Winter Wakening: Magically Preparing One's Hearth & Home for Winter
by Keziah Zibelmann
The days darken, the nights grow longer, and, in the northern hemisphere, the season of winter is upon us. While it's a time of spiritual vulnerability and of increased need for protection for one's home and health, winter is also a season of great magical significance. The height of the dark half of the year is seen by many magical practitioners as a time to settle in, to focus on introspective pursuits, craft-building, spirit work, and magical endeavors closer to home, physically and symbolically. Doing so sometimes requires an intentional preparatory stage, in which a practitioner magically prepares one's self, one's home, and one's practice for the winter season.
In this piece, I'd like to share some ways in which one can make ready for winter witching, works that are rooted in my own traditions and beliefs, and works that come from the region I grew up in, but which are also easily adaptable to fit anyone's practice. May these works serve and inspire all in need of them.
Kindling the Hearth Spirits:
Hearth spirits, also known as household spirits, house spirits, and house and hearth deities and gods, are spirits connected to the hearth and home, often endowed with the property's protection and the safeguarding and blessing of the residents, or even of a specific member of the household. My use of the term spirits here applies to deities, fae, folkloric figures, guardians, and the broader realm of non-human entities.
The belief in hearth spirits can be found across many cultures, creeds, and traditions around the world. Some magical practitioners place great importance on maintaining strong connections with their hearth spirits, and doing so can, indeed, be an invaluable asset to one's magical craft, as hearth spirits can look after these practitioners, their families, and their homes, and are known to bring more blessings than just protection — e.g., good fortune, health, guidance, divinatory aid, et al.
Kindling the hearth spirits — that is, tending to one's hearth spirits, honoring them, paying them attention or care, or forging a connection with one's hearth spirits — is considered by many a magical essential, and can certainly strengthen one's magical works centered around the safety, upkeep, and blessing of the hearth and home. When it comes to winter workings, in particular, hearth spirits have been utilized for general protection as well as seasonal specific protection in many traditions. Some households may even have specific spirits tied to each season.
Making Space for Spirits:
This section will focus on reaching out to hearth spirits, seeking their partnership, or inviting hearth spirits into the abode, especially for practitioners who are unfamiliar with how to do so. For those who have already fostered relationships with their hearth spirits, they may wish to skip ahead to the next section on winter work with hearth spirits.
When one seeks to awaken, entreat, or forge communication with one's hearth spirits, it's common to start with setting aside a place in the home for the hearth spirit. While this is often at or near one's fireplace (if one has a fireplace), it can be anywhere in the home, though a central 'heart of the home' location is preferred in many cultures. Ancient Romans had home shrines for their hearth spirits [1] and guardians, with some using niches carved into the walls of their homes inside of the home or outside of the home near the entrance, or in working areas, such as kitchens or gardens. Some traditions, particularly Buddhist practices of Southeast Asia, opt for the building of spirit houses outside of the home on one's property or even in communal plots in one's neighborhood [2]. For those strapped for space, there are many tales of hearth spirits residing in pots, barrels, and similar vessels, and many modern magical practitioners who still utilize such items, along with things like vases, bird houses, or dollhouses to offer as a designated space for a hearth spirits to call their own.
After you've chosen your space, one should clean the area first and make it inviting. One of the simplest ways to do this is by offering light, placing a candle or lamp specifically for the spirit or deity in that area. Other common offerings are food and drink, pleasant scents in the form of oils or incense, artworks and/or statuary, trinkets, amulets, sacred herbs, and the like. How you build your space is entirely up to you, as how you interact with your hearth spirit will likely be led by your own familial and ancestral, regional, religious, cultural, and/or magical tradition.
You may have a hearth spirit already attached to your home or family, in which case you can call directly out to them and build their space catered to them. Some practitioners, though, prefer to call upon deities from their religion or faith, often deities associated with fire, the hearth and home, or domestic affairs, though some may also call upon other deities with specific and significant ties to their personal path or their family. Others may seek, instead, guardian spirits and/or house gods to take up residence in the home, which was common throughout many regions and religions, and is a custom practiced at least as far back as antiquity.
If you're unsure of what kind of hearth spirit to call upon, I recommend researching hearth spirits within one's religion or within the folklore pertaining to one's background. There are many different options from every corner of the world — deities, domovoy, jack o' the bowls, hobs, guardian spirits and angels, heinzelmännchen, and brownies, to list but a few.
[left: The Kobold, Chim, helps the kitchen maid, by Gustav Doré (1862) for Mythologie du Rhin; middle: Heinzelmännchen by Oskar Herrfurth, approx. 1926; right: Silesian statue depicting a Domovoy (photographed in 1918) for the Mythology of All Races, Vol. 3 by Jan Hanuš Máchal and John Arnott MacCullock]
Once you've made space for the hearth spirits, you can try to gain their trust or favor by leaving them gifts and offerings, treating them with appreciation and kindness, and politely asking for their help in specific tasks, such as looking after the home and keeping it safe. Different hearth spirits may have different tasks they're associated with. Some, for example, are known to aid in cleaning and upkeep but not with magical protection, while others are known to tend to far broader responsibilities and dole out blessings. Some spirits require payment for their assistance as well and have specific gifts (usually particular foods and drinks) they prefer to receive.
