To Banish:
• Burning to ashes and sweeping away the ashes
• Cast out a window, down a cliffside, etc
• Bury it and spit on the spot
To Bind:
• Wrap in black thread
• Cover in wax or other material
• Seal in jar and hide in dark spot
To Hide:
• Wrap in ribbon
• Place in a (painted) black jar or other container
• Cover in cloth or other material and bury
To Encourage:
• Plant or bury near the front door/steps
• Plant or bury near a window
• Place near a window
To Communicate*:
• Anoint a candle
• Leave out an offering
• Meditate
• Open the front door and/or windows
To Glamour:
• Leave under the full moon
• Work with its reflection
To Cleanse:
• Bury in salt
• Burn herbs and pass through the smoke
• Let it bathe in the moonlight
To Protect:
• Leave sigils/wards on doors and windows
• Carry sigils/wards on every day items (keys, phone case, etc)
• Enchant jewelry with protection spells
Howdy! It’s your friendly neighborhood witch here: Let’s talk about warding!
Warding is any form of magick intended to protect a person/place/thing from a negative entity/energy
Warding is most often used in either a personal sense, or a spatial sense, let’s do a deep dive into what that actually means
SPATIAL WARDING ~~~~~
Spatial wards are put on SOMETHING or a PLACE/SPACE/NON HUMAN THING with the intention to protect it. This could be warding your room or entire house by contacting the egregore, this could be casting a circle when you are about to do a spell, etc etc. This is not the same as warding a piece of jewelry though, that goes into the next type of warding: Personal Warding
PERSONAL WARDING ~~~~
Personal wards are created with the intent to protect a person (most likely YOU, the practitioner). These are most often portable/wearable like jewelry or in some cases crystals! A lot of the time, you can create some wards to be both personal and spatial, in essence killing two birds with one stone
🪐 EXAMPLES OF WARDS 🪐
There are more than just these examples, but this is a great place to get started! This picture is all over the internet, and you’ve probably seen it before haha- nonetheless it’s still useful information! I am gonna go into detail about some specific ways to ward your space/self, but as always, witchcraft is a very personal thing and your practice is unique to yourself so these things may work for you, they may not! It’s all up to what you’re willing/able to do in your practice :))
ANYWAYS...ONWARD
FIRST STEP TO CREATING A WARD: Cleanse!!!! You don’t want to trap any negative energy in your space when creating your ward. Cleansing will give you a blank slate to protect you or your space.
SECOND STEP...ACTUALLY CREATING THE WARD: There are multiple methods to create a ward (as pictured above) but I will go over some easy, beginner friendly ones for the sake of time and my sanity. These will mostly be about spaces, but I will talk about enchanting things like jewelry on another post if that’s something y’all would be interested in...?
Incense Warding
This can be done with either incense or a water/essential oil blend if you prefer to not use incense (i personally vomit from the smell of smoke and incense is no exception...it’s quite a dilemma being a witch and not being able to use incense haha)
Be it incense or a spray blend, you want to utilize herbs with protective properties, some common ones being: bay leaves, cinnamon, ginger, mustard seed, and salt
If you’re warding an item, you can either smoke/spritz it with your incense or water/oil mixture and visualize the smoke/spritz encircling the item like a ball of light, protecting it from anything that would intend to cause it harm. (I suck at visualizing, I think i have the thing where you just cant visualize stuff, so instead of harping on my inability to think in pictures, I just focus on the intent of what i’m doing. it’s all the same, the visualization is just to help amplify intent. If you are already confident in your ability, you are okay to not visualize.)
If you’re warding a space, it’s pretty similar. You start in one area of your house (or room), and move to the right, spraying the walls and doorframes, all the while visualizing a barrier being formed around the walls (again, hard time with visualizing won’t mess up your ability to ward, just focus on intent). Just keep moving right throughout the entire space, creating an outline of whatever it is you’re protecting. If you’re familiar with kitchen magick, a lot of the time you will be stirring the pot clockwise to represent the creation of good energy and progression, so we move right throughout the space when warding to create a strong ward that will protect from any and all unwanted energies.
Sigil Wards
I will go more into sigils on another post, but you can easily ward a space with sigils! Create a sigil with the intent to protect (ie: creating a sigil from the phrase “my house is protected from all negative energies)
Place the sigil in windows or on doorframes, if you want to keep it permanently there. You can use water, black salt, regular salt, your finger, whatever floats your boat.
