INVOKE A GUARDIAN

Local spirits and guardians are some of the best sources of protection for your home. The Romans called the guardian spirits of the home Lares. Families kept statues of the Lar of the home and left offerings by the hearth to ensure blessings on the household and all of its inhabitants.

Timing:

Any time

You will need:

A small offering for the Lar of your home, like a slice of pound cake or some grapes

Optional: incense

Place your offering by the fireplace in your home. If you do not have a fireplace, the kitchen (especially the stove) serves as the modern-day hearth. Bless the offering by making the symbol of manifestation (a triangle with your thumbs and index fingers).

Say:

I bless this offering by the power of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.

Light the incense and/or set out your offering in a pretty plate or bowl. Say:

Lar, guardian of this place our home,

We honor and welcome you

as a member of our family.

Enjoy this offering as a token of thanks

For the protection and luck you

bring to this household.

SET PSYCHIC BOUNDARIES

Maintaining boundaries is essential for self-care. This means being able to say no when you don’t want to do something and setting psychic boundaries that keep you from absorbing too much emotional pain from others. Some people will drain your energy without even meaning to. Use this spell to create a light but powerful barrier between your emotions and those of others.

Timing:

Any time

You will need:

A quiet, peaceful place where you can concentrate

Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Take deep breaths in and out, counting to four each time. Focus only on your breathing for ten full breaths. Then, still concentrating on the breath, imagine that you are breathing in positive white light and breathing out any negativity, anxiety, or fear in the form of darkness. Breathe in the white light, letting it fill you. Breathe out the black, watching it dissipate into nothing as soon as it leaves your body.

Once you feel that you have released any lingering anxiety or fear, imagine the white light within you radiating out through the crown of your head. See the light flow around you to surround you entirely in a bubble or shield; every part of your body is protected. Notice how you can move within your shield and it moves with you. Notice how nothing unwanted can pass through the shield of white light. This light came from within you. Let it lift your energy and protect you from low vibrations.

When you see yourself fully surrounded by your shield, open your eyes slowly. This spell will fade over time. Repeat it daily, or when you are preparing to enter situations for which you want a psychic shield.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM HARM

People have carried good luck charms, amulets, and talismans for centuries. All of these magical objects are used to assist with a specific goal. This one is for protection.

Timing:

Lunar Phase: Any

Day: Saturday

You will need:

Black polymer clay

A rolling pin

A small carving tool (for example, a metal cuticle pusher)

A cord or chain if you want to wear the talisman as a necklace

Think about the feeling of being protected as you make this talisman, channeling feelings of safety into the clay. Roll the clay out until you have a small rectangle about ⅛ inch thick.

Algiz is a Norse guardian rune that wards away harm:

Use the carving tool to etch Algiz into the talisman.

If you plan to wear it on a string as a necklace, make a hole at the top of your talisman. Bake the talisman according to the directions on the package of clay.

Once the talisman has baked and cooled, consecrate it (see this page) and bless it with these words:

Baked in fire, cooled by air

I carved this rune to bless and wear.

A shield, a sword, a talisman

Algiz, protect me wherever I am.

TRAVEL SAFELY

Mojo bags, also known as gris-gris bags, conjure hands, or lucky hands, come from the African-American hoodoo tradition. This is a spell to carry with you for safety while you travel.

Timing:

Lunar Phase: Waxing Moon or Full Moon

Day: Thursday

You will need:

A slip of paper and a pen

A small blue bag with a drawstring closure

A piece of amethyst

A pinch of mugwort

A pinch of comfrey*

A pinch of fennel seeds

*Comfrey is not safe to ingest.

Setting an intention for safe travel, protection, and good fortune, draw the sigil of Jupiter on the paper:

Place the paper inside the drawstring bag. Still concentrating on the protection, safety, and luck this bag will bring you, add the amethyst and the herbs. Close and consecrate the bag (see this page). Say:

I carry you for luck and safety.

Stone and herb and sigil drawn,

In travels near and far embrace me.

I call you into life with song.

Carry this bag with you or keep it in your car for safe travels.

RENEW YOUR LUCK

Using cleansing and protective magic regularly will help maintain your personal and household safety. Sometimes, however, people get stuck. When the going gets tough—as it inevitably will sometimes—we reach a point where we need a stronger spell to release negativity and move forward. This spell washes away bad luck, leaving you renewed and ready for a fresh start.

Timing:

Lunar Phase: Waning Crescent Moon

Day: Monday

You will need:

A small saucepan

¼ ounce of dried hyssop

¼ ounce of dried agrimony

A handful of Dead Sea salt

A small jar or bottle

Fill the saucepan with water and bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling, pour in the hyssop and agrimony, remove the pan from the heat and leave the herbs to steep. Once you decide that the water is sufficiently infused with the herbs, strain it and bring it into the bathroom with you.