While I'd love to talk about hearth spirits in further detail, I don't wish to derail from the topic of this piece, which is winter specific magical tending and preparation of the home (hearth spirits and their traditions and folklores have their own piece coming to Sheydmade very soon). So, with a very basic introduction to hearth spirits out of the way, the next subsection will focus on how hearth spirits can be of assistance during winter.
Magical Aid from Hearth Spirits:
Calling upon hearth spirits for a little extra help during the winter season is no new thing. Winter was always a time of uncertainty, when misfortune — such as a winter storm damaging the home, illness befalling the household, or not having enough food in store to last the winter when one couldn't hunt, farm, or forage as much or as easily as one could throughout the rest of the year — could very well be a matter of a life or death. Many regions saw households put their faith and trust in hearth spirits in hopes to avoid such calamities.
Offerings were often made to hearth spirits at seasonal turning points and harvest festivals, and this is still a commonplace practice amongst those who work with hearth spirits. Many give seasonal goods to hearth spirits and give a portion of their bounty in the form of serving them a take of the food prepared in the house or crafting and/or procuring offerings. As winter approaches, some seek extra assistance from their hearth spirits, and so they may give extra offerings or even write out or speak their requests.
Here is one simple way of calling upon a hearth spirit for support during the winter, a method that I helped an old and dear friend carry out in preparing for winter for the first time in a new home: When lighting the first fire of the season in her fireplace, she spoke aloud a greeting and blessing for the hearth spirit as she built the flame. She had already set aside a place specifically for the hearth spirit on the mantlepiece and invited the spirit to make itself at home there. After the fire grew, she added cinnamon sticks to the fire as an offering. As she added them, she said aloud her requests — that the home be protected from winter weather and any spiritual threats or malevolent forces, that illness and injury could not cross their threshold and enter the home, and that the household know happiness and good fortune through the darkening days. That night, she placed a cup of sweet milk with nutmeg, cinnamon, and honey on the mantle as an offering and left a small lamp lit there for the spirit. She made a point to offer food, drink, and incense regularly, and spoke words of gratitude toward the hearth spirit over a designated candle throughout the season. These are all very simple ways of kindling one's hearth spirits, that is, of maintaining a relationship with the spirits and properly thanking them for their help.
Now, one doesn't need a fireplace to call upon spirits. The same simple method can be done with with a candle, speaking one's greeting as the candle is lit, making offerings with incense or the burning of aromatic herbs, and speaking one's requests into the candlelight as you appreciate its warmth.
The requests listed above — for protection, good health, and good fortune — are commonly made throughout the year, but perhaps most especially during winter. With some hearth spirits, one can make very specific requests, such as 'see that the roof holds up' or 'don't let the pipes freeze' or 'keep the chimney clean, safe, and in good condition.' These are all practical matters which different types of hearth spirits have been known to be associated with. There are, though, also spiritual matters that one can ask for help with, such as guidance and insight, spiritual protection, and even strengthening of one's spells and magical workings.
Working with hearth spirits can be a wonderful addition to one's practice and, when it comes to bringing magical protection to the hearth and home, can provide a strong and stable foundation to build upon.
General Protection:
Many magical practitioners renew or refresh their magical protections or wards every season, and winter, when many of us are spending more time at home than we may otherwise, is certainly no time to neglect the magical care and protection of our abodes. Magical protection of the home and hearth for winter can be done in a variety of ways, such as making use of winter plant allies or autumnal allies one might still have at hand, crafting protective works and amulets to meet one's specific needs for the season, and, of course, looking to traditional methods of magical protection for winter.
For some, a magical (and often also practical) cleansing is preferred before installing any new magical wards or protections, though many magical works for winter can serve both cleansing and protective purposes. It's entirely up to the practitioner and their personal methodology.
PRACTICAL WINTERIZATION MEETS MAGICAL PROTECTION
I live in an older house (125 years old, to be exact), which means that I have to physically prepare the home for winter before it gets too cold or stormy to do so. I like to include magical protections in my winter house prepping. Here are a few easy ways of doing just that:
If one has to prepare pipes for winter by lining them with pipe wrap or similar pipe insulation, one can use that time to mark the pipes (with chalk or a marker) with a protective amulet or sigil crafted to protect the pipes and keep them from freezing.
If one has cracks to seal or holes and/or leaks to patch before winter, it's the perfect time to perform a cleansing beforehand and then reinforce one's wards during and after the patching and sealing has been carried out. This ensures there is no lingering, damaging energy or malevolent forces, and also now no way for them to reenter the home.
If one has a fireplace that needs inspecting or cleaning before winter, then just after inspection, cleaning, or repair is an ideal time to set wards at one's fireplace. This can be done with the hanging of amulets, the drawing of magical boundaries, and through the assistance of hearth spirits. Speaking of, if one has hearth spirits attached to their fireplace, one should always provide them a safe place to hideout in, should they have need of it, when inspections or work are being done on the fireplace. This can be done by inviting the spirit into a vessel for safekeeping.
