A Witches Bible - Janet Farrar, Stewar Farrar 1981
Rituals of Protection
More Wiccan Rituals
Principles, Rituals and Beliefs of Modern Witchcraft
The most basic, and useful, protective ritual of all for witches is the Magic Circle; which is one reason why it is cast at the beginning of every coven meeting, and not banished until the meeting is over. We gave the full procedures for casting and banishing the Circle in Eight Sabbats for Witches, and in Appendix B to the present book.
It is worth remarking, though, that for a coven meeting, protection is not the only purpose of the Circle. In fact, it may be argued that it is not even its primary purpose. The main function of a coven Circle is to ’preserve and contain the power that we shall raise within thee’ — in other words, to concentrate and amplify the psychic effort of the group. Witches meet for worship and to raise power for useful work; and for these purposes ’a boundary between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones’ is set up, an astral capsule intermediate between the levels, in which the Cone of Power can be built and prevented from dispersing until the moment comes to discharge it for the working purpose decided upon beforehand. From this point of view, the Circle is rather like a cylinder in a car engine. A petrol-soaked newspaper, if lit, will merely flare up; but contain the same amount of petrol, as vapour and under control, in the cylinder and ignite it stage by stage, and it will produce enough explosive force to drive the car for a mile or more.
This is a difference of emphasis from the mediaeval magician’s Circle; the power he hoped to tap was that of spirits summoned into the Triangle outside the Circle, and his Circle was cast purely to protect himself in such a dangerous encounter. Any weakness in it could blast him as surely as a puncture in an astronaut’s space-suit.
Witches do not summon the kind of nastiness which mediaeval magicians hoped to control like lion-tamers; they invoke divinity, or sometimes nature-elementals — the latter cautiously but sympathetically, not with chair and whip. And the power is raised within the Circle. So containment, rather than exclusion, is the main function of their Circle.
That is why witches at work often become aware of unwanted entities ’taking an interest', but they tend to deal with them confidently as they arise, rather than to alter the emphasis of the Circle so as to make it unapproachable in the first place.
This is not to say that the witches’ Circle has no protective function; it is declared, among other things, to be ’a shield against all wickedness and evil’. But we would suggest that for most working meetings the protective function (unlike that of the magician’s Circle) is secondary.
However, witches can and do cast purely protective Circles when the need arises; round the house at night when the astral plane is felt to be turbulent, round their beds when a house-guest (often unwittingly) has vampiric tendencies,1 or even round a desk when there is work to be done requiring undisturbed concentration. And so on.
With this in mind, it is important to have a very clear idea of just what a Magic Circle is, and of what it ’looks and feels like’ on the astral plane. (This clear idea is just as important for a normal concentration-and-amplification Circle, of course.)
In the first place, it is in fact not a Circle at all, but a sphere; and it should always be so envisaged. The Circle is merely its equator, the line where the sphere cuts the ground. When one is casting it, one should picture an upright axis in the centre, with a semicircular arc running from its top, through the ground at the edge of the intended Circle, and so on down to its bottom. As one casts the Circle with sword or athame, one should feel one is pulling this semicircular arc round like the edge of a curtain, building up the sphere segment by segment like a reconstructed orange, until one comes back to the starting point and the sphere is complete. That may sound complicated, but Figure 3 should make it clear; and it is a visualization worth practising until it becomes automatic with the casting of every Circle.
Fig. 3
The sphere itself should be envisaged as a glowing, transparent, electric-blue or violet globe, brightening to a fiery line of the same colour where it cuts the ground.
As for the wording of the casting, if the Circle is to be purely protective, the words ’a rampart and protection that shall preserve and contain the power that we shall raise within thee’ should be omitted, because no power is to be raised; and in summoning the Lords of the Watchtowers, the words ’to witness our rites and’ should be omitted, because no rite is to be performed.
