Purifying, Dedication, Consecration, etc.

Here's a guide for Purifying ritual tools. Great for newer practitioners, as well as experienced ones.

Purification of Your Ritual Tools
Purification and dedication of your Wiccan ritual tools should be done as soon as you can after you get them.
Certainly purify them at least, before using or wearing the object!
Items that have a heavy or dark or hot energy need purification. This is particularly true of crystals. When clear, they will feel cool, tingly, bright, or positive.
A purified object is much more powerful than a contaminated one, and its magick is less likely to go awry.
Purification, dedication, and consecration of ritual objects take place in sacred space - that is, within Ritual. So begin by casting a Circle.

WITCH TIP: Before going further, check that the item won't be harmed first . . .
Water - Crystals and other stones may be damaged by hot water. Always use cool water. Some crystals may be damaged even by cool water, I've heard, but I've never experienced that. Leather may harden in water. Fabric may run, fade, or shrink - especially in hot.
Sunlight - Gem stones, crystals, and other items may also be damaged - faded, melted, or broken by the heat.
Salt - Opals, metal, leather, and fabric can be damaged by salt, either dry or in water.
Smudging or Flame - Stones may be damaged by heat. Other items, like cloth and plant material, may be flammable - use extreme care.

Moon Bath
The simplest way to purify Wiccan tools is to bathe them in Moonlight. This will not only cleanse them, but recharge them as well.
Except for the very lightest cleansing, you'll probably need to leave them at least one full cycle of the Moon. Full to Full, or Dark to Dark . . . whichever feels right to you. For lighter Moon-washes, use the Waning Moonlight.
If your altar is in the Moonlight, this is the best place to leave your ritual tools for a Moon bath. Otherwise, hanging them in a tree is good. (If it's sparkly and you have lots of crows, ravens, or magpies around though, they might make off with it when you're not looking!)

Herb Baths
You can bury your Wiccan tools in herbs for cleansing. Particularly effective are rose petals, sage, and mint. This is a lovely way to clean sacred objects, but it can take a while.

Sea Salt
A faster method is a sea salt bath. You can bury your Wiccan tools in dry sea salt, or a salt-water bath.
Washing it in the Ocean, or even running wild water like a river, is even better.
If it feels like it needs a very deep cleansing, you can leave it in the salt water for a period of time - even in the Moonlight, for a double whammy.

Earth Cleansing
You can bury certain items in Earth for purification - like stones and crystals. This will do a very deep cleansing.
Simply bury them, pointing downward, into Earth outdoors, between the roots of a tree is ideal. If you can't manage that, bury them with a potted plant.
The real trick to this method of purification is remembering exactly where you buried your ritual tools! Be sure to leave a marker that is unlikely to be removed.

Smudging
Even more rapid is smudging, particularly using cedar or sage. Pass the ritual tools through the smoke a few times. This is enough for most purposes. But you can do as much as you need.
This is a great method for healing tools, especially stones.
For tips on smudging, see this article on Sacred Scents.

Bathing In Light
Similar to smudging, you can pass ritual tools through (or above) the flame of your Goddess candle.
The Light will purify and remove any negative energies.
It needs to be done carefully, to avoid burning yourself and scorching your tools.

Cleansing Breath
After coming to a place of calm and peace, you can blow into your ritual tools, with the intention of being a conduit for Divine Energy.
Blow the negativity away, and blow positivity in - imagining this as white or golden light replacing any shadows in the object.

Running Water
Holding your ritual tools under cold running water can cleanse them, but this is usually unadvisable except for stones.
In which case, if they are pointed, make sure the points face downward with the flow of water, so the negative energy flows out and away.
You can do this with tap water as a last resort, but living water is much better.

