Wards and barriers

     "You shall not pass!!!"  

     

     That’s what Gandalf said, then he drove the bottom end of his staff into the narrow rock bridge in the cave, and prevented some kind of ancient, fire demon from following and killing the members of the fellowship of the ring, in the Lord of the Rings movie.

     He literarily prevented that demon from proceeding, he blocked his path. He cast what we would describe as a ward, in magick. He broke off the rock bridge and plummeted alongside the demon in the precipice too, but that’s beside the point lol.

     So can one magicakally prevent one from entering a specific place, most notably and most often this place being one’s home? The answer is absolutely. All sort of traditions and magickal paths have their ways of doing this and we shall discuss a few in today’s post.

A Witch's knot charm/symbol/ward

     A very informative and trustworthy site on Wiccan and Celtic magick defines ward as a shield anchored to a physical place.  [1] Furthermore, it’s stated that unlike the shield, the ward is powered by the Earth, and its energy rises from it, as it were, and I find all that to be pretty illustrative of a typical ward. A different article, though describes it as a “psychokinetic shield” that deflects energy. [2] I have two issues with that; if it was psychokinetic it would deflect more than just energy, it’d deflect matter as well, and a ward does not just deflect energy anyway. It can turn away people, or animals, or spirits too.

     A protective magick circle, as used in Ceremonial magick is yet another example of a magickal ward. So it’s indeed a form of shield “anchored” to earth, or even emanating from the Earth, and a magickal boundary set to keep something out. Behind the yellow line, sort of say.

     Clearly, the best time for setting up magickal wards are days and hours of Saturn, a planet ruling boundaries (setting or breaking and transcending the same)  and mystery, or wondrous works, among other. Materia magicka correspondent to the planet is thus also used commonly for setting up the magickal wards.

      It’s also important to notice the selective nature of the wards; they are set up with an intention to keep something specific out, not just pretty much anything, which means, if you cast a protection spell to keep people with specific type of intentions or aims outside of your home, such will be repelled, but it won’t stop other people from coming around. This is quite useful, and is sometimes even cunningly used to test someone’s true intentions and to tell apart friendly people from the “snakes in the grass”. Now let’s proceed with few examples, meant to keep evil people, spirits and similar out of someone’s home.

     Traditional Balkan witchery spell for keeping evil people away

    

     Get a new, unused knife, preferably one with the black handle. During the waning phase of the Moon, bring some water to the boil and add some red chili peppers, and salt in it. Dip the knife in it three times, saying something along these lines:

“As the Moon wanes, and as this blade cuts,

So will you N.N. stay away, and be cut away

From this home, and this place

And will not enter this dwelling. Amen”

     Place it on a napkin or a paper towel and allow it to air dry. When it does, find a way to hide it somewhere around your front door doorstep ( or if it’s a specific room, in front of these room’s doors ), pointing outwards and normal ( under 90’ angle ) to the door’s plane. You can for example place it under the rug or doormat etc. Next to it, or somewhere on the doorframe also place a sprig of Basil, wrapped around the base with a red yarn or thread. Most people like to hang this little sprig just above the doors.

     The person who you don’t wish to enter your home, should not be able to, after you’ve done this.

Herbal wards

     Many herbs, when placed in jars, vials, or hung about the place are effective wards against bad people and evil spirits.

     Dill for example, when hung above the doors, with the clear intention to do so, is said to keep both bad people and evil spirits away from your premises.

     Similarly, St. John’s wort, picked on Midsummer, is widely believed to bar the entrance to a home, or a room, to even powerful evil spirits and demons.

     Fennel, a “cousin” to the Dill, was once placed in keyholes to keep the Ghosts out, and nowadays an infusion or a floorwash is used to keep the intruders out. [3]

     Hawthorn branches in front of doors and windows of the home, were used in Balkans to prevent a vampire from entering given home. [4]

     Major Celandine keeps the law away from your property, and when used properly will make police evade your place in a wide circle. Elderberry flowers and boughs can also do the same.

     A friend of mine told me that If I want to stop someone from coming around, or entering my home all I need to do is place a personal concern of theirs, or a name paper lacking the previous, in a small vial along with Black seeds, Red Onion peels and Rose thorns, and fix this to my front doors. She said: “Even if they come around, they won’t go pass the doors, in fact they’ll soon leave, probably complaining about some feeling of unease”. I tried this one, and it worked wonders when I did.

Hoodoo’s Red Brick

     One of the most powerful wards against  bad people, or people who wish you ill is the Hoodoo trick with the red brick dust,  popularly referred to as the “reddening” . It’s tad more elaborate then what you’ll commonly be advised; which is to just sprinkle the dust in front of your doors, but when done properly it works wonders.

