My Personal Protection Correspondences & How I Use Them
Though cinnamon is less often used for protection, I've always associated it with such.
I burn cinnamon incense and use its smoke to cleanse myself, my altar and any new tools before a working.
I will mix ground cinnamon, cemetery dirt*, and wood ash (cedar or pine if I'm sourcing it myself) and use the powder to sprinkle along the exterior perimeter of our house.
*At the time of writing this post, my direct neighbour is an 100+ year old cemetery. Even before we lived beside it, I would hike the area and spend countless hours sitting amongst the stones. I do not collect more dirt than I need and only take from the edges of the yard, not from the graves themselves.
Cedar has long been planted along property lines to offer a form of privacy. The scent of cedar is used as a natural bug repellent, and before the time of embalming, cedar was planted in cemeteries to try to mask the smell of the dead.
Because of these aspects, I associate cedar with protection and warding.
I primarily burn it, either as dried leaves and bark in small smoked bundles, or as wood in a small portable fire when laying my annual property wards outside.
Pine is a strong tree. Enduring harsh winds, winters, and even surviving droughts. Because of this, I visualize pine as being long lasting protection.
While I will burn pine similarly to cedar, I also forge and process pine sap to create pine resin to burn at my altar.
Iron has been viewed as a protective element in spiritual workings for ages. So it's not exactly a personalized correspondence, but it's something I do utilize for its traditional use.
For example, there are four iron church nails pressed point down into the earth at the four corners of our yard. Creating the 'corner posts' for the protective 'fence' I lay down yearly.
I carry a small piece of scrap iron in my vehicle to protect against road accidents.
And I use small iron nails in spell jars/vessels to either pin energies in, or protect against energies I want kept out.
Like pine and other evergreens, spruce is a resilient tree. Its ability to withstand harsh winters and stay green throughout all seasons makes it a symbol for endurance and life everlasting.
Along with burning its dried needles, I will also harvest and process the sap to create resin incense.
Whether it be through its medicinal uses as an anti inflammatory and diuretic, or its spiritual uses as a smoke cleanse and physical ward, juniper has a long history associated with protection.
I often harvest bits of bark for loose incense and berries for use in spells or charms, especially those dealing with health.
*I may add more to this list in the future, but these are just the main things I associate with protection in my craft.
