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    Penance for adultery, fornication or whoredom in the 1700s, in England:
    Here is one example of a woman dressed in white, carrying a white ash wand and admitting her sin, at her local church:

    Mary NEWINGTON, of Chartham, wore a white sheet and carried white wand as penance for "fornication or whoredom"
    Carried out on 30 day of June 1754 in manner aforesaid. Signed. (JPB 148 Box, Canterbury Archives)

    I believe the white wand signifies 'making pure' and clearing away sin.

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