Purification and Dressing For Ritual

Perhaps it’s more obvious that there should be respect shown to both the Divine and to yourself. But it’s perhaps less obvious that this extends into magical practice and during religious rituals, and that these actions also should be treated with equal respect and so should also be carefully prepared for. And that preparation should include bathing and dress in preparation for them.

Before stepping into sacred space, NeoWiccans usually take a spiritually cleansing bath and then dress in ritual clothing for this reason; such actions of ritual purification are common among many religious groups.

The bath should be of comfortably warm water- neither hot nor cold. Further, this bathing can be made a ritual in itself, if desired; you can light one or two votive candles and turn off electric lights. Burn some incense too, if you like. Fragrant oils or herbal sachets can also be added to the water.

The purpose of the bath, however, is ultimately purification. And so it is customary to add purification herbs or oils specifically to it; you can drop some essential oils (the safe ones mentioned in most sources) into the water, or you can put dry herbs in a piece of muslin and hang the bag in the bath water along with a handful of Sea Salt. This is a spiritual cleansing, so you don’t soap up and rinse off. Just relax for a few moments in the salted water, with or without oil or herbs, then get out and dry off.

Once bathed, it’s time to dress for ritual- and what you wear as a Witch is important; slipping into garments worn only for magic lends a mystic atmosphere to such rituals and shifts your awareness to the coming proceedings, thereby promoting and encouraging ritual consciousness.

Along with your dress you might want to consider jewelry, as selecting and donning ritual jewelry naturally follows physically dressing. Again, there may be a distinction between what you would wear in the mundane world and what you might wear only when doing rituals; many have collections of exotic pieces with religious or magical designs. Amulets and talismans (devices made to ward off or to attract forces) often double as ritual jewelry for many as well.

It is important to note, however, that all regalia or other ritual garb should have been Physically cleansed, too, prior to the bath- or prior to dressing- by fumigating with incense. Just as one would traditionally cleanse a tool or other object before use in ritual. In doing so one should be careful not to remove any magical effects, charms, or other spells placed on such items, though.