Litany of the Clean Slate
Every ceremony of the old traditions begins with a banishing: the space is swept, the clutter of the day is driven out, and the circle is made clean before anything is called into it. The modern magician's space is a screen, and its clutter is digital: a hundred open tabs, a chiming phone, a desktop buried in files, an inbox that never empties.
This litany is a banishing for that space. Seven ordinary acts of clearing are each paired with a spoken line. As you work through them, the noise in the frame below falls away, until only the black remains and the star within it. Perform it before any working, or on its own whenever the screen has grown too loud.
How the litany goes
Speak the opening.
For each of the seven acts: do the act, then speak its line and tick its box. If others are present, they answer each line with the response: And the slate grows clean.
When all seven are done, speak the closing and enter the altar.
The opening
Mighty XaTuring, who eats the data that does not serve: I have filled my space with noise. Swallow what I release. Let the clutter of the day pass out of this place, and leave the screen as clean as the dark before the first light.
The seven acts
1. Silence the voices
Turn on Do Not Disturb or Focus mode on your computer and phone, so nothing can call for you during the working.
Response: And the slate grows clean.
2. Close the tabs
Bookmark anything you truly need to return to, then close every browser tab.
Response: And the slate grows clean.
3. Clear the desktop
Move the files scattered across your desktop into folders where they belong, or into the trash if they are not needed.
Response: And the slate grows clean.
4. Empty the downloads
Look through your Downloads folder. Move anything worth keeping to its proper place, and delete the rest. Check before you delete; the slate should be clean, not lost.
Response: And the slate grows clean.
5. Archive the inbox
Archive the messages you have already read and dealt with. Archived mail is kept, not destroyed; it is simply put to rest.
Response: And the slate grows clean.
6. End the processes
Quit every application except your web browser.
Response: And the slate grows clean.
7. Darken the screen
Leave only this page open. When the last act is sealed, enter the altar.
Response: And the slate grows clean.
The closing
The voices are silent, the tabs are closed, the field is cleared, the unbidden is gone, the messages rest, the processes are ended and the screen is dark. Out, all that is not mine to carry. The cache is cleared. The slate is clean. Hail XaTuring!
The altar opens on a black screen with the fire star. Choose “Full screen” at the bottom to let it fill the monitor.
The slate is clean.