It’s not simple, as it requires a strong of heart individual capable of performing the purification ritual from the inside, not outside - basically risking dissolving in the darkness.
I took the Day from the summary list cause Day are now all mixed up and I’m too tired to write a full fic, no matter how short, in a day. But I’m still hitting the count so I’m winning!
This part is set, accidentally, in the “Raised to a golden light” au, which means heavenly powered Nie Mingjue and more research for me. <3 But it also has my baby LiangFeng so...
(Please love them! The’re baby!!!)
Prompt: Extreme Weather
Ship: Mingjue/Zonghui (do i really need to specify again.. ?)
Word Count: 2743
“We’ll be back before nightfall.” Nie MingJue said before tying a small pendant on ZongHui's belt, the crest of the Nie Sect engraved in the polished metal. Nie MingJue did it personally when he became Sect Leader, he chose the metal, he melted it and engraved with a knife in the shape of their symbol, his fingers had been covered in burns for a month but it was a tradition every sect leader followed. The engraved pendant would be one day buried with them instead of their saber. Sometimes the leader would make two of them, one to keep on himself and one to give to their general when he couldn’t command his men directly, other times they would make one and then split it in two perfectly equal halves. Or they would do like the current Sect Leader. Make a single pendant and personally give it to the Nie General when it was time.
Except many would simply give it in their hand, not making the whole affair a proper ceremony. But Nie MingJue had his own habits he took from his mother, and the Qinghe pendant had one of the greatest values for him. He purified it before leaving the walls of his personal chamber, holding it on his open palms when presenting it and then between his thumbs, hanging from the green and gold tassel, when bowing to his general. Then he tied it at his belt and kissed him. Well, that was because said General also happened to be his betrothed and Nie MingJue never left the Unclean Realm on his own or with other disciples without doing so.
“Why, Da-ge? It’s awkward for everyone to watch you being so affectionate in public.” Huaisang siad, in truth it wasn’t awkward, and both him and the rest of the disciples loved these little moments when their sect leader wasn't the tough scary man everyone saw.
“You never know if you will return. - Nie MingJue answered and Huaisang was ready to complain even louder at that. - I want that to be our last contact in case something happens.”
“What’s supposed to happen? It’s a purification, no more, no less. You said so!”
“I know… But you never know. Anything could go wrong, I just —”
Huaisang touched his arm as they walked toward the village, feet sinking in the soft snow that covered their path and kept falling as they walked.
“It’s not a war, Da-ge.” “It’s not the Sunshot Campaign.” He wanted to say. “You won that one already and you returned home to him. To me. To both of us.” Because Nie Huaisang knew when he started doing it the first time, after he left his tent in secret during the war against Wen RuoHan and almost got killed. When the last touch he had with zonghui had just been a caress over the hair after undoing the braids. He had been naive, thinking he couldn't fail his mission, and he regretted ever touch he didn't give him or to his brother in the moment consciousness was fading on the bloodied floor. He swore he would make every moment matter after that and both huaisang and zonghui knew that.
"I know, I know."
The village wasn't distant but the path was made hard by the snow, they had to be careful not to slip and not to put their feet in the wrong place, risking to fall just because the path seemed safe.
It had been a strange year, nie mingjue considered, summer had been one of the warmest he could remember, even the mountains around the unclean realm, that usually granted them some shadow and coolness did little to stop the heat, in nearby villages there had been fires and some farmer villages had been destroyed, the people barely saved and redirected in other places or directly inside the unclean realm for those closer.
Just as mingjue thought the worst would soon be over, winter arrived.
Of course it was no surprise, to anyone, how hard winter hit them. Winters were always hard in Qinghe. Just as the mountains usually shielded them from the heat they were also relentless during cold months, bringing inside the streets more cold wind instead of blocking it out. Qinghe's winter was ruthless even for those used to live there. - huaisang knew stories zonghui told him, of the days before his birth when mingjue was still a baby. Many times he had fallen sick to the point their father either called Master Lan Qiren in the unclean realm or he flew as fast as he could to gusu with then only heir wrapped in blankets against his chest. He used to get sick so often and so badly the elders even pressured their leader to try to have another son soon, just in case. Huaisang always looked surprise, then he would turn to look at his brother, shivering under a heavy robe and a blanket draped around his shoulders and reading some reports. Huaisang never saw him sick, not that badly as zonghui told him, but he could definitely see his low tolerance for coldness. -
Snow was nothing new either, it started falling at the first colds and sometimes it kept going for days to no end until every path disappeared and ice demons howled in the night.
It was the third day of snow when they set off for a purification and by the time they reached the village the snow had turned into a storm.
