Remember when I mentioned taking some magic bath bombs on the road?

Seeing as how they worked extremely well for my purposes, I figured I’d drop how I made ’em. Though they’re not exactly something I’d display in a fancy basket next to my Lush Perles de Sel, they smell fantastic and leave my skin soft (and, more importantly, magic af).

Bath bombs, the easy way

A basic recipe for bath bombs calls for three ingredients:

1. 1 part acid
2. 2 parts base
3. Enough binder to get it to stick together

For most purposes, these are answered by vitamin C, baking soda, and water or oil. Put those together, and you’ll get a basic bomb that will fizz when it gets wet (and help remove the chlorine from your tap water at the same time). From there, you can play with additives, colorants, glitter, and any other ingredients that suit your purpose. You can also add one part of your choice of dry ingredients — dried herbs, epsom salt, arrowroot powder, or what have you — and enough skin-safe essential oil to fragrance the lot.

So, for example, a sample love bomb recipe might look like this:

1 C sodium ascorbate powder (I prefer this form of vitamin C, as it’s less irritating)
2 C baking soda
1/2 C pink salt
1/2 C dried rose petals
10 drops rose essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
2 T jojoba oil
2 t lavender hydrosol

Combine the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients in small amounts, just enough to dampen the dry ingredients without causing them to react with each other. Mix until the mixture becomes clumpy, press into bath bomb molds and allow to dry thoroughly.

No bath bomb molds? NBD. As you can see, I didn’t exactly pop these bad boys out of any fancy silicone jobbies. If you use an ingredient with a high saturated fat content, like coconut oil, rather than a liquid oil and hydrosol (or water, or witch hazel) you’ll get a softer bath bomb that, while still fizzy, is more like a bath melt.

That recipe looked more like this:

1 C sodium ascorbate
2 C baking soda
1/2 C arrowroot powder
10 drops clary sage oil
10 drops lavender oil
1/2 cup mixture of agrimony, vetivert, and assorted other cleansing/banishing herbs
Enough coconut oil to hold everything together

I didn’t use any colorants, so my bombs have a somewhat greige color from the dried herbs. I chose coconut oil for its protective qualities — coconuts have a hard shell, and I wanted to invoke that in making these. The herbs were chosen specifically for their abilities to peacefully cleanse negative energy and/or return it to its source. The end result is a spiritual bath that removes what I don’t want, while insulating me against more of the same.

Using the bombs

Taking a spiritual bath isn’t exactly like taking a regular bath, or even a luxurious soak. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of soaking, but the goal isn’t really the same. There’s a process, and it goes like this:

1. Take a regular bath or shower. The focus of a spiritual bath is not to soap up and get clean, so you want a clean body to start with.
2. Fill your tub. If you don’t have a tub, use your showerhead to fill a basin.
3. Add the ingredients. If you are using a bath bomb to bring something into your life, stir the water clockwise with your dominant hand. If you are using them to get rid of something, stir the water counterclockwise.
4. Step into the bath. If you’re using a basin, stand in the basin.
5. Immerse yourself completely. If you have a small tub or basin, use your hands to splash the water over yourself. The goal here is to cover every inch of your body with the magically-charged water.
6. When you are through, dispose of the water appropriately. Some traditions hold that you should throw it over your left shoulder, while facing east. This calls upon the power of the sun to bring you the good things you desire, while the morning sunlight destroys the bad. Others hold that you should throw it to the west, calling upon the power of the setting sun to put the bad things to rest. These may not always be practical, or even possible, but they are something to keep in mind.
7. Wipe out your tub. (This isn’t so much magical as it is a way to keep the next occupant from slipping and busting their head open.)

Gridding your tub

Some people are into crystal gridding. I only do it occasionally, but I do like it for baths. The idea here is to use the ideas behind crystal grids, with your tub or basin as the focus.

So, you might set up a collection of small rough or tumbled stones at each corner of the edge of your tub. Don’t put the stones in the water, though — some may be damaged by tap water, while others can leach things you don’t want to end up soaking in.

Using a love bath as an example again, you might use:

• 4 rough rose quartz pieces
• 4 clear quartz pieces
• 4 tumbled moonstones

Divide them into four groups with one of each stone, and set them at the corners of your tub. Turn the quartz pieces so their points are pointed toward the center of the tub, to draw in love.

For a cleansing or banishing bath, use different stones and orient the quartz points so they are pointed outward. This will direct negative energy away.

Once the crystals are set up, proceed as explained above. When you’re through, pick up the crystals, dry them thoroughly, and keep them in a safe place for next time.

Bath bombs are a lot like any other DIY beauty or personal care item — once you know the basic how-to, you can adapt them to whatever magical purpose your heart desires. Keep some baking soda, vitamin C powder, and skin-friendly oil on hand, and you’ll always have a vehicle for making your own powerful, spiritual baths.