How to Protect Yourself Like a Witch

Image credit: Ann Milovidova via Pixabay

Jamie Waggoner | July 3, 2024

Please note: this essay originally appeared as “Cackling Optional: How to Clear, Ward, and Protect Spaces Like a Witch” in Haunted Magazine Issue 43: Women of the Paranormal (2024)

As a practicing witch for over 25 years, I’ve experimented with all kinds of magical operations. Some of the most valuable, helpful techniques I have learned are how to clear and ward spaces, and how to protect myself energetically. The following techniques are simple, easy entry points for anyone to use—whether you are familiar with magic or not. These apotropaic measures are great tools for paranormal investigators, psychics, card readers, mediums, and others who encounter a wide variety of phenomena, as well as for any of us who want basic energetic hygiene and first-aid skills.

Clearing Your Space: Get Back to Neutral

Clearing a space, magically speaking, is a means to remove stagnant, unwanted, or uninvited energies or entities. Signs that your space may need clearing is feeling stuck, anxious, or discontented for no apparent reason, experiencing existential angst or fears, or just sensing yourself surrounded by stale and outdated energy. You may even be aware of an uninvited presence, such as a ghost or spirit, that you wish to evict from your premises. The reasons can range anywhere from a desire for better energetic hygiene, to a need to alleviate a threatening scenario so that your space gets back to a safe, supportive neutral baseline. Three prevalent and accessible clearing techniques are fumigation, lustration, and sound and movement.

Fumigation: This is the act of using smoke to cleanse and purify your space. Fumigation is widely practiced by many cultures, around the world and throughout time. My preferred method for fumigation utilizes dried herbs (either a single herb, or sometimes a combination) sprinkled directly onto a small, lit charcoal disc. I recommend acquiring a small cauldron or metal censor with a handle that you will use specifically for this purpose—charcoal and other substances can leave residues over time, so don’t use this container for food or drink preparation. A sturdy handle is important, too, for you to be able to move throughout a space without burning your hands. The small charcoal discs that are manufactured for use with loose incense are widely available and perfect for this application, and a list of five helpful herbs and natural compounds follows later in this article. To perform the cleansing, simply move throughout the entire space wafting the smoke in all areas (get down to the floorboards, up in the corners of ceilings, underneath furniture—be as thorough as possible). When you are finished, let the coal burn completely out, and return any dregs to the earth, wind, or swiftly flowing water. 

Lustration: When water is used to cleanse and purify, it is known as lustration. Similar to fumigation, lustration in varying forms has been practiced around the world. Lustration implies ceremony and intent: to create a simple lustration, begin with water. Clear flowing water or spring water is wonderful, but tap water works just fine, too. Collect your water in a small bowl that you can easily hold and carry in one hand. You may want to add a pinch of salt and/or crushed herbs from the list in this article to the water. Choose a natural sprig or branch (such juniper or rosemary) to serve as your ceremonial means for dispersing the lustration. Move throughout all areas of your space, liberally dipping the branch into the bowl and sprinkling water. Once complete, take any remaining water outside, and offer it to the earth, a tree, or your garden. Alternatively, you can give the water to an indoor houseplant.

Sound and Movement: To clear a space using sound and movement, begin by opening all the windows and doors. Ring a loud bell, clatter pots and pans together, or make some other extremely loud, obnoxious cacophony of sound while speaking strong words to banish the unwanted entity or energy. Move the sound around your body, passing through your own energetic field several times, and throughout all the areas of your space (including stairways, attics, fireplaces, basements, garages, cabinets, and closets if you have them). If your space has more than one level, begin at the top and work your way down. Once you have completed these actions, and the noise has faded, it’s now time to ward the space.

Warding Your Space: Safeguard and Protect

The act of warding simply means to guard or protect. Wards themselves are the sigils, barriers, unseen helpers, and/or objects that serve as focal points and containers for protective magics. Unseen helpers, such as angels, are commonly invoked as wards. Other wards, such as sigils or physical objects, take on a protective persona once empowered by the practitioner. An energetic vacuum is created after clearing a space; protective wards fill that vacuum and safeguard equilibrium.

