[Help] Cinnamon purification? From the PGM maybe?

[pixel_fortune]

In an interview with Jack Grayle (who runs the PGM Praxis course at the Blackthorne School), he mentioned that he usually can't manage full ritual purity as laid out in the PGM or Solomonic grimoires, and that he dusts himself with cinnamon before entering his temple space and says some declaration of purity.

I was wondering if you know where that comes from or have more details - I've never thought of cinnamon as particularly purifying, though I spose it's antibacterial/preservative. I'd be interested to the historical source if there is one.

(I do actually have a couple of Declarations of Purity lying around - eg this from Rod and Ring, Sumerian-based)

Affirmation of Purity​

My eye has not been cast upon another.
I am pure in the sight of the gods.

My mouth has uttered no curse.
I am pure in the sight of the gods.

My hands have shed no blood.
I am pure in the sight of the gods.

My mind has devised no wicked plans.
I am pure in the sight of the gods.

My feet have not made haste to run toward evil.
I am pure in the sight of the gods.

My mouth has not born false witness against my neighbour
I am pure in the sight of the gods.

My heart has not sewn discord
I am pure in the sight of the gods.

---

 

[Taudefindi]

I've never thought of cinnamon as particularly purifying

I think of cinnamon more of a protective spice than a purefying one, but I guess it's "thermogenic properties" might've been linked to "good energy" as it heats up the body, and "fire purefies anything" right?

According to the McCormick Science Institute site, "Romans believed cinnamon's fragrance sacred and burned it at funerals", I don't know how valid this information is but it is a clue.

 

[Pyrokar]

That declaration reminds me a lot of the Jedi code lol

im with Taudefindi as i also somehow related cinnamon to fire
and it just worked in that burn away the bad

Lmao Deja Vu?

anyway it might be his personal schtick,
but even without the burning i can still somehow "get"
how it could work for purity - it's got that overpowering
effect that scoops over whatever, liquid or solid

why not just incense/frankincense?
but i get 2kg per box of the good stuff
so i might be biased

 

[Xenophon]

I had a buddy whose g.f. burned cinammon after sex to "purify the space." But he wasn't into magick and never asked after a rationale. Neither was I at the time, plus it seemed indelicate to ask details. Online there's a lot of stuff about the herb (bark, whichever) being useful for "removing negative energy," but most articles seem short on history, tradition, theory, or explanation. It might be effective, but I haven't seen anyone give much more than bald assertions.

Post automatically merged: Apr 10, 2024

I think of cinnamon more of a protective spice than a purefying one, but I guess it's "thermogenic properties" might've been linked to "good energy" as it heats up the body, and "fire purefies anything" right?

According to the McCormick Science Institute site, "Romans believed cinnamon's fragrance sacred and burned it at funerals", I don't know how valid this information is but it is a clue.

Nero is said to have burned "a year's supply" of it for his wife's funeral. Given that the stuff had to be imported from points well east, the roots of the practice weren't native Roman I'm guessing. I did find a reference to Egyptians having used it in the stuffing for a dead pharaoh. That might be a clue: it's fragrant and tends to cover smells arising from mortality. Another tantalizing possibility. Some folks say cinammon is good for curing erectile dysfunction. A herb that "brings 'em back alive" would naturally be associated with positive forces in general, no?

 

[Romolo]

My hands have shed no blood.
I am pure in the sight of the gods.

(TW: blood) I followed Grayle’s cinnamon dusting for a while (Hekataeon) but had to stop because cinnamon made my hands so dry that the skin cracked around the knuckles. This led me to believe that the occult practice is exactly this: it is helpful for blood sacrifices. Also: the wounds look like eyes. I have no sources to back this claim, just my own experience.

Be careful with cinnamon.

 

[pixel_fortune]

(TW: blood) I followed Grayle’s cinnamon dusting for a while (Hekataeon) but had to stop because cinnamon made my hands so dry that the skin cracked around the knuckles. This led me to believe that the occult practice is exactly this: it is helpful for blood sacrifices. Also: the wounds look like eyes. I have no sources to back this claim, just my own experience.

Be careful with cinnamon.

Oh! But this is doubly helpful, because I was looking for Grayle's original discussion of cinnamon, without taking a year long course to find it. Hekateon is in the library, I'll check it out.

(Warning appreciated re: cinnamon.