     The place that one intends to protect should be thoroughly cleansed spiritually beforehand, and in Hoodoo this is usually done with a floorwash containing powerful cleansing and protective ingredients. This part of the ritual is according the tradition done a little before sunrise, and without uttering a single word.

     A good, traditional floorwash that can be used here is made by combining:  Household Ammonia, Saltpeter, and Epsom salts in a wash, but the most traditional wash used is actually one’s own first morning urine, dissolved in some water. [5] This makes sense being that the Household Ammonia is often used as the replacement for the urine in Hoodoo formulas and tricks.

     Some Hoodoo authorities suggest this should be done on specific days; namely: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. [6]

     Having done that, one proceeds to lay a line in front of their doors, with the red brick dust powder. You can conceal the line later with, let’s say a doormat, but this is not necessary and  more often than not, not done.

Icelandic “Hurðstoðva” ward, to prevent a specific person from entering your home

    

     The following spell makes use of a specific “galdrastafir” , an Icelandic written charm/sigil, which is etched into Rowan wood, or wand, and then one is to walk thrice around their home with it clockwise, and three more times in the opposite direction, wraps the wand with some thistle leaves, and then places it above the doors. This is said to prevent the person from entering your home. I know very little of trolldom, but during the walking part I’d use some words of power which mention the name of person in question to focus the spell/ward, and attune it to their energy. Or place it alongside their name paper, photo, or some bodily concern.

      The original instructions are as follow:

     “Hurðstoðva - Doorstopper. A galdrastafir to hinder someone from entering your house. If there's a person you do not want to enter your home, edge this stafir into a rowan-wand. Do this as the sun is on her highest, and proceed to walk sunward around your house tree times, followed by tree times withershins, while holding the wand in which you are laying the spell. To prime the spell, bind the wand in thistle leaves, and place it above your door.” [7]

     Some wards to keep the evil spirits outside

     Some evil spirits more than others, are bent on gaining entrance to your home and wreaking havoc in it. The wards used to keep them out may vary slightly depending on a specific spirit, but are often in form of charms, herbs or written inscriptions. Following are some examples of such:

·         St John’s wort, particularly that plucked on the Midsummer, in noon, placed in a jar and then hung by the door or windows will ward off evil spirits. I usually read the Psalm 90th over such charm.

·         Two Hawthorn branches, placed and tied one over another so that they form a Cross, and secured with a piece of natural, red yarn which was soaked in Holy water from the church, shall prevent all sort of malignant spirits gaining entrance to a dwelling, if it’s hung by the door lintel, or secured above the doors. It can similarly be placed above one’s bed, besides it or carried on person ( a small charm ) to protect from all sort of disembodied spirits and even the malevolent fairies.

·         Alder is said to ward the “unseen” threats, including evil spirits. A piece of wood can be carried in a charm bag for example

·         A witches knot charm, carved into doors, windows, or written on paper, preferably in Dragon’s blood magickal ink, will keep the evil spirits, hags and curses at bay ( see the image at the beginning of the post )

·         Charms carved from the Jasper stones are hung by the door to repel ghosts and evil spirits, particularly the evil trickster sprits. In China, these charms often take  the form of a dragon

·         Bloodstone is carried as a pendant, or in a charm bag to keep away evil spirits and demons and prevent them from affecting on

·         Salt is a powerful ward for all sort of ills, including the evil spirits, and salt circle is a brilliant example of such. Read Psalms 29^th, 40^th and 90^th over some salt and then sprinkle it around your home, or object or person you wish to protect in a clockwise circle. Similarly, praying the 18^th Psalm over salt makes it a good ward against the robbers and thieves.

NOTE: This article was written and composed by myself, hence If you wish to use any parts of elsewhere online, add the credits; Shadow of the Shadows magick place, Shadow-333@hotmail.com or a direct link to this post

CREDITS AND REFRENCES:

[1]   https://wicca.com/celtic/wicca/defense.htm

[2] http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=cabc&c=whs&id=12587

[3] http://www.alchemy-works.com/herb_fennel.html

[4] Jasna Jojic Pavlovski “Magija Biljaka”

[5] Acc. to; http://herb-magic.com/red-brick-dust.html

[6] Acc. to; same as under [5]

[7] Retrieved from:  http://seidr.hekse.dk/#post6   and used here for explanatory and  educational purposes without ill will

IMAGE CREDITS: The Witch’s knot picture  is from http://www.examiner.com/article/the-witch-s-knot and digitally edited by myself,  used here for illustrative and explanatory purpose without any ill

The “Hurðstoðva”  galdristafir image was drawn and edited by myself