Purification & Cleansing
Contamination between the magician and divine* breaks the relationship to manipulate magic. There’s simply too much energy around us to focus on one of them to manipulate. Hence why we purify. Since the causes of contamination are many, these are many means and rituals of purification, but they all share;
on one hand, the cancellation of the state of impurity through specific practices.
on the other, the finding of and removing the causes which provoked the impurity.
The Purifications are divided into two parts (maybe three if you count the ritual room), one concerning itself with the physical body, and the other with the “luminous body.” Of the two former, one purifies through diet and the whole management and usage of the mortal body; and the other employs the mathematical sciences, meditation, and (religious) ceremonies. (2012, Hellenismo.wordpress).
For the body: abstinence - in the form of fasting, chastity, washing.
Washing: rid of energies on us, literally clean. The bacterias on our bodies are gone, and also spiritually when water washes away unwanted energies lingering on us.
Chastity: conserving our sacred energy, emotional clarity, raw power transmuted into higher power. When we save our energies for spellwork, we save up more energy to release into the universe. (not that I'm a puritan when it comes to times of pleasure, it's just handy when planning for a spell in 3 days time to save up the energy) But this can also include saving your energy with dance, exercise, singing, etc. Essentially anything that releases a lot of energy. Build it up for some days and use it when you do spellwork.
Fasting: food has inherent properties to them both literal with their calories, vitamins, chemical reactions in our bodies, etc. And spiritual means, think strawberries and chocolate for love, rice and grains for abundance, etc. When we fast, we don't have any of their lingering properties within us, leaving only our pure mortal vessel.
For the mind: meditation - that of a clear or controlled mind for focus and concentration. Our minds, and higher power, are aligned with our physical bodies and can tap into magic and concentrate on performing.
Meditation: Meditation is the modern term for a mental activity in which the meditator mentally focuses on spiritual subjects. Meditation is derived from the Latin meditor and meditation, meaning "to practice, to prepare for." Helps the magician to focus on the spellwork/ritual which heightens the success rate for the spell to work, because we focus more of our energy into the spell rather then our scattered thoughts.
Grounding, centering, earthing: connecting to the earth, the world, and let the natural world charge us up and/or being rid of energies within us.
For the room: Cleansing - in the form of fumigation, fire/light, water, a broom, sounds, etc. The smoke cleanses the area by disturbing the current air density and disperses any energy that isn’t conductive with the herb smoke energy.
Lot's of different ways of cleansing a room, take a look here
Is all of this necessary for every single spell? No. You can pick and choose whatever you want from these notes, some spells are small and don't require a lot, others might benefit from everything listed here, and some spells may benefit from a select few things. For example, I cannot perform well if I'm starving, so I will eat. But I can use the opportunity to use what I eat be aligned with my spellwork. Abundance spells -> eat lots of grains and green food. Love spells -> oysters, chocolate, and aphrodisiac ingredients. Etc.
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*When I talk about the "divine" i mean the inherent world that we're unable to see, the realm in which magic happens. Not gods or goddess. Though, being cleansed may also help in forming a connection with them
