Written by: Johanna
Most of us have a natural inclination to protect ourselves. It is instinct that has been ingrained in us since our beginnings as a species. Once we learn to perceive threats for what they are, we respond to them almost automatically. As children, we begin to push, yell, and ball up our fists to protect our personal space or belongings. As we grow, we begin to recognize new threats and learn to adjust our methods. We learn to wear our personalities (or parts of them) as armor to protect ourselves from potential ridicule. We carry whistles and pepper spray to make the early-morning walks to the bus stop a little safe. We view our bedroom doors as a sort of shield to safeguard our privacy and space. We work our entire lives to protect not just our physical bodies, but our happiness and energy as well.
With regards to the safety of our homes, the options available to use tend to focus on our physical safety. A security system, doorbell camera, or monitored panic button might offer peace-of-mind; however, their primary goal is to increase the physical safety of a home. At some point, we step away from protecting our happiness, spirit, and energy and begin to focus almost entirely on safeguarding our bodies, our houses, and our physical belongings.
As practitioners of magic, we understand the continued need to protect our spirit (as well as the spirit of our home). Last week, we talked about using charms (enchanted objects) to protect the home and, by extension, its inhabitants from energetic, magical, or spiritual harm. These enchanted objects are useful because they are extremely versatile, low maintenance, portable and low-profile. But they aren’t the only low-profile option for magical protection. Wards—magical barriers or walls that are intended to stave off negative energies, external magic, and malevolent spirits—are magical protective measures which are invisible and, therefore, completely hidden from most people. They require almost no supplies and can be conjured by practitioners of pretty much any experience level.
What Is a Ward?
A ward is a magical wall or boundary that is put up around a place, object, or person. The basic principle is similar to what many witches associate with the magical Circles that they may cast around ritual areas. They can be used to keep forces outside of the boundary or contained within it. Conjuring a ward can be done in many ways, from elaborate ritual to visualization.
Wards can be simple boundaries, if you like; or they can be more complex. They might be multi-layered or incorporate physical elements that serve to anchor or reinforce the ward. They can also be reinforced and empowered with herbs, incantations, and magical actions (such as walking the perimeter of the property).
Warding by Circumambulating
One simple, but effective way of conjuring wards around a property is circumambulation—or, in layman’s terms, walking around the perimeter of the property. Of course, this method is best suited for detached housing and properties that are not extremely close to neighbors. This method can be modified for use with attached housing by circumambulating the entire building or unit; however, this isn’t exactly practical and won’t necessarily protect you from influences coming from within the building (and you never really know what your neighbors are doing, no matter how close to them you live).
Begin your walk in an area of your property that you associate with entering and exiting., such as the front gate. If you use Circles within your magical tradition, you may want to begin your walk in the direction your tradition normally begins Casting a Circle. You may want to perform the walk while carrying tools or curios with you—such as a lit candle or incense, your wand or dagger, a broom, plant allies, etc.,—reciting incantations. You can enhance the walk however you want, or however works best with your craft or tradition.
Walk the perimeter around your property multiple times. I typically recommend three, five, seven or nine circles around the property, but you can use any number that is significant to you. As you walk, focus on establishing ownership of the property, making your presence known, and calling on the land/house spirits, personal spirits, or any personal deities you want to bless and reinforce your ward. Focus your work on the specific duties you want your ward to accomplish and keep your mind fixed on them. These may include neutralizing negative energy that is already present on the property, protecting the home and family from unwanted magic, and preventing malevolent spirits from entering the home.
Complete the final round of your walk with a simple incantation, such as: Strong as iron, thick as stone; the ward is conjured. This home is protected.
Warding with Anchors
Many practitioners of magic like to use physical items—tools, curios, and spell components—to anchor or reinforce their protective wards. This can be done as part of the ritual of warding with circumambulation as detailed above, or as a standalone rite that may involve a single walk around your property while placing these objects along its perimeter.
Collect several pieces of curios that can be used to reinforce your protective barrier, at least enough to drive them into each corner of your property. These can be as simple as nails, twigs from a protective tree, or small stones. You can also use more complex items such as charm bottles, horseshoes, or small statues.
While walking around your property, drive/bury your anchors into the ground at the corners of your property, along with any additional places that may need extra protection (such as at gates or at broken/weak areas in your fence). Imagine this as driving in the pegs that help to keep a tent sturdy and strong, that each item tightens your protection and strengthens the ward.