Having one's heating ducts, vents, and/or furnace checked and cleaned presents the perfect opportunity to "gather" all of the negativity that the house has seen and the household has endured, all illness or mental strife or disharmony, and assign it to the dust and materials that are to be removed from the house. As those materials go, so, too, goes the bad stuff. Now you have a house primed for any other magical cleansing you need to get to before setting your magical protections for winter.
Winterizing windows or doorframes with insulation strips, thermal curtains, or other forms of door and window winterproofing is a great time to mark the window and doorframes with protective sigils, amulets, or symbols. One can even stitch amulets or sigils into their winter curtains.
FIRE
Fire as a means of protection is seen across countless cultures and traditions all around the world, and there is certainly no shortage of magical protective works that utilize fire's symbolic and practical strengths. Fire is known as a symbol of life and creation, as well as being a simultaneously purifying and destructive force, all of which can be put to good use in protection magic.
Fire has always been an essential tool for survival and health in winter. It offers light in the darkest days of the year and heat to warm our homes, and is believed to burn away negative energies and repel harmful forces. I can put it in no better words than those of the great Joshua Trachtenberg —
'Light was one of these protective agents, due, no doubt, to the circumstance that demons shun the light, and also because of the purificatory and expiatory virtues of fire, the source of light.' [3]
Magical works for protection can be as simple as having a fire lit in one's home. Yes, it can be as easy as that, though there are many ways to add onto this.
Bonfires & Fireplaces:
Bonfires can be burned as a means of protection, particularly during festivals, gatherings, or sacred points of the year, such as was done for Samhain gatherings in Ireland. Kicking off one's winter preparations with a bonfire can be ideal for those seeking to grant their property protection, particularly from potentially harmful spirits and energies.
As with bonfires, lighting a fire in one's fireplace can be an easy and practical means of protecting the home and those within, and this can be done on a far more regular, even daily, basis.
[left: Fireplace by Jayden Wong; right: Bonfire by Toa Heftiba]
Burning Specific Woods, Herbs, & Plants:
One can add on to the protective benefits of their fire by utilizing further protective allies, such as logs and kindling from specific trees, dried herbal bundles or loose herbs and plants, and scents.
Trees one can use in protection works: Logs and kindling from these trees can be a perfect addition to one's protective fire —
Ash
Birch (also excellent for casting out harmful and malevolent spirits and entities)
Hickory (not typically associated with outright protection, but rather with luck and legal protection; so, for anyone in need of an extra boost of protection in legal matters or matters involving officers, courts, or lawyers, hickory can be an excellent addition to such protection work)
Maple (another wood that isn't associated with protection in its own right, maple wood can be burned with protective herbs or scents to boost the longevity of their protective powers)
Oak
NOTE: According to Twin City Fireplace and similar companies and sources, ash, oak, birch, and hickory are all among the best woods to burn in one's fireplace for long-lasting fires and consistent flames and heat, while pine and spruce (many a witch's winter favorite), unfortunately, are among the worst to burn due to higher production of creosote (a substance which can lead to chimney fires). PLEASE KEEP FIRE SAFETY IN MIND when planning your magical protection works for winter. For more information on burning different wood types please see these sources: Twin City Fireplace; CAPO Building Specialties; and Lumber Jack's Kiln Dried Firewood.
Herbs and plant allies one can burn in protection works for winter: These can be burned (ideally dry) by adding them to one's fire or in their own firesafe pots and burners; and don't shy away from using the herbs you've dried and kept from previous seasons, as winter is the perfect time to make use of them when we have more limited access to fresh and new growth —
Bay
Cedar (while burning cedar wood in one's fireplace is not advised by chimney and fire safety experts, one can, for the purpose of protection work, burn small herbal bundles in which cedar fronds or stems are included)
Cinnamon sticks
Clove (also used for banishing, so it's ideal for spiritual protection and protection from malevolent forces and harmful works against you)
Dried orange slices (this makes for a good addition along with cinnamon sticks and cloves, for it more focuses on drawing in and attracting good fortune, health, blessings, and the like, whilst the other two are especially strong protectors, purifiers, and banishers)
Fennel
Hyssop (ideal for cleansing the home of negativity while also providing powerful magical protection)
Juniper
Rosemary
Star Anise (also packs a punch for purification work along with protection)
Candles:
For those who can't burn bonfires or have no fireplaces, candle work is a wonderful alternative that stills bring the protective and purifying powers of fire.
Candles places at windows serve as protective wards, repelling dangerous and malevolent energies.
Scented candles featuring the oils of protective allies, such as cinnamon, clove, rosemary, etc., particularly when made in the home or made with the expressed purpose of magical protection, are a wonderful and effective way of easily and discretely working winter magic to keep one's home safe.
Winter Décor for Amulets & Charms:
[left: by Pure Julia; right: by Jez Timms]
Personalized amulets and charms for protection going into and during winter can be extremely simple, using few items and allies, and even incorporating easy to access winter symbols. Common winter décor can also be repurposed to serve as a protective charm or amulet. Here are a few simple ideas —
Cinnamon Sticks
Cinnamon is a great protective ally and cinnamon sticks, which are already a feature in many types of winter décor, can be used in magical charms and amulets for protection in a wide variety of ways.
