Protection 

Why is protection important? 

Protection is important for witches because they are harnessing their own energy as well 
as energy from the spaces around them and projecting that energy into the world and into 
themselves. Without protection, that energy can be siphoned off, or negative energies can be 
absorbed. If a witch chooses to work with entities or deities, protection ensures that it is a 
well-meaning deity or spirit. 
 
How can I protect myself? 
There are many ways of protecting yourself. There are physical ways and non-physical 
ways.  
 
Physical:  
There are many items you can carry on your person, sigils you can draw, and rituals/spells you 
can do to protect yourself.  
★ Casting a circle: When doing spellwork or working with energy, it is crucial to cast a 
circle. This can be done physically, using tools (See below), or done just by picturing in 
your mind (Also see below). 
○ Physical ways to cast a circle:  
■ Make a circle using salt or crushed eggshells  
■ Placing candles in each of the four cardinal directions associated with 
their respective element, lighting them and calling upon the elements to 
protect you as you work 
■ Drawing a physical circle with paint or chalk 
■ Carving a circle in the dirt using a stick or knife 
 
★ Non-physical ways to cast a circle (perfect in a pinch): 
○ Imagine energy flowing out from your body in a circle, like a bubble of 
clean energy all around you. 
○ Walk around your space in a circle, staying within your circle, and 
pointing around you to direct the energy like a ring of protective flame 
○ If you just need to protect your person, imagine your aura glowing with 
protective light. This can be in any color you prefer, however using 
 protective colors or just plain white is best. Imagine this light encasing 
you and preventing any negative energy from reaching you. 
 
Correspondences with Protection: 
★ Colors 
○ Purple 
■ Spiritual protection, in particular 
○ White 
○ Black 
○ Blue 
○ Yellow 
★ Crystals 
○ Amber 
○ Amethyst 
○ Black salt 
○ Bloodstone 
○ Diamond 
○ Fluorite 
○ Garnet 
○ Jasper 
○ Jet 
○ Lapis Lazuli 
○ Malachite 
○ Obsidian 
○ Pearl 
○ Peridot 
○ Quartz 
■ Clear, Rose, Smokey 
○ Ruby 
○ Sapphire 
○ Tiger’s Eye 
○ Tourmaline 
○ Turquoise 
 ★ Herbs (Easy to access) 
○ Aloe 
○ Star Anise 
○ Ash 
○ Barley 
○ Basil 
○ Birch 
○ Blackberry 
○ Chamomile 
○ Cinnamon 
○ Fennel 
○ Garlic 
○ Holly 
○ Juniper 
○ Marjoram 
○ Mugwort 
○ Nettle 
○ Olive (Oil esp.) 
○ Oregano 
○ Parsley 
○ Pine 
○ Rice 
○ Rose 
○ Rue 
○ Sage 
○ Tomato 
○ Violet 
○ Yarrow 
★ Days 
○ Monday, ​Tuesday​, Thursday, Saturday 
★ Times 
○ Noon, Full moon 
 
 Warding 
 
Warding: 
A magical protection over a space used to keep energies in and/or out. It is a defensive 
magic, whereas banishing, binding, and cleansing are offensive. Using wards is a great way to 
lessen the amount of offensive magic you would need to use. Casting a circle is a method of 
warding, but is often a temporary ward. Wards are very versatile and can protect a singular 
person, or a large space, or even entire towns (these however are oftentimes made by several 
experienced witches at once, and should not be attempted by witches by themselves. 
 
How can I ward? 
Warding requires cleansing first, to either omit bad energies or completely neutralize the 
energy of the space. This can be done either physically (smoke cleansing, incense, moon water), 
mantras/chants (verbal spells), or using visualization. I will go over this in the next topic. 
Warding can be done with sigils/symbols, drawn over doors and windows, protective chants, 
four corner wards, using a “guardian”, or using a smoke bundle (once again). Your craft is 
unique and you can ward however you feel fits best with your craft. I like warding with 
blessed moon water, or using smoke bundles. I also use sigils over my door and on my windows. 
I used the four corner method when I first started.  
 
Breaking it down: 
● Sigils and symbols 
○ Sigils and symbols can either be drawn on paper and burned to activate, or can 
be physically drawn with moon water on the walls, or physically drawn with a 
marker on walls over doors and windows. I sometimes use incense or a smoke 
cleansing bundle to draw the sigils in the air. Sigils are quite flexible and can be 
drawn with anything on anything, and activated in many different ways. 
● Protective chants or mantras 
○ This can be anything from “this space is protected from evil”, repeated a number 
of times, to a flowery speech of cleansing and protection. The most effective way 
is the way that feels most comfortable for you.  
 
