Ask Us: What symbol can I use to protect my home?

Have you noticed we have an “Ask Us” button near the top of our main page? Got a question about Paganism and pregnancy or family life that you don’t see answered here yet?  We’d like to try to answer your question.  No question is too big or too small. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll look for someone who does (we know lots of parents, priest/esses, and birth professionals).  Your question and our answer may appear as a blog post so others can benefit from you asking.

Well, we got a question:

“Hi, I’m building a new home for my family and we are almost finished, but before I place the floor I would like to place or draw a protection symbol under the main door. I’ve been looking into sigils but seem to be not exactly what I want. Since the house is made of concrete I thought maybe drawing it in the fresh cement before they place wood floor. I want this symbol to protect all my family from ill intentioned people, and in general from any harm. Can you help me?

Thank you.”

So I asked Mrs. B if she might have an answer. Here’s her reply: 

What an exciting time for your family!  Not only are you in the midst of building a new home, you are in the unique position to make it a magical one from literally the ground up!  I have to admit, I’m pretty envious.

The first thing I’d usually suggest for someone who wants to add symbols to the foundation of their home is to make it personal.  Create a symbol that is unique and meaningful to your family.  It doesn’t have to be a traditional symbol at all; as always, the power of any symbol comes much from the intention of the person drawing it and their belief that it will work.  There are also symbols connected to many gods and goddesses, so if you have a patron, their symbol, or even just their name, could bring blessings from them on your home.

If those ideas don’t appeal to you, I’ve drawn out some of my favorite symbols, found through the years in various books.  The first batch is fairly straight forward.  The symbols for good luck, good health, protection from theft.  Used together, those cover quite a bit!  On the second line, we find the Troll Cross.  Probably not really needed for this area, but it might be fun for the kids to draw, to make sure the house is strongly protected against trolls and other bogeymen!  In the middle of the second line is a simple symbol for protection of the home, and lastly is the lunar cross of protection.  Any of these in any combination would make a great addition to your home protection.

The second graphic I’m sharing with you is an Icelandic stave.  It’s used for protection against all things, living or dead.  I jokingly refer to it as the “zombie protection stave”!  This symbol is wonderful for protection and for sending any negativity back to it’s source.

Another suggestion I’d like to make on the home protection front comes from an old tradition.  It was once quite common to hide shoes in the walls of your home to protect from evil spirits.  While you might not want to go the route of a shoe, creating a spell bag full of herbs associated with protection to hang in the wall may be something you’d like to try, if you still have any open walls.

Here are a few other things you might consider to help protect your home, once it’s ready to move in:

• Place a mirror across from your front door, facing out to reflect negativity and keep it from entering your home.
• Secure a pair of scissors in an open position, blades facing up, close to your front door (and of course high up enough to avoid pets and small children).  These “cut” any bad energy before it can enter your home.
• Draw symbols of protection on the underside of your front door mat, where everyone has to travel before coming in.
• Use a white crayon to draw symbols or even write out a short protection charm, right over your door and window frames.  It won’t show — you just have to remember to wash it away before the next time you repaint!

Best of luck with the new home!  I hope some of these ideas help!

Mrs.B.

For Further Reading:

Icelandic Magical Staves
Tons of symbols and sigils of all kinds

Kris Bradley is the author of “Mrs.B.’s Guide to Household Witchery” and the now retired Confessions Of a Pagan Soccer Mom blog.  She is an ordained minister, Reiki master, and is studying for certification as a death doula.  Find her athttp://www.krisbradley.com