In protective situations (which may often arise, for example, in public or in non-witch company) one may wish to cast a Circle mentally, often without giving any outward sign that one is doing so. This is not difficult, with practice; what is called for, as with the physically enacted rite, is powerfully concentrated imagination and willpower; physical actions certainly make such concentration easier, but they can never make it less necessary, and the occasional purely mental operation is a very good way of developing it. Casting a mental Circle may involve anything from a rapid ’zipping-up’ of the electric-blue sphere to a complete visualization of the entire ritual, including the smell of the imagined incense as you carry it round, and the familiar feel of your athame-hilt in your hand; that depends on the circumstances and the time available. In an emergency, the instant ’zip-up', envisaged with a deliberate surge of psychic effort, can be just as effective. But if you have the time, and are undisturbed, visualizing the entire ritual is a good discipline, and avoiding it may betray laziness, which weakens the effect.
One thing to remember in casting a protective Circle: be sure to include everyone nearby who is vulnerable. If you expect a psychic attack from outside, a Circle that merely embraces your bedroom may protect you, but the foiled attack may expend itself on an innocent member of the family in another room. Or if, like us, you have poultry and ponies in the house’s outbuildings, they may take the brunt. That may sound paranoid and over-imaginative, but it is sheer practical experience — our own and other people’s.
The Openings of the Body Ritual
A time-honoured method for the psychic protection of an individual is the Openings of the Body Ritual. In effect, it seals the aura at its most vulnerable points.2 It can be used by the followers of any tradition, by merely changing the Names of Power; we remember once recommending it to a Christian friend who was sensitive enough to be aware of a psychic danger to herself, and she used it successfully in the name of Christ, and with water from her church font.
We give here, naturally, the Wiccan form.
The Openings of the Body Ritual can be performed either by oneself or by one’s working partner. The person to be protected must be skyclad, for obvious practical reasons.
First, consecrate water and salt in the normal manner (see Section I The Opening Ritual) and pour the salt into the water. The God- and Goddess-names may be those normally used or may be chosen specially for the situation; for example, if we have just written something which may provoke a malevolent reaction, we may invoke the God of Scribes (say the Egyptian Thoth or the Celtic Oghma Grianaineach) with an appropriate Goddess partner (in these cases Isis, or Brid or Dana, respectively).
Moisten the index finger of the right hand with the salt-and-water mixture, and touch each of the openings of the body in turn, saying each time: ’Be thou sealed against all evil.’ Strongly visualize the seals which you are creating. Re-moisten your finger as necessary, so that each opening receives the consecrated mixture.
The openings are as follows:
On a man: Right eye, left eye, right ear, left ear, right nostril, left nostril, mouth, right nipple, left nipple, navel, tip of penis, anus (twelve openings in all).
On a woman: Right eye, left eye, right ear, left ear, right nostril, left nostril, mouth, right nipple, left nipple, navel, urethra, vaginal opening, anus (thirteen openings in all).
Any supernumerary nipple should also be sealed; these are more common than is generally realized, usually being tiny but genuine rudimentary nipples placed on the ’milk line’ running downward from the ordinary nipples. If you think you have one, a doctor will confirm whether it is genuine or a mere mole. (They used, of course, to be regarded as unquestionable ’witch marks', and oddly enough Janet, one other of our female witches and one of our male witches all possess one.)
If you have any kind of still-unhealed wound or injury on your body, this too should be sealed.
As with casting the Circle, the Openings of the Body Ritual can, when the situation demands, be performed mentally and astrally, without physical movement. On more than one occasion Stewart, feeling that Janet might be under psychic attack while she was asleep beside him, has gone through the whole process mentally for her, from the consecration of the water and salt onwards — sometimes instead of, and sometimes in addition to, the casting of a mental Circle.
Which raises the question: when should the Openings of the Body Ritual be used instead of (or as well as) the casting of a protective Circle? The answer is: when the individual concerned is specifically under attack, or for some reason especially vulnerable (if he or she is ill or tired, for example). It is also useful when the individual is going to be physically on the move, or about to take his or her physical body into a psychically dangerous situation. This again is an aid to imagination and willpower. A cast Circle can be carried with you as you move (we have often cast a Circle round a moving car, for instance), but it requires deliberate and continuing visualization. If the ritual protection has been applied to your own body, however, your mind automatically accepts that that protection will accompany your body wherever it goes, like a suit of armour; so greater effect is achieved with less effort.
