Protective Energy Essentials

 

Wisewoman Danu Forest shares her guide to traditional psychic protection, with 10 ideas for guarding your energy.

  The magical arts of psychic protection are as old as the hills. We have always sought to find ways to keep unwanted energies and dark spirits away from us and those we love. Sometimes these may be the spirits of the restless dead, ghosts and angry ancestors. More often though, humanity has sought protection from the ill will and ‘evil eye’ sent by other humans. Sometimes this energy can be sent by those who wish us ill using magic, but more commonly it’s the result of unconscious emotional energy built up from envy or anger, directed at the victim. General ‘bad vibes’ of toxic people and environments can also clog our energy and drag us into a negative state.  The target of the evil eye, or ‘overlooking’ as it is also known, may suffer in all sorts of ways, like finding themselves unlucky, sad for no reason, having bad dreams or a sense of heaviness they cannot shake. Sometimes a kind of energetic theft may take place, where a person’s shine, their sense of wholeness and direction in their life may drain away. Such attacks are often unconscious, fuelled by emotion – only occasionally are they deliberately enacted using magic. Luckily, more often than not, the sort of people who would do such things are not powerful enough in themselves to be effective. Instead, their negative behaviour drains their own lives of power and purpose. It’s a negative spiral that benefits no one. The most common form of energetic attack comes from the general accumulative effects of being around toxic people or spaces. If we live around a place where there has been tragedy or prolonged depression for example, we may find the sad bleak feelings can seep into the walls and begin to form a loop where a place is a negative environment to be in, which creates more sadness, and so on.  Similarly, we may find that negative emotional patterns in ourselves and others can be passed on generationally, forming their own momentum – which is hard to break – and leaving our ability to forge a new path weakened and disempowered. These too can have a profound effect on us, both energetically and on the atmosphere in an area.   Luckily, we can all easily counter such energies: the deliberate, the unconscious and the cumulative. This can become a regular part of our spiritual and energetic hygiene, and become as natural as breathing. We can build a life and environment for ourselves that repels such negative energies and instead builds an ever-growing positive spiral to see our souls shine brighter and brighter, seeing us become ever more empowered in our lives.                Establishing strong boundaries One of the first things we need when considering psychic protection is good boundaries, interpersonally and practically. Is your home secure? Do you have good relations with your neighbours? Do you have a practical sense of safety and privacy? There are lots of things we can do to improve these issues. It is essential that we have these practical things sorted before we add magical and spiritual touches to improve the energy. This is not to suggest we must lock our homes down and let nothing in – but we all need to feel safe, and to have a sense that we can control who and what energy enters our private space. We also need to consider our interpersonal boundaries- how assertive are you? It’s important that we only allow people into our homes that we are comfortable with, and that we surround ourselves with good, supportive people that feed our souls. Those we invite in should allow us to keep the balance right for ourselves around issues like how we spend our time, how much company we hold and how much time alone we need, for example. This means we need to be present to how we feel at any given moment and be proactive about preserving our energy. Next, we can turn our attention to how our spaces feel energetically. What is the vibe in your home? Are there areas where you feel more comfortable, or less? Make sure your space gets enough light and fresh air, letting the energy flow and minimising the accumulation of any stuck vibes – yours or anyone else’s.     Saining     One of the best techniques we can use to keep the energy around us positive and healthy is saining. Saining is a Scottish Gaelic term meaning ‘to sanctify’ – we can sain a space in lots of ways, using the smoke of sacred herbs, by scattering blessed water around, by the lighting of candles with positive intentions, or with sound, by using songs, music or prayers.  A traditional saining ceremony is to close all the doors and windows and (fire alarms permitting!) burning juniper on an incense brick to ritually cleanse the space with smoke. If you can’t find juniper, there are lots of blessing and clearing incenses out there. Frankincense, sage, mugwort, or palo santo are all popular too, but take care to be ethical about where you purchase them. Let the smoke get going, taking care to be safe around soft furnishings. Travel anticlockwise around the home with the incense, letting the smoke get into every corner of the house, and waft it around each door and window. Gradually make your way to the main front door and sain this area last, opening the door to let the smoke and the bad vibes out – together with any unwelcome spirits, bad moods or energetic illness. You can repeat this with blessed water, or with the light of a candle which you have lit with a clear intention to bless and cleanse your space.      Cleansing with candlelight Take a fresh white candle and light it with a fresh match. As you light it, say: ‘I light this candle to bring cleansing and blessing into this home’. If you work with spirits, gods, angels or any other higher beings, ask them to assist and bless the candle too. Being careful to be safe, take the candle around the home so that its light touches every corner. Then, place the candle somewhere central and either leave it to burn down if you can do so safely, or snuff it out and relight it whenever you feel the need for more protection, visualising the light blessing the whole space.      A prayer to Brighid The Celtic goddess Brighid is renowned for her protective care. Her symbol is the Brighid’s cross, which is used to protect the home and anyone wearing it. There are a great many traditional prayers to Brighid, or her Christian counterpart Saint Brigit, which can be used for protection and blessing. Here is a version I’ve adapted from one recorded in the Outer Hebrides, which can be found in the collection of traditional songs and charms known as the Carmina Gadelica. I am under the shielding of good Brighid Every night and every day, Every night and every day! Brigid is before me, Brighid is behind me, To my right and to my left, Beneath me and above me. For I am under the shielding of good Brighid Every night and every day! Every night and every day! Every night and every day!   You might also like to light a candle asking Brighid for her protection and care, and see its light surrounding you as you say the prayer. This prayer can be adapted further to include the protection of the house, or anything else you feel needs protection by saying ‘this house/child/person is under the shielding of good Brighid’, for example. Trust that her presence will come to you and banish all darkness around you.                Salt Salt is excellent for protection and for guarding your boundaries. Place bowls of salt around the home to absorb negative energy, and lay a line of salt across the ground outside your front and back doors to prevent unwelcome spirits or bad vibes from entering.          Silver and iron Silver and iron are both magically protective metals. Silver brings purity and banishes ill will and the bad vibes of illness or depression from a space or a person, but it needs to be cleaned regularly. Place it on the ground to let negative energies be transformed by the earth. Iron repels unfriendly spirits and protects your boundaries, which is why horseshoes are traditionally placed over doors and windows to protect a home and bring good luck.     Mirror magic Mirrors reflect back ill will or malicious magic back to the sender, so can be very useful to repel unwanted energies if they are positioned correctly. To protect the home, it is best to place a small mirror facing outwards, perhaps on a windowsill or above the door, so it repels the energy before it enters. You can get special feng shui mirrors which do this, but any mirror will do.      Protective herbs  Protective herbs can be placed in jars or pouches and worn or placed around the home as needed. They can also be added to bowls of salt, or placed in a muslin bag and steeped in water to cleanse yourself or any item in need of protection. Growing any of these herbs in your garden or in pots will also add protective energy to your space. Try rosemary, garlic, sage, black pepper, chilli, angelica root, St John’s wort, mugwort, vervain, juniper, cedar, rue or rowan.      Energy work visualisation exercise A popular form of psychic protection uses visualisation, but this is best if you have an established spiritual practice and regularly call upon spiritual assistance in some form, be it from Source, gods, angels or spirit allies, for example. Calling on Brighid is a good idea for this.  