Include cinnamon sticks in a wreath for your front door, protecting the entryways of your home and all beyond that point.
Keeping bowls or jars of cinnamon sticks in the hub of the home (this is often the kitchen, living room, den, or on the mantle of the fireplace) is not only a beloved winter aromatic feature, but it also brings cinnamon's protective energy into the space.
Take two cinnamon sticks and tie them together using a red bow or ribbon, creating not only very traditional and easy winter décor but also a simple protective charm to hang from doors, windows, fireplace mantles, and even Christmas trees. These small charms protect the rooms they're in and create protective boundaries when placed at doors and windows.
Wreaths:
Wreaths are very commonly used in all seasonal décor, but no wreath is as famed or beloved as the winter wreath. Winter wreaths can be easily made or altered to incorporate protective tools in them. Tucking stems, twigs, fronds, leaves, or berries in them is a great way to do just that! One can include —
Cedar
Cinnamon sticks
Fir
Juniper
Pine
Pinecone
Rosemary
Garlands, Ribbons, & Bows:
Protective colors can be easily incorporated in one's winter décor, particularly the color red. Red bows, ribbons, berries, garlands, or lights are an easy way to work the color red into one's wreath, garlands and eaves on staircases, doorframes, mantlepieces, and porch rails. Red is a powerful color, and in many traditions and belief systems it's used to strengthen protective magic or used to banish or repel malevolent forces, negative energy, and even baneful magical work sent one's way.
One can also use natural garlands made from or including protective allies, such as pine, fir, or cedar, and one can add even more protection by adding pinecones, red bows, or bells.
Bells:
Bells are fun and wonderful protective allies all year long, but they're especially easy to work into winter décor and winter protection works.
Hang jingle bells or sleigh bells by a red ribbon or bow from a wreath and hang the wreath on the front door (or main entrance of one's home). If you hear the bells when the door isn't being handled, it means they've done the job of repelling an evil force or spirit and preventing it from entering the home.
The ringing of bells is said to both alert one to the presence of evil and cast it out. This is why some witches hang jingle bells from doorknobs and window latches throughout the home. For added oomph, use red or black braided or knotted cord, ribbon, or twine to hang them.
Garlands of jingle bells are a great way to bring a little protection power anywhere in the home, be that on stair rails, doorframes, mantlepieces, or even one's Christmas tree.
These are just a few very simple, easy ways of working magic into the mundane to safeguard your home and ready it for the long stretch of winter ahead. I hope all those who use these methods or find inspiration from them know security, good health, and safety throughout the season. Happy winter witching, everyone.
To cite this article:
Winter Wakening: Magically Preparing One's Hearth & Home for Winter (2025); Zibelmann, Keziah
SOURCES & FURTHER READING: Most of this article features ideas and customs practiced by the author, based on the author's own customs, or based on the traditions the author grew up around in their region. Some suggested reading for topics touched upon in this piece, though, are listed below, as are the sources for some of the folklore mentioned in the above article. Readers are welcome and encouraged to do their own reading and research and come to their own conclusions.
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (2008); Cunningham, Scott
Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion (1939); Trachtenberg, Joshua
Russian Folk Belief (1989); Ivanits, Linda J.
Survivals in Belief Among the Celts (1911); Henderson, George
The Mythology of All Races, Vol 3. Celtic and Slavic (1918); MacCulloch, John Arnott and Máchal, Jan Hanuš
CITATIONS:
[1] The Houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C. - A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and Decoration (1993); Clarke, John R.
[2] On the Ground: The spirit houses of Bangkok keep watch over a frenetic modern Thai city (2019); Bengali, Shashank
[3] Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion (1939); Trachtenberg, Joshua [chapter 11 'the War with the Spirits,' section 'Magical Defenses,' pg. 159]
Feng shui (pronounced "fung shway") is a form of geomancy (the art of arranging buildings and objects auspiciously) that dates back to ancient China. Feng shui literally means "wind-water," and refers to the flow of chi (also spelled qi) through an environment. By becoming familiar with the natural flow of chi in nature, a feng shui practitioner can manipulate the flow in their home to improve different areas of life such as family relationships, wealth, and happiness.
If you practice witchcraft or another magic system, that may sound a little bit like magic. After all, arranging objects in a certain way to attract a certain outcome sure sounds like a spell, doesn't it? Well, it's not quite that simple. Magic is about creating a desired outcome, while feng shui is about allowing energy to flow naturally and harmoniously. However, the idea of mindfully creating an environment with balanced, harmonious energy may be applicable to witches and other magic workers.
My partner and I recently moved and are now setting up our new space. As we're setting up our home, I decided to do some research into feng shui and possibly incorporate some feng shui principles into our home design. Some of my relatives are Chinese, and this is part of a larger goal of mine to learn more about Chinese culture and spiritual practices as a way of honoring my family. (That being said, feng shui is not a closed practice, so you do not need to be Chinese or have Chinese family to study it.)
As I was reading, I realized that a lot of the concepts in feng shui are similar to concepts found in Western magic systems. This got me thinking. Would it be possible to create a similar geomancy system using Western elements and symbolism?
