Florida Water

Folk magic

Tradition · Atlantic Folk Magic
Alternate Names
Florida waterAgua de FloridaMurray and Lanman's Florida Water
Kind
Substance
Region
New York manufacture from the early nineteenth century; used across the Caribbean, the southern United States and Latin America
Era
From the early nineteenth century (the firm dates it to 1808); still in production
Background

Florida Water is a light citrus-and-spice cologne, made in New York by Murray and Lanman and later by Lanman and Kemp, and it became the most widely used scent in the folk magic of the Americas: the same bottle stands on an espiritista's table, in a Lucumí cleansing, in a hoodoo bath, and in a Spiritual church. Its name has nothing to do with the state as a place of origin and everything to do with the 'fountain of youth' fashion of the early republic; its use in magic is a nineteenth-century development that spread through the same trade routes as the people who used it.

Practice

It is added to bath water, splashed on the hands and face, used to dress a candle, sprinkled on an altar or in a room, put in the water of a floor wash, and used to 'cool' a person or a place. In espiritismo it is one of the standard offerings and cleansers at a table; in Lucumí and in hoodoo it is a bath and wash additive; in the Spiritual churches it is used in the same way as holy water. It is also, straightforwardly, a cologne, and people wear it.

Purpose
To cool, cleanse and refresh a person, a room or an altar, and to carry a pleasant scent as an offering
Tools
Bowl
Deity or saint
MaryObatala
Keywords
Florida waterCologneAgua de floridaCleansingCoolingOfferingLanman
Magical Uses
PurificationProtectionHealingOffering
Ethical Note

Florida Water is a commercial cologne with a hundred and fifty years of magical use, which makes it the best example in this file of a substance that belongs to no one tradition and is used by several. Its cheapness and availability are the reason: it was what poor people could buy, and the traditions made it theirs. It is also flammable and should not be poured near a candle flame, which is a real hazard in a practice full of lit candles.

Referenced by 18

Every entry that names Florida Water, grouped by the system it comes from.

🧿 Folk magic 18