I first started thinking about writing something on this topic a few months ago, when Irene Glasse posted a very good blog on Set-And-Forget Protection Magic. She touched on things like using iron, witch bottles, and witch balls, and a number of rocks and plants that are known as protective.
That got me thinking about my own methodologies, including my personal reasons not to use iron. I made a few notes, and then… didn’t write the blog. Fast forward to last Dark Moon, and the instruction to make Defensible Homes, and I realized it was time to take this back out. The image below (which is also the one used in the thumbnail) is what comes to my mind when I imagine “defensible”. It’s a strong, tall, castle wall, with a few places for archers and lookouts and other defenders.
I’m not sure what castle this is, as the image was provided by unsplash, but look at that wall! Those crenellations!
In my own practice, the first thing I tend to do in a new house is a claiming. I greet the spirit of the parcel of land, and of the house itself, and I inform them that I will now be dwelling here, and caretaking these spaces. This is now, as I explain, my territory, and I will build a safe nest, and I will defend it against all who wish me ill. Generally, the spirits of land and house are just happy to have been spoken to at all, and they’re willing to allow me to proceed.
Then, I’ll usually walk the perimeter (as best I can) and repeat the claiming there: all that I encircle is my territory, my home. This was traditionally done with burning torches in places like Norway and Scotland, but I’ve done it with a candle, and I’ve done it with sprinkled oats, and I’ve done it with a staff. Clockwise is best for this sort of thing, at least in my personal practice, beginning and ending either at the front door or the driveway (if there is one).
Once claimed, I’ll then sweep and smoke out any stagnant or unwanted energies, and evict any spirits who won’t play nicely with others. You’ll want to do that before you’ve set up the strong wards on a new house, or after you’ve taken down the old wards, if you’re rebuilding them, to make the sweeping out easier.
Next, I’ll refill the space with the sort of energy I want to have in the house – generally I use some kind of a blessing, in water or smoke. You shouldn’t just sweep out the unwanted, without have a clear idea of what should replace it, because otherwise you may create a magical vacuum, which of course will then fill itself with whatever is nearby.
Once the energy I do want is filling the space and spilling out, I’ll return to the perimeter, and this is the part where if there’s land, I’ll sink in a few spikes or nails as anchors. Railroad spikes are very popular and very effective, but my work involves the Fair Folk far too much for me to want to use iron as my ward anchors, so I tend to use copper instead (silver would also work very well for me, but it’s a bit more expensive). I place anchors at each corner, and the edge of each entrance (like the driveway, and the front walk), moving in a clockwise direction. I set part of the enchantment into each anchor before I drive it into the ground, so that I can feel those and pick them back up when I’m ready to weave the warding-walls. (Though don’t think of “walls” as just a fence – you want to block off access above and below you as well.) For my ward weaving, I usually work primarily in trance, with very few props (outside of the anchors I’ve already driven into the ground), but you could also create some sort of object to hold the spell, if that’s the kind of work you’re more comfortable with. You could tie all the anchors back into a jar spell of some type, perhaps.
As I move around the perimeter, I also ask for the help of any trees or shrubs near the property line, near the driveway and front walk, and near any back or side doors. Although I haven’t really lived in a place where I’ve done a lot of landscaping, if you’re considering putting in some new bushes or shrubs in any of those places, maybe do a little research on which plants are considered protective! I have a little baby hawthorn that’s still in a pot for now, but will hopefully one day be placed near my front walk. Some protective plants are already pretty common in landscaping, such as roses and holly!
I also set up zones within the perimeter, to designate whether and when friendly-inclined spirits are allowed in. For example, I generally recommend that children’s bedrooms have an extra layer of warding to keep out everything but allowable humans and pets, and the child’s own guides and guardians. I also usually have tight wards around my own bedroom, and the bathrooms. I try to keep the Folk who are “wandering through” confined to my office (which doubles as ritual space) and not out in the house at large. And while you’re thinking of wards, don’t forget the other types of entrance: water pipes, electricity, the internet. I tend to use sigils or bind-runes above doors and windows, as well as around pipes and conduits, as my inner layers of warding, sometimes literally drawing them in paint. Do remember to paint over or otherwise remove them before you leave, if you move away, though!
In addition to the “zones”, I’ve drawn sigils around my house to create a sort of “flushing” system, so that if I need to clear the house quickly, I can use a sigil on the front door and activate the others throughout the house to flood the area with a deluge of cleansing energy. It’s not as good as a deep clean, but if you’ve ever wanted to smoke-cleanse the whole house after an unwanted guest left and you found yourself too drained to do so, you should maybe try it. It lets me address an issue in the moment, pretty much regardless of my current energy levels, and stops the problem from getting too bad before I can get around to a full cleanse-and-bless.
One thing that I try to do with wards that I don’t see talked about a lot, is I try to create some kind of feedback system, so that I will be aware quickly if anything tries to get past the wards, or if they are damaged. Part of my system for that includes my House Steward, one of the key spirits in my household, who can do some repairs on his own, and is more than capable of grabbing my attention when needed. Spirits and spirit relationships make up another entire layer of the defensibility of my home, but I think that might be best discussed in its own blog, so we’ll do that next week!
The final thing I’ll say, though, is that even most set-and-forget wards and protections need to be looked at once a year or so. If you’re using a jar as a focus object, maybe put that jar somewhere it’s not in the way but you’ll still see it occasionally, so that you will notice quickly if it breaks or something else problematic occurs. For anything you can’t see to check on periodically, it might be a good idea to incorporate a check-in into your seasonal practice somehow! Maybe every January (New Year, New Wards) or some time in March when you get sucked into Spring Cleaning. Whatever makes the most sense for your personal practice!