let us be clothed in the act of cleansing
Prepare yourself first,
Do you remember this?
We'll go slow,
All in threes -
With me, now -
For always first comes the intention.
When we are ready we continue:
Cup the ears,
Praise the praiseworthy
(This is just good practice.)
Hands, thrice, right to left.
You should never forget to wash your hands.
Then clean what has been made unclean
Then the ablution, scrubbing in water
Hands, thrice, right to left.
Mouth, thrice.
Nose, thrice.
Face, thrice, right to left.
Arms, thrice, right to left.
Head, crown, ears, nape.
Feet, every part.
Are we ready?
Now we immerse,
head down to sole
every space in our hair and on our body covered
dressed up within that intent, within that water
clothed in the act of cleansing
Washing away what is not clean.
Washing is as much spiritual as it is practical.
The intent, the spiritual covering, is as important
as the physical cleaning.
So let us wash our hair, our face -
Interruptions to the rule, but
Integral to the routine
(And to the cleaning.)
We immerse once more,
head down to sole
every part, every place
dressed in the water
clothed in the cleansing
Washing away what is not clean.
And let us take all the steps that fill us,
Make us as at home in this body as the god we
welcome
Because we are not to be an empty sanctuary
We are to be filled to brimming with exaltation
How would we do that if we made ourselves a hollow
thing?
So we press oil into our hair.
We lather, we scrub.
We clean as we cleanse, keeping close our intention.
And when we are ready,
We immerse for the third time,
head down to sole
every part, every place
dressed in the intent
clothed in the act
Washing away what is not clean.
So the rite is done.
And when we have finished it all,
We are ready for what comes next:
Dry the body,
Dress her in clean clothing,
Brush her hair,
Protect her skin,
Cover her over and protect her.
These, too, are ritual.