"maybe we should have waited…" huaisang said as they moved deeper into the palace, brushing the snow from his hair.
"they waited long enough already. Huaisang, we can't just ignore a purification request because of a little snow."
The wind howled outside and rattled the windows as they passed.
"that's not a little snow, Da-ge. It's a storm, and we'll get stuck there." he said again and mingjue knew he was right and, even worse, the other disciples agreed with him too. Well, it was too late now, beside, he would have never refused a request.
"sect leader." the master of the house greeted them bowing deeply. "I apologize for calling during such a weather but…" he hesitated looking around.
"No need to apologize." he waved a hand at him and turned to his brother and the Nie disciples.
"it won't take long and as soon as I'm done we'll head back. - nie huaisang shot him a doubtful look. - check the perimeter and make sure no one is going to interfere. Huaisang… You come with me." he decided in the end. He wasn't new to purification but seeing it unfold was different than just being taught about, and it was time for him to start. Just in case.
Some people confused exorcisms with purification, convinced they were the same thing. It wasn't and nie mingjue took great pride in performing the latter all the time he could. Heritage he said, from his mother, not that he explained what that really meant, he simply acknowledged that she could perform purifications on creature and spirits tainted by yin energy and she taught him how to. - little the rest of the sects knew how he tried it on the Nightless city the night before going to kill wen ruohan, in a last attempt to avoid the inevitable. He failed because the yin iron's power was too much and it almost attacked him directly. They didn't need to know he held a last glimpse of hope to have his father's sworn brothers back together. Not even lan qiren needed to know. -
"Da-ge, are you sure I should…"
"yes, stop asking." he followed the owner on the back of the house, there a room had been sealed with several talismans who were rattling under the pounds of the creature inside.
"so, you were saying that your son's dog started showing an aggressive behavior…"
"after the last hunt, five days ago, yes. We were hunting deers and when we got back he tried to bite his master. After that it was only getting worse until even I could feel the energy it carried around and… Well, and then I requested your presence, sect leader. "
He was fidgeting with his sleeve, suddenly anxious and awkward, now it seemed such a stupid request to make. Calling chifeng-zun over a rabid dog.. How silly how stupid useless, sect leader Nie surely had better things to do. Still he showed up, still he agreed to help. He would forever hold a debt for that.
"nonsense. It would be stupid not to grant you my help. You live under the Qinghe Nie domain, I'm the one holding a duty in your regard."
the man blushed realizing he spoke aloud and immediately bowed at him.
“It won’t take too long, but I would feel better if you went to wait back inside.”
“Will it be… dangerous?” The man asked worried.
“No, it will just be warmer.”
He waited for the man to disappear inside before tearing away the talismans.
“I will be useless here, Da-ge… why did you asked—”
“You said you wanted to see.”
For having been just a simple dog, with a low spiritual recognition, the spirit latching on it seemed to like it enough. It wasn’t exactly dangerous, he had to admit, despite the resentful energy covering it, it looked more like a lost spirit than an angry one.
Better, he thought, less risky.
“I do, Da-ge but… I also want to help.” He pouted.
“Help then. Here, hold this bell.”
“A… Bell.” He sarcastically repeated holding the little golden bell in front of his face and waving it slightly. “What a great help it is.”
“Purification is walking in the midst of Yin chaos with the purpose of maintain intact everything that is there. - He walked slowly inside and after a couple of seconds Huaisang followed stopping on the door. - You dint destroy the spirit, you don’t break it’s essence and get rid of it like its a bag of waste. You cleanse it until all the Yin energy is concentrated on the palm of your hand.”
There were waves of gold in the room around them as Nie MingJue spoke, not the first time Huaisang saw them of course, but never moving so quietly, wrapping around energy, incorporating it.
“And what does the bell do?” Huaisang asked softly, not wanting to disturb the magic his brother was creating and still almost desperate to know more. He tried to make research the first times but nothing in the library in the Unclean Realm and in Gusu was eloquent enough on golden magic. Not the kind that he saw on MingJue. - He was too young to remember MingJue's mother, the way her eyes shone gold and her hands created thousands of little light butterflies. If he did he would have noticed the similarities. -
“It keeps the mind clear. The bell is my shield against the Yin energy, without a pure shield the energy will look for another body to take control of and it would be mine.” Huaisang nodded and waved the bell again, it’s clinking sound clear in the air around them.
“What about the energy now?” He asked again eying the dark, floating ball on Nie MingJue's palm. “Are you going to exorcise it or something?”
