Alie’s Bath Tea Enchantment Recipe

After an unbelievable five days filled with excitement, I dashed to Alie's house, unable to contain my bubbling excitement. Why, you ask? Because I had encountered the man I met before again, and this meeting happened entirely by chance. Sure, we live in the same area and frequent the same places, but who could orchestrate a second encounter within the same week amidst all those restaurants and cafes?

Furthermore, I had been indulging myself all week by lighting Alie's "Secret of 10 Drops" candle for two hours every day in my room. I believe the power of the candle affects not only my mood but also my intentions. Perhaps my intention was to influence the energy around me... Because all week, I couldn't stop thinking about this man. His conversations with me, whether trivial or profound, kept replaying in my mind. After a long break from relationships, I found myself questioning whether it could be possible to start a new. Perhaps the continuation of the tale could tell how this adventure would end.

Anyway, when I arrived at Alie's, she was lounging in the winter garden, engrossed in a book, half-dozing with contentment. "The weather is so cold, come inside quickly!" she exclaimed, handing me a blanket. I usually didn't wear a coat when going to Alie's, preferring to dash to her door with mischievous steps, just as I did when I was younger. She always loved that.

Of course, the first thing I did was tell her about this mysterious man I had just met. She was just as excited as I was. My life had been consumed by work and sports for a while now. Therefore, she believed it was quite fortuitous that I was now making time for matters of the heart. Still, I thought the candle played a role in these developments.

That's when she told me a candle didn't just have the power to create this, but it essentially paved the way for my dreams and the intentions they created. "But if you ask me about the candle's purpose, it's actually to trigger the motivation within you, to remind you of your emotions and intentions..." she said.

For a while, I watched the crackling embers of the stove silently warming the winter garden. Outside, there was only the sound of snow and wind. Alie's voice brought me back. "Shall we continue with the story?" With a mischievous smile, I settled into my seat and looked at her.

Apparently, Serona couldn't get the young man she encountered in the greenhouse out of her mind. Having never approached matters of the heart before, this young woman, upon feeling a flutter in her heart for the first time, became anxious. To overcome this anxiety, she decided to concentrate on the second concoction the mysterious client asked of her.

For this mixture, she would fill fabric tea bags with dried herbs she would gather. She would then ask him to use each bag every other day in the bath. The herbs she would use in this mixture would be slightly different from those used in the candle. While the wick of the candle was a call to action, the bath tea that would follow would calm it, working the ritual delicately with deep and powerful steps.

She had selected the roses from a sack her father had brought back from a special garden that grew wild roses where he had travelled years ago. She specifically requested them to be picked at dawn when the dew fell and dried them carefully in a semi-shaded area. Now she would use these roses to awaken the most primal and powerful emotion in her heart. This plant with feminine energy was well suited to preparing the bath tea as it supported the water element.

She decided to add a spoonful of Dead Sea crystal salt from beside it. The salt would increase the absorption of the mixture and cleanse the stagnant, negative energy in the body.

One of her favorite and indispensable plants was lavender. Its balancing, soothing, and, most importantly, clarity-enhancing tendency always proved effective in every mixture. While the feminine power of the rose counter balanced with lavender's masculine weight to achieve balance in the mixture.

She also added the dried leaves she had collected from the lemon balm, which was perfect for making bath tea because it was in harmony with the air element. She thought the lemony scent of the balm would be a perfect choice to be felt in the steam of the water and ensure the mixture's purpose was achieved. Thanks to lemon balm's harmony-creating property, even the wildest emotions and the most definitive decisions could be balanced.

When Serona had prepared all her materials, she stood at her counter. In this part, she had to concentrate and feel her intention clearly in her heart, mind, and hands as she filled the bags with herbs for the second step. However, she couldn't concentrate, and various thoughts swirling in her head hindered her focus. At the forefront of these thoughts, she couldn't admit it to herself, was, of course, Ezra.

Then when she looked at her materials and preparations on the counter, she thought about the money she would earn if she did this job properly before the day ended. When she became really bored with the situation, she decided to take a break and go outside. When she wanted to clear her mind, the first place she went was the vast olive grove just outside the town. She quickly put on a shawl and left, telling her father she would return without being late.

As the scorching sun slowly withdrew from the warmed earth, a warm breeze spread into the coolness. Serona, accompanied by the centuries-old song of the cicadas, walked down the dirt path. She just wanted to listen to the voices in her head.

"What should I desire most in this short life, and what should I pursue?" she asked herself, and as she saw that she couldn't persuade her heart to answer logically, she was surprised. When she reached the garden, it was almost sunset, and as she walked among the roots of the old olive trees piercing the ground, she envied these majestic beings defying and maturing against time. She also wanted to be just left alone, but apparently, she had to be a tree for that...

Until now, she had never wanted a partner or dreamed of love like her peers. But her heart said otherwise; now she wanted to drink this emotion like water. For the first time, she was facing such a contradiction, and now running away was not the solution.

Her family was worried about her absent-mindedness and exhaustion, and although she offered excuses of work and fatigue, her mother sensed the change immediately. Thinking that this might be the good news they expected, that there could be a potential suitor, she immediately talked to her husband. But he didn't think the same way. He emphasized the importance of the job that came from this important client, how many kilos of gold came even at the order stage, and how her daughter must deliver this job correctly. Matters of the heart could wait a little longer.

When Serona returned home, her mother quickly pulled her aside. "A young man has been asking for you in the study for an hour, saying he is looking for you," she said. Surprised by this, Serona couldn't hide her shock, and seeing her mother's cunning expression, she noticed her suspicion that the visitor might be Ezra. Blushing, Serona went to the study without changing her expression.