A funky way I like to use sigils when warding is to use them when I clean! I will be cleaning my floor and spray the cleaner/floor polish in the pattern of my sigil and then when I go over it with the mop, I am “breaking” the sigil, therefore releasing the energy into my house to protect it! I was never really told that this was a way to create a sigil and use it but I have found it’s worked and it’s really easy- esp if you’re in the broomcloset 🧹
Spoken Wards
This can be a spoken thought or incantation of sorts that is created/uttered with the intention to protect your space/you
You can repeat this daily like an affirmation, walk around your space and chant, whatever floats your boat!
Here is an example of a spoken ward: (this is utilized when walking past the representations of the elements in your home)
“By (element) , I ward thee: Guard this space from all ill will and all those who wish me/us harm.”
THERE ARE PLENTY MORE WAYS TO WARD, THESE ARE JUST A FEW!
I recommend using MULTIPLE methods of warding (at least two) to really maximize the protection you have on your space
Alright lets talk about another important aspect of warding....
WARD MAINTENCE
Wards can be temporary (casting a circle during a spell), or long term (a ward to protect your space)
It’s important to regularly charge your wards, to keep them “up and running.” This can be with crystals, intent, incense, whatever your preferred method is
You also may need to take down your ward and place a new one up every so often; even the metaphysical can collect gunk. There isn’t really a timeline on this, just whenever you feel your ward needs to be re-done.
OTHER IMPORTANT WARDING INFO
Thank you for sticking with me on this long informational post :))
Again, I really recommend using MULTIPLE wards as a little protection combo because protection is the basis of your craft. Putting up a ward is really important before you start any type of spell work or any magick for that matter. Protection is KEY!
To dismiss a ward, you can go around your space counter clockwise (to the left) and visualize/have the intention that the energies you have created are “coming down” (there are other ways, this is what I prefer)
Remember it’s always important to cross reference your information, for this post I used multiple sources I knew have been vetted by much more experienced witches than I am- but still! You need to make sure what you’re reading is credible
Rings in witchcraft fall under Palmistry. Where you wear your rings, what metal of ring you wear, etc impact the effects you can draw forth in your day to day life. I’m going to give you all a quick run down of the basics of wearing rings as a practitioner.
Right Hand or Left Hand?
Right Hand for Actions
Left Hand for Intuition
Which Finger?
Pinky Finger for divination, spell work, dreams.
Ring Finger for commitment/relationships, love, ambition.
Middle Finger for desire, intellect, focus.
Index Finger for decisions, speech, influence.
Thumb for power and logic.
Which Metal?
Silver for wisdom, truth, beauty.
Gold for success, power, wealth.
Titanium for protection, strength.
Pewter for divination, clairvoyance, intuition.
Note: I’ve learned over time, for me personally, sometimes you are drawn to wear rings where you need change in your life or where you tend to help others most often.
Example:
One of my favorite rings is a silver ring I tend to wear on my middle, right finger. This roughly translates to I actively work with forces involving truth, focus, desire and beauty. Which is very on the money because I read Tarot quite often for people as a side job.
When I’m not actively working with my Tarot deck, I like to wear that same ring on my middle, left finger to allow my intuitive side of those attributes passively function.
Major life changes? Find The World. The cards underneath and before it will provide some insight.
Relationship (Love) issues? Find The Lovers. The cards underneath and on top of it will provide some insight into the issues.
Want a quick insight into the future? Find your nearest birth card. The card directly under it will shed light of what's to come.
Feeling stuck or stagnant? Find The Hanged Man. The card underneath will why you're stuck and the card on top of it will advise you on how to overcome it.
Nervous about a situation or an event? Find The Fool. The cards underneath it and on top of it will advise you on how to approach the situation better.
Need some self care? Find The Empress. The card underneath it will give you an idea of what to do.
Shadow Work? Find The Hermit. The cards underneath it and on top of it will shed some light on some things.
A lovely alternative to those who cannot smoke cleanse and/or who do not like to. Spray cleansing is as simple as mixing a few ingredients into Moon Water and setting the intention of ushering out negativity, exactly what smoke cleansing does.
Supplies:
• Spray Bottle
• Moon Water
• Witch Hazel (A Tincture would work best)
• Dried Lavender & Lavender Essential Oil
• Eucalyptus Essential Oil
• Dried Rosemary
• Clear Quartz
• Amethyst
Directions:
In the spray bottle, add the dried Lavender, Rosemary, Clear Quartz and Amethyst. Then add equal parts Witch Hazel and Moon water until the bottle is just about full. Add a couple of drops of the essential oils before capping the spray bottle and gently shaking to combine. The longer the spray sits, the more infused the dry ingredients become with the liquids.
