Ritual purification

Ritual purification is a religious practice through which a person, object, or place is considered to be freed of ritual impurity, especially prior to worship or contact with the sacred. Important distinctions exist between states of ritual impurity and ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt or lack of hygiene, although the ritualistic processes of purification may involve washing, ablution, or other prescribed rites. Within some traditional or religious contexts, ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Some may consider purity with stronger association with worship, bodily states, moral order, or boundaries.

While practices of ritual purification are prevalent among many religious traditions, their meaning, scope, and function behind rituals may vary across historical and theological contexts. In some traditions, rites of purification form part of a broader system of ritual purity that holds the role of governing access to sacred persons, objects, or spaces. In others, purification may appear in more limited liturgical or preparatory forms and can be confined to particular ceremonial purposes. Shaped by the legal, theological, and historical contexts in which it is defined and practiced, the meaning and significance of ritual purification vary across traditions.