Avalon Annwyn - The Way of the Water Priestess

Calling all water witches and merfolk! Annwyn has created a sacred text to bring you home to this most powerful and necessary element. The Way of the Water Priestess gives empowering and magical ways to work with our mother, the waters. Whether well-versed in the ways of water or just dipping your toes into water magic, you will love this thoroughly researched and engaging book.

Madame Pamita, author of
Madame Pamita's Magical Tarot

If you've ever gazed at a body of water and felt its healing, energizing power, then you've found a lifelong treasure in The Wayof the Water Priestess. Just reading it is a spiritual journey. With every page, you'll find yourself spiraling deeper into Annwyn's sacred watery realm.

Tess Whitehurst, author of You Are Magical

With The Way of the Water Priestess, Annwyn takes us through the mists to connect with our own inner water priestess and the water goddesses.

Amy Blackthorn, author of
Blackthorn's Botanical Brews

In The Way of the Water Priestess, Annwyn pours forth a bountiful offering of beautiful, simple, clear wisdom and ritual that anyone answering the siren call of the ancient waters can hear and heed. Every water priestess can find fresh inspiration and cleansing guidance within this book.

Laurelei Black, author of Aphrodite's Priestess

Annwyn Avalon takes us on a sacred journey into the water element. Fusing knowledge of ancient deities, myths, and lore with current magical techniques, each chapter teaches the arts of the water priestess and how to integrate them into personal practice.

Lawren Leo, author of Horse Magick

Annwyn's beautifully written book synthesizes solid research, folklore, and practical exercises to facilitate the way of the water priestess, creating a unique, enchanted work that serves to deepen one's connection to the priestess path.

Danielle Blackwood, author of
The Twelve Faces of the Goddess

For anyone intrigued and enchanted by water magick, The Wayof the Water Priestess is a welcome addition to your library!

Ifeanyi C. Oshun, author of
Cats, Cauldrons & Corsets

The Way of the Water Priestess brings awareness of the necessity and sanctity of water. Overflowing with wisdom rooted in history and myth, it guides the reader on an experiential journey in service of water.

Nicholas Pearson, author of Stones of the Goddess

A witches crash course in water-based spirituality, The Way ofthe Water Priestess covers a wide range of topics. With its calm, clear, guiding tone, it provides readers with the tools they need to grow their spiritual practice by tapping into water's unique properties. This is a book that I will return to for both pleasure and reference!

Temperance Alden, author of Year of the Witch

This edition first published in 2021 by Weiser Books, an imprint of
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

65 Parker Street, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.redwheelweiser.com

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

Copyright 2021 by Annwyn Avalon

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.

Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-724-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck

Cover image adapted from Circe Invidiosa (1892) by John William Waterhouse

Interior illustrations by Opia Designs

Interior by Kasandra Cook

Typeset in Incognito

Printed in Canada

MAR

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Sulis, Melusine, Morgan, and the water spirits.

This book contains advice and information relating to herbs and is not meant to diagnose, treat, or prescribe. It should be used to supplement, not replace, the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare practitioner. If you know or suspect you have a medical condition, are experiencing physical symptoms, or if you feel unwell, seek your physician's advice before embarking on any medical program or treatment. Some of the substances discussed in this book can be lethal if mishandled or ingested in sufficient quantities. Extreme caution is advised in their handling and use. Readers using the information in this book do so entirely at their own risk, and the author and publisher accept no liability if adverse effects are caused.

W hy is it that we are so drawn to the sea? Why have there been so many temples erected in the name of water goddesses and so many groves named for watery nymphs? Why do we continuously connect the ocean with femininity and water with life? Could it be a distant memorypart of our collective consciousness that attunes us to the spirit of water as she calls out to her daughters to remember the ancient ways? To remember what it was like when we held the Earth as sacred and worshiped the great goddesses at sacred wells?

So many of us are called to the water; we are drawn to her shores, where we find healing and solace. With the rise of toxic masculinity, many of these gentle but powerful practices were lost to time. Fortunately, they have been documented across various cultures throughout history, hidden within the pages of ancient texts and painted and carved on ancient temple ruins. Numerous depictions have survived of sacred women tending water, bearing water, cleansing through water, and performing religious rites in conjunction with sacred water places.

In fact, examples of priestesses and sacred women associated with water are legion and can be found in every corner of the world in every time. And it is safe to assume that they will survive in times to come. Some popular examples include Rome's Vestal Virgins, who were tasked with collecting sacred waters; the Pythia, who bathed in sacred springs before engaging in oracular trance work; the well maidens and priestesses of Celtic lore, some of whose practices were documented in letters written by Roman generals and sent back to Caesar. Some of the most detailed accounts of Gallic and Breton traditions were preserved in this correspondence.

During Christianity's rise, women like St. Keynes, St. Hilda, and St. Brigit also practiced sacred and miraculous water arts. While the Church demonized women and contributed to the demise of ancient temples and priestess practices, they could not deny their existence or stamp them out completely. In fact, during the medieval era, many Christian churches were erected on sites that were once home to ancient Pagan temples and other places associated with springs, holy wells, and sacred landscapes. This is why we find so many associations with water in old churches and cathedrals, like the carving of a mermaid on a bench in a chapel in St. Senara's church in the village of Zennor in Cornwall that dates from the 1400s. No doubt these remnants of ancient water practices were preserved sub rosa