Purification and Consecration

Cleansing & Sanctifying Yourself
& Objects for Spiritual Activity

Purification and Consecration (P&C) is a ritual cleansing — the process by which Wiccans prepare ordinary objects to be used for sacred purposes.

It's also used to cleanse ritual items of negative energy, or energy picked up through prior use (e.g., from an old magickal spell).

Sometimes simply called consecrating or sanctifying, it always implies purification as well.⁵

Why Wiccans Do Purification and Consecration

⁵ After all, you wouldn't consecrate a dirt-stained cloth and then put it on your altar: you'd wash it first! Unless, of course, you were giving the dirt to the Divine as an offering.

⁶ It takes practice to reliably sense and shape this energy, but that is a primary skill for Wiccans. It's what makes us effective at creating what we want in ourselves and the world through our intention and such.

The lessons on energy work and magick will explain this more, as well as show you how to develop this vital ability.

⁷ If you haven't been able to sense them yet, don't worry... this course will give you plenty of training and practice in energy sensing!

For now, perhaps you could take it on faith that I and others do sense these things.

And by the end of this course, you'll be able to know for yourself.

Wiccans practice ritual Purification and Consecration not because some rulebook says we should, but because we work on the level of subtle energy (i.e. spirit) and magick. ⁶

We know these energies are real because can sense them⁷ , so it's not a tenet of faith that things need to be cleansed.

To a Wiccan, Purification and Consecration is just as practical as washing a dirty cup before drinking out of it.

Objects pick up energy constantly. That's how psychometry works: you can "read" the energy of a person from the objects that they've kept close to them.

That also happens in more casual contact as well (particularly with items that are especially susceptible, such as crystals and metals for example). So your brand-new silver Chalice, for instance, brings with it...

energy from the Earth where the ore was mined,
the mining crew's emotions and the company’s intentions,
the respect (or lack) of the smelters and refiners,
the artists' state of mind while it was shaped,
the vibration of the store where you found it, plus of the owner and employees,
and the energies of every person who has packed, moved, displayed, coveted, disliked, or touched it along the way.

Would you want to bring all that to your magick, by placing it on your altar or using it in ritual? Imagine how that could affect your spells, or your connection to the Divine and your higher self. Imagine steeping your wide-open soul in those energies.

Not appealing?

THAT’S why we always Purify and Consecrate new ritual objects.

No Need To Worry

Purification and Consecration sounds a little mysterious and possibly intimidating, but it's really not. You've already experienced a mini-version of this already, when putting together and charging your altar.

And the first question new Wiccans always seem to ask is: "Can I do it wrong and cause bad things to happen?"

Let me reassure you.

In Wicca, especially Wicca Spirituality, your intention is more important than any other aspect. Have a clear intention that you are doing a Purification and Consecration, come from the heart, ask the Divine for help, and you can't really do it "wrong."

Plus, when in doubt, we always have our all-purpose caveat to fall back on: "An it do no harm."

Purification

There are different methods that people use to do a Purification and Consecration. So let’s break this process down to see what it’s really about.

First we'll explore the various techniques you can use to ritually and energetically purify either yourself (or one another), your ritual space, and an object. After that, we'll find out exactly how to consecrate or sanctify your ritual items.

And we'll start, as always, with the basics. What is ritual purification?

The Purification part of the process is essentially removing any unwanted energies that are currently resonating in the object. (Or in yourself.)

It includes physically cleaning the object, if appropriate. But more to the point, it's about clearing the object energetically, using spiritual / magickal tools and techniques.

There are dozens of ways to cleanse energies — which we'll get to in a moment — and in general it doesn’t matter which you use. You can choose whichever suits your needs and materials best.

These are the most 5 common criteria by which choose the method you want to use:

It won’t harm the object: this is the primary consideration.
It resonates with you and that you enjoy more than others.
It's one you believe is most potent.
It's one you feel is needed or especially appropriate to the circumstances (for example, giving a month-long Moon Bath to something that feels heavily tainted or washing a seashell in salt water).
And, since Wiccans are generally practical and working with the inpsirations of the moment, one that you can manage with what you have on hand!

We'll look at the process of purification in three sections: purifying yourself, purifying objects, and purifying your ritual space. There really isn't much difference — you can use any purification method on anything, provided it's not going to damage the materials.

They're separated here into the most common methods for each.

Key Magickal Information

Before we begin, there's a key magick principle you need to know in order to get the best results:

ASK the purifying agent
to purify the object for you.

If you're using water, ask the water (or the Element/Essence of Water) to cleanse and purify it; if you're using herbs, ask the herbs (or the Spirit/Deva of the herbs) to cleanse and purify it.

Whenever you're doing magick, don't try to do it all yourself. It's far more effective to engage the power of other beneficial beings to help, and all you need to do for that is to ask.

This is a vital part of purification — and magick in general! — that you should always remember.

. . .

This excerpt is from Lesson #15:
Purification and Consecration

To see the full lesson, including techniques for P&C, please enrol in Wicca Spirituality's in-depth training course: A Year & A Day: 53 Weeks to Becoming a Wiccan!