1. Sit comfortably, breathing deeply and getting centred before calling upon some spiritual assistance.
2. In your inner vision, see the area directly above you and visualise a ball of spinning golden light. This light is full of divine energy, protective and blessing, repelling all negative forces and drawing in health and wellbeing.
3. See the golden light expanding down over your whole body to a distance of about 3 feet around you, and down below your feet. Breathe deeply, seeing the light grow stronger together with the good spiritual forces you have called in. 

  You can repeat this exercise to use throughout your whole home or any space if you feel the need to. Try visualising the golden ball over the roof of your house and expanding and surrounding your home with its light, right down to underneath the foundations of the building. You can use the same technique again around children or pets, and even plants and trees.  In times where you feel very vulnerable or feel you are under any specific form of energetic attack, you can repeat this exercise first by visualising gold light, then do it again, this time with silver, mirroring light. See yourself surrounded by a powerful energetic mirror which can repel any unwanted energies and return them to their place of origin.     Make your own witch bottle Witch bottles are a traditional form of psychic protection and were once buried by the hearth, but these days they can be placed anywhere in the home. Once upon a time they held hair, nails and even urine(!) to return curses or trap bad spirits. These days, a whole host of ingredients are used. Here is a simple, modern witch bottle recipe which is just as effective.  

1. Take a glass jar and half fill it with vinegar.
2. Place inside it three old iron nails or screws, and some salt so that the salt covers the vinegar and the nails.
3. Next add a layer of dried rosemary, a layer of black pepper and a layer of garlic cloves.
4. Seal the jar tightly and place it somewhere, ideally near the boundary of your home, but where it won’t be disturbed. You could always cover it with a cloth, or place it inside a box so it can’t be seen. Each year, or when you feel you need to, compost or flush the ingredients apart from the nails, and repeat with fresh ingredients.

    This article was originally published in our Autumn issue 192 which can be purchased here. Don't forget to subscribe to our upcoming Winter issue here!