Protective Sigils: It’s very simple to place a sigil-based ward at each of the four cardinal directions (east, south, west, and north) in your space. Draw this symbolic guardian with your right index finger, empowering it with the intention of protection, utilizing a sigil or symbol that has meaning for you. Two common examples of protection sigils:

• The Equal-Armed Cross: Similar to the Christian cross, but with lines equal in length and intersecting directly at the midpoint of the figure. This ancient symbol is variously interpreted to represent the four seasons, four directions, four winds, four elements, etc. It can be drawn upright, or on its side like an X.

• The Pentagram: The five-pointed star has symbolized wellbeing and protection for at least 7000 years, found on artifacts and in surviving literature from ancient Sumer to China, as well as across Europe and the Mediterranean. Drawing a circle around the pentagram creates a pentacle—a symbol widely used by modern Pagans and magical practitioners to affirm life, connections, and spirit.

If there is a symbol that resonates with your family lineage or religious faith, feel free to use it, and combine it with a simple prayer if you wish. Begin drawing in the east and move clockwise around your space, finishing in the north. Many people simply draw a sigil in the air in each direction, while others prefer to draw the symbol on walls, windows, fireplaces, and/or doors. Add a magical boost to your wards by incorporating the protective powers of an herbal ally—my favorite way to do this is to make a simple tea and use it to “paint” the sigil on surfaces. This technique works well for cars and offices, too.

Magical Barriers: You can also ward your space by employing physical objects as magical barriers. Sharp objects, especially those made of iron, are traditional warding objects. You can drive iron nails or railroad spikes into four corners of your yard, or place them in four discreet corners inside your space. An old Appalachian folk remedy to guard your home against unwanted guests is to drive nine pins or needles into the ground of your driveway, distributing them across the width of the driveway as an invisible fence. You can also grid spaces with protective stones, such as black or brown tourmaline, hematite, smoky quartz, pyrite, black obsidian, or tiger eye. Try putting one of these stones in your pocket for on-the-go protection.

It’s a good idea to refresh your wards periodically. Minimally, once a year, and with increased frequency if you feel the need for stronger protection. Pick a date you will remember (such as twice yearly at the summer and winter solstices) and/or set a reminder on your calendar. In the case of sigil-based wards, you’ll want to repeat the process of drawing them throughout your space. For magical barriers, renew the wards by anointing them with your breath, singing to them, praying over them, or offering them small bits of food and drink. You may also want to fumigate the wards with a cleansing smoke.

Five Natural Allies for Paranormal Protection

Paranormal media is rife with investigators, mediums, and other folks wafting bundles of white sage (Salvia apiana) to “smudge” spaces of unwanted entities and energies. Although white sage does possess incredible purification properties, its uninformed usage is problematic for several reasons. First and foremost, white sage is a plant sacred to many Indigenous peoples of North America; the term “smudging” refers to a specific, traditional Indigenous practice—not to acts of fumigation or smoke purification outside of this cultural context. Indigenous peoples have the right to share and teach this practice at their discretion. Unless you have learned the practice from a Lakota person, for example, and gained their permission to conduct smudging yourself, it is cultural appropriation. Additionally, white sage is a resource that Indigenous peoples wildcraft with care and respect, building relationships with the plant over a long period of time. As a sacred herb, it is often gifted and rarely sold; due to its recent popularity, non-Indigenous people have overharvested white sage and turned it into a commodity. We can do better! Here are five other natural allies that are equally powerful, non-appropriative companions for magical workings of banishing and protection.

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris): Many magical practitioners are familiar with mugwort’s ability to enhance intuition, dreams, and psychic abilities. However, in the European Middle Ages, mugwort was commonly used for protection—it is one of the nine herbs invoked in the Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, a bit of folk magic recorded in the 10th-century Lacnunga collection of texts. As an herbal ally, mugwort creates a sense of safety that also opens and connects you to your inner knowing. I regularly use mugwort smoke to purify myself and my possessions, and I find that a mugwort infusion makes a wonderful lustration water for blessing homes, animals, and people. (Be advised that mugwort is contraindicated for those who are pregnant or wish to become so.) 

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus): Rosemary is native to the regions of the Mediterranean and Asia but is now grown widely for its hardy beauty, distinctive scent, and use as a culinary herb. Due to its exceptional powers of purification, rosemary can help guard against unwanted nightmares and ghosts. Tuck a sprig of rosemary under your pillow or bed, or include it in a sachet with mugwort, hops, and lavender for easement of nightmares. To discourage unwanted ghosts or spirits, burn rosemary in your home or other space, fumigating it by wafting the smoke of the smoldering herb throughout each room.

