One of the fundamentals of paganism and esoteric wisdom is protection. Here is a brief overview of what this means within esotericism and how you can practice protection.
What is protection?
Protection creates a barrier between our energy and other unwanted energies. These unwanted energies could be from another person, envy or jealousy, negative or malicious entities, harmful electromagnetic waves such as wifi, and so on. The goal of protection is to act as a force field of sorts, preventing unwanted energies from reaching and interfering with yours.
You may already practice protection if you've ever been around a friend or parent who feels super draining and you feel the need to close yourself off or avoid hugging or touching them. You may practice protection if you've ever felt the need to wear a specific shirt or piece of jewelry to bring comfort to yourself.
Why do I need protection?
If at any point during your daily routine, you find yourself feeling suddenly drained, exhausted, fatigued, etc. for no explainable mundane reason, ask yourself what’s happening around you energetically that could be causing that. Remember, if you just went to the gym or had a busy day at work, our body’s natural need to recover by showing symptoms of tiredness is a mundane reason for needing to rest and recharge. But sitting around at lunch with a group of friends and feeling completely drained should cause you to raise an eyebrow as to why you feel that way with this particular group of people.
Energy is everything to us. It fuels us. It allows our bodies to operate efficiently. When our energy is interfered with in any way, it can inhibit our creativity, inspiration, and ability to think clearly, bring down our mood, and cause feelings of fatigue, sickness, and exhaustion. Protecting our energy allows us to keep everything in order and balance within ourselves so that we are healthy and thriving physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
How can I protect myself?
Setting Boundaries
Protecting your energy can come in the form of the word no. No is a complete sentence too. You’re not obligated to spend time with people who are draining to you. You also aren’t required to agree to go places or do things that aren’t aligned with what’s best for you. Saying no to protect your energy and create or maintain boundaries is one of the greatest forms of protection, but in situations where saying no isn’t on the table, such as being at work, running errands at a busy grocery store, or traveling via crowded transportation, utilize one of the other protection methods listed below.
Visualization Exercises
One of the easiest, simplest, and most effective forms of protection can be done through visualization exercises. This can be done at any point in time to protect your energy from anyone or anything that might want to feed off your energy, send you negative energy, or otherwise bring harm to you (intentional or not). All that is required is closing your eyes and visualizing a bright light surrounding your whole body from head to toe. You can visualize this bright light surrounding yourself, your home, your dreams, your thoughts, or whatever you feel is necessary. Allow your body to experience the warmth of the bright light you’re visualizing and sit in that feeling until you’re ready to open your eyes—and that’s it. Easy, simple, and effective.
Energetic Objects
Objects that contain energies and have their own frequencies can be used to protect you. These items can be worn, kept in your bag if you’re on the go, placed around the home or in your bedroom, and so on. Energetic objects can range from crystals, gemstones, and minerals that have frequencies that absorb or deflect outside energy that is negative or harmful, such as obsidian commonly used to absorb negative energy so it doesn’t impact the person using it, or shungite, which blocks harmful EMF waves from wifi and cellular devices from interfering with the human body. Other types of energetic objects for protection can include herbs or oils such as lavender, amulets, or talismans with symbols to redirect or transmute harmful energies, and so on. Protecting your energy through this method can be as simple as buying or making an obsidian bracelet or necklace to always wear when you’re out in public surrounded by a lot of other people’s energies or attaching a piece of shungite to your phone, laptop, or wifi router.
Protection Rituals
Lastly, another common form of protection is rituals using your intentions and a combination of ingredients, such as wards or spells. The possibilities when crafting a ward or spell are nearly endless but mainly have to do with your intentions. For example, someone may set their intentions to protect their energy while braiding their hair and use this as a form of protection for the day. Another person may create a wreath for their front door assembling objects that bring a sense of safety while keeping their intentions set on protecting their home. And yet another person may plant a garden with herbs such as basil, sage, and rosemary with the intention of protecting themselves and their family. The possibilities truly are endless, but the key is always your intentions throughout the ritual, which we’ll unpack even more of in other lessons.