Before starting any ritual, it's important that you personally are prepared. Purifying yourself involves several steps:
1. Showering/bathing to clean up
2. Ritual Bath
3. Anointing
4. Dressing in ritual clothing
1. Cleaning up. Shower or bathe, whatever your usual routine is. Clean up, get the grime of the day off of you. If you use soap, make it unscented.
2. Ritual Bath. This is a quite different experience from cleaning up. Clean up the tub, then fill it with clean, warm water. Add bath salts or oils appropriate to the ritual or season. Light the bathroom with a candle or two.
Climb in the tub and clear your mind. Focus on the lit candles, or simply close your eyes. Gather up all of the distractions of your day and visualize them seeping out of you into the water. Breathe deeply and relax. Do this for five or ten minutes, then pull the plug on the drain. Visualize your problems flowing down the drain with the water. Feel the freshness as your skin is exposed to the air. When all the water is drained out, climb out of the tub and towel off.
3. Anoint yourself with an oil or oils appropriate to the ritual for which you are preparing. If you're going to be participating in a group working, keep in mind that strong scents could be a distraction to others in the group, just like the woman with the overwhelming perfume seat 12B on the flight to NYC can drive everyone around her crazy. Still, a little oil can go a long way in tripping psychic triggers for you, so make use of this tool.
4. If you plan on doing your ritual skyclad, slip on a robe until you're ready to start, otherwise, get dressed in whatever you plan to wear in the circle.
Since Beltane is a celebration of Spring turning into Summer, floral scents are appropriate for the ritual bath. You'll be raising power in the circle, so scents to help attune your senses to magical work are also appropriate. Red, yellow, and white work for candle colors.
Practice self-purification at least once before Beltane and tell us how the experience felt.
Before starting any ritual, it's important that you personally are prepared. Purifying yourself involves several steps:
1. Showering/bathing to clean up
2. Ritual Bath
3. Anointing
4. Dressing in ritual clothing
1. Cleaning up. Shower or bathe, whatever your usual routine is. Clean up, get the grime of the day off of you. If you use soap, make it unscented.
2. Ritual Bath. This is a quite different experience from cleaning up. Clean up the tub, then fill it with clean, warm water. Add bath salts or oils appropriate to the ritual or season. Light the bathroom with a candle or two.
Climb in the tub and clear your mind. Focus on the lit candles, or simply close your eyes. Gather up all of the distractions of your day and visualize them seeping out of you into the water. Breathe deeply and relax. Do this for five or ten minutes, then pull the plug on the drain. Visualize your problems flowing down the drain with the water. Feel the freshness as your skin is exposed to the air. When all the water is drained out, climb out of the tub and towel off.
3. Anoint yourself with an oil or oils appropriate to the ritual for which you are preparing. If you're going to be participating in a group working, keep in mind that strong scents could be a distraction to others in the group, just like the woman with the overwhelming perfume seat 12B on the flight to NYC can drive everyone around her crazy. Still, a little oil can go a long way in tripping psychic triggers for you, so make use of this tool.
4. If you plan on doing your ritual skyclad, slip on a robe until you're ready to start, otherwise, get dressed in whatever you plan to wear in the circle.
Since Beltane is a celebration of Spring turning into Summer, floral scents are appropriate for the ritual bath. You'll be raising power in the circle, so scents to help attune your senses to magical work are also appropriate. Red, yellow, and white work for candle colors.
Practice self-purification at least once before Beltane and tell us how the experience felt.