Baths should be, at best, administered by a Houngan or Mambo for best effectiveness.  More often than not, the Houngan/Mambo will become possessed by a Lwa and he/she will administer the bath to the person. A bath can be taken by a client alone but that is only done if the client is really unable to have it administered to him/her.  A Houngan/Mambo has the know-how of how to administer the bath and also does other things in conjunction with the bath that a client bathing himself will just not be able to do. 

Baths are constructed of a variety of materials.  Magical Oils, herbs, spiritual waters, perfumes, liquors, and many other materials will all be used in the composition of a bath depending on it's purpose.  Baths also vary greatly in composition from one Houngan or Mambo to another.  Each Houngan or Mambo has his/her own personal secrets, baths being just one of the many, thus baths will change from Houngan to Houngan and even from client to client all depending on what is needed. 

 

Herbs for baths are best picked by the person administering it.  In Haiti, this is the way it is done.  The person gathering the leaves will use proper invocations, make the appropriate offerings, and also conduct in the right manner in order to "wake up" the leaves.  Bring up their power and induce them into working for the client.  Unfortunately, many of the leaves that we use do not grow here in the US.  (Well at least not here in the Northern States, I've been told by others that they can be found growing in the South quite easily).  Thus, a Houngan or Mambo will usually go buy them at a Botanica. (A botanica is a store that caters to Santeria and Vodou practitioners.  It has a variety of items in there, from herbs to oils to zen.)  The Houngan will still need to make the leaves able to work by "waking them" so to speak.

 

Baths also vary in composition.  Some are more "dry" and some are "watery".  Meaning, some baths consist of the herbs being rubbed on the individual.  This may be sometimes known as a "leaf bath".   Others are actually in a bucket of water and are poured over the individual.  Baths get really technical too.  The manner in which they are applied to the body also has to do with the purpose of the bath. 

 

When someone comes here for a bath I make sure to use the finest quality perfumes, waters and spirtual liquids available.  The leaves are empowered so that they may be most advantageous to you.  Always prepared correctly, the baths I administer have resulted in sudden and often amazing gains for the receiver.  People with bad luck have seen amazing improvements in their lives, persons with specific desires have seen quick and easy resolutions to their situations and achieved their goals.

 

The truth about it is that most times it will be the Lwa him/herself administering the bath, thus the revolutionary outcomes.  We also always make sure to give the appropriate offerings to the Lwa for the success of these baths.  Suprisingly, many problems can be resolved for someone with a bath or a certain number of baths. 

 

Usually, I have the person stand in a large metal basin, which has already been placed on appropriate ceremonies.  For some baths, I will call the Lwa into my head and the Lwa have been known to come into my head to give the bath in the middle of me administering it myself.  The resulting debris and water that may be left over after a bath isn't just tossed anywhere either!  I make sure that everything goes to it's place when we are finished.