A BASIC CLEANSING CEREMONY
What is required:
- Salt - pure "rock" salt is preferred, table salt works just as fine.
- Clean clothes, towels, bedding
- Access to a bath
What it is used for:
A cleansing ritual is used to reset all psychic influences over you, regardless of its source or its reason for having an influence on you.
For example, cleansing rituals are used in different forms to remove curses such as the Evil Eye. Cleansing rituals will also bring you back to 0 if you have attempted to invoke spirits or raise chakras, forcing you to start your work from the very beginning.
The main component of this ritual is salt, which is a natural purifier. Sodium chloride is an ionic substance that simply "de-magnetizes" you, in essence. This technique has been referenced in various occult essays and even in the Demonic Bible as a powerful yet simple thing to do.
What to do:
- Fill your bath with water of a comfortable temperature and dissolve a full cup of salt in it. Water on salt or salt in water isn't important, but you must dissolve it all. It's not necessary that the water tastes salty.
- Cleaning your living space is important, during which you may wish to perform a Banishment (see below). You must have clean clothes to wear and a clean bed with fresh sheets and pillows to rest in after your cleansing bath.
- The bath itself is simple - sink yourself completely in the water. Do not use soap, shampoo or any other products during this ritual. Under water, all you have to do is relax and freshen your mind. Meditating for a short period is a great idea. You should try to feel empowered, fresh and in a process of rebirth. An often used metaphor is to "rise from the water as if you are exiting the womb of Leviathan".
- To finish your ceremony, lift yourself out of the water, dry yourself using your clean towels, dress yourself cleanly and sleep in your fresh bed. Because many influences will remain lingering in an attempt to get you again after your ceremony, you must maintain your cleanliness for as long as possible.
Additional things to consider:
- Burning incense during a cleansing ceremony is a personal choice. If you think it will help you, one could recommend burning sandalwood as it is considered a very pure and strongly amiable scent.
- Any assistants you may have for your ceremony should also perform it with you. Keep it clean.
- Eating a small non-distracting meal between bath and bed is a good idea as it helps normalize the situation, but is not necessary.
- Candles and/or darkness is NOT recommended.
- Television and music in the background is NOT recommended.
- Mind altering substances such as alcohol, cannabis, psychedelics and/or stimulants (including caffeine) are NOT recommended and are MOST likely to mess up your ceremony.
A BASIC BANISHMENT
Before we progress, you must know what a "banishment" is. It is a different sort of cleansing ceremony, aimed at psychic influences without affecting the user. It is complex - only because of the need to know your stuff a little before attempting it, and is actually one of the most basic techniques one must know as an occultist of any path.
What it is used for:
- It can be performed before a ceremony to remove unwanted presences and attention from higher beings and prepare yourself mentally for your ceremony
- After a ceremony to clean up leftover energies and remove unwanted presences and attention from higher beings and return your mental state from ritual-mode to normal
What is required:
- Knowledge of what you are doing (which is written right here)
- A free space to perform this ritual
- Absolutely nothing else
Things to consider:
Performing a banishment after a ceremony such as a summoning ritual is considered rude towards the beings you were attempting to contact. There are other ways of ending ceremonies such as grounding, which much less risky to use when you must always try to come across as non-confrontational. Its purpose is to soak up earthly energy and at the same time discharge unwanted energies - or, at the end of a ritual, to discharge extra energy raised during the ritual.
Things to consider:Diane Vera wrote:One popular method of grounding is to relax and visualize yourself as a tree with roots sinking down into the ground, drawing up energy from the ground and at the same time discharging energy through your leaves. Or, if you prefer not to visualize yourself as a tree, another method is to visualize yourself as having a long tail extending down from the base of your spine into the ground. Another method involves being outdoors and literally touching the ground, visualizing the energy exchange.
Banishments are highly controversial with regards to what Names you use (more on this in a moment) but you should be alright if you decide to affiliate yourself with a specific group of higher beings for life, asking for their protection during banishment AND associating them in your rituals. Banishments are highly customizable (as are any other forms of magick) with this actually being its problem - you must know a minimum of nine Names of higher beings to call to your aid.
Things to consider:
There are many "established-as-norm" variations of banishing techniques. The best-known banishing ritual is the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram but it is actually inappropriate for use by theistic Satanists and other Occultists because of the God-names and angel names it uses. For detailed information about this and other norm banishing techniques, you can read this page.
For now, I shall carry on and show you a very basic technique that should nonetheless be effective.
What to do:
- Stand in your preferred spot, facing your preferred compass direction. This spot is your Center.
- Visualize a bright light to be shining above your head. This light represents protection, peace, comfort and grace.
- Extend your arm(s) up, palms open, to grasp and take this light.
- Move your arm from above to below, and bring it to your genitals.
- Next, bring the light straight up along your abdomen and chest.
- Bring the light to your right shoulder first.
- Bring the light to your left shoulder next.
- Touch the light to your forehead and then to your heart.
- Visualize the light entering you, and visualize your sigil of choice on your chest (similar to being like a tattoo).
- Leave your Center by moving a step, and at each of the four directions of the compass an equal distance from your Center, draw your sigil of choice in the air in front of you with your index finger.
- Return to your Center and perform the ritual of light one more time.
- End the ceremony by saying a simple conclusion such as "Around me, above me, beside me, behind me, with me are my protectors; in me they find infinity, and I in them."
Things to consider:
As you can see, the above instructions do not include any Names of any higher beings. What you are supposed to do is also speak (or "vibrate", meaning - stretching every syllable) a name for each step you perform in the ritual of light.
Every person has their own inclination towards a specific group of higher beings. For example, a Satanist may choose to compliment his or her ritual of light using the names of the 9: Azazel, Belial, Asmodeus, Astaroth, Baphomet, Leviathan, Samael, Lucifer and Lilith. The sigil of choice is also dependent on this - for Satanists a pentagram is an obvious choice. For others, even your own personal sigil of protection will suffice.
Because of all these possible variations, one should always do their own research and choose their own protectors (or be chosen, as it may be) and insinuate them during Banishment.
Things to consider:
You should note other Banishment techniques while on your search for your guardians. You may see that some of them include accessories such as daggers or wands for drawing sigils in the air.
If you have assistants for this ritual, you will want to establish your own version together for performance.
Once again, mind altering substances are NOT recommended and are MOST likely to cause you to mess up.
And this concludes this short lecture on basic healing and protection.
Remember, the rituals written in this post are simplified and in the most basic form possible so that they are easy for anyone to perform at any time. Many elaborate and detailed techniques exist and depending on your situation you may need to go for them, but for emergencies these are good starting points.