I want to be very clear: The system I present in this post is NOT feng shui. It is a geomancy system of my own creation, inspired by feng shui but rooted in Western-style witchcraft. Below are some concepts that appear in feng shui and suggestions for incorporating similar Western concepts in your home.
Energy
Chi is the vital force/vital energy of all things. Feng shui does not create or generate chi -- unlike magic, which often involves raising energy. Feng shui does not direct chi or tell chi what to do. Feng shui is about clearing blockages and creating a balanced environment so chi can flow naturally. In this way, feng shui is similar to other practices involving chi, like tai chi, qigong, and reiki. There is an understanding that having balanced chi will allow good things into your life, but attracting a desired outcome is not the main goal of feng shui.
In Western magic systems, we talk about energy in a way that is similar to chi (but not exactly the same). Energy is present in all things, from people to animals to plants to inanimate objects. Humans are able to sense energy through our intuition and our psychic senses. When we do magic, we manipulate energy in order to create our desired outcome.
In magic we use correspondences -- objects or symbols with an energy that corresponds with, or calls to the energy we wish to attract. Correspondences operate on the principle that "like attracts like." For example, the color pink corresponds to the energy of love and friendship, so if I wanted to attract those things into my life I might decorate my home with lots of pink things.
Correspondences also appear in feng shui, where certain objects and colors are associated with each element and each part of the room. In our own geomancy, we can use correspondences to balance the energy of our homes and create an environment that empowers our magic.
Balance
Feng shui is a natural extension of Taoism and Chinese folk spirituality. Taoism (pronounced "DOW-ism" is a philosophy and religion with a focus on harmony and balance. You're probably familiar with the "yin and yang" symbol -- this comes from Taoism and represents the Tao, or natural order of the universe. The yin and yang symbol demonstrates the spiritual truth that duality is an illusion and that all opposites are part of a single whole. Balance between opposites is a recurring theme in Taoism and in feng shui.
This unification of opposites is also a theme in Western occult practices. The most well-known example is probably the Wiccan God and Goddess, or masculine and feminine energy more generally. If you're uncomfortable using gendered language, you could choose to focus on a different set of opposites: heaven and earth, positive and negative (like the poles of a battery, not like good and evil), active and passive, creative and receptive, light and dark, or summer and winter. Remember that all of these dualities are really just different ways of seeing the one great Duality, and that Duality itself is not two separate forces but two halves of a unified whole.
For the sake of this post, I will use "active" to refer to yang/masculine/positive/creative/light/summer energy and "passive" to refer to yin/feminine/negative/receptive/dark/winter energy.
The goal is to have a healthy balance of active and passive. Too much active energy can leave us feeling restless, nervous, or caught in a cycle of overwork and burnout. Too much passive energy can leave us feeling tired, apathetic, or stuck. Too much action leads to exhaustion, but too much rest leads to stagnation. Too much focus on the spiritual can disconnect us from our bodies and from other people, but too much focus on the physical can disconnect us from the spirit world. We want all of these opposites to be in balance with each other.
In your home, you might represent active energy with white and other bright colors, straight lines, sun symbolism, or anything else you associate with this energy. You might represent passive energy with black and other dark or muted colors, curves and spirals, moon symbolism, or anything else you associate with this energy.
Elements
The five Chinese elements play an important role in feng shui. The Chinese elements are fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. Each element has certain colors, shapes, rooms, and symbols associated with it. Each of these elements is nurtured by one of the other elements and is reduced by another. For example, earth is nurtured by fire and reduced by metal -- so if you need to encourage earth in a room, you would include fire elements, but if you have too much earth you would introduce metal elements to tone down the earth energy.
Western magic also has five elements, but the elements are different. The Western elements are air, fire, water, earth, and spirit/aether. Let's review the elements and their associations (quotes from my book, Witchcraft for Beginners):
Air is "masculine [active], mercurial, and intellectual. It corresponds to birth and childhood, inspiration, communication, travel, and all mental activities." A home that doesn't have enough air energy will feel boring and/or dull. A home with too much air will feel chaotic, restless, and/or overly intellectual. Both too much and too little air and cause communication issues. A home where air is balanced will feel inspiring and stimulating.
Fire is "masculine [active], passionate, and energetic. It corresponds to adolescence, drive/motivation, creativity, anger, and transformation." A home that doesn't have enough fire energy will feel cold and dispassionate, and/or will smother creativity. A home with too much fire will be ruled by the passions and obsessions of the people who live there. A home where fire is balanced will feel warm and energizing.
Water is "feminine [passive], healing, and mysterious. It corresponds to adulthood, emotions, the subconscious mind, secrets, compassion, and transformation (but in a slower, gentler way than fire)." A home that doesn't have enough water energy will feel emotionless, stuck, and/or shallow. A home with too much water will feel overly emotional and/or needlessly esoteric. (Too much water is common among witchy/intuitive types.) A home where water is balanced will feel soothing and introspective.
Earth is "feminine [passive], solid, and sensual. It corresponds to old age, fertility, money and finances, stability, and agriculture (including personal gardens)." A home that doesn't have enough earth energy will feel unstable, insecure, and/or unwelcoming. A home with too much earth energy will feel cluttered, overly expensive, and/or overly focused on creature comforts. A home where earth is balanced will feel stable, grounded, and abundant.