Cracked skin is more than just uncomfortable: it means your body has to constantly fight off minor bacterial incursions, so you have low level inflammation all the time. There's actually some evidence that older people who moisturise they body daily have a lower risk of Alzheimer's, because of the lower inflammation!

I feel like I might be okay with the cinnamon just because I moisture like 6 times a day anyway, but if I decide to try out the practice, I'll keep an eye out for early signs that it's irritating my skin

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2024

Oh ha, it's literally just "Having washed
your hands thrice, and having dusted them with cinnamon, sit down in a private place at a liminal hour..." Nothing more to it than that

(Not that this needs troubleshooting but I'm wondering if you dried your hands properly after washing and before the cinnamon. Because I wouldn't expect dry cinnamon to do much, but if your hands were damp it would be absorbed into your skin. Even just washing your hands 3 times with normal soap would irritate them (soap is alkaline; your skin is acidic). You'd need to moisturise and then wait for the moisturiser to fully sink in before cinnamoning, to avoid it turning into cinnamon lotion. Which usually takes 5-10 minutes.

I'm wondering if the idea is to wash your hands at home, then dust with cinnamon once you get to the outdoor location for the rite

i know in Islam, they have a form of dust/sand washing that you are allowed to do if there's no water around (or you need it for drinking) or if you have eczema or something that would make washing with water a problem. You can actually buy little portable dust boxes these days.

Sorry I'm an "evidence based skincare" nerd, I think a lot about ingredients and pH and absorption times and so on. I'm done now.

 

[Taudefindi]

had to stop because cinnamon made my hands so dry that the skin cracked around the knuckles

I know that it's called "dusting", but how about mixing(or using it later then) olive oil to help hydrate a bit?I'm no dermathologist though so take my advice with a grain of cinnamon.

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2024

hey have a form of dust/sand washing

Nothing to do with the post, but this reminded me of this dust bath video I saw once of a Chinchilla:

 

[pixel_fortune]

I know that it's called "dusting", but how about mixing(or using it later then) olive oil to help hydrate a bit?I'm no dermathologist though so take my advice with a grain of cinnamon.

It would be a bad idea - cinnamon is very irritating, but your skin has a protective barrier. The volatile oils in the cinnamon would come out into the olive oil, and the olive oil would be absorbed by your skin, with those irritating oils in it.

Olive oil is v good for your skin but you'd need to use it separately from the cinnamon

The only way for cinnamon not to cause trouble is if your skin is completely dry, so it has no transmission medium into your skin

Hm - I guess if you naturally have sweaty hands, or it's just really hot, that's impossible? Maybe Jack Grayle has dry skin and doesn't realise that gives him Cinnamon Privilege

 

[Romolo]

Because I wouldn't expect dry cinnamon to do much, but if your hands were damp it would be absorbed into your skin. Even just washing your hands 3 times with normal soap would irritate them (soap is alkaline; your skin is acidic). You'd need to moisturise and then wait for the moisturiser to fully sink in before cinnamoning, to avoid it turning into cinnamon lotion. Which usually takes 5-10 minutes.

Omg that makes total sense. Also “dusting” (at least how I imagine it) can only happen on a dry skin. And ”having washed my hands thrice” there was surely still some dampness on them. Mystery resolved!

Hekataeon is a grimoire of deep beauty and poetry. Grayle really managed to add an edge of danger to his prose, but at the same time there’s much benevolence. While practicing the tome, you really feel these two aspects of the Goddess. I‘ve learned and discovered so much thanks to this work.

 

[pixel_fortune]

So I did the cinnamon dusting yesterday (with no particular intention tbh) and with the changed context (ie, in my temple space), the smell-link was immediately obvious. That is: it smells like Abramelin Oil. It was very like taking the cap off my bottle in terms of the smell hitting you

(Abramelin Oil has 5 oils, olive, cinnamon, cassia [a type of cinnamon], myrrh and a contested one that is either galangal, calamus, lemongrass or palmarosa. The overwhelmingly dominant smell is cinnamon, with the others having a relatively mild smell. Crowley's version of the recipe uses so much cinnamon oil that it actually makes your forehead burn, but even the ordinary version is hella cinnamony.)

The recipe is taken from the Book of Exodus ie older than the PGM, and honestly I'm kind of vague on what "anointing" does (does it purify or is it meant to make you smell pretty for God?) but I wonder if that's the connection. (With the assumption that the Book of Exodus didn't come up with the recipe itself; it would have been based on pre-existing traditions)