The purificatory practices

This group gathers purificatory practices, the acts by which practitioners cleanse themselves of impurity or sin in preparation for worship or as a discipline in itself: ritual washing, bathing, fasting and other rites of purification. The concern with purity before the sacred is nearly universal.

The browser will find purificatory practices from across the traditions. The entries describe each practice's form and meaning, noting the conception of purity and pollution that underlies it.