The anxiety monster has been lurking around me a little too much lately, but I have a few awesome tools to use against it!!! The simplest and quickest is to take 3 deep breaths and clear my thoughts, be present. But really my favorite weapon is some good Agua Florida (Florida Water) in a spray bottle! When I feel the anxiety coming on, I spray it in the air and walk through it while taking a deep breath, often my “walk through” is more of a dance with a turn and arm movements.
The calming coolness of the mist quenches the hyper thoughts in my head. The uplifting scents of the essential oils, flowers, and fruits ground me and connect me to Mama Earth Tonantzin Gaia. The act of dancing and moving reminds me that I have a blessed body and that it’s a gift to be alive!
Agua Florida (Florida Water) literally translates to Water that has Flowers in it. The popular Murray & Lanman brand a lot of pepole know was originally manufactured as a unisex cologne in the early 1800s. Back then, Victorian era etiquette manuals warned against strong obnoxious perfumes, and instead suggested this milder cologne as a way to keep fresh. There are many recipes and typically it carries a strong scent of oranges, lavender, clove, bergamot, and cinnamon. Although no longer used much as a cologne, it was incorporated into magical traditions such as Hoodoo, Voodoo and other magical traditions. It is quite easy and fun to make at home, I either make my own or buy my friend Batul’s amazing Maaso Medicina Agua Florida.
Spiritually Agua Florida is used to cleanse and purify. In many traditions, it is sprinkled around sacred space while doing ritual to keep the area clean of unwanted spirits. It can be added to baths, put into a spray bottle to spritz around a space, sprayed onto one’s self or another (be careful not to spray directly into eyes or sensitive areas), or have a small amount poured onto hands and rubbed on body.
Because the base of Agua Florida is strong alcohol, it also serves as a wonderful and delicious smelling hand sanitizer!
Here is a recipe that me and my Priestess tribe - the Amazon Blood Mothers - first used on the Full Moon on December 2018 -
INGREDIENTS:
1 orange
1 pink grapefruit
1 mandarin
1 lime
5 roses (petals only)
7 Cinnamon sticks
One bunch of Mint
Teaspoon of Cloves
Tablespoon Cardamom pods
Tablespoon of St. Augustine spring water from Florida
24oz 40 proof Grappa (distilled by one of our priestesses from wine)
Large mason jar
DIRECTIONS:
-Chop up all of the citrus fruits into slices or wedges, place in the large jar
-Add all other ingredients into jar
-Cover all ingredients with Grappa (or any other neutral alcohol that is at least 90 proof, ideally up to 190 proof). Cover jar.
-Bury jar in earth, or place in dark area to let it brew. When burying it, say prayers and words of healing as you work .
-The batch we made with the above recipe was pressed on the following full moon in January 2019. The moon cycle it brewed was spent underground, buried beneath a sacred Datura plant in the yard of one of our priestesses.
-Agua florida can be brewed anywhere from 1 month to a year, or possibly longer. The longer it is brewed, the more it will pull the oils of the citrus fruits, herbs, flowers, and spices.
-After it is pressed, one may introduce additional essential oils. Some lovely ones for calming energy and to battle stress and depression are Palmarosa, Rose Geranium, Marjoram, Clary Sage, or Tulsi. If a spicier more warming Agua Florida is desired Cardamom or Cinnamon are wonderful additions.
-I learned how to make Agua Florida from my dear friends and teachers at Ancestral Apothecary where I partook in a couple of series of the Curanderx Toolkit classes. The folx there have been amazing and I have grown deeply in my Mexican roots, decolonizing myself every day a litte more. Ometeotl!
-I learned of the magical healing properties of essential oils from my Ayurvedic studies at the dhyanna center.