bath

a vessel in which something is immersed to maintain it at a constant temperature, to process it photographically, electrolytically, etc., or to lubricate it

bath

an ancient Hebrew unit of liquid measure equal to about 8.3 Imperial gallons or 10 US gallons

Bath

a city in SW England, in Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset, on the River Avon: famous for its hot springs; a fashionable spa in the 18th century; Roman remains, notably the baths; university (1966). Pop.: 90 144 (2001)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Bath

An open tub used as a fixture for bathing; the room containing the bathtub. The Roman public bathing structure consisted of hot, warm and cool pools; sweat rooms, athletics and other related facilities.

Bath

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

In the Pyramid Texts of ancient Egypt (c. 2500 BCE), the oldest known writings, there is mention of the ritual bath as being both purifying and revivifying. The Pyramid Texts deal with mortuary practices designed to ensure the successful resurrection of the dead. But similar baths were applicable to the living. In the Eleusinian Mysteries, the initiation started with bathing in the sea, to cleanse the Initiate both physically and spiritually. In the Mysteries of Cybele and Attis there was also a ritual bath, known as the rite of taurobolium, although this time it was in the blood of a sacrificed bull.

Ritual baths, designed to cleanse spiritually, are a part of many cultures and have been for millennia. The Dead Sea Scrolls speak of such rituals, saying of the new member to a holy community that "his flesh will be cleansed by the sprinkling of water for impurity and by the sanctification of himself with purifying water."

In most Witchcraft traditions, there is a ritual bath before every Circle. It is especially important, of course, prior to an initiation. The bath consists of no more than a partial ritual immersion in water to which salt, symbolizing the life force, has been added. Some Witches do add herbs to their baths (e.g. lavender, lemon verbena, rosemary, valerian) and some add oils, but only the salt is mandatory.

What does it mean when you dream about a bath?

To determine the meaning of bathing in a dream, one might first ask what the individual associates with bathing. For some people it is simply cleaning, so a dream of bathing indicates the cleansing, or need for cleansing, of some area of life. For other people, a bathtub represents the supreme arena of relaxation, during which she or he is free from the demands of work and from the rest of the family. Baths can also represent baptisms, an initiation ritual in which the old person is cleansed or purified to make way for the rebirth of the individual undergoing the baptism. Finally, water represents the unconscious, so bathing can mean immersion in the unconsciousness.

bath

1. An open tub used as a fixture for bathing.

2. The room containing the bathtub.

3. (pl.) The Roman public bathing establishments, consisting of hot, warm, and cool plunges, sweat rooms, athletic and other facilities; balnea, thermae.

Bath

(dreams)

Taking a bath in a dream may represent your need to undergo some form of cleansing. If you are currently changing things in your daily life, or if you have freed yourself from bothersome emotions, this dream may be an affirmation of that. Taking a bath represents a cleansing of the outer self, the washing away of those things that are difficult or disturbing and relaxing for a while. The deeper meaning may be that the bath represents the letting go of old and useless ideas, opinions, or prejudices. Often this dream is a call to relax, to free your mind of daily troubles, and to put your problems away for a while.