Run hot water for your bath. Add the Dead Sea salt, along with the herb-infused water, to the bathwater. As you do so, set an intention to wash away all negative energy that has been keeping you stuck. Pour some of the water over your head and soak in the bath.

Before you drain the tub, put some of the bathwater in your jar or bottle. While you watch the water drain, visualize your troubles going down the drain along with it.

After you get dressed, take the bottle of water to a crossroads away from your home and dump it out. Leaving the water at a crossroads disperses the negative energy magically, taking it out of your life so you can move on.

OPEN THE ROAD

Abre camino means “open road.” This plant is commonly found in tropical and semi-tropical climates. Its use in magic and religious rituals comes mostly from the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria. Use this all-purpose spell when you are not sure where you’re headed or when you need to remove obstacles from your path.

Timing:

Lunar Phase: Waning Moon

Day: Thursday

You will need:

A green 7-day candle in a glass jar

Abre camino oil

Choose an intention as you take the candle out of its glass container. You might be feeling stuck in a job search and want to open the road to success, or you might be tired of being single and want more opportunities to meet people, so you open the road to love.

Put some of the abre camino oil on your fingers and rub it on the candle from bottom to top, concentrating on your intention to open the way. Say:

Remove all obstacles and open my roads to ____________.

If your aim is not specific, you can cover all your bases with “health, love, money, and luck.”

Put the candle back in the glass and light it. Stare into the flame and visualize the road opening to your desired path.

This spell requires the candle to burn over a period of seven days. Do not leave burning candles unattended. Snuff the candle when you go to bed or leave the house and relight it with the same intention when you return.

Once the candle has burned down, you can read any images that appear in the wax or smoke residue left on the glass for signs about your working.

RELEASE FEAR

Releasing old fears is a crucial step to personal growth and empowerment. Use this spell to empower yourself to move forward.

Timing:

Lunar Phase: Waning Moon

Day: Saturday

You will need:

A slip of paper and a pen

A small cauldron or bowl for burning

Matches or a lighter

A small trowel

Do this spell outside somewhere that you can safely burn and bury the paper. Write down what you fear. It might be a fear of failure, of public speaking, or of being different from others. Put the paper in your cauldron and burn it, saying:

I burn this fear to be released.

Banish this so I am free.

Bury the ashes of your fear and walk away without looking back.

RELEASE APPROVAL ADDICTION

Like many young womxn, you may constantly worry about what other people think. You may even feel that you cannot make decisions without the approval of others. Take control of your own life by releasing yourself from this anxiety. This is a spell for taking the power of approval out of the hands of others and putting it back in your own hands, where it belongs.

Timing:

Lunar Phase: New Moon

Day: Any

You will need:

A black crayon

A hard-boiled egg

A mortar and pestle

A bowl of water and a clean towel

Think about a recent moment when you were consumed with worry about what others thought of you. What were you afraid of? What did you want people to think? Using the crayon, write a few words that represent your fears on the shell of the egg. Peel the egg and crush the shell into a powder using the mortar and pestle. As you grind the eggshell, imagine the people whose approval you desire stepping back, the power fading from them and coming back to you.

Now, place the peeled egg in the bowl of water to cleanse it of this negativity. Imagine the egg filling with all of your thoughts of self-approval, confidence, and kind words. Dry the egg carefully with the clean towel and eat it, visualizing these new, positive thoughts filling you from the inside out.

Take your bowl of eggshell powder to a crossroads, and, facing away from the wind, toss it into the air.

As you do so, say:

Fears of another’s secret mind,

Inner critic’s words unkind,

I release you now, to the four winds blown.

My approval belongs to me alone.

ACCESS YOUR STRENGTH

Taking good care of yourself often demands courage. You have to access your bravery and overcome your fears to take a risk for love, to speak up for yourself, or to chase a dream. This is a spell for accessing the strength that exists within you. Call on your strength when you need to do something that scares you.

Timing:

Lunar Phase: Waxing Moon

Day: Sunday

You will need:

Tarot card: Strength

Water glass

Orange or yellow paper

A black pen

Scissors

Put the Strength card on your altar. Using the glass, trace eight circles on the colored paper and cut them out, so that you have eight disks. You can decorate them to look like the sun or leave them plain.

Think about the times you have accessed your strength before: a time when you were brave, when you overcame an obstacle, or when you stood up for yourself. Write a word (or several) on each disk to represent a time of strength, so that you have eight different reminders of your own power. Arrange the disks in a circle around the Strength card.

Read these words aloud to yourself. Using your finger, draw the infinity symbol (an 8 on its side) on your stomach. Imagine it as golden sunlight imbuing you with the bravery you have demonstrated before. Say:

Strength lives in my heart,

Strength lives in my head,

Strength lives in my spirit,

Guiding me always

Like the light of the sun.

Access this strength to overcome obstacles in your life. You can carry your bravery disks and/or the Strength card with you as talismans.