Spirit is the fifth element, but it unites and contains all the other elements. In a way, spirit is the blending of the other four elements. Spirit is associated with energy itself, with deities, and with our connection to the divine and to everything around us. An imbalance in any of the other elements will also affect Spirit.
You can increase an element's presence in your home by decorating with colors, symbols, and objects associated with that element:
Air: yellow, gold, bells or chimes, feathers and images of birds, swords and bladed weapons, astrological symbols for Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius
Fire: red, orange, candles (including electronic flameless candles), images of dragons and/or phoenixes, wands, astrological symbols for Aries, Leo, and Sagitarius
Water: blue, silver, fountains/fish tanks*/other water features, images of fish and water-dwelling animals, cups or chalices, astrological symbols for Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces
Earth: green, brown, houseplants**, rocks or crystals, wooden furniture, forest imagery, pentacles or coins, astrological symbols for Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn
Spirit: white and black together, rainbow, images of deities, sacred symbols
*Please do not get fish for your home unless you have the time, energy, and ability to care for them. The stereotype that fish are easy and cheap pets is false -- even a single betta fish needs a five gallon tank or bigger, a filter, and a heater. The tank will need to be cleaned regularly and should include gravel and plants.
**Houseplants that are healthy have great energy -- dead houseplants do not. Choose plants that do well indoors and consider things like how much sunlight they'll get and how often you'll be able to water them. If you have pets, make sure your plants aren't toxic to them. If a plant dies, clear it out quickly instead of leaving a dead plant sitting in your room for days or weeks.
If you feel like there is too much of an element in your home, you can balance it by invoking the opposite element. Air and earth are opposites. Fire and water are opposites. Spirit has no opposite because it transcends duality. So if, for example, you have too much water energy, you can adjust by bringing more fire into your home.
Each element has an active form and a passive form. To invoke the active (masculine) version of an element, use light shades of that element's colors. (Ex: light blue = active water.) To invoke the passive (feminine) version of an element, use dark shades of that element's colors. (Ex: dark red = passive fire.)
Orientation
In feng shui, each position in a room has its own associations. An eight-sided map or template called a ba-gua is used to determine these positions for each room:
(Image from Wikipedia.)
Each gua (side) is associated with a part of the natural world and with an area of life. When the ba-gua is mapped to a room in a house, it looks a little like this:
(Image from Taoist Feng Shui by Susan Levitt.)
For those of us working with Western systems, we can determine the ideal orientation for a room by mapping that room to a magic circle, similar to how rooms are mapped to the ba-gua in feng shui. For our purposes, let's stick to a basic circle with the four cardinal directions mapped to the elements:
(Illustration is mine.)
When that circle is mapped to a room, it looks like this:
(Illustration is mine.)
This layout is much simpler, but that's because we're working with five orientations instead of nine. Like using the ba-gua in feng shui, you can use this template to organize your space in a way that lets energy flow easily and freely.
For example, since air rules communication, I might set my computer up against the eastern wall. Since water is associated with creativity and fire is associated with passion, I might set up my arts and crafts area in the southwest corner. If this room is a bedroom, I might put the bed in the northwest corner because earth is the element of stillness and water is the element of dreams. If this is an office, I might put my desk against either the north or south wall, depending on whether I want to prioritize financial success or passion in my work.
You don't have to literally use compass directions for this. If you prefer, you could use a "fixed" orientation where the side of the room you enter from is "south," the opposite wall is "north," the lefthand side is "west," and the righthand side is "east."
If you do decide to use compass directions, pay attention to which direction people enter your home from, as this can reveal what outside influences your home is vulnerable to. If your front door is in the east, you may be vulnerable to outside ideas or to gossip. If it's in the south, you may be vulnerable to getting caught up in other people's passion projects. If it's in the west, you may be vulnerable to outside emotions or spiritual influences. And if it's in the north, you may literally be taking on other people's stuff -- it may feel like you attract other people's unwanted belongings, or your home may seem to easily fill up with clutter.
You can protect these vulnerable areas by emphasizing the opposite element in the room where your front door is located. For example, if your front door is in the north, leaving you vulnerable to other people's stuff, you can hang an airy wind chime near the door to balance that extra earth energy coming in from outside.
Conclusion
This is just something I'm playing around with, but I think there's a lot of potential here. Let me know if you can think of any ways to use geomancy in a magical home!
At every Dark Moon, deep clean the house (Hekate's Deipnon is generally a time of purgation but it can still serve as a monthly cleaning mark). Sweep the floors and wash them. One can wash them with salt water and, after that, basil water in order to protect against evil spirits, ensure peace and bring good fortune.
Every Sunday, clean the house to prepare for the new week and do a little bit of magick to call in good spirits and kick out the bad.
Every Sunday, cast a divination spread to find out what the week entails, what omens to look out for, what to get involved in and not to get involved in etc. A geomancy chart is quite good for this because its easy to cast (once you get the hang of it) and shows a good amount of detail.
Every Dark Moon, dispose of all the offerings that have been gathered as an offering to the Wandering Dead and the Mistress Hekate.
