| Spiritual Cleansing |
| What is spiritual cleansing? Here, I don't refer to cleansing as bathing or showering. Cleansing, in this case, just means dispelling negativity. It's simply a way to rid yourself- your entire being- and your surroundings of negativity. There are many, many methods of spiritual cleasing, but here I will share my method with you. When do you use this cleansing method? I use it before beginning a ritual or spell, before meditation, before bed sometimes, before engaging in a lengthy prayer, before I start my day. There are many different instances in which I cleanse my spirit. Now, I don't perform this spiritual cleansing before I begin each and every day or every night before bed, or before every prayer. Just at times when I feel it's necessary. It's difficult for me to put into words exactly how I know when I feel the need to cleanse my self and my spirit. For me, it's a way to feel fresh, open, and in tune with my own psyche. It is a great way to prepare yourself for meditation and contact with the spirit realm as well. How do you do it? This is my method: I normally like to be sure my surroundings are clean. Meaning that the floor is freshly swept and nothing is cluttered about. My house keeper generally keeps the place up but I like to just go through and sweep the floor myself- I just feel better that way. Even if you know your house is clean, you might feel the need to go through and quickly sweep just before you begin. I then will smudge the room (I burn purifying incense and walk around the room with it while visualizing it dispelling negativity). Not necessary, just part of my ritual. Next, I like to sit on the floor and take some slow, deep breaths to relax. I close my eyes and begin to visualize a ball of golden light above my head. This light is representative of the spirit of the god and goddess, and also of my higher self. I visualize this light hovering above me and then slowly lowering and enveloping my body. I visualize it lowering to my feet and then back up above my head. I then visualize it lowering again, and this time I say in my mind, "I am cleansed of all negativity, negativity is washed away." When it is finished, I imagine the light remains above me. I then move on to whatever I have planned- my meditation, prayer, ritual, bedtime, whatever it may be. This is a fairly simple ritual. When I say "ritual," I just mean "a customarily repeated act used to gain a certain state of mind" The word ritual does not have to describe a "religious" rite of some kind. This spiritual cleansing is also something that is not necessary for you to perform, but it's a nice way to feel in touch with your higher self and also with your deity, and a good way to rid yourself of negativity and feel refreshed. |