Juniper (Juniperus spp.): Found in many regions from the Arctic to tropical Africa, junipers are coniferous trees in the cypress family. Species can vary in size and shape, with evergreen needle-like or scaly leaves, and often have bluish aromatic “berries” used to flavor food and alcohol. Juniper is a traditional participant in Scottish saining rites, such as those performed at Hogmanay (New Year), wherein juniper smoke accompanies prayers, sacred water, and other folk rituals to cleanse, bless, and protect households and their inhabitants. As mentioned, a sprig or branch of juniper makes a great tool for dispersing lustrations. Juniper branches and/or a pouch of dried juniper berries can be placed over doorways as an added protection. Gather multiple juniper branches together to use as a broom, sweeping all your floors clean, in order to ready a space for new energies and endeavors.

Blackberry (Rubus spp.): Also known by the folk name bramble, blackberry can be found all over the world. Blackberries are perennials that feature white or light pink flowers in the spring, which later develop into dark, purplish-black edible fruits. Its thorny, prickly branches often form dense thickets; its tenacious root systems cover wide areas and the plant can live up to 40 years. Blackberry carries impenetrable boundary magic, in essence: “You shall not pass.” Craft a sachet of dried blackberry leaves and/or flowers for protection through the night, placing it under your bed, or string dried blackberries together to create a protective boundary garland for your hearth. Cosmetically prepared blackberry oil can be also used on the skin (such as on the back of the neck) to enhance personal energetic protection. 

Camphor: A waxy, colorless solid with a distinctly strong aroma, camphor is a terpenoid: a class of naturally occurring organic chemicals. Natural camphor has been produced for centuries, condensed from vapors created by pulverizing or roasting wood chips from the Camphora officinarum tree. Synthetic camphor is produced from alpha-pinene, another organic compound abundant in the oils of coniferous trees, which is distilled from turpentine. If you’ve ever used or smelled Vicks VapoRub, you know the potent smell of camphor. As a particularly powerful natural ally, camphor aids in clearing dense, murky energies and/or stubborn entities. You can use small pieces of camphor on lit charcoal discs, but be aware that the resulting smoke can grow noxious: fumigate in a well-ventilated area, avoiding inhalation. According to Hoodoo practitioners, a discreet smear of Vicks VapoRub on walls and/or thresholds can be similarly effective.

Simple Energetic Hygiene

Here are a few more easy energetic defense strategies you can add to your daily routine, utilize when on-the-go, or employ anytime you want to feel refreshed and centered:

• Intentionally wash your hands.

• Splash water on your face and neck.

• Brush your hair or dry brush your body.

• Take a 1:1:1 cleansing bath: dissolve equal parts sea salt, baking soda, and Epsom salt (about ¼ cup, or 60 ml, of each) into bathwater and soak comfortably for 20–60 minutes.

• Protect the back of your neck—stray energies love to sneak in at this vulnerable spot. You can use a few drops of protective oil or wear a protective necklace, bandanna, or scarf.

• Use silk as an energetic insulator. You can veil your head in a silk scarf, drape a piece of silk around your neck, or wear silk underclothes. This organic material works wonderfully to insulate the wearer from outside energies.

Remember that magical practice is not a substitute for professional medical attention, mental healthcare, or legal advice, so remain practical and grounded in your choices, and seek outside help for yourself and others as necessary. Have fun learning and exploring! You got this: you, too, can clear, ward, and protect yourself and your spaces like a witch—cackling is optional, but highly encouraged.

Resources

Armand, Khi. Clearing Spaces: Inspirational Techniques to Heal Your Home. New York: Sterling Ethos, 2017.

Boyer, Corinne. Under the Bramble Arch: A Folk Grimoire of Wayside Plant Lore and Practicum. 2019. Reprint, Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2020.

Carr-Gomm, Philip, and Stephanie Carr-Gomm. The Druid Plant Oracle. London: Connections Publishing Ltd., 2007.

Cross, J. Allen. The Witch’s Guide to the Paranormal: How to Investigate, Communicate, and Clear Spirits. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2022.

Pearson, Nicholas. Flower Essences from the Witch’s Garden: Plant Spirits in Magickal Herbalism. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 2022.

Waggoner, Jamie. Hades: Myth, Magic and Modern Devotion. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2024.