The following is a simplified variation of a Buddhist method for creating consecrated liquid (what I tongue-in-cheek refer to as “magick skull vodka”). Simplified and altered because there is some stuff that can’t be shared (oh, how mysterious) and other things that really only work in a Buddhist context (oh, how pretentious). Since it’s meant to be adapted for you own practice I’ll leave out some specifics to be worked out in your way.
This method is for creating a holy water that is dedicated to a specific figure, and by extension their sphere of influence. I’ll use the word god in this post, just because it’s easier than saying Buddha/Bodhisattva/God/Saint/Angel/Demon/whatever, but don’t think this is actually restricted just to a god. Really you can make this in a single sitting, but ideally it’s something that you will take a month to consecrate.
You will need:
A bowl*
A round mirror
Liquid**
Herbs/spices*** (Powdered)
Oil
Thin wooden sticks (Kabob sticks work great)
Thread
*Traditionally a skullcup, but I’ll assume most people don’t have a skull cup hanging around (boring). Just use a white bowl, or a bowl of the appropriate colour for the god
**Liquid: Personally I use vodka. There are a lot of reasons that are relevant in Buddhism on why to use alcohol. If you use alcohol it should be something of a high alcoholic content, and low in sugars. It’s going to sit out in a bowl for a month, and high alcoholic percent will keep it sterile, and low sugars will prevent it from spoiling and/or attracting fruit flies and the like. You can use water if it is more appropriate.
***Herbs/spices: Pick something that is appropriate by either herbal/magickal associations or colour. My practice uses chili powder or paprika for that deep red/rust colour.
Here is the stick frame on the skull cup
Take the sticks and tie them into a shape that is appropriate to the god and of an appropriate size to place over the bowl to hold the mirror up. In my practice it’s a chöjung (a hexagram). If there isn’t an appropriate shape you can use I’d either use a triangle or hexagram, to symbolize manifesting the work into our reality, giving it form. Pour your liquid into the bowl, and place the stick frame on top.
With the mirror on top, stop judging my tile floor
Now take your mirror and make sure it’s clean. (There is a good Buddhist analogy about clean mirrors, but really this is just for hygiene) Now coat it with a thin layer of oil, just pour it on, tilt the mirror, nudge it with your finger until it’s completely covered. Sprinkle a layer of your spice on top of it, I use a small tea strainer to help shake it on more evenly, cover it thoroughly and then blow off the excess. Inscribe the seal, sigil, mandala, whatever of the god you’re working with onto the spice, so you can somewhat see the mirror through their image. Place this on top of the mirror, and you’re ready to go.
Here is an example I found online of the same set up. This is more ornate and shows all the offerings which I excluded in my picture.
You might have to tweak how you work with the figure, because the Buddhist method has some specifics regarding self and front generation. Every night (or whenever) do your ritual for the god. In the Buddhist ritual I use, first I invoke the person into me, then I evoke them onto the mirror, then we do the ritual of offerings, and whatever is required.
What you should do is find a way that works for you to call whomever you’re working with onto the mirror. Think of it like their throne, or the base for whatever they’d sit/stand on. In a simplified Buddhist approach you can just visualize them sitting on the mirror, recall their appearance and traits, then when you have a good solid mental image of them actually call to the real god and get them to inhabit the visualization. Basically you’re making an energetic/mental receptacle that looks like them, to make it easier for them to be in your space and work with you.
Once they are present work with them how you see fit. Sing their praises, give them offerings, make your requests, negotiate with them, whatever. When you are done, thank them, but don’t dismiss them. You’re not forcing them to stay, but you’re not dismissing them either. You’re welcoming them into your sphere and life. The idea is that every day the energetic form becomes a little bit more solid and powerful. Every day you build on the previous, collecting more and more merit/blessing/energy/whateveryoucallit. Eventually you can build up a pretty powerful presence in the mirror. Every day when you do this, refresh your liquid, usually you just need a splash, you don’t want to lose it all to evaporation.
Traditionally this is done for a lunar month, new moon to new moon, but depending on purpose and practicality you can change that, though if you really want it to have some umph behind it, do it for at least two weeks.
When you’re done and ready to finish the consecration perform the rituals just as you have. Make the visualization, call the god into it, give the offering/praise/requests. Then when you’re done you dissolve everything. The simplest way to do this is to see the figure as made of liquid light, and let it lose cohesion. See the figure melt, the real them and the visualization (because there is no difference at this point) through the mirror into the liquid, purifying and transforming it. Spend some time making sure they’re “blended” well, that the energy you’ve built up over the month is now really in the liquid. Then take a knife, or a flat edge, and scrape the spices into the liquid, to carry that physical component of the blessing, after all your god or whatever has been sitting on that for a month, using it partially as their connection to your space.
Put the consecrated liquid in a bottle, and you’re ready to go. After a day or two you can strain the liquid if you don’t want it to have as much of the spice physically in it. (I do, but it’s a bit of a pain to let the vodka drip through a coffee filter.
There you have it, consecrated liquid to a specific figure, or purpose. While I trust folks out there to be inventive, I’ll probably post about things to do with it in a few days.
