What does it mean to be “purified” in ADF ritual? Why is purification important? What must be purified, and who may do the purification? (150 words min.)
To be purified is to be cleaned and prepared for ritual. This is also a way for us to mentally prepare for what we are about to do, and doesn’t just mean physical purification, but also the preparation of our garb and mental state as well. We do not want to bring in our negative thoughts, energies, and tag-alongs that may affect the ritual or the folk as a whole and disrupt the energies we are trying to create for a purpose we are intending. These purifications are done before ritual, sometimes as an asperge of water, other times through smoke of incense either individually by the liturgist or as smoke we walk through during the procession into ritual. In some of our Greek rites, we also wash the hands with scented water that is made sacred for this purpose. These are usually self-purifications at the beginning of the rite.
(Word Count: 150)
