Ritual of Restoration

The Ritual of Restoration is a curse which restores a vampire's soul. It was used on Angelus by the Kalderash clan of gyspsies after the notorious vampire murdered the clan's most beloved daughter.

When Angel's curse was broken in 1998, young witch Willow Rosenberg performed the spell a second time to restore his soul and return him to his now-heroic persona. She repeated this spell again in 2003.

Purpose
"Angel was meant to suffer. Not to live as human."

- Enyos Kalderash

The ritual is intended to curse a vampire by reensouling him or her, thus forcing the vampire to accept massive amounts of remorse, guilt and torment for all the lives that they have taken as a soulless beast. As far as is aware, Angel is the only vampire who has been re-ensouled in this way, and it is unclear whether other soulless demons can be re-ensouled in this way.

Restoring a vampire's soul in this way is not intended as a gift. It is very much a form of revenge, or a curse since if ever there comes a time when the restored soul no longer torments the vampire, the moment the vampire is not plagued by the guilt of what they had done for the sake of evil in the past, then in that instant the soul is taken from them. Angel's soul has been lost this way twice.

Whenever the curse takes effect, it takes a few moments for the vampire to remember their actions while soulless, and when it is broken, the vampire suffers debilitating pain as his soul is ripped from his body.

Performance
The Ritual of Restoration has been seen performed on three separate occasions; once by a Kalderash gypsy elder and twice by the witch, Willow Rosenberg. The ritual is spoken slightly differently each time, presumably because the translation made by Jenny Calendar is not an exact replica of the original text, though it seems to have the same effect, and also due to the time difference between the first and second instances where Willow performed the ritual, her powers as a witch have increased greatly, so logic dictates that she has adapted the curse according to her own research and experience.



Requirements
To perform the ritual, one needs four candles, some animal bones, runic stones, burning incense and an Orb of Thesulah. With these items, one creates a sacred circle, kneel, stand or sit in front of it and begin the incantation. Usually the first line of the incantation is spoken by a secondary person, but it is unclear whether this is always the case. The ritual is spoken in a combination of Romanian and another language which appears to be of the casters choice (the languages seen to have been used so far are Latin and English). The Ritual of Restoration is an extremely powerful spell and has been seen to literally take over a less-experienced or weakened caster.

Kalderash gypsy version
The following is what is heard spoken on screen by the Kalderash gypsy elder. Becoming, Part One

"Este scris, această putere este dreptul poporul meu de a conduce. Nici mort, nici al fiinţei, te invoc, spirit al trecerii. Redă trupului ce separe omul de animal. Aşa să fie cu ajutorul acestui!"

Willow's first version
The following is what is heard spoken on screen by Willow the first time she attempts the ritual. Becoming, Part Two

"Quod perditum est, invenietur. Not dead, nor not of the living, spirits of the interregnum, I call. Gods, bind him. Cast his heart from the evil realm. Te implor, Doamne; nu ignoră aceasta rugăminte! Nici mort, nici al fiinţei, lăsa orbită să fie vasul care-i vă transportă sufletul la el. Aşa să fie! Aşa să fie! Acum! Acum!"

Willow's second version
The following is what is heard on screen the second time Willow performs the ritual, to restore Angel's soul. Orpheus

"Quod perditum est, invenietur. Nici mort, nici al fiinţei, te invoc spirit al trecerii. Te implor, Doamne; nu ignoră aceasta rugăminte! Lăsa orbită să fie vasul care-i vă transportă sufletul la el. Este scris, aceasta putere este dreptul poporul meu de a conduce. Aşa să fie! Aşa să fie! Acum!"

Scripted version
The following was written in Joss Whedon's script for the Kalderash gypsy elder. Becoming, Part One

"Nici mort, nici al fiinţei, te invoc spirit al trecerii. Redă trupului ce separe omul de animal cu ajutorul acestui magic glob de cristal."

Full incantation
Combining what is said by the two casters on the three separate occasions, and taking into account the on-screen cuts when the ritual is being performed, below is as close as possible to the full incantation for the Ritual of Restoration.

"Quod perditum est, invenietur. Nici mort, nici al fiinţei, te invoc spirit al trecerii. Gods, bind him, cast his heart from the evil realm. Te implor, Doamne; nu ignoră aceasta rugăminte. Lăsa orbită să fie vasul care-i vă transportă sufletul la el. Este scris, aceasta putere este dreptul poporul meu de a conduce. Redă trupului ce separe omul de animal. Aşa să fie cu ajutorul acestui magic glob de cristal. Aşa să fie! Aşa să fie! Acum! Acum!"

Translation:

"What is lost, return. Not dead, nor not of the living, spirits of the interregnum, I call. Gods, bind him, cast his heart from the evil realm. I call on you, Lord; do not ignore this request. Let this orb be the vessel that will carry his soul to him. It is written, this power is my people's right to wield. Return to the body what separates man from animal. So shall it be with the help of this magic crystal globe. So it shall be! So it shall be! Now! Now!"

Other attempts
The ritual was also used in the 1920s when the gypsies attempted to curse the vampire known as Perfect Jheung, the vampire who their seers had predicted would be the true vampire champion; Angel was apparently merely a 'lab rat' to determine if such a restoration could be accomplished in the first place. However, for unknown reasons the ritual failed to restore Jheung's soul to him, leaving him bitter and fixated with the implication that he wasn't 'good enough' to become such a unique vampire.

Other methods of restoration
It is evident that the Ritual of Restoration is not the only way to restore a vampire's soul. Spike went through various painful trials in order to have his soul restored by a cave-dwelling Asphyx demon named Lloyd, although this ritual required the vampire to be willing to prove himself worthy and willing to receive the soul rather than it being forced on him. However, following the recent revelation that Spike does not actually have a soul, doubt has been cast on this method of restoration, raising the possibility that Spike has lost his soul over time or may have never even regained it in the first place for reasons unknown.

Trivia
For a long time, it was believed that the Ritual of Restoration would be broken if Angel ever had any kind of sexual intercourse. However, on two occasions, Angel has done so to no ill effect: his "perfect despair" moment with Darla ("Reprise") and his tryst with Nina Ash ("Power Play").

As of recent events, Angel also had sex with Buffy once again without losing his soul ("Twilight"), although in this case his recent "upgrade"- resulting in him acquiring increased strength, the power of flight, invulnerability, and seeming immunity to sunlight- may have altered the conditions of his curse.

Appearances

 * Becoming, Part One
 * Becoming, Part Two
 * Orpheus