The milk bath is commonly prescribed for healing issues of violation, rape, incest, assault, transgression against our female body and being.
This healing may be extended to an entire female lineage as one does it, biological or otherwise or to one ancestress in particular who would benefit from it. Offering healing through our physical embodiment for one who no longer has a body is a common prescription.
Men who are transgressed against in this way may also use this ritual as a way to heal and cleanse these violations.
For this ritual you will need:
- 4 cups of milk (any milk you choose is fine)
- A bathtub
- Candles
- One raw egg
- Wood ash or salt
The Ritual:
- Before the bath, take a raw egg and roll it over your heart asking it to take all the pain into it to be metabolized and healed. When complete, leave the egg outside in the wild for the forces of nature to come and eat it or transform it.
- If you have wood ash, place a thin line of it across the threshold of the bathroom door to seal the space and create a safe container. If no ash, you may use sea salt or another material that feels right to you. You are stating your boundary as you set this down: Only energies with my best interest in mind may enter this place.
- Draw the bath and then pour the milk into it. If it feels right, you may light a candle or two for protection or any other intention you wish to set.
- Before entering the water, ask for healing, ask the water to clear you and the milk to clean you and nourish you.
- Once submerged, tell yourself this should not have happened to you. It was wrong. Tell your body you understand how it feels, how it suffered. At this point, you may state that you are extending out the healing to all the women in your lineage or a particular one. Sit quietly in the water, feeling. Allow the milk and the water to penetrate all the levels of your being. Offer yourself healing. Offer your grief to the water. Offer yourself compassion and care— love
© Theresa C. Dintino 2019
Theresa C. Dintino is an ancestral Strega (Italian wise woman), Earth worker, and initiated diviner in the West African Dagara tradition. For more than 20 years Theresa has studied and practiced an Earth-based spirituality. She currently helps others reclaim their personal lineages through her divination work. Theresa is the author of seven books which include her Tree Medicine Trilogy. Learn more about her books here.