Lustratio

[1][2] It included a procession and in some circumstances the sacrifice of a pig (sus), a ram (ovis), and a bull (taurus) (suovetaurilia).

The Lustratio was performed by a priest or magistrate who led a procession with at least one sacrificial animal around the area intended to be purified.

[5][6] One reason for a lustratio was to rid newborn children of any harmful spirits that may have been acquired at birth prior to the dies lustricus.

At the end of the ceremony, if the child was male, he was presented with a small charm, usually of gold, called a bulla and kept in a leather bag around the boy's neck.

It was performed by a dog being cut in half, and the army assembling between the location of the two halves, which were flung in opposite directions.