Safety is the 2nd base on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid model. Only second to physiological needs like water, clothing and food. Therefore, safety is key to our survival as human beings. It’s also crucial for us to feel whole as individuals – feeling protected allows us to focus on other needs like love and self esteem. So how can magick support one of our basic human requirements like protection? In many ways, and especially when we put our energetic intentions into it. Here we show you how to design your own protection sigil for spiritual shielding, warding and banishing purposes.
First, Why Do We Need Spiritual Protection?
Just as we need a home in which to live and be shielded from the elements, we also need spiritual protection in a world with chaotic energies lurking behind every corner. This is especially true for people who engage in spiritual and magical practices like shamans, healers, witches, empaths, psychics, mediums, and magical practitioners of all kinds. We tend to pick up energies from all around us easily including other people’s energy as well as energy from animals, events, weather patterns, seasons and moon phases. We feel spirits around us. This means we may unknowingly absorb these energies – both good and bad. Setting up spiritual shields is just one part of the protection process, but one that is often forgotten.
How A Sigil Protects You
So how does it work, exactly? Do you just draw or paint a protection sigil and boom, you’re protected? There’s a little more behind the magical mechanics of symbols. First, the intention must be there. Then the creation process which literally pulls the energy from the ether (be it through gods, ancestors, guides or the Universe). Finally, the activation and use of that sigil in alignment with your intentions. The entire creation process draws energy into the sigil…the thought, movement, and use is what fuels the symbol into action. These symbols can be used to ward off negative energies, evil spirits, hexes, the evil eye, illness, and bad luck.
Next, What is a Protection Sigil, exactly?
Put simply, a protection sigil is a symbol that you create with the intention to protect yourself, others, or a specific space. Sigils have been used for centuries to represent specific deities, invoke spirits, and delineate sacred space. In modern times, chaos magic makes frequent use of sigil creation which has trickled into the witchcraft community at large. But creating one’s own personal power symbols is no new tactic. Consider bindrunes, for example. Runes that are combined with other runes into one symbol based on the practitioner’s needs or desires. As mentioned before, we use protection sigils to ward, banish, bind, and shield (all different forms of protection magick).
How to Make Protection Sigils
While you can use protective sigils you’ve found online or in a book, it’s always most potent to create your own. There’s different ways to do this. One way is to take common pagan symbols and turn them into a protection sigil for yourself. For example, drawing a cross with the rune Algiz and encircling the symbol. Each symbol within this sigil carries its own unique vibrations. Another way is to make bindrunes, which we’ll go into in detail in the next section. And the third way, which is based on chaos magic, is to combine letters of a word that defines your intention to create the sigil. Which is what we demonstrate below:
What You’ll Need:
Pencil
Eraser
Paper
Optional: paint and paintbrush, oils, markers, etc.
How to Draw Your Protection Sigil
Gather your supplies
Get into a relaxed, open state (via music, drumming, incense, candlelight, etc.) and call in your guides/gods/angels/ancestors (whomever you work with in magickal space)
At the top of your paper, write (in pencil) the letters P R O T E C T I O N
Visualize, sing, chant (whatever method you prefer) your intentions for this sigil. If I can’t visualize, I enjoy chanting or singing my intentions out loud. Continue to visualize/sing/chant throughout the entire process.
Next, cross out all of the vowels (a, e, i, o, u), so that you’re left with P R T C T N
Following, I also prefer to cross out any repetitive letters. In this case, we’ll cross out the second T so we are left with P R T C N
Cross out the vowels and any repetitive letters
Lastly, combine the letters P R T C N into one symbol. Sometimes the sigil will flow immediately, while other times it might take you a few sketches to get it right. Don’t be discouraged if you have to erase anything or start over, etc. Let the energy flow and the sigil will follow. (see our example below). Note: I don’t recommend erasing your letters at the top of the page. These serve as your initiation of the ritual. You may erase your sigil sketches, if you’d like.
Once your sigil is created, meditate on it for a little while (look at it, soften your gaze, let it speak to you, be open to any messages)
Then thank the energies present and, at this point, you may solidify the sigil with paint, oil, marker, etc. (this is optional but I feel it adds to the energy and pushes your intentions into the ether further).
My final protection sigil is bottom right.
How to Make Protective Bindrunes
I’ve known quite a few people to go online and pull bindrunes off the screen for use in life and magick. I don’t recommend this. The reason being – runes are an extremely personal journey. They’re not just a form of divination, ancient alphabet, or symbols you find online. Runes are a form of communication with the divine. They’re a map to our wyrd (fate) and to the other realms. They’re not to be taken lightly. Each rune speaks to the individual similar to a friend speaking to a friend. What a rune means to me might mean something else entirely to you. Therefore, crafting your own personal bindrunes is best. And they serve as protective sigils, of sorts.
I look at bindrunes as a combination of symbols, but they’re even more powerful than that. As each rune is drawn, you are literally binding each rune to the next. Binding the power into one symbol. One bindrune. One rune is potent…but three or four together as one? Dynamic!
What You’ll Need:
Pencil
Eraser
Paper
Optional: paint and paintbrush, oils, markers, etc. (I highly recommend red paint or marker to finish the bindrune)
Book of runes or other resource showing all runes (as a reference)
How to Draw Your Protection Bindrune
A bindrune I created
Gather your supplies
Get into a relaxed, open state (via music, drumming, incense, candlelight, etc.) and call in your guides/gods/angels/ancestors (whomever you work with in magickal space)
Choose 2 to 4 runes that represent protection to you.
Draw your protective runes individually at the top of your paper, visualizing, chanting or singing your intentions as you draw.
Next, work to combine your runes into one symbol, also called a bindrune. As you draw each rune, say their name out loud and your intentions. Again, if you have to sketch the bindrune a few times to get it right, that’s totally okay! The energy you’re putting into this sigil is what matters.
Once your bindrune is created, meditate on it for a little while (look at it, soften your gaze, let it speak to you, be open to any messages)
Then thank the energies present and, at this point, you may solidify the bindrune with paint, oil, marker, etc. (this is optional but I feel it adds to the energy and pushes your intentions into the ether further). I recommend using red paint or marker, as red is traditional for runes.
Ways to Use Your Protection Sigil
Use your protection sigil any way you’d like. When I create sigils, I carve them into candles, paint them in my grimoire, and draw them nearly everywhere. Some practitioners use their protection sigils on a daily basis by drawing it on their skin, the bottom of their shoes, or even embroidering it into their favorite jacket or pair of jeans. If your symbol was created to protect your home, draw or paint it and hang it by the front door. When you perform your cleansing and warding ritual, draw your sigil (with your finger and a bit of oil) on the doorframes, window sills, and any other entrances to the home. The same can be done for businesses.
In addition, inscribing your protection sigil on your pet’s collar shields your pet from harm. Keep your sigil in your vehicle to protect you in your travels. Protection sigils can even be used to banish negative energy. This is a form of protection but takes a different action. When you go to create your protection sigil, use words like BANISH or GO AWAY. The words and letters that make up your sigil should match your intention. Then paint or use the sigil in a banishing ritual on your candle, in a floor wash, etc.
