THE CLEANSING

Everything was ready for the ritual. It hadn’t been easy. There had been so much to do. It takes time to get it right. Being slipshod could be more dangerous than doing nothing at all.

Getting the stuff had been a challenge because of the time issue. It was her fault. Things had been so crazy lately she hadn’t paid attention to the calendar, and now it was the day of the New Moon, a time for beginnings. And timing is everything.

Transport had been another issue. Friends could help but people liked explanations and she didn’t have the energy for all that now. There was too much “other” build-up. Another reason for the Ritual. 

Ritual. That word. People use it so carelessly, to cover any routine, like brushing their teeth before bed. Diluting its power. Mocking its primal roots.

Ritual is more than the must-have cup of coffee you stop off for on the way to work. It is Intention. Focus. Mindfulness. An algorithm of actions that unite mind, body and soul to Purpose, for a

worked-for result that reached into the subconscious and gave a sense of security. "If you do this right, you will get the “It” you want. You will have control." This is implied. At this stage, she was willing to rely on that ancient reassurance. She felt like she was choking.

Once again, escape took work. There were the grocery things. Really. The grocery. What makes a market super—the number of aisles or the layers of needs its products meet? Cookery is chemistry + magic. A well-stocked kitchen is actually a witch’s delight. All those herbs and spices… They can do more than season your pot. There’s ever-powerful sodium chloride (salt to you and me), the well-known lime and lemon, the lesser-known (in Western circles at least) saffron. And parsley, sage, rosemary, bay leaves, cinnamon… Bet you didn’t know that while you were flavouring your dishes you were also cleansing them and taking the energy they offered to another level. 

Getting ready for a ritual can involve a great deal of driving around and load carrying, hence the need for transport. Aside from the markets, there were the Shops-of-Things-People-Spoke-of-in-Whispers. A lot of those had sprung up over the past few years. Many were like those shops at wharves and airports selling tourist trinkets, purporting to be of the people but having less to do with the lives of the natives, and more to do with the tourist's perception of the same.

There were the occasional genuine purveyors of the occult. Some tucked in amongst the blarney stores, hiding in plain sight, as it were. Others you knew of only by word of mouth and found in Unlikely Places. You know, like the wooden shack with the plain, galvanised roof, up an almost vertical hill, with no paved roads. Occupied by the requisite crone with the intricately knotted head-tie and a gap-toothed smile. A wise-woman, otherwise known in some cultures as a witch. A stereotype. But stereotypes exist for a reason. You might go to such a place for advice, a potion, some special receptacle to hold a cure or receive a gift, or, to satisfy darker needs. 

Luckily she needed no such extraordinary quest for this particular Ritual. She could get what she needed at the nearby hardware store. Oh yes. Keys to Magic are all around.

Preparation is tiring because Cleansing is a layered process. You must clean the Site. A Herculean labour, in this case. First, she had to remove the obvious dirt. So soap and water, perhaps a little disinfectant action. A lot of the ‘occult’ (or hidden) is physics and chemistry. An acid, like lime or lemon, combined with sea salt and water, is used to further break down the acquired scum and deodorise, taking the cleansing into the level of the Ethers. 

Mmm... ethers. A drink would have been very welcome. But not allowed for this one. She must keep her mind clear. Another ritual layer. 

All this physical labour was making bad matters worse. She was so tired. And the clock was ticking. She had to stop to take nourishment and get her mind back into focus. Back to the Intention. The day before she’d told her friends she would be out of reach for twenty-four hours from six a.m. the next day. They said they understood. To help them be understanding, she’d muted her phone.

That was another important layer to rituals. Removing distractions. A pity it wasn’t so easy to silence the hornets in her head.

After the scouring, there was the smudging of the area and the items to be used in the final steps. The tendrils of smoke from the smouldering sage wand reached out, wafting between the energy particles of the auras present. Prying them apart, pushing out the darkness between, making room for light.

Speaking of pushing darkness…

She lit a fire in the fireplace. Clearing a portal for the energy to flow out and up into the cosmos. It is truly a gift from the gods, Fire. It warmed and purified. Adding gleams that brought out the beauty of the glass candle holders all around the Site of Purification. Light and Beauty go together. She lit a spill in the blaze and touched the wicks of all the candles in the cleared room. White for insight; red to energise; a blue one for healing. The resulting family of flames brought so much soft light to the room there was no space for shadows. As it should be, for a Cleansing.

Then she added sound. Drumbeat rhythms echoed through her body, filling her head, inspiring free, sinuous movements. They lifted her spirit, rippling through her muscles like a neuro-electric wash so she could no longer be still. She threw back her head, laughing, and dipped her hands into the pile of white rose petals, flinging them upwards. She was ready.

Time for the main event. She took a full breath and felt an added tingle as the swirling aromas of eucalyptus and lavender wrapped themselves around her, seeking entry through her nasal passages and pores, flushing within. She dropped her robe, sprinkled more white petals, and stepped into the prepared altar. 

Ducking under the heated water she felt its purifying essences surround and lighten her. She surfaced into the realm of air taking a deep, cleansing breath. Leaning back, she sighed deeply and thankfully. It felt good. Oooh...sooo good! The warmth. The easing.

She smiled. The Ritual had worked. She had her “It.” She got what she sought. Cleansing Peace, flowing in, filling the spaces left as the negativity that had accumulated in the recent weeks so filled with conflict, pettiness and disappointments, flowed out. 

Getting her friends to help bring in that old-fashioned enamel tub they’d found at the abandoned house nearby had been a great idea. It was perfect for the bathroom with the fireplace in her new home. 

Already her renewal had begun. With the final rinse, she would be clean again.

End