Chapter 6

PURIFICATION

When you pray, you come before the gods. You enter into their presence so that you can give them a message or offering. It is common to perform some act or preliminary ritual to prepare yourself for this encounter. The ancient Pagans certainly understood the value of preparation. For instance, in Iceland, it was forbidden to look on the holy spot of assembly unwashed. In Rome, priests placed a fold of their clothing over their heads before prayers. (This was primarily to prevent ill omens from being heard or seen during the prayer, but such a practical act had a psychological and spiritual effect as well; it cut the worshiper off from everyday distractions.) And in Greece, a ribbon was frequently put around the forehead before sacrifices.

In many religions, preparation is done by washing or donning special clothes. Frequently, this is prompted by a belief that dirt or ordinary clothing can pollute and must, therefore, be removed before the sacred can be contacted—either because the pollution will prevent the contact, or because the deities, once contacted, will be offended. These preparatory steps are often taken as much for the sake of the worshipers as for the worshiped. The cares of everyday life can intrude on your relationship with the sacred. A ritual act such as washing or putting on clean clothes can help you to free your thoughts from everyday obsessions and set them toward the gods. Ritual words of preparation can help you concentrate your mind in the right direction, so that the intent of your prayer is clear, both to you and to the gods. The gods know this and might quite justifiably be insulted if you can't be bothered to take the time to get ready for prayer.

The most common form of preparation is purification. This is done most easily by washing. Some Indian tribes purified with smoke, often from burning sage. This form of purification is also used in Catholic High Masses, where a censer is taken around the altar and swung toward the congregation.

Pagans who work with the four elements of air, fire, water, and earth can use both methods, one after the other. When you dissolve salt in water, it becomes a mixture of earth and water; when you burn incense, you combine fire and air. To use these mixtures to purify yourself, anoint your body (traditionally your forehead, lips, and heart) with the salt water while saying:

With the power of the sea,

that washes the shores,

I am purified.

In many traditions, however, water alone is considered sufficient. Roman and Greek temples often had bowls of water placed outside them for this purpose. They also often had signs that listed other requirements. In one case, for instance, those who had had sexual intercourse within the last twenty-four hours were forbidden to enter. The moral here is not that sex is necessarily impure, but that, if these signs were necessary, we can be sure that different deities had different requirements for prayer. Some deities might, by their very nature, be repelled by some things. A deity of lust might be repelled by someone who is celibate, for instance.

The best advice is to research the deities you want to pray to, and find out what form of purification they prefer. If there is no way to find this out, you can fall back on using water. You can wash your hands or anoint yourself while saying something like:

May I be pure,

fit to approach the gods.

May I be pure,

may all my impurities be burned away,

carried away on the incense smoke.

A variation on the Greek practice of donning a ribbon is to wear special garments or jewelry. These can be as elaborate as the robes used by ceremonial magicians, or as simple as the traditional Greek headband. With repeated use, these items become a signal that prayer time has arrived. Whatever accessories are used, their donning should be accompanied with a ritual utterance. A simple example for donning a headband might be:

I am encircled with the sacred,

girded about, encompassed,

that my actions here today

might be within the sacred way.

An example for putting on ceremonial robes might be:

The sacred covers me,

I am surrounded by the pure.

Ceremonial jewelry can include images of deities, items associated with deities (a Thor's hammer, for instance, or a feather for the Egyptian Ma'at), and general symbols of life, power, or spirituality (such as a pentagram or a triskele). You can wear this jewelry only for prayers, to put yourself in an instant prayer mode, or you can wear it all the time, making your whole life a time of prayer. Either way, it is a good idea to don these items in a prayerful manner. For instance, when I put on my Cernunnos image each morning,

I say:

My lord Cernunnos, I offer you my worship.

Watch over me today as I go about my affairs:

keep me safe, keep me happy, keep me healthy.

Someone putting on a Ma'at feather might pray:

Lady of Truth, be with me today.

As I wear your feather, guard my words and deeds.

May what I say and what I do

be in accord with your sacred law.

You might use these words while putting on a pentagram:

The elements are joined with the power of spirit.

May I be blessed by the four.

May I be blessed by spirit.

May I be blessed by the five.

Purification and the use of sacred jewelry or dress are not mutually exclusive. They both encourage detaching from the distractions of everyday life and coming into the presence of the divine. Indo-European cultures, though, make a distinction between the sacred and the holy. They define the sacred as the dangerous power of the divine, which must be dealt with first. Only then can the holy, the blessing power of the divine, be acquired. Purification enables us to cross over into the sacred. Putting on special jewelry or clothing puts you in touch with the holy. If you do both, you acknowledge both aspects of the divine.

