A Druid's Handbook to the Spiritual Power of Plants: Spagyrics in Magical and Sexual Rituals - Jon G. Hughes 2014

Cleansing The Body
Personal Preparation
Workings and Rituals

The first step in every Druidic activity is personal preparation: preparing your body, internal energy, and mind for the task ahead. This is a three-stage task. The first step, cleansing the body, is usually carried out at home prior to the working or ritual. The second step, cleansing the internal energy, can be carried out either at home or at the place of the working or ritual, depending on the extent of cleansing the individual feels is required. The third step, preparing the mind, must be carried out in the moments just before the working or ritual begins, therefore it is inevitably undertaken at the site of the working or ritual.

Cleansing The Body

As a matter of hygiene, your body must be physically clean before a working or ritual, as you will most likely be coming into direct bodily contact with others. How you clean your body is determined by:

· the level of internal energy you feel in your body,

· whether you are cleansing yourself or another person is undertaking the task, and

· the amount of time you can dedicate to the task.

If you feel your internal energy is at low ebb or if you feel listless, take this opportunity to regenerate some of that energy. One quick and effective rejuvenative cleansing technique is the cool shower. Most people will find this invigorating and stimulating.

A less shocking method is to take an herbal bath. There is a range of herbal bath products available commercially. Alternatively, you can place a few drops of an appropriate essential oil in your bath water or, as I prefer, allow a few sprigs of fresh herbs to infuse the bath water. This is a centuries-old, worldwide practice, only recently made popular in the West by the development of aromatherapy.

Herbs to choose from for an energizing herbal bath are:

Cinnamon

Marigold

Peppermint

Myrrh

Primrose

Thyme

If, on the other hand, you feel your internal energy is overactive and you are overly stressed, you will need to relax in a stress-relieving herbal bath. The best herbs for this purpose are:

Bay

Clove

Lavender

Juniper

Rosemary

If you are using fresh herbs, tie them together into a bundle, bruise them a little to encourage the release of their natural oils, and place them in the warm bath water at least ten minutes before you bathe to give them the opportunity to release their fragrance and attributes.

Use a gentle, natural soap for your cleansing, and once you have cleansed your entire body, lie back and enjoy the aromatic water. You will feel the stress flow from your body and your energy increase as it absorbs the attributes of the herbs.

It’s also a good idea to burn a little incense in the room as you bathe. Try cinnamon for energizing or cedarwood for relaxation. Turn off the lights, light a few candles, and play some ambient music to create an even more relaxing environment.

Whichever atmosphere you decide to create, you will emerge from your bath with a clean and fragrant body, a new sense of purpose, and a stabilized internal energy.

Some fundamentalist Druids will cleanse only in rainwater, ideally only as it falls from the sky. This is a wonderful experience but can be hard to arrange. Few things lend such a sense of communion with nature and the collective energy as standing naked in the rain and cleansing yourself with natural soap and bunches of fragrant herbs.

Having someone cleanse your body for you can be a most exhilarating experience too. Mutual cleansing is yet another option.

Try to dedicate as much time as is feasible to your bodily cleansing session. It can be a time of great creativity, and I often experience it as a time when I find solutions to many of the problems that confront me. The modern world does not present us with too many opportunities to lie back and contemplate our circumstances, so don’t allow the opportunities to slip through your fingers on the few occasions that they occur.

When proceeding immediately from the cleansing to the working or ritual, some people choose to dress in a simple form of ceremonial garb. The choice is yours, but bear in mind that if you are traveling across town to the site of your ritual, it may be embarrassing if you are stopped for a traffic violation or have to leave your car for some other reason when you are dressed in some form of extravagant regalia. Actually, it would be even more embarrassing if you were stopped in the traditional Druidic ritual garb of absolutely no clothes at all! As a compromise, I suggest wearing loose-fitting, sensible clothing until you are at the site and ready to begin your ritual.