CATHARSIS. The Greek katharsis is an action noun corresponding to a verb that literally means "to prune, to clean, to remove dirt or a blemish [katharma] for the purpose of rendering some thing, place, or animate being pure [katharos]." As denoting the general process of purification, catharsis could of course be applied to a very broad range of phenomena in the history of religions. In this article, however, the focus will be specifically on the Greek conception. Although the meaning of catharsis and the exact techniques or modalities of purification (katharmoi) differ according to context, the sense of catharsis always remains negative: it refers to separating, evacuating, or releasing. Whether performed in a strictly ritual setting or understood as a spiritual concept, catharsis maintains this negative meaning of ridding either oneself or an object of something impure or unclean.

Catharsis originally appears as a ritualized process of quasi-material...