Protective Substances

Here is a list of substances that have protective qualities to them and can be used individually or combined together or with other things to make lines, sigils, or other formats for protective workings.

SALT:

We’ve already touched upon salt in a separate post, but I wanted to be sure to at least list it here. Here’s the link to my other article on the topic.                https://witchpetals.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/salt/

CORNMEAL:

Cornmeal was a traditional way of drawing disposable sigils to summon spirits or gods. It is popular in South and Central America and in the Caribbean. Cornmeal is an old Southern or Native American trick as well.  It holds great power in the mere fact that it is corn; a fire element associated with the sun. It is considered feminine and usually dried and ground. Corn was an important crop for both of these cultures, and as such it holds the energy of that reverence.  If a tribe had corn, they had wealth, food, and any number of things.  It is one of the sacred sister crops.  It is similarly revered in the South.  Mixing cornmeal in with your other protective substances gives another layer of protection from those ancestors and spirits that watch over the land.  I personally, put a little cornmeal in my salt scrub blends, I find it adds protection, but also helps to buff the skin after the salt grains exfoliate and rough up the surface.  I sometimes use a mixture of salt, cornmeal, and ceremonial ash to set outdoor circles or protective lines.  For me, it is building up layers.

RED BRICK DUST:

Historically, red brick dust is made from grinding up old red bricks that were hand made from slaves.  This is a southern thing and carries the energy of African magic, Creole magic, as well as earth elements.  You find brick dust a common element in Hoodoo and Voodoo workings, in addition to more southern practitioners.  But the history goes back even further, to an old practice of using red ocher clay for sacred workings, this history goes all the way back into Egyptian times.  Either way, the practice of using the substance in its various forms is ancient. Again, it depends where you are from and the energies you are familiar in working with.  Bricks are interesting things; they combine both earth and fire elements, the sweat of the worker and water to make the clay adding water elements to the blend.  Old bricks were hand made and carry the energies of that endeavor.  Their purpose was to protect our feet from dirt roads and as such carry the combined energy of the community’s intent of protection.  When thinking on this, it becomes a powerful tool in your magical workings; again, it up to the witch, to harness and direct the energy of a tool through intent.

GRAVEYARD DIRT:

Now graveyard dirt is not for the light at heart.  For many the idea of going into a cemetery and grabbing some dirt off of someone’s burial site is more than a bit creepy, and well maybe it is.  However, graveyard dirt can be a powerful thing, imbibed with the energy of the person, the funeral of that person, their family and friend’s thoughts and prayers all forced under extreme emotions into the soil and surrounding area, so it’s no wonder why this substance may contain so much power or stored energy.  Having said that, what is important to think about it whose dirt it is.  For protection, a great type of dirt to use might by your ancestors or someone known to be very protective, an advocate for children, a police officer, etc.  Also, think of other uses for graveyard dirt, such as the soil from a well known artist or poet to add a spark to a creativity spell or to loosen up writer’s block.  Really there are endless possibilities.  Your intent dictates how the energy can be used.  Like everything else, the dirt is a tool.

CEREMONIAL ASH:

People use fire ash for many things, making black salts, setting circles, and other spell work.  I save my ceremonial ash and use it for things.  I find it enhances my workings and I like the energy of it.  I collect all of the Yule ash after the Yule log has burned out and use it all year for prosperity workings among other things.  Now, many will tell you that ceremonial ash is not good to use because it has residue of energy from all of the other spells and it is unpredictable to use.  I personally have not found this to be true for me. I suppose it depends on the type of rituals you are regularly doing.  But in my case, I keep a container on my altar and let those energies mingle with my ash energies.  It is one of my staples.

EGG SHELLS:

Powdered or crushed egg shells, (cascarilla), are very common in magical workings and protection. They are commonly used in Haitian Voodoo, Santeria, and South American folk workings.   In the visualization from Sherry Whitfield’s she had you envision yourself in a protective egg shell.  I think that it carries the energy of the egg as a force of life, as well as the protection of the hard qualities of the shell.  The color of the egg shell also has value as well perhaps as its own chemistry; it is after all, pure calcium.  It is a fine chalk when ground properly and repels negativity and the vibration of negativity. It’s great for drawing sigils and the like.  I have used crushed shells in many protective works in environmental or land clearing ceremonies. When mixed with lime juice, ash, and salt or other materials it becomes a powerful substance for cutting and burning energy and creating a protective barrier.

BLESSED WATERS:

Blessed waters like Holy water, Florida water, moon waters, and even flower essences all have various protective properties.  The molecular structure of water is unique and holds programming.  So if one blesses, prays over, or imbibes in some way with protective energy, that water will keep it.  It can be quite powerful.

BODILY FLUIDS:

So I’ve come back and added this section to the article.  I was reminded that very old magic included these things and they are quite powerful and still in use today by many practitioners.  These fluids include: blood, semen, urine, tears, sweat, saliva, and anything else you can imagine.  Blood and urine in particular are used very often in protective magic, such as creating witches’ balls or other jar type of protectors that are often buried on property lines. Other fluids are mixed with ash or red brick to create a paste to seal things or draw sigils.  Really the uses are unlimited.

2016 copyright by Katie Pifer, available at http://www.witchpetals.wordpress.com

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