Cleansing is a word you hear a lot in
magical groups, but want exactly does it mean?
Well from time to time you may feel a
negative energy in a place, or that something isn't quite sitting
well with ritual tools, or that your tarot deck feels heavy and
clumpy. These are signs that there is cleansing work to be done. If
you use magical energy in your life, over time you become a lot more
aware of it, and it will soon become apparent that if energy is...
well... sticky! A part of the energy you call in for each spell,
ritual or reading, will remain. This is why you get such an apparent
atmosphere at certain historic site, which is the good side of this.
The bad side is that if you use a tool or place a lot, for lots of
different types of ritual, the energies can start to get a little
confused with one another. Cleansing is the practice of removing the
affects of that energy. A lot of people view it as totally removing
the energy all together, but I feel leaving it there in a sort of
“dormant state” adds a power to the place or object.
There are a lot of different ways to
cleanse, and it can involve some very elaborate ritual work, but
other methods are very simple.
Bells – The sound of ringing bells is
a good way to cleanse and clear any space.
Citrine – This crystal is said to not
only clear negative energies, but is also thought to be
“self-cleansing”. I keep tumble stones of citrine in the bags
where my tarot decks are kept for this reason.
Incense – Burning Sage, Frankincense
or Copal (to name but a few) will cleanse a space, objects and tools
can also be passed through the smoke.
Moonlight – People often leave
objects and tools that need cleansing out in direct light from a full
moon.
Salt – Burying objects in salt
(natural sea salt) will cleanse them.
