Emotional Cleansing

Everyone is selling juice cleanses and bath bombs, but those only address the surface of the physical body. My monthly ritual, usually aligned with the full moon, goes straight to the marrow of my spiritual being. I perform what I call an “Energy Sweeping”—a deep purification dedicated to cleansing the Odu (spiritual residue) of the passing month. I take a cold or lukewarm shower, deliberately invoking Oshun and Yemoja, the mothers of fresh and salt waters, to carry away spiritual filth. As the water cascades over me, I visualize it dissolving the “eyes” of jealousy, the sticky cords of emotional attachments, and the heavy weight of unshed tears that have accumulated in my joints. I scrub my skin with a natural loofah while chanting: “Omi tutu, omi ola, omi iye.” (Cool water, water of honor, water of life.) This isn’t a shower; it’s a baptismal reset.