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Sunday, July 13, 2014

Threshold Protection Spell

Note: This post contains potentially problematic practices or language, cultural appropriation, or misinformation. I have been working diligently to decolonize my practice, for which you can learn more about in my article Decolonizing Witchcraft: Racism, Whitewashing, and Cultural Appropriation in Witchcraft and How to Decolonize Your Practice. I believe in documenting my journey in witchcraft and that my readers can learn from my mistakes, so the posts will remain as a learning opportunity.


Last night was the full moon and while banishing magic is best conducted during the waning moon, something told me that I should go ahead and clear out the negativity in our home, redo our threshold protection spell, and strengthen the ward currently protecting us. Sometimes it is better to listen to the universe than force the issue later on.

I spent the entire day cleaning the house and preparing for the moon to rise. Before you put up a ward or a threshold protection spell, you need to take down your previous ward and clear your home of all negativity. Cleaning is the best way to do this in my opinion. Some people take a more "magical" approach, using spells and charms, but cleaning, cleaning gets rid of the mundane and magical "dirt" while freeing your mind of clutter as well. You want to be sure to clean EVERYTHING. Yesterday I washed baseboards, doors, fans, the dishwasher, under all the furniture, even some of the outside windows. Cleaning stirs up stagnate energy, so cleaning behind and under things helps push out the negativity. Closets, where I didn't clean, I stirred up the stagnate energy by clapping, but you can use a chime or drum as well. Clapping is easiest considering I had enough to haul around into each room.

Start at the top of the house and work your way down. This means rooms as well that way you don't have to sweep and vacuum twice. I work clockwise because that is most comfortable for me, but most banishing magical suggests you walk counterclockwise. I can never bring myself to work in the opposite direction. Why? Because I feel counterclockwise pushes not only the negative away, but prevents the positive from entering as well. I find that moving forward and inviting more positive in works best, but everyone is different. Do what feels right to you. I also open the windows in the room I am cleaning as an exit for negativity. No windows? That's fine; sweep the negativity into the next room until there is a window or door for it to exit.

Once your house is clean and the energy stirred up, you are ready to put up your threshold protection spell and ward. I put up the protection spell as soon as I was done cleaning. You can use this spell on every door and window in your home if you want, but I feel confident my ward will prevent the bulk of negativity from entering. Furthermore, everyone must enter through our front door, so anything the ward fails to prevent will be prevented at the threshold. My favorite threshold protection spell is from The Way of the Hedge Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock. Its simple and quick, just what you need after cleaning all day.



Supplies:
     1 cup water
     1/2 cup vinegar
     1 tablespoon salt
     1 tablespoon lemon juice
     bowl or bucket
     washing cloth
     sage smudge
     matches or lighter
     olive oil mixed with a pinch of salt
     3 cloves of garlic

  1. Begin by combining the water, vinegar, salt, and lemon juice in your bowl or bucket. Using the washing cloth, completely clean your threshold. Wipe down the front and back of the door and both sides of the door frame. Try to get it as clean as possible.
  2. Light the smudge stick and move it around the door frame. Waft the smoke so it touches both the inside and outside of the door frame. Lay the smudge in a heatproof dish and allow it to smoulder during the ritual.
  3. Dip your fingers in the oil and salt mixture and trace the outside of the door frame. Make sure there are no broken spots; you want a complete seal. As you trace the frame say:
    "No evil or illness may cross this threshold. I hereby bar it from entering. My home is protected."
  4. Dip your fingers in the oil again and touch the upper left corner of the door frame. Trace through the air to the bottom right. Dip your fingers again and trace from the upper right to the lower left. Finally, dip and trace from the upper middle to lower middle all while repeating:
    "No evil or illness may cross this threshold. I hereby bar it from entering. My home is protected."
  5. This symbol is a hexefus which is a combination of the runes Isa (|) and Gebo (X). When written together they "freeze" the state of your home and possessions, protecting them from physical and spiritual intrusion.
  6. Finally take the three cloves of garlic and bury them as close to the threshold as you can. I buried mine in a line. One of the left, one in the middle, and one on the right. As you do this repeat the same chant.
    "No evil or illness may cross this threshold. I hereby bar it from entering. My home is protected."
***

I have used this threshold protection spell at every house I have lived in. It works, but you need to keep an eye on it. Depending on how much negativity is trying to enter determines how long the spell will work. I suggest strengthening it every couple of months, but you may need to redo it every month. My husband is a funeral director and when he has had a particularly heavy load of cases dealing with murder, suicide, and unexpected/tragic loss, I find our threshold weakens faster. Its amazing what you can bring home with you. For extra protection, sprinkle a line of salt across the outside of the door frame. This will further prevent negativity and keep away most insects.