As you drive in the final item into the ground, use an incantation such as the one above to complete the warding ritual.
To modify this ritual for use in an apartment or to ward a single room, try collecting your curios and placing one in each corner of the room/home, at each doorway, and on each windowsill.
Warding with Mirrors
Mirrors are one of my favorites ways to ward small spaces and attached housing, such as single rooms, apartments, and townhouses. They perform their protection by sending unwanted energies, spirits, magics, etc., back to their source. And, because they can be hung on any wall, they are also useful to protect the parts of your home or space that may share a wall with another room or apartment.
Procure several small mirrors. You should have enough to hang one on each outer wall of your space. These mirrors should be simple and small enough to sit hidden within a picture frame. Remember, we’re going to use these to reflect back all that is sent to you, so they won’t actually be facing inside the house.
Lay your mirrors out on your work surface and set up your magical workspace in whatever way you normally do—ex: candles, incense, etc. Use an incantation, visualization, candles or whatever technique you prefer to charge your mirrors with protective magic.
Gather enough picture frames to hang on picture on each of the outer walls of the house. You can use picture frames that are already part of your décor or get new ones. It is perfectly safe to use frames containing pictures of your family—but, if you prefer, you can also use frames containing art prints, cross-stitching/embroidery, posters, generic photography, or even protective symbols that you incorporate into your home décor.
Attach the one small mirror to each frame. You can do this either by removing the backing from the picture from and stashing the mirror between the picture and the frame’s backing, or by gluing the mirror to the frame’s backing. Make sure that you place the mirrors facing outward, away from the inside of your house.
Once all of the mirrors are placed and the frames are hung on the walls, you can go a step further by using an incantation to finish the warding ritual, such as: Silver mirrors, be my eyes. Let no ghost or villain hide. Let no danger enter here; protect this home from harm and fear. Let no evil spirit stay, and send all curses far away.
Note: If you don’t have mirrors, you can also use sheets of foil placed between the frame’s backing and the photos. Just make sure to place the shiniest side face out.
Warding Through Visualization
Just like a magical or protective Circle, it is entirely possible and quite effective to conjure a ward through visualization. This can be done at any time, from any space in your home (or even remotely), and can be done without supplies or incantations.
Choose a form for your visualization of protective energy to take. Many practitioners may choose to envision this energy as a white light (and you can find many guided visualizations that use just that imagery, if you feel you would benefit from a guided approach). Others may prefer to use a ring of fire, a protective spirit walking the grounds, a protective “bubble” around the home, or a large, protective wall being built.
Envision this energy forming a protective barrier around the home. When you can see it very clearly in your mind, begin to remind yourself of what you want the ward to be able to do. Be specific. If you need, you can write and memorize an incantation to help you better articulate what you need your ward to do for you.
House Spirits & Ward-Alarms
Many practitioners of magic believe in working with spirits in their magical practice. These spirits may include familiars, ancestors, and house spirits, both of which can be called on to help survey, enforce, and maintain a witch’s wards. This adds a sentient element to the warding system, which can be useful when it comes to identifying and tackling potential threats, as well as knowing when it is time to redo or reinforce a waning ward. If you already have a good relationship with your house spirits and familiars and want to call in their aid to reinforce your home’s wards, try leaving an offering in a specific place on the ground and invoking the desired spirit to help watch over and protect the home by surveying the wards. Wait for a feeling or message of acceptance or rejection and, if the request is accepted, continue to leave offerings in that space on a regular basis.
Another effective way to enhance the wards around your home is to attach a sort of magical alarm to the ward. While alarms are typically thought of as being related to sound, this type of alarm doesn’t necessarily have to be. You can use almost anything to create an alarm for a ward; simply create an energetic link between the ward and the object, and monitor the items for signs of the efficacy of your ward. If you have a sound-based alarm (such as bells or chimes), you may experience the alarm physically sounding or you may hear it without the alarm actually going off. If you have another type of ward, monitor it for signs of discoloration or deterioration (such as cracks or chips). Keeping an eye on your alarms can help you to know if you had a breach in your magical protections, or if they need to be redone.
Article Source: https://www.crowsbone.com/blogarchive/protective-wards-for-any-home
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