Cleanse, cleanse, cleanse!

If I had 3 words of advice to give anyone doing metaphysical work (and especially work with the dead), they would be “ground, shield, cleanse”. To me, this is the holy trinity…do them well and your practice will be stable, neglect them and and soon you’ll be loopy, ungrounded and have an aura that looks like Pigpen from “Charlie Brown”. I have noticed that, all too often, these basics are being overlooked and neglected. For today, I’d like to focus in on cleansing.

Even when you aren’t doing a lot of active spell work or ritual, periodic cleansing is must in order to keep your signal clear. As we go through life, each interaction leaves an imprint, as do intense emotional states. Over time, if we don’t cleanse, all that accumulated psychic mung clouds our vision and we get the astral equivalent of trying to navigate with what we can see through a dirty windshield. There are many different ways to cleanse, what follows is a recipe for a cleansing bath that will leave you clear and refreshed.

First, run a nice hot bath. Add in a generous handful of sea salt. In addition to the salt, you can infuse the tub with your choice of cleansing herbs (I like basil or rompezaraguey), a bottle of dark beer (I have a friend who swears by this), or hyssop oil. Other good ingredients for cleansing include Florida Water, fresh sage or Kolonia 1800. Once the tub is ready with your chosen ingredients, light a white candle. If you have a particular patron Deity, you can choose a candle in their color. Say an appropriate prayer or invocation and get into the tub. Make sure that you dunk yourself entirely under at least 3 times. As you soak, visualize all the accrued negativity leaving your body.

I like to soak for a good long time, gazing at the candle flame and often find myself in a deep meditative state. When you are nice and pruney and all clean, you’re ready to draw your cleansing bath to a close. At this point I will say an additional prayer for clarity. Some folks get out of the tub before letting the water drain, but I like to let the tub drain while I’m still in it. This is a good opportunity to do a final visualization, seeing all the negative influences drain away. When I’m done I get out, dry off and dress in white clothing. As a final touch I splash myself with a little more Florida Water or Kolonia 1800, and move what remains of the candle to my altar to burn down.

So, if you’re feeling tired, irritable, fuzzy or unclear…or if it’s been a while since you cleansed, give a cleansing bath a try. The world looks brighter once you lose a few layers of accumulated astral crud.