Why water? Water is indispensible to life.

But like all kami it has a tranquil side and a rough side. The tranquil side heals and promotes growth, while the rough side purifies and clears the way for new life and rebirth.

What do you do with it? Both aspects are used by shintō practitioners to treat the whole human. The modern approach to healing is still very mechanistic and largely ignores the spiritual and psychological dimensions of a person.

BABA YAGA is a keeper of both aspects of water — the Water of Life that heals and restores, and the Water of Death that purifies and renews.

And what makes it holy, or how do you make it holy?

There are two ways:

The first is recognition of its holy status. Something about its source gives it a feeling of being sacred.

The second is by consecration by someone imbued with a sacred power. Usually there is a ritual or ceremony, but sometimes it's enough to just be held by spiritual person.