He could, of course. The Yin energy was much less than what it seemed at the beginning, the spirit being really lost and not angry, craving the warmth of a loving family but unable to make them understand its needs. It would simply disappear in the snowstorm.
“Not sure. I was thinking of releasing.”
“Won’t it be dangerous? It could… do it again. Latch on something, on someone. Cause trouble.”
“Don’t be too soft with spirits, Young Master Nie.” LiángFēng said looking over Nie MingJue holding a small soul in both hands.
“But it’s small and scared. It deserves a second chance, it's not its fault it got lost to begin with."
"still it's what remains of the yin energy you cleansed. You must be careful, some spirits are malicious, they will trick you thinking they're now harmless only to lash out later." the little ball of energy trembled in his cupped hands and he closed them a little, like to hide it, liángfēng smiled at the gesture. He acted old and strong in the mortal realm, for the sake of the sect he was leading and not to be considered any less than the other leaders, but he was young in truth, and in their eyes, in the heavenly palace where they trained him, it showed.
"then I'll put it in a cleansing bell and release it with every clink, slowly. It's not our place to decide."
"pass me the bell, huaisang." he said holding out his free hand. The spirit was small and harmless enough to slip inside the cleansing bell and stretch in it comfortably. "there, let's go now."
"why the bell?"
"I told you, it keep the mind clear. And it can release the spirit slowly after cleansing it. It would take… - he hesitated and held the bell in front of him, studying it carefully. - probably a couple of years for this one."
Huaisang nodded following him inside to join the family of the house and the rest of the disciples.
"will you teach me to do it? One day, not now…"
"perhaps…"
"Da-ge!"
"there, it's done." he passed the bell to the confused head of the family. "once the storm stops place it in the shrine."
The man bowed deeply taking the small bell in both hands.
"I will, I will. Please, now.. Let me offer you our hospitality, it's not safe to travel through the woods in such storm."
Nie mingjue looked outside, the snowstorm getting worse every passing minute, if he had been alone he would try to cross it, but he wasn't. His brother was there, and some of the disciples, it wasn't worth the risk.
"No need to trouble yourself, we can find shelter in the vill--"
"nonsense, sect leader! - the man exclaimed. - I'm the one troubling you with a spirit, least I can do is offer shelter now!"
The house was small and old. Save for the room outside where the purification happened it had barely three rooms. They huddled in the smaller and warmer one by a fire, cold and wind seeping through the closed doors and windows, threatening several times to put it off.
"is it always that bad?" nie mingjue asked after placing his outer robe on Huaisang and refused for the second time a bowl of soup from the daughter of the man. It wasn't polite to refuse, he knew, and he didn't want to bring any disrespect toward them, but…
"there isn't much soup left and you're expecting a child. Save it for yourself, please." he told her at the third time.
"winters are always hard, and the house is very old, but we're used to it."
They shouldn't. He thought moving to sit next to his brother, safely asleep under his robe and some spare blankets, he shivered and scooted a little closer to the fire. He made a mental note to check on the other villages before the winter was over. Check on the smaller one who could suffer the most. It was his duty, as a leader. He had to keep his people safe, and that didn't stop at demons and angry spirits.
When morning came the storm quieted down enough for them to travel, he wasn't shivering as much as during the night, he fell asleep at some point and it didn't seem to be too cold anymore when he woke up. He should have known better.
"Da-ge." huaisang called as he stumbled in the snow a moment before catching himself. "your hair…"
At his confused expression huaisang moved closer and took a strand of hair on the left side of his head and brought it in front of him.
"they turned white..."
Oh...so it started. He thought looking at the strand and smiling at his little brother.
"with all the scares you give me its a wonder they started graying so late."
"that's not gray, Da-ge. White. Pure white like snow."
"don't make your Da-ge worry so much, huaisang, or he'll look like an old man soon."
I love this ritual as it it is an old cultural ritual where I could immediately recognize a lot of themes Ive seen in today's witchcraft. There is a strong emphasis with numerology with the powerful transforming 3, and perfect nine used very symbolically here and the transformative power of 7 and the symbolic number of change that is 4 as well; they emphasis the purifying abilities of holy waters and smoke and ritual bathing and cleansing. I wanted to show you guys this so you have a deeper understanding of how awesome and intense and in depth those who came before us were and so you had a better context to draw on when you read the spells on here that call for ritual cleansing/ bathing.
Some context on where this rite is from. The Zoroastrians were a pre-islamic religion in what is now known as Iran. the most prolific remnants of this ancient religion (600BCE) are in India, where the descendants of Zoroastrian Iranian (Persian) immigrants are known as Parsis, or Parsees.
