Home Protections: Methods and Magick that Guard a Witch's Home
Normally, I make a point not to share the exact protections I've made around my home. However, in the interest of keeping this community open and communicative, I think it's best to show how I keep my home safe from negative people and energies.
This will be focused on what I do for my *apartment*, not my altar or my person, which I may feature in a later post.
Smudging/Smoke cleansing - I feel like this is one of the most basic skills in a witch's arsenal, as it were. For smudge sticks, I recommend plants that grow in your area. For me that's garden sage, lavender, cedar, mugwort, and rose petals. You can make your own smudge sticks by binding stalks of these herbs together with pure cotton string. You can even collect and dry your own herbs for this purpose. As for incense, my favorite overall is jasmine but for smoke cleansing and protection I opt for Wild Berry Sage and Santo or Ispalla Palo Santo & Rue incense sticks. I tend to avoid buying whole palo santo sticks or white sage smudge bundles, though I do inevitably end up with them as gifts.
Protection oils - its ridiculously easy to make your own blends, though it can get expensive. My favorite at the moment is a blend of cedar, juniper, clove, mugwort, and bergamot in a base of olive oil so I can wear it as well as anoint with it. Be careful the surface you use these on - I wouldn't recommend finished hardwoods, for instance, unless you've diluted it in a spray or cleaner. Diluted vinegar is my favorite for non-porous surfaces (like linoleum, tile, or tabletops), with one part each of vinegar and water, and a few drops of oil.
Sound cleansing - whether you prefer singing bowls, a bell, singing, or playing music or chants on a speaker, sound has a powerful impact on the energy in a space. Just think of the difference music makes in the energy of a cafe versus a club. Sanctify and purify your space with sacred sound and music, or simply get your house spirits dancing while you clean! There is so much to choose from with this option.
Charms and amulets - There are. So many different ways to protect your home. A partial list of my favorites include: Witch bells, railroad spikes, hagstones, pentacles, spell bags, spell bottles, most black or white crystals (onyx, black tourmaline, obsidian, selenite, clear quartz), and of course the evil eye. More specific charms include dream catchers to catch and prevent nightmares, and horseshoes turned in the shape of a 'u' to catch the good luck entering your home.
Runes, bindrunes, and rune staves - my personal favorite being the Elder Futhark rune Algiz ᛉ, which you can either use on its own, or combine with other runes to create a bind rune (where the different runes share a single base line and you draw each rune onto it), or what is known as a rune stave, which is a sigil of your own making consisting of multiple runes. There's no exact science to this, many different types of staves have been found that were used for many different purposes, both lingual and magickal, over the centuries. For example, I seal many of my spell bottles with a simple, even cross (like a crossroads) with the end of each line forking three ways like an Algiz. Here is a more complicated stave that protects the entrance to my home, which I drew in white candle wax on the bottom of my door mat.
In the center, I bring the focus to Jera ᛃ, the year, to represent each season and a full cycle, good harvests, restful winters, bountiful springs, etc. To protect and bring prosperity year round.
The middle cross represents the values the rune protects in my home: Algiz ᛉ, is for protection, Pertho ᛈ is for play, joy, and laughter, Othila ᛟ, for home and family, and Kenaz ᚲ, for the torch or hearth.
The outermost circle is the protective ring in envisioning around the house. I invoke Isa I, or the ice, to freeze out and make unwelcome any who would wish to do us harm. Gebo X is a symbol of giving and taking. Reciprocity is important in any relationship, whether with the earth or with friends, and any who pass through our doors and receive our generosity as hosts I want to instill with this giving spirit.
Salt - This one is the simplest. So simple in fact it ought to have been first. Salt has such rich history and folklore from all around the world, I won't even begin to touch on all of it. But its essential role in our bodies and lives is undeniable. Not only is it nutritionally necessary, and a wonderful preservative, but it is also the earth's most powerfully protective mineral. You don't need anything special, in fact it's best to just buy the cheapest you can because if you're getting into spellwork, you're going to be using a lot of it. It can be mixed with ashes from your spells and incense, herb blends, and blessings to make different witches salts. Aunt Lucinda from The Spiderwick Chronicles wasn't as crazy as she seemed for having a line of salt in each doorway and windowsill. Be careful using salt outdoors, as too much kills any plant, and too much around small children and pets simply because they'll eat anything.
Prayers, affirmations, and incantations - these will of course be extremely personal. They can be as simple as saying "I am protected" or "I am guarded" etc., as you walk your house. You can make symbols or sigils with the movement of your hands. You can pray to a deity if you choose. A personal favorite of mine is to incant as I smoke cleanse, rotating my incense or smudge stick counterclockwise (to release, dispel, or banish - clockwise to attract) and say "I release that which does not serve me. I banish that which would do me harm."
What kind of incantations do you prefer?
Invocations
Affirmations
Incantations
For all of these, *intention* is going to be your best friend. Visualize a white, protective light filling your home, pushing the shadows from every crevice, and let your power and the powers you trust to call on shield you from any harmful energy that may come your way. Some of these will have to be redone yearly, or monthly, some I only do when I feel the need for something particularly strong, like when an evil eye breaks or a string of ill fortune strikes, and sickness or an unwanted person has been in the house. Let your intuition guide you.
Hope you enjoyed, let me know what I should share next!
