Protection of the home is important for any magickal practitioner or witch, which should be done on a regular basis, no different than locking your doors at night or when you leave your home.

Spiritual protection of the home can be done with different intentions or purposes whether to protect the home from spirits, intrusions, enemies or to protect the inhabitants or guests.

Here we’ll look at the different ways and methods that you can use to protect your home spiritually.

In this post, we’ll cover:

Ritual Oils
Four Thieves Vinegar
Holy Water / Florida Water
Salt / Witch’s Salt
Amulets
Incense / Smoke Cleansing (Fumigation)
Candles
Calling upon a House Spirit

How to Protect & Cleanse Your Home Spiritually

Let’s begin with a ritual oil that can be used for protecting the home or sacred space within the home.

Ritual Oils

Ritual oils are created with different intentions and purposes which can be used for charms, amulets, candles, charm bags, or anointing the body, clothing or other items.

Protection oils are listed as ritual oils and can be can be created at home or purchased from a botanica or metaphysical shop.

If using a ritual oil for the first time on the body, clothing or item, be sure to test the oil on a small area to ensure there are no allergies or staining that may happen.

Ritual oils for protection in the home can be used on the corners of doors or windows and around the perimeter of your home if you have a fence or boundary line.

A ritual oil can be dressed / anointed on a candle for protection that can be burned in the home in a sacred space or altar.

More about candles and protection of the home later.

Four Thieves Vinegar

Four Thieves Vinegar has the legend and story about how this “dressing” was created. The myth of this vinegar comes from Marseilles in between the XIV and XVIII centuries during the Black Plague (depending on the version of the story.)

A group of four thieves managed to break in and steal from resident homes and graves using a blend of vinegar and herbs in their masks to protect themselves from becoming sick from the disease.

The thieves were caught and to the surprise on many, they hadn’t become ill despite what they had done.

In exchange for leniency, the thieves revealed the recipe of the vinegar to the authorities.

Four Thieves Vinegar is said to keep illness away, negative energies and harmful spirits. It’s also made as a vinegar dressing for salads.

This vinegar can be used on doors and windows placed on the corners or on doorknobs and locks.

In addition to this, Four Thieves Vinegar can be used on the body behind the ears, on the neck or dabbed inside a face mask.

Holy Water / Florida Water

Holy Water and Florida Water can be purchased from a botanica or metaphysical shop which can be used to wash floors, windows or doors or anoint doors, windows and the body.

Holy Water and Florida Water can be sprinkled around the home along the walls, especially useful if you have neighbours on the other side of the wall.

Holy Water can be sprinkled around the bed to have better sleep and to be protected while you sleep.

Salt / Witch’s Salt

Salt is a common item to use for protection in witchcraft and magick.

Black Salt or Witch’s Salt is often made with salt and charcoal or ashes from a fireplace or cauldron.

The salt can be sprinkled around the home, along walls, doorways and windowsills.

Interesting tip: Sprinkling salt around walls and doorways can also help prevent some bug problems as the salt may repel some insects. Unfortunately, salt won’t kill bed bugs, but it can repel cockroaches in some cases.

Try this recipe for making Witch’s Black Salt.

Amulets and Talismans

Amulets for home protection date back hundreds if not thousands of years.

Every culture and tradition has some form of talisman or amulet to bring good luck, good fortune and protection to the home.

Some people may use a new or used horseshoe over the door to bring good luck and protection.

Some traditions believe that a used horseshoe is better than a new horseshoe as as the older horseshoe protected the horse’s hooves on its journeys.

If the horseshoe is facing up as the shape of a U, it’s believe to keep the luck in the home.

If the opening of the horseshoe is faced down, it’s believed by some traditions that the horseshoe will pass good luck onto whomever walks under it and through the door.

Evil eye amulets and talismans are found in Turkic and Mediterranean cultures, popularized and commonly found in Israel, Turkey and Greece, to name a few countries.

These evil eye charms are said to avert envy and ill wishes from others.

If you work from home, you may wish to keep a protective amulet near your laptop or computer or in the room that you do most of your work.

Keeping a protective amulet near the front door or the door where you receive guests is also ideal.

In Ukrainian folk tradition, a motanka doll is used as a protector of the home and guardian of ancestors.

Talismans can also include saints such as St. Michael who’s a protective saint.

For evil eye talismans and amulets, check out Evil Eye Creations on Etsy.

For Saint Michael products, try Original Botanica.

For more about other saints and magick, read more about Working with Saints in Magick.

Incense / Smoke Cleansing

Incense and smoke cleansing can be done to clear the energy and space in your home.

This is different than ‘smudging and shouldn’t be confused or used interchangeably.

The herbs that are used for protecting your home or sacred space are alternatives to white sage, however garden or “common” sage can be used which is frequently found in cooking and certain recipes.

Specially crafted incense blends can be purchased or created that can cleanse and protect your space and home.

There are incense sticks that are marketed for protection as well as loose incense blends such as this one from The Witchery that’s intended for burning on charcoal.

Resins and gums can be used for protection and purification, including incense, such as frankincense and/or myrrh.

Note: when smoke cleansing you home, leave at least one or two windows open to allow the air to circulate in your home as you do the cleansing. This will also push out the negative or stagnant energy.

Candles

A simple white candle can be used for spiritually protecting the home.

For added emphasis, a black candle can be burned first and then a white candle or a black/white reversible candle (black on the top half and white on the bottom half) can also be used.

This candle can be burned in the centre or your home or on your altar space. You can also carefully carry the candle from room to room to cleanse and protect the home, then placing the candle on your altar.

The candle can be anointed with a protection oil and/or herbs added to the candle.

Keep safety in mind and avoid placing too many herbs or items on top of the candle. You can push the herbs or anything flammable away from the wick and keep the candle burning within sight while lit.

Calling upon a House Spirit

In Slavic culture, there are house spirits that live and protect the home.

One of these spirits is called the domovoy (Russian: домовой) or domovyk (Ukrainian: домовик) that lives in the home and protects the inhabitants. In the fields of the home, the dvorovoi (Russian: дворовoй) protects the cattle and livestock.

There is also the kikimora (Russian: кикимора) who is said to be the counterpart to the domovoy but is sometimes more fearsome. These spirits can be helpful, but also mischievous, especially if the inhabitants of the home fail to take care of their daily chores or neglect to tend to the domovoy.

For more about the domovoy / domovik, read more about this fascinating housemate here.

Calling on a house spirit can assist the homeowners with protecting the home and inhabitants.

In other cultures, there are similar house spirits like brownies (England/Scotland) and goblins (Germany).

It’s a big responsibility to call upon a house guardian to protect and welcome them into your home. If you’re not the neatest or tidiest of people (no shame in that!) then it may be difficult to keep a a house spirit happy such as a domovoy as they prefer to have a tidy and clean home.

There are other spirits and watch guards that can be set up to protect the home such as invoking the elements regularly to create a elemental barrier around your home.

Keeping an item to represent the elements in each cardinal direction of your home (North, East, South and West) can be a good start.

These are just a few ways that can be done to protect and cleanse your home spiritually.

These can be done regularly, weekly, monthly or whenever you feel the need to increase the protection of your home and sacred space.

If you have difficulty remembering when to do these spiritual cleansings or you become busy with life in general, you can always schedule to do a spiritual cleansing, some protection and maintenance on your home during the dark moon, new moon or full moon each month.