Dedication Of Ritual Tools
The dedication, or programming, of Wiccan tools is simply setting an intention for their use. And communicating that intention to the ritual item, making sure that you have its consent. This cup will be my Chalice.
This knife will be my Athame.
This shell will be for healing.
This stone will be for grounding energies. And so on.
The dedication of your Wiccan tools begins in those first moments when you scan to find the right tools for you.
It continues when you pick up the items, and ask them whether they are willing to work with you, and in what way.
The purpose of dedication is to have the two of you - you and the Wiccan tool - coordinating your energies and focusing them on a single purpose. This magnifies the Power available to you.

How To Dedicate Your Ritual Tools
Once you've purified your Wiccan tools, take a minute or two in sacred space — that is, still within the Ritual Circle - to quietly feel the item's energy.
Once you have a sense of that, visualise clearly what purpose you have chosen it for. Send that image or idea into the ritual item. Ask it if it is willing to participate in this.
Then sit quietly, and open yourself to hearing its response. You may feel an increase in energy - which signifies yes, or a decrease - which means no.
Chances are that at this stage, the objects will be right on board. If so, this step serves to clarify the item's purpose.

If The Object Disagrees
But it is possible that it rejects the idea, even now. If so, there are three likely reasons . . .
It has not been sufficiently cleansed. In this case, do a deep purification.
Your intention is not clear, or in some way harmful. In this case, spend some time exploring your intention and getting clear on what you want to do . . . and why. Divination might help, since it is excellent at revealing hidden currents.
It has a specific purpose in coming to you, but not the one you thought. In this case, spend some time with this item, and ask it to reveal its purpose to you. Sooner or later - generally, as soon as you're willing to hear it - you'll understand. At which point you can dedicate the object and yourself to that intention.

Consecration Of Sacred Objects
For some items, dedication may be enough. Personally, I think you can never go wrong by invoking the Divine.
Consecrating your ritual tools is a way of setting them at a high vibrational level. This protects them from contamination by negative energy, and charges them with Divine Energy. This greatly increases the item's Power.
Consecration is especially useful for anything that may be used in healings.
You may want to consecrate your ritual tools to specific deities. For instance, Tara or Quan Yin for compassion, Kali for releasing the old, Hecate for protection, Artemis for clear focus, etc. Or you may simply align it with positive energy.

How To Consecrate Sacred Objects
After purification and dedication, you can do one of the following in sacred space, using both your imagination to visualise it and your voice to ask for it . . .
Hold the item in your dominant hand (usually the right), and focus on the purest, brightest white Light you can imagine. Imagine it filling yourself, your sacred space, and the ritual object.
Smudge the Wiccan tool with cedar smoke, visualising the sacred Power of the cedar aligning its energy with the Most High.
Pass the object "through" (or above) the light of your Goddess candle (or if you choose, both Goddess and God candles). Think of that Light penetrate and filling all the spaces between the atoms in your Wiccan tool.
After each of these, place your Wiccan tool on your object, in the very centre. Focusing on it completely, ask your Deities to sanctify this tool.
State clearly "Only the most pure Divine energy may enter and work through this sacred object."
Hold this intent, until you feel it has completely "taken." Then close your intent with "So mote it be! Blessed be."
Your Wiccan tool is now consecrated.

Charging Your Ritual Tools With Magickal Energy
You can do this the same way you consecrated, essentially. The difference is that you build up a certain magickal energy beforehand - in Ritual space, and then fill the Wiccan tool with that energy.
In this case, you can use a smudging herb that contains that energy.
You might want to use essential oils to instill certain energies into your Wiccan tools. They can be dabbed onto the object. But be sure it won't damage the material.

Today...

Today I was out shopping for the majority of the day. I'm glad to be home though, I realized that I haven't performed my little housekeeping rituals.

About once a month, I mix garlic, salt, consecrated water, and a little garlic oil together with a mortar and pestle, then I go around my house, starting with the front door, and I trace a pentagram on every door and window after dipping a couple fingers into the mixture. I forget exactly where I picked up this idea. But i've been doing it for so long that it just feels right.
It's really simple, and doesn't require you to blend up a bunch of rare herbs over an open fire, while running around with a stick above your head and chanting something about a giant octopus God.

Not even I have time for that.

Welcome!

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White Fox