Immersion Bathing: Death and Rebirth
RITUALISTIC IMMERSION IN RUNNING WATER (A STREAM OR RIVER) or the ocean is one of the oldest forms of initiation and symbolic death and rebirth. It is one of the essential steps in awakening, frightening but necessary. We need to symbolically “die” to the old to be “born again” – our second birth. Furthermore, this second birth may be referred to as a “virgin birth.” As we can see, it is not membership in an earthly or religious institution. It is the beginning of an awakening to the truth of the world and one’s authentic self.
Few in the world still practice and teach this form of purification. Outside of the Mandeans of the Middle East, the greatest concentration of “dawn bathers” is to be found within the indigenous communities that still practice and adhere to the old ways. But even here, there are few still alive that can “initiate” and put people into the “living waters” of the Earth.
We are blessed to be two of those who still practice and “initiate” people into bathing. This “initiation” is not one of membership, but one of death and rebirth. After I put a person into the stream, he or she is free to revisit any stream and repeat the ritualistic immersion. Going bathing will help a person release the stress and hurt that comes from living in today’s chaotic and fear filled world. And quite possibly, it may help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease.
