Translation: lustral water
Khernips is an important tool in Hellenism, used classically to cleanse worshipers and spaces both, marking the transition between mundane and divine, while also reinforcing the idea of community, by establishing practices which every worshiper was expected to take part in. Surviving theater and literature, as well as iconography, clearly show public sacrifices involving the sprinkling of khernips before the altar and around the sacrifice. We also find plentiful mention in temple inscriptions of khernips playing a role in purification rituals prior to entering sacred space. Hesiod clearly says that mortals should be purified before giving offerings to the Theoi.
Indeed the need to ritually wash extended even outside of temple spaces, with Hesiod and Homer both cautioning readers to wash their hands before crossing a river, since rivers were considered divine. Hesiod describes how one should look upon the river, wash their hands, and pray in order to be cleansed before crossing. Hesiod also writes on how worshipers should wash themselves before approaching their hearth, which, again, was considered to be a sacred thing and connected to the divine. Hesiod even tells us that failure to wash your hands before giving a libation will result in the Theoi 'spitting out' the libations and refusing the offering. He places a clear and heavy importance on ritual purity and ritual washing before any interaction with the divine. The extent to which his opinions were shared by the public are unknown, but additional sources do indicate the religious significance of purity and khernips.
The details of ritual of purification before entering a temple are mostly unknown. Beyond restrictive periods of time where one must let miasma fade before it can be cleansed, and the general statement that a worshiper must be clean in body and mind before entering, little is recorded in the specifics of ritual purification prior to entering a temple space. Wash basins and fountains could be found in front of temples, which provided a way for worshipers to wash themselves prior to entering. It's also known that before an altar a priest or priestess would perform purification ceremonies during ritual. Information on this is more available, and we have descriptions of clergy washing their hands in khernips, sprinkling khernips about the altar and sacrifice, and throwing barley or other grains onto the altar as well.
What we do know about ritual purification with khernips, comes from literature. The most common means of purification by water seems to have been the use of spring water. Springs often featured as sacred sites in temples, and water from the springs would be used for ritual and purification. The ocean also features as a literary khernips, and there is mention of fire involved in the purification of water for use as khernips in a source.
In the Argonautica, Valerius Flaccus describes a scene where Celaeneus, waiting for the crew of the Argo, purifies himself and sets a sacred space.”Here with the purple brine and fresh-spring water he makes his body fresh and shining, and prepares himself for his dread doings. Then chastely he binds his brow with fillets and leaves of suppliant olive, and drawing a sword marks out the shore; low altars he sets up around to gods with names unknown,and sheds a gloom with covering of dark foliage, and when he has filled the place with awe of unseen powers and holy quiet, the bright beam flashes from the burning deep.“ This description lends the idea that khernips could include not only spring water, but also water blended with salt, and possibly the use of ocean water.
From Aristophanes' Eirene we receive a description of a torch being extinguished in water in order to make khernips. Aristophanes write of Trygaeus saying “I take this fire-brand first and plunge it into the water. Now quick, quick, you sprinkle the altar.” The rest of the scene features a basket filed with barley and salt, a chaplet, and a sacred knife. A servant is told to circle the altar with the vase of water, and then Trygaeus plunges the torch into it before sprinkling the altar and the crowd with the lustral water. Considering that the rest of Aristophanes' description of the scene matches up with other descriptions we have of the ritual cleansing of an altar and offering, it's reasonable to assume that his description of plunging fire into the vase of water to be used as khernips also is accurate.
This look at the variety of water used for cleansing presents an idea of what khernips may be. Water which is considered innately sacred, or which has been blessed, seems to be required for khernips. If the water is gathered from a source that is already considered divine, such as a naturally flowing source, then no further preparation is required. Sacred water is by it's very nature ritually pure, as all things divine and sacred in Hellenism are considered to be. If the water used is not from a sacred source, then it presumably must be made sacred. Salt, barley, and fire all are considered to be both sacred and purifying. By purifying water it can be made sacred, and thus fit for use as khernips. Drawing on myth and play for inspiration, as well as known methods of purification within Hellenism, we find methods which are available to us.
Corey, Judith L. Light from light: cosmology and the theology of the logos. Fortress Press, 2016.
Flaccus, Valerius. Argonautica, book 3. Translated by J H Mozley, Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Mehl, Véronique. “Au plus près de lautel, la circumambulation au cours des sacrifices.” Revue des Études Anciennes, vol. 104, no. 1, 2002, pp. 25–49.
“Peace by Aristophanes.” The Internet Classics Archive, classics.mit.edu/Aristophanes/peace.html.
Pedley, John Griffiths. Sanctuaries and the sacred in the ancient Greek world. Cambridge University Press, 2009