Stolas and the Magick Bath: Astronomy, Herbs, and Stones, in Water

Stolas, and why a bath belongs to his work

Stolas is a Great and Powerful Prince in the Goetia, appearing in the shape of a mighty raven at first, before the exorcist, but afterwards taking the image of a man. The Grimoire Companion entry for him names his offices: he teaches astronomy, and the virtues of herbs and precious stones. A bath is a fitting form for that work, because a bath is made of herbs, and herbs are half of his office. Where incense fills the room, a bath covers the body. Both are material workings, and both depend on the same discipline: a clear purpose, a prepared space, and a record kept afterwards.

A bath is sometimes treated as the gentler, less serious form of magical work, something done for relaxation with a spiritual label attached. That reading misses what a bath actually does. A bath takes time. It requires preparation, it holds you in one place for the duration, and it leaves you, afterwards, in a different state from the one you entered in: cleaner, calmer, and more able to attend to the work that follows. For Stolas work, that change of state is the point. You do not step out of a bath the same as you stepped in, and that is true whether or not anything dramatic happened in the water.

Before any Stolas bath, write the purpose in one sentence. Name the study, the herb, the stone, or the matter of astronomy you are working on, and name what you want to understand about it. A bath taken for a vague wish to be knowledgeable will produce a vague evening. A bath taken before real study, or after a day of handling herbs and stones, frames that study and that handling, and the frame is what makes the working readable afterwards.

What is in the bath, and how it is used

The baths offered here use only pure roots, herbs, and sometimes essential oils. No synthetics are used. That is a practical statement, and it matters for a bath in a way it matters less for other tools, because a bath goes on the skin and into the water you sit in. Pure material, handled properly, is part of the working. Synthetic scent, however pleasant, is decoration, and decoration is not what you are in the water for.

The instructions given with these baths are plain. To use any of them, you add the bath to a pot of water, approximately one litre or so. If you pour everything in, including the bits of herbs, use a strainer to get the chunks out after your bath, or one of those fish tank nets, or a bird catching net. That homely detail is worth keeping exactly as it is given, because it tells you something about how these baths are meant to be used: they are real herbal material, not a coloured liquid, and the practical handling of that material is part of the working, not an inconvenience to be skipped.

Prepare the pot, the strainer, and the bathroom before you start, so that nothing has to be hunted for while the water is ready. Prepare yourself in the same way: know the purpose in its one sentence, and know what you will do after the bath, whether that is study, handling an herb or stone, or simply sitting with the question for a while. A bath with no next step tends to dissolve into an ordinary evening, and an ordinary evening, however pleasant, is not a working.

Three days in a row, and why repetition here is different

It is best to take each bath each day for three days in a row, in the instructions given with these baths. That is a specific discipline, and it is different from the warning given elsewhere in this article about repeating a working endlessly. Three days in a row is a bounded sequence, with a beginning and an end, chosen beforehand. Endless repetition is a sequence with no end, chosen out of anxiety. The difference is not in the number of repetitions. It is in whether the sequence was decided in advance, and whether it stops when it was meant to stop.

A three-day sequence also fits the material of Stolas work. Astronomy is learned over time, by returning to the same sky night after night. Herbs are learned over time, by returning to the same plant through its seasons. Stones are learned over time, by handling them repeatedly until their qualities are familiar. A single bath can mark a beginning. Three baths, on three days, mark a practice, and a practice is what teaches, where a single event only impresses.

Keep a short record across the three days, not only on the first. Note the purpose in its one sentence, what you did after each bath, and what you noticed, in plain language. If the second day feels flat, or the third day feels like a chore, record that too. A record that only notes the good days is a false picture, and a false picture will mislead the next decision you make about the work.

Astronomy, herbs, and stones, through the bath

For astronomy, the bath is a preparation for study, not a substitute for it. Bathe, then sit with the chart, the table, or the observation you are working on, while you are still in the calm, attentive state the bath leaves you in. Note what was unclear before and what is clearer after, in plain language. A working that supports study is judged by whether the study moves, and the bath is judged by whether it helped you sit to that study with steadier attention.

For herbs, the bath is itself a handling. You are in water with herbal material, and that direct contact is a form of learning that reading about an herb cannot give. Pay attention, during the bath, to the herb itself: its scent, its texture, the way it behaves in water. That attention is the beginning of knowing its virtue, in the old sense of the word, which is knowledge gained by use, not by reputation alone.

For stones, the bath is a preparation for handling. Bathe, then take the stone in hand, study it, and work with it while you are still in that settled state. Note what you notice about it that you had not noticed before. Stones reward slow attention, and a bath is one of the simplest ways to slow attention down before the handling begins.

The seal, and how it is worked with

Stolas has a seal, shown above, and a seal is a tool, not a picture. In the general way of working with seals, you may hold it, place it under a candle, put oil on it, carry it with you, wear it as a pendant, or show it to your desired person, depending on the nature of the working. For a Stolas bath working, a fitting use is to place the seal under the candle lit for the working, or to keep it where you will study afterwards, so it is present in the room where the work continues after the bath, rather than left in the bathroom as an afterthought.

Do not take a metal seal into the bath water unless you know, for that metal, that water will not damage it. A tool damaged by carelessness is a distraction in the next working, and a safety risk if it can fall apart unnoticed. Keep the seal dry, clean, and in a place where it will not be lost among unrelated objects.

Keeping a record, and knowing when to stop

Keep a short record for the three-day sequence as a whole: date of each bath, purpose in one sentence, what you did after each bath, and what you noticed afterwards, over the days that follow, not just on the nights themselves. If nothing changes, that is also information. It may mean the purpose was unclear, the study needs a different method, or the situation needs a different approach altogether.

When the three days are done, stop, observe, and then decide, calmly, whether a second sequence, a different approach, or no further working is the right next step. Repetition without reflection is not persistence. It is noise, and noise is the enemy of the patient observation that astronomy, herbs, and stones all require.

Stolas Goetia bath

A magick bath for work with Stolas, made with only pure roots, herbs, and sometimes essential oils, with no synthetics used. To use it, add it to a pot of water, approximately one litre or so, strain out the herb pieces afterwards, and take the bath each day for three days in a row.

If you want a Stolas bath made in this way, this is the one I offer: Stolas Goetia bath, $44 CAD. View the product

Companion tools for the same work: Stolas incense, for spirit work and spellwork with Stolas, and Stolas oil, for anointing in Stolas work, each $44 CAD. View the product

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