Wards - Protecting Yourself and Your Home

A ward is simply a protection or guardian. This post is in response to a question about household wards but it basically applies to everything.

What do wards protect you from?

1.      Your own fears: Most people that I know had some fear of attracting evil with their magick when they were first getting started. That fear in and off itself can stop your practice before it starts. Having some protection in place just may ease a person’s mind long enough to take a few steps along the magickal path.

2.      Random people: A decent household protection can ward off door-to-door salesman and criminals that have no reason to burglarize your particular home. The former doesn’t appear to be much of a problem any more but at one time salesman were an annoyance.  As for the later, the ward is basically a lock they cannot see. Your home may simply look less attractive to them or they just may make a random decision to keep moving.

3.      Random spirits: Spirits move about just like people. Often, they are not barred by locked doors and the like and will just pass through your home. Most of the time, they go unnoticed. Yet, in a magician’s home, they just may hang around for the ambient energy. Who likes uninvited unknown house guests?

4.      Magickal Attacks: I was taught that no one that knows how to attack you will because they are too spiritual to do so. Well well-meaning and something that can be taught to tamp down any suspicions within a group. This is likely the most harmful thing I was ever taught. Magick users are humans and so are you. Eventually, someone will get angry with you whether you deserve it or not. Sooner or later, someone will throw some negative magick in your direction. Such things can result in problems ranging from annoyance to the quite serious.

5.      Not-So-Random People: Some people have enemies that are willing to be criminally physical. A strong ward can deflect, distract or even harm these people before they get into your home. Such a word may also get the police there faster as well.

6.      Your Own Mistakes: Sometimes practitioners call a spirit and do not dismiss it correctly. Other times, something gets out of hand. Some wards can fight these things off for you or at least weaken their impact.

I am sure that is not an exhaustive list but that should be a good start.

There are several types of wards energetic, physical, natural, spirit and spiritual.

Energetic wards are by far the easiest to put up. Beginners simply use their active imagination and visualize energies at appropriate places in the home such as doors, windows, entry gates and the like. When I was at this stage, I preferred red crosses and spider web forms on the windows. Doors require a lot of maintenance because they get a lot of normal use. Very few people enter and leave their house through windows.

My problem is that I could not see my own work. So, I had friends that had the ability look for me. The were able to describe the shape of my wards to my satisfaction. Then they could tell me if they had been tampered with, broken or had weakened over time. Obviously, these did not protect me from things that broke through but likely did for random passersby.

While these can be the weakest form of protection do not underestimate their utility. This type of ward can easily discourage random spirits and people that have no real personal interest in you or your property. They can also be extremely effective against people that are very sensitive to energy, such as empaths.

Try this experiment. Go to a public place with a lot of foot traffic that has some sort of physical barrier like the image. Create an energy ward between two of the bollards. Then watch how many people choose to walk between the unguarded bollards and those you warded. Then, take down your wards and move them to the opposite space and see if the traffic flows differently. If you can change the traffic flow you are pretty good. If you completely stop it, you are damn good. If you do not have any effect, keep practicing. This is a skill that can be learned by almost anyone. Doing this exercise well will develop skills that can be used in a variety of magickal tasks that appear to have nothing in common with warding.

Physical wards at their non-magickal level are locks, closed doors, burglar alarms and the like. There are also other forms of wards with a physical basis. Perhaps you energies a sword you have hanging on a wall facing an entrance. Maybe it is a statue of your deity to which you have cared for, kept dust free and made offerings before. This can also be a talisman or other item created for the purpose. These types of things can become more sentient and active than a passive energy ward.

Natural wards are live plants, herbs, stones, minerals and crystals that have protective properties. These can simply be placed near doors and windows. You do not need to do much magick for these. I simply tell them what I want them to do but you may not even need that.

Spirit wards are defenses supplied by spirits one conjures or creates (servitors). These can be extremely strong against pretty much everything. Spirits from the Lesser Key of Solomon can be extremely effective. The problem is they can come off as a bit creepy as well. Their energy signature can be unpleasant. Angels and the like can enforce some pretty rigid thinking. So, you need a bit of experience to make these work effectively.

If you are up against strong practitioners, here is a little trick. Make several servitors. Instructions on how to do this are outside the scope of this post. Using creative instructions can confuse the heck out of your attackers. For example, Spirit A protects the home on odd calendar days, Spirit B on even days and Spirit C augments on Fridays and Saturdays when most people have the time to get up to no good. Since most people do not attack every day, each time they come to your home they get a different guardian. They may come prepared for the first one they encounter and find something else. Yikes!

Spirits can also advise you and unique techniques to ward your home. The most effective ward I ever made came from this sort of advice. This is one I keep in my secret bag of tricks not because I am all that secretive but when it comes to protection it is wise to have some surprises.

Spiritual wards are just that. A deity that you work with or worship consistently combined with a physical anchor can be very effective. Your soul, properly aligned and actively energized can be impenetrable. Again, how to do that is beyond the scope of this post.

See this post about my favorite protective strategy.

If you do magick, heck, even if you do not do magick, you need some warding. Hopefully, this post will get you started.