunk, oil, dispersants, and any other hurtful substance to be removed and the animals to be healthy and happy. As time went on and months later the oil was still gushing out prayers for cooperation, and humility of those in charge, prayers for those making decisions to be guided with light and foresight came through. That whole first year I was dedicated to mitigating the damage my brothers and sister were doing to the ocean waters. Near the end of my first year of water blessing ceremonies I got the feeling I wasn’t done with praying for the waters but I didn’t know what that meant. After one particularly beautiful ocean ritual I decided that I should spend the next year asking for light to be infused back into the water to balance the past year. So I dedicated myself to a year of New Moon Water Rituals to pray for the ocean and all her children to be Vibrant Healthy Fertile and Happy.
Something I would write in the sand in those days was, Healthy Vibrant Fertile Crystal Clear Sparkling Water For All Creatures Great And Small. As weeks turned into months and months of the oil gushing out at an outrageous speed my heart would grow heavy but the feelings I was having at the time was still centered in hope. That mantra was centered in the desire that those in charge to make decisions based on the knowledge that all creatures have a right to clean water. Not just humans. It is centered in the truth that for the whole to survive all parts of the whole need to be healthy. From the smallest creatures like the krill, to the largest like whales and everything in between. That we learn to all live together in vibrant beauty.
What type of magic or ritual do you practice?
While I use ceremony and ritual interchangeably, much to others dismay, I really am a ceremonialist. I say ritual because I will always to the end of my days do monthly water blessings. No two water blessings I do are ever the same. For me how these water blessings are born is completely by divine inspiration. I believe that the time and place informs how a blessing will go. That whomever shows up, humans and spirits alike, inform and change the ceremony. I am rooted in the fact that everyone who shows up to a ritual contributes to the outcome. While I have a plan, I allow it to be a framework and enjoy the flow that life naturally takes in the birth of what is manifesting. Sometimes they have a very Pagan flare, other times they are like sound healing concerts directed to the Mother Womb. When some Buddhist monks gave me some sacred sand I focused an entire water blessing around that sand. Sometimes I go the water’s edge at night to sing and talk to her like you would a beloved friend. Speaking to her of dreams, of healing, of hope, of interacting with all of nature in a more mature awakened state of love. Such moments inspire me to small permanent changes in my life. I do not believe in being perfect, but I do believe in making small changes. One change even. One small thing like thanking the water coming out of your tap.
There is one thing I do every time I hold a water blessing, I will my mind to place my needs and personal prayers aside to focus on the water. Usually I light some incense like sage or Palo Santo and talk to the spirits of the place where I am of my intention to pray in that spot. Everything else is as the moment dictates. My goal for this work has deepened through the years and is twofold today. To raise awareness and empower people to do their own water rituals.
Tell us more about how you started doing water rituals?
When I first started doing water rituals I made a few web pages dedicated to sharing when and where people were meeting to do water blessings and places where on the ground physical help was needed during that first year of deep water horizon. At first, I just wanted to do something to help the water and suffering animals. Which morphed to I just want to make a difference. Over time the how we make a difference changes to the times. I had morphed from Changing the World, to bringing awareness to the people. Which has also changed as you realized most people have some awareness as to what is going on with the water. So then I became how do you help people feel good and empowered? Most people know about Flint Michigan to give you an example, or the movie Erin Brockovich, or how about when our brains and eye glaze over when we think about nuclear bomb testing. We won’t even let ourselves think about it. SO as time marched on my goal has turned simple. To allow people to explore that even if there is nothing they “think” they can do, they can do “something”. They can share knowledge, come to a water blessing, support water blessing projects like, The Sisterhood of the Planetary Water Rites, Elder Josephine Mandamin, Water song Line (possibly disbanded now), Hands across the sands, Loving waters (A group of global water/earth guardians I belong to) to name a few!
Prayer is powerful and can also be very simple. It is something accomplishable even in a busy day. Taking literally 10 seconds as you are showering or getting a glass of water to rinse out your mouth in the morning to say thank you to the water. Thank you for nourishing me, for cleansing me, for waiting in my pipes to gift me your power of healing. The other side of that goal is to allow people to come to the realization that they can do their own water blessings rituals. That the only limitation to doing one is the limitations on their own imaginations! One particularly beautiful public water blessing I did with a beautiful woman named Laney Goodman, a drummer and ceremonialist, was talking about blessing the waters with us. We said prayers to the waters of our blood, our tears, our breath, our sweat, the waters of our ecstasy. I had someone come up to me and thank me for reminding her it doesn’t have to be so complicated, that I can simply thank the waters in me. That’s a good place to start!
When I do water blessings with others it helps open me up to more possibilities! For instance, about two years ago I became part of a wonderful group of world water protectors called Loving waters. This group is amazing in their commitment, organizational skills. When I first came across their web site, it was like reading my own hearts words. I am grateful to support this growing global community of water guardians. Since becoming a part of this group, my blessings have more depth and texture from the influences of the other core members! For instance, The Water Blessing song by Nalini Blossom. It is the song that I hum when I don’t know I am humming!
We all do activism. Some of us go to standing rock, or climb red woods…. Some of us don’t buy round up we pull our weeds or leave them to feed the bees… Some of us raise our children more than media and schools do…. The greatest act of activism in my humble opinion today is to take care of ourselves so that we have the energy and time to pay attention to what is going on. Without healthy water, there will be no life on this planet as we know it.
Do you know what your local water is?
The Watershed that I work with includes the Merrimack River which was just recently reported as in the top 10 most endangered rivers in the United States… Reported by the The conservation group American Rivers. They rank the Merrimack River as number 8 stating that pollution is its greatest problem..
Want to learn more about Kathleen? Visit her links below
Web page dedicated to the water oceanrituals.weebly.com/
Active up to date FB page hwww.facebook.com/groups/124860590881866
Another FB community I started for sound healing for the waters www.facebook.com/SoundingHealingForWater
Global community of Water Guardians I belong to www.lovingwaters.life
Carole Bubar-blodgett Water is Life walks https://waterislifewalk.wordpress.com/
Laney Goodman Active Drummer and ceremonialist extraordinaire http://www.sacredwavesofrhythm.com/
Visit www.WaterWitchcraft.com for more info on Water Magic and Annwyn Avalon
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