Cleansing the space before ritual

[süsü_]

So I was reading Frater Acher's blog/article about olympic spirits and what procedure he did before he could communicate with och or ophiel for example and he was using LBRP first and then LBRH to make sure nothing can fuck up the thing he is about to do
And my question is, before doing any ritual of any kind is there even a need for "cleansing the space" or are vibes, some preparation and a clean calm mind enough?
I would imagine if the setup is right, the room is physically clean and the air is fresh and the ritual itself goes exactly like how its written down then it should be good no?
I'm not sure how important it is to actually ground or to "clean energy residue" or whatever before practicing such things thats why im asking
Of course it depends on the kind of procedure probably but just generally speaking
Thx for the answers

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

If youre conjuring spirits you need ceremonial procedure in the space. The protection of the self/body can boil down to simple meditation, cleansing, and purification but the space itself needs to be sealed ritual.

When you conjure spirits you can think of it like sending a big bright light into the astral realm that says "hey! Im over here!". All kinds of things will show up and if you dont seal the space then they can mess up the environment or larp as the spirit youre actually trying to get into contact with. On top of this, if you conjure frequently, things can get in so there will be stragglers and hangers on in the space in between operations and they need to be cast out before you conjure.

You will notice a marked difference between a clinical operation and one where you dont do banishing and sealing procedures. There are certain use cases for not cleansing and sealing the space, that is if youre trying to compound spirit energy (create a haunting) but this is a generally unpleasant environment to live in daily and will create a dingy oppressive atmosphere.

 

[Ziran]

I'm not sure how important it is to actually ground or to "clean energy residue"

1) Rituals are designed to consistently invoke / evoke specific thoughts-and-feelings.
2) The ritual is not the source of magic. The thoughts-and-feelings within caster are the ( "closest" ) sources of magic.
3) What's happening in the caster's heart-and-mind, the psyche, are the constituents of the ritual. Constituents, like in politics. They're willful.
4) If the caster is not grounded, or feels "unclean", "distant", "out-of-touch", or any sort of psyche turbulence, ( assuming turbulence, distance, and/or dirty are not a necessary constituents ) in their own heart-and-mind, regarding the environment, the circumstances, etc... it pollutes the ritual.
5) If the target is not the caster, themself, it becomes much more important to create a mood, an ambiance, for their target so that the intended thoughts-and-feelings are cultivated within their target's heart-and-mind.

I would imagine if the setup is right, the room is physically clean and the air is fresh and the ritual itself goes exactly like how its written down then it should be good no?

Yes. But, if the ritual goes too smoothly, then I wonder if the heart-and-mind are activated as the ritual intends. Usually, at the end of a ritual, one should feel like they've been somewhere and come back.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

You are separating this area from the rest of the world for the duration of this ritual. This, plus banishing at the end, stop anything from the ritual leaking out into the rest of your life.

I always say that when you engineer coincidences, it's like throwing a stone into a pond - other, unforeseen, coincidences ripple outwards. You want to protect yourself from those. Unless you're a Discordian, of course

 

[süsü_]

Thank you guys for the insight

 

[Keldan]

Each practitioner will approach this differently, and a lot of it depends on their knowledge especially when it comes to trimming away anything unnecessary before, during, and after rituals.

I don’t cleanse before every ritual. I follow a set cleansing schedule and do a cleanse about every 4-5 months. My reasoning is that if you do a proper cleanse, it holds for a long time, so there’s no need to cleanse daily or after every ritual.

I also don’t banish afterward. I only banish when there’s an actual problem, a negative entity. I do evocations and summonings every so often, but always within a sealed space. The area is small so spirits understand they can’t move beyond it and leave once the ritual is complete. In that case, there’s no need to banish when there’s no one to banish.

 

[Jumi]

Everyone is different. The most important parts of ritual, in my opinion, is belief in sovereignty of your space and understanding the theatre of magic. Being grounded, and making sure that you have belief in your works. Lastly, trance states through meditation. These are priority to me in rituals.
Having the 'stage' set is to get your mind into the appropriate state and set to be put in motion to call down the spirit intended. Essentially you're just requesting a spirit to come down anyway. Compelling a demon through the power of other spirits is the 'worst' thing often touted, yet that doesn't really matter. I don't believe it to be "disrespectful". That will certainly be disagreeable to many other practitioners.

I don't really cleanse my areas unless it's been a while. Negative energy can build up in my belief system and periodic cleansing helps, even if it's purely mental at heart. Then proceeding to do magical works.
What to do after a working has brought up debate. Some suggest that cleansing after ritual means that you are removing the same energy that you have drawn down and requested things from. Others believe it correct because other energies besides that called down may have slipped through. I choose to state that spirits other than that which I invited is to leave. And that the intended spirit is free to leave or stay if they wish, and end ritual with a final 'clap'. Sound also cleanses spaces. It may not mesh with everyone's beliefs, but this is what works for me.

(P.S I don't always do ceremonial magic. I often do contemporary practices and just invoke, especially those spirits that I've already built a relationship with. I'll enter trance and work with them through this way. Then journal my experiences and any other information given to me for research and potential incorporation into practices).