Cleansing Protocols

Distrust anyone who doesn’t take spiritual and ritual cleansing/purification seriously. That’s my general rule of thumb, largely because it shows that, for whatever reason, they either aren’t taking what they’re doing seriously, or they haven’t been fully or properly trained. I cannot emphasize the importance of cleansing too much. It is one of THE single most important things you can do, right up there with regularly honoring your dead. 

As I said recently on twitter, the only people I’ve ever had whine and bitch about cleansing, purification, and the need to avoid miasma are those too polluted to be able to stand to be in spiritually clean space with integrity. That’s actually a thing too. I think some people are so mired in the shit of this world, so miasmic, so polluted, so disconnected from the holy that clean, ordered, holy space feels bad to them. It’s one of the saddest things I’ve seen. 

There are a number of reasons to be concerned about spiritual pollution and it’s incredibly easy to wash it away. 

• Firstly, it can really cloud and clutter one’s spiritual discernment.
• It can affect one’s health and well-being.
• It can exacerbate depression and anxiety.
• It can damage one’s luck. 
• It can cause disharmony and arguments between friends, family, etc. 
• It slowly occludes the devotional connections that we share with our Holy Powers. 
• It can open one up to the influence of evil spirits and malefica. 
• It makes it more difficult to connect when in sacred space and actually pollutes that sacred space. 
• It is contagious and can affect others. 

I probably missed a few things but at the moment, these are the primary dangers that come to mind. Why, in the name of all that’s holy would you NOT want to deal with this? Miasma and spiritual pollution isn’t difficult to remove (there are exceptions to this but since most of us aren’t behaving like Pelops or Pentheus usually it’s not that hard!). 

Now, if you’re a spirit worker, priest, or other spiritual specialist, the requirements for cleansing might be a bit more intense, but still, it’s not rocket science. All it requires is a bit of mindfulness and consistency. 

Here are some things we do in my house to keep ourselves clean (this is not a comprehensive list). 

• We take regular cleansing baths. There are any number of things that can be added to a cleansing bath to remove miasma. I usually combine salt (I like pink Himalayan salt, but any salt will do. Black salt is particularly strong for cleansings), beer (beer baths are awesome), milk, and khernips. I make the entire bath khernips. I might also add other things like a scented oil, Epsom salts (not for removing miasma but to help my old and aching joints), bubble bath, etc. So I combine cleansing pollution with regular bathing. 
• I put a cup of khernips in every load of wash (yes, I also use detergent!).
• Every morning we cleanse our head, heart, and hands with khernips. 
• I wear protective charms and sometimes cover my head when I feel pollution is particularly bad. I also routinely cover my head when I pray. For the lay person, this can be as simple as wearing an evil eye charm or a Thor’s Hammer or other religious symbol. Cleanse it regularly and if you can, bless it. 
• I vacuum and clean my house weekly (though it is cluttered), and khernips the hell out of it. 
• We light candles, do fire blessings, and pray almost every night as a family. 
• I pray regularly throughout the day. 
• I khernips my bed whenever I make it. 
• If I have been in a potentially problematic situation, I’ll change my clothes and asperse with khernips when I come home immediately. 
• Then of course, before prayer and ritual, we again asperse with khernips or do some other cleansing. It’s simple and fairly easy. 
• I try, but often fail, to make sure there are no dirty dishes left before I go to bed. There’s an ATR tradition about warding off a particular type of evil spirit if the sink is completely devoid of dishes. 
• I bless the salt in the house and keep it in one large container in the kitchen and this is used for all our cooking and food. 
• We regularly bless our food and drink. 
• Before any divination or spiritwork, we do special prayers, offerings, and cleansings.

There are a few other things too that we do to protect our home. 

If we take our Gods seriously and understand that every time we step into ritual space we have the opportunity to reify Their creative process, then this isn’t too much. With the exception of what we do as specialists, which admittedly is more than the average lay person need worry about, cleansing away pollution and miasma is no more problematic than brushing our teeth, washing our face, and dressing in clean underwear every morning. Anyone who makes it more than that, who goes on and on about how problematic it is, how it’s a red flag, etc. etc., well, take a step back and look at why they’re saying that. Perhaps they themselves are so polluted that such cleansing rites are painful to them. Perhaps they have no desire to be truly clean before the Powers. Perhaps they have no respect for those Powers. Perhaps they are so mired in pollution and foulness that cleanliness seems aberrant to them. Or, perhaps they’re just assholes.