Do you want to practise witchcraft but don't know where to start? Do you find it all too confusing? Maybe you've been practising for a while and want to go back to basics. Or perhaps you're a seasoned witch and want to explore more ways of practisin...
Most objects and spaces you will use in your craft will repeatedly undergo a Cleansing, Charging, and Discharging cycle. It is another one of those basic building blocks that will allow you to truly understand what it is you are doing in each step of your witchy rituals.
Here's a quick summary of the cycle before I dive into more details:
1. 🧼 The first step is cleansing; this is essentially removing unwanted energies attached to the object, to create a blank canvas for imprinting a new purpose.
2. 🔋 Imprinting the new purpose is what we call charging; this assigns the object's function and fills it with the energy it needs to perform its job (like charging a battery).
3.🔥 Discharging is the act of releasing the object's energy into the universe, carrying out your will. Discharging can be done by gradually depleting the object's energy over time (e.g. wearing a crystal for a few weeks), or doing it one sudden release (e.g. burning an enchanted bay leaf).
All objects can store some amount of spiritual energy, and it is this energy that is used to carry out your will, or whatever job you have assigned to the object. Some objects are better at storing energy than others. For instance, rocks and crystals are very good at storing energy, and they can be repeatedly cleansed, charged, and discharged for many years without losing their capacity. Candles are also good at storing energy, and very good at discharging it as they are burned. But obviously they can only perform the cycle once, before they are depleted. Metals and woods are also ideal for repeated use in the cleanse, charge, discharge cycle.
Cleansing
Most witches believe that all objects and spaces have a kind of "memory". Objects and places can pick up the energy and intention of people and other objects. The energies these objects have picked up and stored don't always match the intent we wish to use them for, so they need to be cleansed.
For example, imagine you want to use a candle in a spell, but to reduce wastage and save some money you plan to use a candle that was previously used in a candle-lit dinner. The candle remembers the energies around this candle-lit dinner, but these energies don't match your intent to use the candle for a banishing spell. So the candle must be cleansed so you have a clean slate with which to work with, and imprint (charge) the object with a new purpose.
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✨ Cleansing is a good practice for all spaces & objects you use for magickal workings. It guarantees a blank canvas to work from, by getting rid of negative energies that might interfere with your spellwork. ✨
Do sceptic/atheist witches need to practise cleansing? Yes, remember that witchcraft for sceptics is all about re-conditioning your perspective by communicating with your subconscious brain. To bring it back to the candle example again; you probably don't remember using that candle before, but your subconscious brain might still remember and associate that candle with the candle-lit dinner. If you're trying to cast a banishing spell without cleansing it first, your subconscious brain might get the intent confused ("Are we banishing candle-lit dinners?"), and your spell might backfire in some bizarre way. If you cleanse the object first, that cleanse will reach the subconscious level, essentially telling your brain, "Forget about this object's past, this is what we are using it for now."