In lieu of Sabbat celebrations, get in tune with things by practical work. During the transition into the colder months, wash down the house, wash the bedding and put extra blankets, if you have the ability to gather firewood for the hearth, do so etc.
In lieu of Yule Rituals, simply celebrate by use of spiced teas and spice cakes.
To welcome the spring, bring flowers into the house and place them on the dining table or some focal point.
Always step into buildings with your right foot.
Always give the first bit of bread to the spirits of the house.
Salt water is good for cleansing, basil water good for fortune, cinnamon water good for money and businesses, chamomile for protection against curses and anger.
Wash your clothes in heavily diluted salt water.
Sprinkle chamomile/lavender tea over your bed and bed clothes to ensure a restful sleep. Sprinkle rosemary over it if you wish to remember your dreams or obtain a dream oracle.
Bergamot helps with the drops (A term in my family for those period sof time brought about by Depressive Disorders). and it is found in Earl Grey Tea.
Rice water for hair...
Keeping a pine branch/cone/needles over the bed protects against ill health.
Make a Kathiskos
Keep a glass of salt water or white vinegar and salt behind the front door so that people who enter have negativity diffused.
A bowl of salt, a bowl of rice or a cut up onion in each of the rooms of the house absorbs negative energy. They should have regular disposal.
This is probably the witch advice you didn’t ask for, but I’ve found it’s much easier to remember to do general periodic maintenance that’s otherwise easily forgotten or put off when tied to milestones such as solstices, equinox, new, or full moons.
For example: Stow your winter blankets or clothes on the Vernal Equinox and take them out again on the Autumnal Equinox. Replace your air and water filters on solstices and equinoxes (every 90 days). Begin new 30-day challenges or do reset/cleaning of your living space on the new moon (every month).
Living cyclically breaks life down into manageable little blocks of time and helps us live in the moment by paying attention to the ebb and flow of the Earth.
I have a hard time doing something that involves magic every day, even though I've been on this path for quite some time.
Practicing magic a lot is by no means mandatory but it does help (in my opinion) to get better at it and it just helps with everyday problems. So here are some low effort activities you can do everyday that will hopefully help those of you with similar problems!
Write words like "protection", "healing" or whatever you want into your drink with a straw or spoon before you drink it. Or draw sigils in it.
If you feel super exhausted for no apparent reason, open a window and scream or, if you like it, put on some angry punk or metal music to banish whatever is feeding on your energy. While you're doing that, keep in mind that you want to banish. Otherwise you're just playing angry music. Yelling "Fuck off" also does the trick.
When you eat or drink something, try to pinpoint at least one magical property of each ingredient in your drink/food. It can also be one that has no historical evidence but is personal to you. That will help keep you in the magic mindset and also helps you to get all if that info into your long-term memory.
Open the window, stand in front of it and breathe in the air deeply with your eyes closed while you remind yourself that tge wind is part of nature and that you're connected to it. It doesn't have to be a half hour meditation, 5 seconds get the job done as well.
Offer everyday activities to your deities. For example: cooking for Hestia, standing up for yourself for Loki, practicing magic or **self care time** for Freyja, disposing of trash the correct way to your local nature spirits, etc
Take a shower or a bath, or just wash your face or brush your teeth with the intent of cleansing yourself from all that negative energy that has built up over the day.
That's all for this time. If you like it I'll do another one. :)
Drive sturdy sticks into the corners of your property to bolster those areas and strengthen wards. It adds firm definition to where you are warding. Using sticks from your property is a great way to connect everything on your land
Hammer three nails in the ground near your front door to act as a potent warning to spirits below.
Use solar powered lights to line your path to the door to keep it feeling bright, warm, and inhabited. Keep a small light on your keys and it will help to keep you from getting lost. Make sure to program all lights and keychain lights at the same time to sync them together.
Enchant wreaths to draw in abundance and repel misfortune and negative entities.
Choose a striking door knocker to act as a guardian against thieves and predators.
Plant hardy flowers and bushes that are native to/thrive in your area around all entrances and exits. Find out what the bees in your region like (if possible)!
Use windchimes to ward off entities looking for stagnant places. Sound and motion tend to clear away that kind of energy.
Draw (or use energy instead of a drawing utensil) a sigil on the outer walls of your home, especially on pillars and doorframes. You can do this before your home is completely built if you are in that process!
Draw similar sigils and/or statements on your driveway in the summer to bake them into your land and charge them. You can use water in a squeeze bottle to do this as well, and it will fade away immediately if your area is hot.
During the winter, you can also use water to cut through the snow or to freeze onto your property. Be careful, of course, and bear in mind where you or your pets may walk.
Use potted flowers to hide non-deteriorating crystals and wards. Put permanent wards inside the pots before planting.
For inside:
Enchant and place coins or other small tokens above every doorway and in every windowsill of your home to draw in wealth and repel malevolent forces. Bobby pins, dimes, toothpicks. It all works, but I recommend charging them every month or so.
Hang tapestries or other kinds of wall decor to break up stretches of potentially stagnant spaces. Clocks move and typically have a sound, which have always served me well in cleansing and keeping up with the flow of energy.