Serona found Ezra lost in the array of mixtures on the counter when she found him. The thought of his interest and intrigue about her work striked her. With a warm smile, as if it was meant to be, as if they had known each other for years, he inquired directly about what she was working on. Serona tried to brush it off by saying it was just an order from one of her routine customers, but before she could finish her sentence, Ezra picked up one of the dried roses from the counter. He closed his eyes, as if envisioning the garden where the rose had come from, and crushed the dried flower in his palm, inhaling its scent deeply. "The rose is found in many healing mixtures, but it is especially potent when it comes to matters of love," he said, looking at Serona. The palpitations and tension she felt because of this man made Serona feel weak and helpless. Smiling, Ezra, who approached her knowingly, seemed to understand what he was putting her through. When Serona realized she couldn't do anything about it, she made one last effort, saying, "I need to finish this work right now, Ezra. What can I do for you?" bravely meeting his gaze.

Ezra's last desire was to distance Serona from himself. Therefore, instead of escalating the tension created by their mutual feelings, he took a step back and simply said he had come only to get a mixture for his father's cough. Serona quickly packaged the syrup from her stock and swiftly sent Ezra on his way.

She couldn't fight the growing feelings in her heart anymore. But those feelings also prevented her from focusing, and despite sitting at her counter for days preparing a bath infusion for her customer, she couldn't complete the mixture. One evening, when her mother came into the workspace for the first time in a long time, she turned to her daughter and asked, "Are you preparing bath infusions?" Serona looked surprised, and with a mischievous smile, her mother approached the counter, saying, "Remember, you learned this from me. Even though I haven't approached this counter in a long time, I know you and the plants very well. Tonight, there's a fullmoon in the sky, and I thought it's the perfect time for women to bathe." Rolling her eyes, Serona walked away. "Everything is ready, you just need to bring the bath infusions, we'll take care of the rest," she smiled and left the room without waiting for a response.

These earth-domed baths, located at the intersections of intermittently lined houses, provided special services to all guests who wished and paid a little. When the seven women met in front of the bath that evening, giggling as they entered, their voices echoed joyfully off the high walls of the salon made of pure white stone. In the midst of this exotic area adorned with large-leaved plants, sofas from woven reeds encrusted with soft blankets, and mirrors, there stood a round pool with mosaic mermaid figures on its floor. The steam rising from the pool both moisturized and heated the salon. Under the warm light of intermittently placed candles and the moonlight seeping through the dome's air holes, the women began to undress. Meanwhile, Serona's mother took her placeat the edge of the pool and announced to everyone “Tonight, under the light of the full moon, we gathered, just as women. Joy, happiness, charm, and power would be with us. Let's remember that we don't need more than ourselves for any of it. Serona has prepared a lovely bath mixture for you all. With this mixture, we will meet in the same energy and support its intention." As the women entered the water one by one, Serona's mother tossed the fabric bags containing the infusions into the pool and invited all the women to join hands in a circle inside the pool. Then, turning to Serona, she said, "Now, you tell us, so we know the intention of this circle." Caught off guard, Serona didn't know how to start at first. But she could feel the power of the circle. All she had to do was let her mind flow and leave the words that would come out of her mouth to her heart.

As the women moved slowly in the circle, the bath infusion began to mix with the water, and Serona managed to articulate her intention into words. The scent that filled the salon turned into Serona's lips and the repeated song of the circle. Each woman listened to the call of the mixture and intention. Under the moonlight, they bathed in this enchanted water, repeating their wishes for love.

The next day, when Serona returned to her counter, she managed to package the second mixture before the day was over. In the late afternoon, her mother knocked on the door and smiled when she saw that her daughter had finished the bath infusions. "How's it going?" she asked. As always, Serona looked gratefully at her admired mother. "It seems to me, my dear, that fate has still managed to find its way. I, too, once chose to be both a healer, a wife, and a mother. But each has its place, of course. I didn't exclude one for the other just because one was present. I simply decided to prioritize you when making my choices." Seeing that Serona understood what her mother was implying and the questions in her mind, she lowered her gaze to the ground. "What's important is that you noticed, Serona. Sometimes, instead of fighting, the only way out is to accept, my dear. It's like opening paths like water or being able to take the shape of the container you're in. Learning where to direct your power gives you the key to the lock, and last night, by accepting your feelings instead of fighting them, you managed to focus."

That evening, Serona decided to knock on Ezra's door. When she arrived at his house, the elderly host was getting up from dinner with his son. Seeing Serona, he smiled and offered them goat's milk, then left them alone. Without knowing what to say, Serona left herself to the moment, watching the vineyards spread out in front of her by the fire. For the first time, she felt courage in her soul and passion in her heart without fear or worry. She was ready now.

When Alie paused, I thought we had momentarily stopped the story. She went to the living room and started rummaging through her cupboards. Then she returned to me with a cloth bag in her hand. "I prepared this," she said, giggling, and handed me the bag. I looked sadly at the bag, "But I don't have a bathtub." She sipped her tea, gathered her legs under her and shrugged, "It doesn't matter, hang it under the shower head and wash with hot water. The water will filter through this bag while you wash. I think it turned out to be a great mixture! Let's see what you think."

I eagerly tried the bath the next evening, of course! First, I applied the clay mask Alie taught me to my face, then I opened a nostalgic music playlist and took a warm shower by a few candles. Although I usually hesitate to engage in such activities, I was more than eager to try the enchanted bath infusion.

The lemony scent mixed with lavender filled the bathroom. Suddenly, my old bathroom transformed into a mystical and soothing space, reminiscent of the hammam Serona had visited. For the first time, I felt a sense of purpose within me. I would find that man and speak to him. I knew that when the right time came, my feet would once again lead me to the right place. Just like last time...

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