I am encircled with the sacred,

girded about, encompassed,

that my actions here today

might be within the sacred way.

Purification by the Four Elements

[Anoint your forehead, lips, and heart with salt water.]

With the power of the sea,

that washes the shores,

I am purified.

[Pass incense over your body.]

May I be pure,

may all my impurities be burned away,

carried away on the incense smoke.

May I be pure that I might cross through the sacred.

May I cross through the sacred that I might attain the holy.

May I attain the holy that I might be blessed in all things.

The impure is that which doesn't fit a time, a place, an intent.

May this water wash the impure away,

and leave behind the fit.

Through pure water I am pure.

Through pure fire I am pure.

By the pure I am pure

to come before the gods of incomprehensible purity.

I make myself pure to receive the pure as guests.

Everything that is not proper to my purpose today,

everything that would offend [deity],

everything that would interfere with your worship:

May it all drain away,

removed by the purifying water,

replaced totally by that water's purity.

From all that I have done that I should not have done,

may I be purified.

From all that has come to me that should not have come,

may I be purified.

From all that is not in the right place.

or has happened at the wrong time,

may I be purified,

that I may put these things behind me and step again onto the path of the Holy Ones.

May I be pure, may I be pure, may I be pure.

That we aren't impure by nature, and only made so by error, is made clear to us in this ritual. Water washes away only what's on the outside, removes that which does not belong.

I purify you with water, then,

Making you what you truly are,

Making you what you already are,

Making you what you have always been:

pure to be in the presence of the gods.

May this water wash away everything that keeps me from seeing the sacred through which I walk, the Ocean of Spirits through which I walk.

May the water with which I anoint my forehead be a stream to wash away the impurities of my everyday life.

May I be pure,

fit to approach the gods.

May I be pure,

may all my impurities be burned away,

carried away on the incense smoke.

Water on my forehead, to purify my thoughts.

Water on my lips, to purify my words.

Water on my hands, to purify my deeds.

Water, pure water, to purify my whole self.

I wash my hands:

may they be clean,

may they be pure,

to perform today sacred acts.

May I be pure

so that I will be fit

in order to make all I do today holy,

tributes to the gods whom I worship.

With this water from the sky [rain] I purify myself.

With this water from the earth [dew, frost] I purify myself.

With this water from the sea I purify myself.

So that I might be fit to worship the numina above.

So that I might be fit to worship the numina about.

So that I might be fit to worship the numina below.

So that I might be fit to worship the numina, pure themselves.

Pure water, wash from me everything not pure, that I might come before the gods prepared as is right.

Once I rinse this cup/bowl,

and a second time I rinse it,

and a third time again.

So it will be pure to contain the water

with which I now fill it at last.

[For putting on ritual garments]

The sacred covers me,

I am surrounded by the pure.

Clothes that are clean and fresh

I don to worship the gods,

to come before them without impurities.

ANAHITA

Anahita, purest of all,

through your help may I be worthy

to come into the presence of the Holy Ones.

APĄM NAPĀT

High Lord, bless this water,

so that it, properly purified,

may purify us, and, by its touch,

all the articles we will use in this rite.

Apąm Napāt, it is you of great power

that we ask to do this.

APĀ NAPĀT

Apā Napāt and the Waters

Apā Napāt and the Waters,

provide me with clean water

with which to purify myself for this rite

and I will offer you ghee on the sacrificial fire.

Waters, I offer this prayer:

give in return pure water.

Apā Napāt, I offer these words:

bless in return this water.

Together provide pure, blessed water,

that I may be pure,

that I may be blessed,

that I may be well and rightly prepared for my ritual.

Apā Napāt and the Waters

removing the impurities my presence has imposed.

ARIOMANUS

Lion-headed god, of fiery breath,

burn away from me all that separates myself from the divine.

Fear-inspiring entity,

do your worst,

do your best.

THE ELEMENTS

[while putting on a pentagram]

The elements are joined with the power of spirit.

May I be blessed by the four.

May I be blessed by spirit.

May I be blessed by the five.

HEARTH GODDESS

Purest of the pure, goddess of the hearth,

through gazing at you I am made pure,

qualified to perform this day's rites.

In return, I offer this milk.

MA'AT

Lady of Truth, be with me today.

As I wear your feather, guard my words and deeds.

May what I say and what I do

be in accord with your sacred law.