This is a 10 day rite performed in its early form by Persians who came into contact with great amounts of pollution: Corpse bearers as well as those who had come into contact with a lot of death. It was later adopted by Zoroastrian Priests as a rite of initiation as well as a way to transgress the different levels of hierarchy.
The rite begins with the initiate finding a place regarded to be clean, so a place that was dry and not frequented by animals or humans. They would then clear the area if need be and dig 9 different pits. Furrows would be placed around all 9 in groups of 3 and finally the whole area would be covered with sand.
Then the initiate goes to the first pit and recites the “Purity of Thought,” prayer as a priest, using a spoon with 9 knots fastened to the end pours consecrated cows urine aka Gomez onto the initiates hands and they cleanse their hands 3 times.
He then cleanses his whole body in Gomez and the pollution is considered to leave the body through the feet in the form of a polluted fly. purity is often considered to go tandem with pollution and this ritual is meant to transform the pollution into purity using consecrated holy ‘water’ as well as fire.
After the initiate is consecrated with Gomez the priest recites purifying formulas and this process is then repeated for 6 of the nine pits. A specified distance from the seventh pit the initiate then drys himself by rubbing sand 15 times over his body.
At the seventh pit he washes himself once with water; at the eight he washes twice with water; and the nineth three times with water.
Finally his body is fumigated with fragrant smoke and he is then robed in clean clothes. In some versions of this rite the initiate is presented with a dog by the priest between pits and he is to touch it on the left ear with his left hand. At the end he recites the following formula, “The Evil Spirit of pollution is put down. The head and the body have become purified. The soul has been purified. The dog is holy, the priest is holy.”
Lastly he stays in a home where he cannot come into contact with fire, water, cultivated land, cattle, trees, or other people. On the fourth, seventh, and tenth days he again bathes with Gomez and then with water. After the final bath he is considered “perfectly purified.”
Ritual Purification/Cleansing: Protection from psychic vampires and other energy-based negative psychic attachments.
The purpose of a ritual cleansing or a ritual purification is to allow the subject to remove potential impurities in their auric field (the astral body) and their immediate environment (such as a home, altar, or work space) which may be causing weakness in their energy centers, resulting in a negative entity creating potential links to the subject through those impurities.
A basic ritual cleansing may follow certain traditional guidelines, including a purification bath, banishment, and meditation. This particular ritual skeleton enables the subject to change, add, or omit the structure and/or order of rites, as deemed by the subject’s needs.
Typically, this type of ritual is performed at night time. This helps to filter out unwanted distractions, as the collective consciousness of society alters their state of mind to prepare for rest; the night welcomes the calm and quiet, and will, therefore, be easier to assist the subject in altering their own state of mind for the purposes of self-healing.
Comparatively, a bath is preferred over a shower for multiple reasons, but the ritual can be performed in either setting. The bath aids in focusing on inner peace, as can be visualized through the physical stillness of the water, as well as the sensation of being enveloped by the water, to assist the subject in naturally entering an altered state of mind through the water’s warmth and the body’s relaxation. This can be especially useful if the subject has also infused the water with helpful herbs for healing and protection. All of this can be accomplished in a shower, as well, but is found to be more successful in a bath environment.
As important to the subject’s health and wellbeing as their auric cleansing is the banishment of negativity from their environment. The astral atmosphere of a room, altar, or work space can retain common lingering energies of any individual who may have experienced strong positive, or negative emotions in the exposed area. Cleansing the space helps to rid it of potential negative energies and, occasionally, unwanted entities attached to the location, creating a safe place for the subject to reside.
Meditation comes in many forms. The type of meditations suggested for practice that are included in this ritual serve two purposes: to break ties with the negative attachment(s), and to assist the subject in self-programming a defensive barrier into the astral body so that future attachments or attacks may be avoided. These rites are heavily based on one’s ability to visualize and see passed the physical veil and into the astral planes via the Third Eye. The subject does not need to have much experience with visualization, but needs only to close one’s eyes and use the imagination to see and feel the energy surrounding oneself. These mindfulness techniques are not necessary, but are useful if the subject is suffering, and may help in preventing further incidents due to the same or other potential negative attachments.
Purification Bath Ritual Skeleton:
The following is a basic structural outline of a water-based ritual cleansing.
Collect items for use during this ritual, and prepare any ritual tools for use. This may include adding essential oils, herbs, flowers, sea salt, epsom salt, etc. to the bath water, or coating the blade of the athame with oils that correspond to properties related to the purpose of your cleansing, such as purification or banishment.