Talismans
A talisman is not exactly a ritual, though the making and consecration of one is a ritual act, so they may suitably be mentioned here.
A talisman is an object created, or adapted, for a particular magical purpose — a kind of portable physical condensation of a spell, to be worn or carried by the person it is intended to benefit. The purpose may be success in a specified activity, but as often as not it is protection against a specified danger. Popular examples of the two types are a rabbit’s foot carried in a gambler’s pocket, for success, and a St Christopher medallion on a car dashboard, for protection.
True magical talismans, however, are always more tailor-made, both for the user and for the purpose intended, than the rabbit’s foot or the St Christopher badge. A talisman is designed and made to symbolize the purpose and the user precisely, and to link the two together. It is then consecrated, with the intention behind its making firmly in mind, and carried (just like the rabbit’s foot!) whenever its effect is needed.
A common form of talisman is made by cutting out two discs of paper or parchment joined together by a hinge. This provides four surfaces on which symbols can be drawn or written, and the whole thing can be closed like a book into a single disc-shape.
Suppose, for example, that Stewart were negotiating with a publisher about one of his manuscripts, and wanted protection against possible sharp practice or hidden traps in the small print of the contract. (A purely hypothetical supposition, we hasten to add, because we have an excellent literary agent, and no misgivings whatever about our present publishers!) He might design a talisman like the one in Figure 4 and carry it in his pocket when he sat down to talk terms.
Fig. 4
The symbolism is as follows:
Side 1 Stewart’s name plotted out on the magic square of Mercury, who is both the God (and planet) of Communications and the quick-witted one who spots the aces up the sleeves.
Side 2 The name of Oghma, Celtic God of Wisdom and of Scribes, written in the Ogham script which he is credited with having invented.
Side 3 First, the points-down horseshoe, symbol of smiths and farriers — and the name Farrar means ’farrier’. Smiths and farriers were always regarded as natural magicians, and only they were allowed to display the horseshoe points downwards, to pour power onto the forge. (Blacksmiths still nail horseshoes to their smithy doors this way.) Stewart’s ’forge’ is of course his typewriter, so in this symbol his hereditary horseshoe is pouring power on to the letters of a typewriter ’keyboard.
Side 4 The red feather of Ma’at, Egyptian Goddess of Justice and Fair Dealing. By a happy double symbolism, it can also be regarded as the quill pen, traditional emblem of the writer.
Our diagram is in black and white, but coloured inks would of course be used to enhance the symbolism further. For instance, Side 1 could be in orange, the Cabalistic colour of Hod/Mercury. Side 2 might be in green, since Oghma Grianaineach is the Irish Celtic aspect of the God of Scribes. Side 3 might be in black, the colour of iron and of typewriter ribbons. And Side 4, of course, in red, the colour of Ma’at’s feather.
And in case anyone should complain that this talisman mixes Roman, Celtic, Egyptian, astrological, modern-technological and Cabalistic symbolism, we would answer — so what? We would never so mix symbol-systems in a ritual; but a talisman is a personal thing, and in this case, what mattered would be Stewart’s own resonance with the symbols he had chosen. If he was happy with that particular complex of symbols, that would be all the justification he needed. (As a witch, we might add, he would also be happy that both God and Goddess aspects were invoked.)
The magic squares of the planets are very useful in designing talismans, because, as in the example above, a personal name can be linked directly to any given planetary quality. These squares are made up of smaller squares, like a chessboard, with numbers in the smaller squares. Here are the seven squares:
SATURN
JUPITER
MARS
SUN
VENUS
MERCURY
MOON
In each square, the numbers in any one row, horizontal or vertical, add up to the same total. These totals are: for Saturn 15, for Jupiter 34, for Mars 65, for the Sun 111, for Venus 175, for Mercury 260 and for the Moon 369.
Other planetary symbols useful in making talismans are given, along with the squares themselves, in many books; for example in Barrett’s The Magus, which was published in 1801 and is available in modern reprints. The Magus, a fascinating compendium of traditional ceremonial magic, includes a whole section on talismanic magic. But the most easily obtained book on the subject is Israel Regardie’s How to Make and Use Talismans, one of the little booklets in the Paths to Inner Power series.
