The Book Of Magic

Purification

Before any ritual there is always a period of purification, during which participant(s) can clear away worries, concerns and anxieties that may hamper their concentration.

Salt and water are both cleansing elements. Water, of course, washes clean. Salt preserves from decay and is a natural disinfectant. The Ocean, the womb of life, is salt water, and so are tears, which help us to purify the heart of sorrow.

There is no need to cast a circle here but it is good if you imagine yourself being surrounded by a sphere of white light, that protects you from harmful energies and lets only positive energies enter.

Salt-Water Purification

(this is one of the basic individual meditations that should be practiced regularly. During periods of high anxiety or depression or when undertaking heavy responsibilities, it is helpful to practice this daily.)

Note: Try not to use table salt in this ritual as table salt is not natural at all, and is made of harmful chemicals. I recommend Pink Himalayan Salt as that is natural and has been dried by the sun (that's where it gets its pink colour from).

Ground and center.

Fill a cup with water. (Use your ritual chalice, if you have one). With you athame (or other implement), add three mounds of salt into the water, and stir counterclockwise.

Sit with the cup in your lap. Let your tears, fears, worries doubts, hatreds, and disappointments surface your mind. See them as a muddy stream, which flows out of you as you breathe, and is dissolved by the salt water in the cup. Allow yourself time to feel deeply cleansed.

Now hold up the cup. Breathe deeply, and feel yourself drawing up power from the Earth ( as in the Tree of Life Exercise from the "Grounding and Centering" Chapter). Let the power flow into the salt water, until you can visualize glowing with light.

Sip the water. As you feel it on your tongue, know that you have taken in the power of cleansing, of healing. Fear and unhappiness have become transformed into the power of change.

Empty the leftover water into a running stream. (Alas, in these decadent times the nearest stream is usually running out of the kitchen faucet and down the drain)