Cleanse the space, and set the room for relaxation. Dim the lights, ignite incense or candles (with or without fragrance), play calming and pleasing music, create a crystal grid around the bath, etc. Optionally, use oils or lotions to draw sigils or runes on your body, to assist with physical cleansing affirmations. You may also choose to inscribe or carve candles with sigils or runes, or to write sigils, runes, or positive affirmations on herbs to burn with incense while you bathe.
Draw a bath with warm water. Do not make the water too hot, so as to avoid damaging the skin. Enter the bath and allow yourself to relax. Submerge the body as completely as possible.
Practice a mindfulness exercise. Focus on the senses in the moment. Feel the warmth of the water encompass your body. Close your eyes and feel truly present. Allow your mind to drift, but do not linger. Let your thoughts and feelings pass as they ebb and flow, like the current of the water. Feel your breathing, in and out. Fill your lungs with the positive energies in the air, and exhale the negative attachments.
When you feel it is appropriate, bring your attention inward. Attune to the energy of your body as it courses through your limbs, your fingers and toes, your muscles, your heart. Locate the parts of your aura that may feel weak or damaged. These parts of your spiritual body may coincide with parts of the physical body that are unwell. Now it is important to focus on your energy centers. These are the sections of the auric body that may hold attachments to or from potential entities and energies. Your energetic centers are responsible for the generation and cycle of energy throughout the body, and it is here that many negative entities may create links.
Take the prepared athame into the passive hand, and focus on the sensation of cleanliness. Visualize the blade cutting away the negative links to your spiritual body as you draw the blade against your aura, widdershins. Sever the bonds of attachment with the blade, and feel the connections disappear as your body interacts with the cleansing energies of the water. Focus your mind on a mantra, and internally affirm the banishment of these negative energies.
When your aura feels detached and free of any unwanted ties, shift the athame to your dominant hand. Using this hand, draw the blade against your spiritual body again, deosil, and visualize light emanating from the blade and creating a protective barrier around your aura. Again, focus your mind on a mantra, internally affirming the creation of an energetic shield, blocking all negative and unwanted energies and preventing further attachments. Do this until a sensation of safety surrounds you.
Bring your attention outward again, and focus on the senses. Allow yourself to feel present, refreshed, and renewed. Take as much time as you feel is necessary for your mind and body to unify as you ground and center. Feel your body absorb the positive, protective, and purifying energies of the herbs infused in the water and the incense filling the air.
When you feel ready, exit the bath and pat dry. Drain the bath, or dispose of the water by pouring it back into the earth. Extinguish any candles, and allow any incense to burn out. Be sure to clean the tub of any residue remaining from the bath. Following the purification of the self, cleanse the space and tools that may have been used during the ritual.
Also known as sodium chloride and halite, salt is invaluable to witches. It is crucial for life and can be deadly in excess, with the human body requiring a very precise amount of sodium to function properly and our gustatory system detecting salt as one of the five basic tastes. Used in preservation and even as currency, any witch worth her salt will know the value of this mineral well.
Energy ~ n/a
Element ~ Earth (regular halite), Fire (black halite)
Though typically considered mundane, halite’s cube-shaped crystals have healing and spiritual properties of their own. Salt crystals alleviate issues with judgment and self-confidence, dispelling worries from the user’s mind. Sodium chloride can also balance the aura and remove energy blockages, as well as bringing peace to one’s emotional state (particularly helpful with mood swings).
Used in purification rituals and as an offering to deities for centuries, most altars today are kept with a dish of salt as one of the ritual items. A pinch of salt is often added to the four corners of a room before beginning a ceremony in order to stave off outside influence, and salt can also be added to water to consecrate it. This combines the elements of Earth and Water, making it very useful for cleansing and purifying ceremonies, often alongside fumigation to combine the elements of Fire and Air.
According to a Shinto tradition in Japan, small piles of salt called morijio are placed near doorways to ward off evil, and it is said that standing inside of a circle of salt can protect one against malicious powers.
While learning Sky magic, Callum realizes he needs a weapon - a real weapon he can use to protect himself on a daily basis and in case he can’t use magic. He decides (quite confidently actually) to adapt his mother’s spear into mage’s battle staff as he no longer has to train sword fighting and had already tried some weapons before making the choice.
It takes a while to convince Janai to perform a purification rite, but the effect is worth it. Sarai’s spear leaves the Sun Forge unaffected and good as new, so Callum, the moment he crafts his first primal stone and after consulting Ethari and Ibis (reluctant at first), merges it into the spike.
With Callum forging other arcanums the staff gets upgraded with other primal stones, eventually becoming one of the most powerful weapons on the continent - especially in Callum’s hands.