Salt lamps are actually quite useful. They are very dangerous for animals and small children, though. If you're good with the lamps being safe, they are excellent at cleansing, warming up, and protecting an area.
Rugs can be used to make wards all ob their own. You can create a design on the underside if you want, or just use energy to enchant it.
Wipe vents down with some sort of ritually clean and positively charged solution. Gem elixir, moon water, herbal tincture, etc.
Enchant fixtures already setup to protect you and your family. Smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, security systems, locks, etc. Use energy opposed to physical materials for most of these to protect their functionality.
Ward your attic. Birds get in, squirrels get in, entities and energies get in.
If you have a chimney, ward the fireplace or surrounding objects. Grates and screens are awesome for this.
learn how to write a new style of handwriting. try wearing your hair or makeup differently. find a new perfume you like.
do things for yourself, not for the validation of others. resist the temptation to post everything online.
start doing something you usually can't be bothered to do. like making your bed, folding everything neatly, stretching every hour, going on jogs, making a healthy meal from scratch or sleeping earlier.
make your surroundings as cozy and as pleasing for you to look at as possible.
bake delicious but sometimes deformed pastries. write things that no one "gets". wear clothes and hairstyles that make u happy. crotchet a sock badly. draw a picture that won't be aesthetic on instagram. let go of the perfect image of who you need to be. do things for yourself.
be messy. self-expression isn't always pretty. scribble messily in a notebook. draw messily an idea for a character. write a messy draft for a story.
learn your thing from scratch, whether it's astronomy, greek mythology, flower species, piano, japanese, making jam, drawing comics, or something completely different.
let yourself fully enjoy everyday things like food, commute, and your morning routines. slow down and notice every single thing that makes you feel nice.
appreciate nature, like the sunlight streaming through in the morning, the sound of rain, and the colors of sunsets.
notice the deeper meanings and emotions in songs, poetry and paintings.
let people in. give new loves and friendships a chance. initiate conversations when you want.
read as much as you can. read different genres, popular and unpopular books, classics and new releases. give every book that catches your eye a chance.
enjoy your solitude like you're a character in a movie. if you can, go out for walks alone. visit the park to look at dogs, a café to people-watch, or a library to spend the afternoon buried in a book. bring a journal everywhere with you, and write poetry and quotes and doodles.
collect little things, like vinyls, pretty rocks and shells, stuffed animals, whatever makes you happy.
find a sport you like. pretend you're a superhero. dance like no one's watching. swim like you're a mermaid. exercise is supposed to be fun, so find one that you like.
make self care a priority. this includes taking your meds on time, starting to study for a test after procrastinating for weeks, deleting things that trigger negative emotions, and knowing when to let go and ask for help.
distance yourself from sources of negativity. learn to be ok on your own. know your worth and boundaries.
let go of the past. forgive yourself for the things you regret and start again.
let go of old relationships. there's a difference between missing someone and wanting them back in your life.
let go of your need to be perfect. it does more harm than good.
never compare yourself. it will always feel like a losing battle, no matter how amazing you really are.
keep in touch with people you don't speak to much. even a message can brighten someone's day.
be kind to everyone you meet, even strangers. if someone makes you happy, make them happier. compliment often, and be less judgemental. give someone a smile, you never know how much it means to them.
wake up earlier in the morning. wake up with the sun and fall asleep with the moon.
if you want to be calmer and more productive, remove things on your phone and social media apps that you don't need. (which is most of them).
make a list of qualities in the person you dream of becoming. write about your ideal life with what you have. make goals to be the happiest and healthiest version of yourself.
don't suppress your emotions, but don't overthink them either. have a kinder relationship with your body and your thoughts.
don't be afraid to ask for help, whether it's a teacher, therapist, friend, doctor or parent.
remember that healing and loving yourself is just starting over and over. it's not too late. you're still young and you can move and grow at your own pace. your peak is yet to come.
Learn how to control your negative thoughts and manifest a better reality.
Interesting thought... what if, subconsciously, our mind is taking advantage of our bad mood or negative thoughts because it knows those feelings and thoughts are rewarded? If I'm feeling sorry for myself, I'm going to have ice cream and binge watch Netflix. Wallowing is easier and much more enjoyable than working out.
Recognizing this potential cause of self-sabotage seems like the first step to stopping it.
I think I need to learn more about weather magick.
Not trying to manipulate weather - but using it more in spells and trying to be better about sensing it and subtle changes within it.
I've always known about the blizzard of 67 here in Chicagoland (January 26-27), but I never understood why my mom talked about it in reference to my birth - since I was born in October. She died (1996) before it occurred to me to ask.
Just saw this in the paper. There was a snowstorm in October, as well. Apparently, 1967 was a hell of a year for Illinois weather.
The meaning of my life, my dharma, is doing what’s needed in each moment.
PURPOSE was one of the 4 words I chose to be my focus for 2022 , and I like what this article has to say about it. Though I feel like I haven't yet found my soul's purpose, perhaps, as the author suggests, "The meaning of my life, my dharma, is doing what’s needed in each moment."
Perhaps, what I'm doing right now (caretaking), is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing RIGHT NOW.
snowghoul
annaxmalina
theartofmadeline
pixelskylines
2087
stormborns
