Before a ritual, you will want to purify yourself, getting rid of anger and negativity. A favored way to do this in the pagan ommunity is to take a bath or shower. Make it luxurious, use bath salts or shower gel. Burn a candle. Relax.

Use a broom to sweep your ritual space clear of negativity, holding the broom a few inches away from the floor and making sweeping motions, visualizing the black "smoke", negativity, being swept away and only pure positive energy remaining.

Lay out everything you're going to need. Make sure you've read the outline of the ritual or spell you plan on doing first, so that you know exactly what to expect and plan for.

Before a ritual, you want to be in a relaxed, open frame of mind. Calm and meditative.

I achieve this by meditating, or by counting down my chakras, visualizing light of the color associated with each until I reach the root, at which point my brainwaves have changed and I am in an altered state of consciousness. (That's one reason why Wiccans tend to stay clean--who needs alcohol if you can get a buzz without destroying your brain cells?)

Another technique used by many Wiccans is to sit comfortably, then visualize your consciousness slowly contracting and coming to rest around your solar plexus (the place where your ribcage joins, just above your stomach).

Visualizing growing roots into the ground is another method of calming down before a ritual and putting yourself in the right frame of mind.

Use whatever works for you. Experiment. Play around with it a little.

.