I have not found that I have gone very far into the purification work I do prior to the empowerment work.
Generally speaking, if I have not had a shower yet I will take one. My usual routine during any shower is to set aside some time for cleansing, purification, uncrossing, and shield work. I like the flow of Water in the work, given I am physically cleaning myself anyhow. Given how madcap my scheduling can be, having a few dedicated minutes in the shower lends to a good time to do this work. After hailing and thanking the Gods and spirits of Water, and Water Itself. I will staðagaldr Ansuz to purify myself within as I am cleaning my body. I recently incorporated a new step between staðagaldring Ansuz and Gebo: I ground with Midgarð, and work on shielding. I then staðagaldr Gebo to bring myself into awareness, centering myself, and finishing up the grounding and shielding work.
After the shower I will go over to the Runes’ altar, thank the Sons and Daughters of Muspelheim, hail the Gods and spirits of Fire and Fire Itself, then light Their candle, and ask Fire to bless and cleanse me. I take special care when doing this to bring the warmth from the top of my head down to my feet, taking special care to bring it to my lips. I do this so that when I say the names of the Runes, I do so well and am careful, knowing that my words, especially now, should be mindful, and spoken with clear intent for the empowerment work. I will then staðagaldr Ansuz once more to bring myself clarity and cleansing, then Gebo for centering, and grounding in the work before me.
Then I make the prayers to Rúnatýr and the Runevaettir, and begin the empowerment work with Them. Keep in mind that a lot, if not all of this is part of my everyday routine now. It may sound long and exhaustive, but a lot of the prep work is already done, making it so that when I kneel to do the work it goes well even when I am being quick about it. With the memorization of the prayers I no longer have to think overlong about how to formulate the prayers, but to make them in the proper mindset, focused on the work at hand. With the memorization of the ritual actions I have the same result. This works quite well for me, to the point that I will probably follow this formula in the future since I spend a good deal more time on the actual empowerment now than I do worrying about the ritual actions themselves.
Sarenth Odinsson 