 
 ● Using a “guardian” 
○ A guardian is an object that you charge with protecting your home/space. 
Choose something that calls to you, maybe an animal statue, or a human figure. 
If you work with a deity, this could be a statue of that deity. Cleanse the object 
that you chose, charge it under the new moon (for new beginnings and 
manifestation), and set your intention. This could be general protection, 
protection against specific things, or a variety of different things. Carry the 
guardian around your space, tying it to the space and setting a physical 
boundary. Set it in its permanent space and finalize your intention by saying it 
aloud. I recommend grounding it to an energy source, such as the earth. If you 
ground it into the earth, make frequent offerings to the earth. Please be aware 
that this sort of ward can often turn the object you’ve chosen into a sentient 
energy being. If this happens it’s important that you maintain a healthy 
relationship with it, regular physical and energetic cleaning of yourself and 
potentially the occasional offering can go a long way to keeping your new house 
guardian happy and strong. 
● Smoke bundles 
○ Some herbs have protective properties. Cleansing first with moon water 
(sprinkling it around the perimeter) and burning a protective herb bundle will 
create a ward. This is most effective when your intentions are set, and a chant is 
used. I repeat a mantra in my head of “this space is protected” as I burn the 
bundle and move around the space.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cleansing 
 
What is cleansing? 
Cleansing is a way to purify your space and reset the vibes. Cleansing can be done in a 
multitude of ways and should be done in many different ways to ensure cleanliness and equal 
(or positive) vibes. Cleansing can be done with water, incense, smoke cleansing, or 
visualization.  
 
Methods of Cleansing: 
★ Water 
○ You can use full moon water, sun water, or just plain rain water, depending on 
how strong of cleansing you need. Full moon water is the most effective and 
powerful water for cleansing, sun water is next, and then rain water. Rain 
water is good for all purpose cleansing, and ritual cleansing. Sun water is good 
for raising the vibrations of your space and cleansing. 
★ Incense 
○ Incense is good for an overall cleansing. You can light your incense and let it sit 
and burn for a while, or you can walk around the perimeter of your space with 
the smoke. Using an incense of an herb that has the properties that you would 
like to have in your space is what makes incense so great. It is very versatile and 
will come in handy. Choosing an incense of an herb that has protective and 
cleansing properties will be crucial and wonderful for your craft. 
★ Smoke cleansing 
○ Very similar to incense, smoke cleansing with an herb with protective and 
cleansing properties is a good way to multitask as you get better with your craft. 
The only con to smoke bundles is that if you make them yourself, you have to 
wait quite a while for the herbs to dry. If you buy them, ensure that it is genuine 
quality and from a reliable place.  
■ Please do not smudge with white sage. White sage is endangered and 
smudging is an indigenous practice.  
● Unless you are gifted white sage by a native, do not use it. 
 
 
 ★ Visualization 
○ Materials-wise, this is the easiest method, but you must have clear, strong 
intentions and the ability to visualize. I have a hard time making a clear picture 
in my mind, so this is my least favorite method of cleansing, but it works for 
some.  
○ To visualize cleansing your space, I would choose an element you identify 
strongly with, or use light.  
■ For the elements, choose an element that you can picture cleansing. I 
would choose water, sweeping through every corner and crack, cleansing 
all of the negative energy away. Or air, sweeping everything away in a 
big gust. Even fire can burn away negative energy and dirt and grime, 
and the earth can merely absorb any negativity that may be dwelling in 
your space.  
■ For light, imagine a pure white light absorbing everything in your space, 
washing away any negativity and dirt.  
 
Use protection kids :) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sigils 
 
How can I make sigils? 
There are many ways to make sigils. You start by writing a present tense statement. For 
example, I AM PROTECTED FROM ALL HARM. Then, you cross out all vowels and any 
letter that would repeat. This would leave me with MPRTCDFLH. Then, you can use one of 
three “maps”: The witches wheel, the letter method, the grid method, or the constellation 
(simplified grid). My favorite is the grid, but it is likely the most complex. The witches wheel 
and the letter method use the letters. The constellation method uses the letters as well, but on a 
grid, and the grid method converts the letters into numbers and draws the sigil based on those 
numbers in a grid.  
 
★ The witches wheel 

○  
○ Use the letters in order to draw lines and create your sigil.  
★ The letter method 
○ Use the letters to create your own sigil, implementing the shapes of all of the 
letters. 
★ The grid method 
○ Start with this grid: 
 
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I 
J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R 
S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z   
○ Use the letters on the grid to find the numbers. For this, it would be 479234638. 
Delete any recurring numbers, leaving you with 4792368. 
○ Then take this grid:  
4  9  2 
2  5  7 
8  1  6 
○ Draw a sigil from the numbers above. Then your sigil is done! 
★ The constellation method uses the first grid and just involves the letters. You draw a 
sigil across the grid using the letters in the order the statement was in.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sources:  
★ The Traveling Witch 
○ Info on casting a circle, warding 
★ The Witchipedia 
○ Correspondence tables on crystals, herbs, and colors