In the summer of 2025 I had just completed one of the most stressful projects of my life by producing a stageplay, a production of W.S. Gilbert's musical comedy Ages Ago. I probably got 5 hours of sleep in the entire week before showtime and I lost 10 lbs from the stress. I was always fighting with the director and I was starting to have forms of out of body experiences.
After the show had completed its run, I performed a Cut and Clear spell to release me from the relationships formed during the show (and to limit the likelihood of my holding grudges) but even after this, I was still very stressed out, sleeping badly, feeling disordered chakras. What to do? Well, I could have used traditional hoodoo or folk magic spells and uncrossings for alleviating the problem, but, instead I decided to try a more simple and more mainstream solution: a spa day.
In Santa Fe there's a very famous Japanese style spa, but which is also quite expensive. Spending a lot of money would have only added to my stress. So, I went shopping at Daiso and Ross Dress For Less, where I allowed myself to purchase any bath or beauty products that caught my fancy (I think I spent a whopping $40 -- a treatment at the spa would have cost 10x as much.)
I then conjured up ChatGPT to design a spa evening around the products I had bought (I didn't want the additional stress of figuring it all out myself) plus other products I had around already. While it was necessary for me to make some adjustments to GPT's original menu, this is what I ended up with:
JAPANESE SPA EVENING GUIDE
🕯️ 1. Atmosphere & Setup (15 min)
Tidy your space
Light Japanese incense (e.g. hinoki or sandalwood) [I used hinoki]
Play soft ambient music (shakuhachi, rain, forest) [Though not Japanese, the most relaxing music I could think of was medieval music by Hildegard of Bingen and female troubadours]
Prepare:
• Towel & robe
• massage oil & skincare
• Bath soak items
• Tea (barley, hojicha) [I ultimately used a ginger tea]
🚿 2. Pre-Bath Ritual: Cleanse & Oil (20–25 min)
Hair:
• Massage warm oil into scalp and ends [Used Doo-Grow Mega Thick Growth Oil which is a personal favorite]
• Wrap in towel or cap
Face:
• Oil cleanse [Cleaned face with jojoba oil]
Body:
• Wash and exfoliate in shower [Used Russell & Windsor Eucalyptus-Mint Exfoliant] [Also shampooed the oil after it had sat for about 15-20 mins, to prevent greasiness]
🛁 3. Ginger-Epsom Bath Soak (20–40 min)
- Run a hot bath (104°F / 40°C)
- Add ginger bath salts [I used a homemade mixture of red volcanic salt, ginger essential oil and sandalwood essential oil]
Soak in silence. Sip water or tea.
💆♀️ 4. Mask & Oil Massage (15–20 min)
Apply a hydrating sheet mask (sake, seaweed, rice ferment) [I used a collagen sheet mask from a company called Beauty Treats, which contained chamomile and seaweed]
While masking, massage:
• Shoulders & neck
• Jaw & scalp
• Use CBD oil and slow strokes [Used Tierra Madre Botanicals CBD massage oil, and a gua sha for massage]
🦶 5. Foot Reflexology (10–15 min)
Apply balm or oil [Same oil as above]
Massage feet: arches, toes, heels, pressure points
Use thumb or reflex tool — slow, grounding strokes
💧 6. Skincare Layering (Minimalist) (10 min)
[After removing the mask but letting the residue stay on skin...]
Laneige Cream Skin Mist – spray & pat in
CBD Serum – calming & anti-inflammatory [from Tierra Madre, a different blend than the massage oil]
Squalane oil – seal in hydration
🍵 7. Tea & Stillness (10–30 min)
Sip hojicha, genmaicha, or sakura tea
Rest in silence or write a haiku [See below]
Mist pillow with hinoki or yuzu spray [Made a homemade hinoki spray of vodka with hinoki, juniper and cedar oils]
Slip into bed with moisture socks
✨ Notes:
Keep motions slow. Breathe deeply. Use what you have.
This ritual is not about perfection — it’s about presence.
I did indeed complete the ritual by writing a haiku. This was my composition:
Summer solstice spa
A dark and tranquil evening
In the chaos bright
Yes, by total chance it had happened to be the summer solstice on the night that I did all this, which made it feel all the more special. I admired the evening light for part of the ritual, but much of the work was done in dark rooms lighted only with candles or other ambient light for relaxation's sake, which made an interesting contrast to the longest day of the year. I went to bed early and slept a good night.
The next day, just for amusement, I had ChatGPT translate my haiku into Japanese.
夏至のスパ
暗き静かな夜
乱れに光