How do we keep our bed area pure, knowing that the hospitals are places of strong feelings? There are a few restrictions we have to work within:
- We can’t use a naked flame – oxygen is highly flammable, as are bedclothes.
- We can’t use smoke – smoke alarms will go off and other patients will be affected.
- We can’t sprinkle things around – if it gets on the floor it becomes a slipping risk, if it gets on your bed it becomes an infection risk, even if it’s salt.
- We have to avoid imposing our beliefs on others, even inadvertently.
If you’re only in for a couple of nights, consider if you need do anything at all. If you feel that you do, here’re a couple of suggestions.
Two or three drops of an essential oil, something simple like tea tree, lavender or rose on your pillow and at the foot of your bed is enough to subtly infuse the air around you.
Bring in a small live rosemary plant and allow it to naturally and subtly cleanse your air. Don’t bring in dried herb, but a living plant which takes in your carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen during daylight. When you leave, plant it in outdoor earth where it will thrive.
It’s important to keep the area around your bed free from clutter. Scores of people walk in and out of wards every day so unless you’re prepared to lose it, don’t bring anything precious in. A postcard of the Goddess is far more appropriate than a statue; leave all jewellery at home.
We have a responsibility to act as ambassadors for our religion: ostentatiously spreading tarot cards around or insisting that you sleep with your staff makes us look weird, frankly, and very understandably makes some people uncomfortable. If we insist on behaving like this we cannot be outraged when a member of staff asks us to be more relaxed about our religious needs. In hospital we are members of a ward community as well as having the privilege of representing Paganism (whether we want to or not) and, however ill we are, we still have responsibilities towards others.
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