Incidentally, there is an error in Barrett’s version of the Square of Venus, which Regardie has unfortunately repeated. The third number from the left in the second row down should be 48, not 43; you can confirm this by checking the row-totals.
Names are turned into sigils by converting the letters to numbers, and then tracing a continuous line from number to number over the chosen magic square. Here is the conversion table:
Taking our example — the name STEWART FARRAR thus converts to 1255192619919.
Another useful book for talisman-makers is Crowley’s 777; his voluminous tables of correspondences can be very helpful in selecting symbols to express the concepts you wish to embody.
You can make a talisman as simple or as complicated as you like; the good old basic rule applies, that the finished object should ’feel right’ to you. But in the case of talismans, there is one advantage of complication; the research, thought and design skill involved do help to root the purpose of the talisman firmly in your mind, and to build up the robust thought-form which is the actual ’bit that works’; the physical talisman is, so to speak, a buoy to which the thought-form can moor itself.
Once the talisman is completed, it must be consecrated. We suggest the elemental form of consecration given earlier (see Section I The Opening Ritual).
Protection of the Home
The best psychic protection of your home is a healthy psychic atmosphere within the home itself, which (apart from being desirable anyway) automatically deals with most undesirable outside influences through the Boomerang Effect. You should also remember always the basic occult rule: ’The only thing to fear is fear itself.’ Quiet confidence is the finest psychic armour in the world; and a home that is infected by fear, personal tensions or other negative attitudes cannot expect to be invulnerable to outside infection. A man with a cold is more susceptible to pneumonia than a healthy one, and the same principle applies on all the levels.
That having been said — there is no harm in erecting purposeful psychic barriers round your home on principle, or as a specific defence at a time of possible danger; just as a sensible healthy man takes reasonable precautions against catching a cold, without being paranoid about it.
The actual form of the protective ritual you use will depend on several things and should always be tailor-made to your own situation; so we do not propose to offer a detailed one, only to suggest a few basic magical methods which you can adapt, combine or develop to meet your own sense of what ’feels right’.
The simplest method of all is, of course, the Magic Circle around the home. For proper emphasis, it should be cast in actuality, using your physical magical tools, rather than mentally when this is possible. If you are lucky enough to live in a detached house, you can walk round the outside to cast it. If you live in a semi-detached or terrace house, or in a flat, you can walk round the inside perimeter, but mentally projecting the Circle outside the walls.
But the thing to remember about a Magic Circle is that it is a temporary measure unless it is deliberately maintained. A coven Circle is very vigorously maintained by the ritual performed within it, and by the togetherness-sense of the coven’s group mind; and it is banished when the meeting disperses, so until then the knowledge that ’we haven’t banished yet’ has in itself a maintaining effect psychologically. An ’unattended’ Circle, however, fades away of its own accord as the hours pass. The general opinion is that its average life is around twenty-four hours.
So for a longer-lasting effect, something else is needed. The difference is basically psychological (and therefore magical); you know that you intend the protection to be effective for a week or a month, or whatever — and the mere fact that you are using a technique which has that intent, and is therefore purposely not the same as your usual Magic Circle, helps to establish its desired life-span on the astral plane.
A good start is to consecrate water and salt, mix them and go round the home anointing every windowsill, chimney entrance, ventilator and outer doorstep with it. As you do so, declare: ’No evil can enter here’ — and envisage the astral reality of the spot (its astral molecular structure, so to speak) actually changing to meet the new requirements. Do this with all the willpower you can muster.
Next, go round all these places again with your athame in your hand, and make the Banishing Pentagram of Earth (see Figure 5) towards each. As you do so, declare: ’All evil is turned back!’3
Fig. 5
Physical objects or symbols expressing the idea of guardianship, in appropriate places, may help you to build up an awareness of continuing protection. For example, there is a stainless steel pentagram on our temple door, and a transparent coloured pentagram on its window; they were put there because they are attractive and appropriate, not through anxiety — but they do enhance the temple’s atmosphere of security. Again, if you are in tune with Egyptian symbols, a picture of Anubis over a door is dramatically effective. And so on.
