You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness... (Psalm 51: 6-8)

Purge me with hyssop is the translation above. Purify is a more common translation. Hyssop is an herb used in religious cleansing rituals.

This Hebrew word for purify is chata. In most forms this verb means to sin. In the King James translation chata is rendered as to sin 188 times. It is translated as purify eleven times.

Only as a reflexive verb does chata make this remarkable transformation from sinning to purfiying. A reflexive verb has an identical subject and direct object. It is something we do to ourselves. If my action - chata - is aimed at another it is a sin. The same action aimed at myself can become a way of purification.

In its non-spiritual applications chata is to go the wrong way or miss the mark. In its reflexive form it means to lose oneself or to miss oneself.

In self-reflection we may find that our true self is missing. We may perceive that we have taken the wrong way. This self-discovery is a crucial first-step in purification

Above is a fractal, a naturally occuring pattern that is self-refective and repeating.