Every year on January 6th the Orthodox Church has a ceremony called the Great Blessing of the Waters. Prayers are said over a large bowl of water, the Holy Spirit called upon and a cross is submerged in it. It is a symbolic celebration of Christ’s baptism.

The role of baptism in Christianity is seen as a ritual cleansing of sins. There is no question that living water is very cleansing both to drink and bathe in. The blessing ceremony is done outside most of the time. One church on the island of Patmos does their ceremony at the harbor, surrounded by 30 or more fishing boats. Once the abbot puts the cross in the water, all the boats sound horns and young men and boys swim in a race to be the first to get the cross and return it to the abbot.

The church believes that through baptism we are renewed, born again, and purified, sending positive energy into the cosmos for all its believers to be uplifted by. (Reference: Parabola Magazine Vol. 34 No. 2)

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Known as undying shape-shifters who live in the water, the Rusalki are mythical Russian creatures, representing feminine importance and divinity. Water itself takes on the form of whatever contains it, and gives life.

It can also take life by drowning. In this way, the Rusalki protects its feminine youth. They were known in stories to lure men into the water with their beauty only to drown them. It is in this way that Russian Folklore was trying to protect its young women from dishonor by men. They can also appear as swans or ducks or other waterfowl.

Many Russian villages would have a ceremony around the time of Pentecost (a Jewish harvest celebration) in which they would offer their crops put together in the shape of a woman’s body into the river as a sacrifice in order to continue productive farming. The women would take turns for about a week to sing songs to evoke consistent rains for the year.

The main point of these stories is to drive home the point of life’s cycle, birth and death, of which water has always been a part. (Reference: Parabola Magazine Vol. 34 No. 2)

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The Tlingit Tribe in Alaska has many myths, one in particular about the origins of freshwater and how the Raven got its black color:

In the long time ago, when animals could speak and people had not yet been created, Raven ruled the world. Back then Raven was as white as snow. He was not black like he is now. One day Raven saw a stranger standing on the shore while he was flying along the sea. He landed and spoke to him. “Who are you” he asked. “I have never seen you before.” “I am Ganook,” replied the stranger. “Where did you come from?” asked the Raven. “I have always been here, without beginning or end,” said Ganook. Thereafter, Ganook invited his white feathered brother to join him at his great house for a feast. Inside the house was a large stone box with a lid upon which Ganook slept at night. Inside was the only fresh water in the world. Ganook shared some with Raven, and the greedy bird could not get enough of it because it tasted so good. He was used to drinking only sea water. After the feast, Raven began to tell stories of his adventures. He told many tales, and soon Ganook fell asleep on the stone box lid. The deceitful Raven, ever the trickster, thought quickly and decided to steal some of the fresh water. He tricked Ganook by placing excrement beneath him and then awoke him saying how he had messed himself. “Just look at yourself!” Raven exclaimed, laughing. Ganook rushed out into the sea to bathe, and while he was away Raven quickly removed the heavy lid and drank some of the sweet water. But before he could escape, Ganook returned and saw what Raven was doing. He was angry that he had been so easily deceived. He grabbed Raven by the neck and began roasting him over a fire. The smoke turned Raven black. Finally, Ganook released Raven, who flew away with some water still in his beak. As he flew, water dripping from his beak fell on the ground, forming the first rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds.

(Reference: Parabola Magazine Vol. 34 No. 2)

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In the Qur’an, it is written that God sends the rain. This correlates with their belief that God sends down stories that all Creation came from water. Water is their sign that creation is a miracle.

The point is made in the Qur’an that no matter how big one’s ship, the ocean is always stronger, bigger, and able to destroy. The Islam believers therefore pray to God to deliver them safely to their destination. In their description of paradise, rivers flow into gardens, since all life, including water, returns to God. The water seems to have its own spirit that propels it to continuously move in oceans and rivers.

The Islam people also believed bathing to be sacred in that they were using part of God’s creation to be clean again. The Qur’an sees clouds as “…a two-fold sign: their passage across the vault of the heavens is a sign of the ephemerality and impermanence of life on this earth, and as a result, clouds are not merely a sign of water’s metamorphosis into vapor, but are in themselves the ‘upper water’ in visible form. In the form of clouds water shows its yearning for spiritual states and ascents.”

Islamic thoughts see water as a symbol of God’s oneness…it is colorless, without form, taste or smell, yet produces in plant life all those things. It is the life of everything, and they believe God’s throne is upon the waters. (Reference: Parabola Magazine Vol. 34 No. 2)

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Zen Master Dogen taught: “What different types of beings see is different. We should reflect on this. Is it that there are various ways of seeing a single object? Or is it that we have mistaken a variety of images for a single object? We should examine this question in detail, concentrate every effort on understanding it, and then concentrate even more. Given this multitude of perspectives, it follows that training on the way of practice and verification cannot be of one or two kinds, and the realm of ultimate reality must also have a thousand types and ten thousand kinds.”

So there are many ways in which to view water. Water can help or destroy depending on how much of it is being used. The balance of water’s use is an important idea here, and to remember the circumstances of water’s uses and perspectives are ever-changing.

Zen Master Dogen continues: “However, the various waters, which accord with the kinds of beings that see water, do not depend on mind, do not depend on body, do not arise from karma, are not self-reliant, and are not reliant upon others. Water, being dependent on water, is liberated.”

If one can move beyond all the perspectives of water, it can be truly seen for what it is and connect everything in our world. (Reference: Parabola Magazine Vol. 34 No. 2)

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