But we would emphasize again — what does the work is the thought-form built up on the astral and mental planes; any physical object is just ’a buoy to which the thought-form can moor itself, and you should be aware of this in all your working.
One of the most traditional of these physical mooring-buoys is the witch’s bottle buried under the doorstep (not so easy in a town flat or a cemented entrance, but securing it over or beside the door-frame has the same mental and astral effect). Such bottles have been used for many purposes over the ages, and filled with many substances from the exotic to the nauseating. For our present purpose of domestic protection, we would suggest filling the bottle with a small collection of herbs which have traditional protective qualities, and then sealing it firmly. It might, for example, contain the following. (We have given the Latin botanical names as well because these are universal, whereas local names differ; aconite, for instance, is called wolfsbane, monkshood, friar’s cap or blue rocket in various places, but Aconitum napellus will always identify it.)
Houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) against lightning.
Garlic (Allium sativum) against psychic vampirism.
St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) against ’ghosts, devils, imps and thunderbolts’ or demons in general; its old Latin name was Fuga daemonum because of this reputation.
Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) against ’swimming of head’ and hysteria — i.e., mental disorientation or ’freaking out’.
Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis) which in the language of flowers elaborated in Victorian times meant ’I have expelled you from my thoughts'; no harm in adding a dash of humour.
Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), one of the plants of the Goddess in her dark, protective aspect.
Oak (Quercus robur or Quercus petraea) and holly (Ilex aquifolium), symbolizing the Waxing Year and Waning Year aspects of the God, to balance the blackthorn, and also to express the idea of round-the-year protection.
A little research into the literature of herbalism will soon help you to draw up a list suitable to your own needs. For example, if you are Celtic-orientated, you might feel suited by a bottle containing the seven sacred herbs of the Druids: mistletoe (Viscum album), vervain (Verbena officinalis), henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), primrose (Primula vulgaris), pulsatilla (Anemone pulsatilla), clover (Trifolium pratense) and aconite (Aconitum napellus).
It should be noted that henbane and aconite are both poisonous plants; they are harmless enough in a sealed bottle, but they should not be used medicinally except under expert advice.
From plants to animals: Michael Bentine, that highly intelligent author, comic, psychic and paranormal researcher, in his book The Door Marked Summer, gives a useful tip which our own experience confirms. ’No self-respecting cat or dog, or for that matter any domesticated animal, will remain for more than a few moments where any “Dabbling with the Devil” or other negative practices are being indulged in, and will rapidly leave the scene of the crime. I like to have an animal around me when I am opening up to the paranormal field of force, to give me a corroboratory warning of anything negative being attracted to the focus of power that I am tuned in to. This I learned from my parents, who always welcomed the presence of a dog or cat when conducting their investigations.’
This use of witches’ familiars as psychic radar is more important than some of the bizarre functions attributed to them by folklore.
Incidentally, The Door Marked Summer should come high on any witch’s reading-list; a warm but level-headed book, it is a mine of useful information from first-hand experience in the whole psychic field. Another shrewd quote from it on the subject of defence: ’Evil or negative forces abhor the sound of genuine laughter, not snide, sarcastic, sneering laughter, but that marvellous deep belly laughter that shakes the solar plexus and rids the soul of darkness. Hatred, in particular, instantly dissolves in the presence of a good old down-to-earth guffaw.’ (Which makes Bentine himself an outstanding crusader against the dark forces.)
All these magical methods of protection are useful tools when they are needed. But no witch should develop a ’belt-and-braces’ attitude to psychic defence. Paranoid witches, prone to psychic hypochondria, are of little use to themselves or others. Awareness of possible psychic danger should always be balanced by a calm, even joyful, self-confidence. A suit of armour is very handy on occasion, but worn round the clock it prevents the sun and air getting to your skin.
It cannot be repeated too often: the only thing to fear is fear itself.
And finally — for a deeper study of the whole subject, Dion Fortune’s book Psychic Self-Defence should be obligatory reading for every witch and occultist.