A Celebration of Bathing Rituals

“There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them,” Sylvia Plath wrote in her 1963 novel The Bell Jar. And indeed, luxuriating in a steaming bath or refreshing shower, taking a moment to yourself to clean, preen, and wallow to your heart's content, is surely one of life's greatest indulgences. But of course, it is a fairly recent phenomenon that homes come complete with bathrooms and warm, running water or that bathing alone has become the norm. Once…