I hope this has been helpful. I will post the ritual I use to create my ward later this week. Until then, how do you protect your home?

 



Want to print a copy of this for your Book of Shadows? Click below for your free copy! 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0KnNmfNfzc8VUhwQUVNbGVKZUU/edit?usp=sharing

10 comments :

  1. You make it all sound and look so inviting, I wish I believed, it would be so soothing. But alas, I'm an atheist to the core.

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    1. I don't believe in any Gods or Goddesses either. But I do believe in the power of positive thinking and the natural energy of the world, which are the foundations of witchcraft. My degree is in evolutionary biology so I have a hard time with many "supernatural" things, but I do know that there are things we can't explain and that if we listen to the world around us, you will hear it speak back.

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    2. I didnt used to believe in supernatural things either but I am an empath and clairvoyant and slowly came to realize that there is soemthing more than waht we directly perceive and as far as the gods and goddess thing I think they are more archetypal than anything and embodiments of ideas and energies. but helpful nonetheless.

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    3. Excellent points, Namarae!

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  2. how do you lift wards? I always just cleansed blessed and then placed wards then I redid the whole thing when I felt it was necessary. I didnt know that they should be lifted but that makes sense.

    I usually sage and say a cleansing blessing, I work clockwise and sage each corner saying “nothing negative evil or imbalanced can reside here, this space is cleansed and blessed” I finish with an equal armed cross in the center of each room. alternatively I have sprinkled each corner with holy water. then in each room after saging I draw pentacles over the windows, starting at the top I say “I charge this pentacle by the four elements, earth, air, fire, water, and spirit” then I’m back at the top of the star. then I say “nothing negative evil or imbalance shall approach here or enter in, strict charge I give thee to protect and watch over this sacred space. this space is sealed SMIB.” as I say this space is sealed I draw my finger along the edge of the door or window. Then I place a line of salt in all windows and doors. If there’s not a space for it on the ground I put it on the top trim. Then once the whole floor has been saged and warded I point at the ceiling and then the floor and make pentacle barriers for those. You’re supposed to do that in every room with windows but that takes too damn long.

    After reading this I washed the door with salt water (used to CCE my altar that same day) and oil (that was a good idea) I never thought about washing it before but it makes sense. I had a skeleton key necklace I wrapped about my wrist for some jingles and that was nice too. esp since my house was built in 1936 and all the doors have skeleton keyholes. so that was fun.

    at the end I stand in the center of the house and say “by my power, the four elements, goddess and god, divine spirit, this house is cleansed, blessed, and protected, SMIB” last time I did this (the other day on the full moon) it was storming out too �� and when I finished saying the final blessing there was a huge clap of thunder. I immediately started crying. I feel very attuned with storms and I feel it’s goddesses way of communicating sometimes.

    if there is a spirit that needs to be helped with moving on before I start the cleansing I light a candle and ask hekate or azrael to assist them in finding the light and moving on.

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    Replies
    1. What an absolutely beautiful and thorough cleansing and protection of your home! When I place wards around my home, I envision a sphere of light that completely encompasses my house both above and below ground. When I remove it, I go outside, raise my hands in the air and slowly lower them while envisioning the ward's light dimming and disappearing. I often accompany this by saying something such as thank you and that I now dissolve the ward. The problem with constantly keeping them up is not only do they keep things out, but they keep things in too. So despite our best efforts to cleanse inside, its like moving around stagnant air. Sometimes you need to open a window and air the house out. Dropping your ward allows for this. Hope that makes sense and helps you out!

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  3. Any apartment rental friendly substitutions for this?

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    1. If you are looking for smoke-free ways to cleanse, check out my article on 13 Smoke Free ways to cleanse: https://www.flyingthehedge.com/2020/05/13-smoke-free-ways-to-cleanse.html

      These are all apartment friendly alternatives to using smoke and fire. As for the garlic, you can hang garlic by your threshold or place a planter outside your door where you can bury the garlic, if your apartment allows such things. Using a protection oil and anointing the door's four corners like an X is also effective. Good luck!

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  4. Wow, great spell. I want to do it but am scared and hesitant. I'm worried about it not working in an apartment building

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    1. Don't be! Just go for it! There will also be doubts and hesitations the first time you do anything. You can't really screw this spell up so jump on in and make it your own!

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