Many novice witches hear stories about what went wrong or of what could go wrong with their efforts. The rumor mill in the pagan community they are apart of can often make a young witch more troubled and anxious then necessary with out supplying any form of resolution for the fear. Just as the adage says ‘trust in God and lock your doors’ when it comes to dealing with life in general, it also holds true for the spiritual aspect as well. Often, most people go about their day with their spirit wide open to possible attack or other things of malevolence. This isn’t because they’re unwilling to protect themselves but rather because they don’t know how.
There are several different ways to create a spiritual shield that can be used by even the youngest of novice witches. These spiritual shields work on the basis of manipulating one’s aura and bio-spiritual energies to act as a filter for the energies that are encountered on a daily basis. Among the benefits of using a spiritual shield is an increase in energy and stamina when dealing with persons who are in an unpleasant mindset or of a contrary nature; heightened awareness of the currents of the spiritual energy about you; and an increased awareness of one’s own bio-spiritual energy fluctuations.
Spiritual shields can be divided into three basic forms. The first is a strictly spiritually based shield. These rely on focused attention and conscious control over one’s bio-spiritual energy. The second is ritually based in a physical setting. This is most commonly seen in the protective circle drawn at the beginning of most Wiccan rituals. The third form is the non-ritual, physically based shield, also known as a talismanic shield. These three forms of spiritual shielding can be used independently or in concert with each other.
The first form of spiritual shield is based upon the concentration and visualization of the practitioner. There are six basic variants of this type of spiritual shield. They are, as follows:
- Mirrored Sphere – a mirrored sphere on the outside with a matrix of white light within that can transform any energy absorbed into healthful and desired energy for the practitioner
- Armored Sphere – akin to the mirrored sphere, except this is visualized as being made from armor
- Castle – a non-permeable variant of the armored sphere, often visualized as built from stone and mortar like a castle
- Air – an Elemental based version of the mirrored sphere
- Fire – see Air
- Water – see Air
- Earth – see Air
For each of these shields, the shield is generated when the outer layers of the aura (known by some as the bio-spiritual energy envelope) is polarized or hardened against specific spiritual energy forms. In the case of a polarized shield form, the shield allows only specific spiritual energy thru as keyed according to the practitioner’s choice. Thus, the shield created by Missy Jones, a neophyte witch, may only permit loving energy to reach thru her shield as it reflects all other undesired energy. With a hardened spiritual shield form, the shield does not permit any energy to permeate it but rather reflects and redirects all undesired spiritual energy.
Ritually based shields are extremely common in modern witchcraft, though they’re frequently not recognized as such. The use of the protective circle is ancient in European and European based magical systems. Similar practices are found in other magical systems from around the world and have contributed to the development of the modern occult use of this ancient practice. As a general rule, protective circles (or spheres as some are also applied) continue to exist and be engaged until banished. Improperly cast protective circles will be less effective and possibly prone to weakening over time. Like any and all rituals, a ritual that is well rehearsed and performed with a focused attention to detail.
A talisman combines the physical element of a ritually based shield with the attributes of a purely spiritually based shield in a small, hand held item. Often, protective talismans are worn and are frequently reinforced with a culture’s sense of tradition. It is this additional layer of meaning that makes talismans particularly effective. It draws upon the cultural and social bio-spiritual energy of the people about the practitioner who recognize the talisman for what it is. As such, the talisman gets an extra ‘boost’ to its spiritual energy and thus becomes more effective. This is why modern witches will frequently use talismans that are recognizable for the given purpose from the predominant culture about them (like the lucky penny or rabbits foot for good fortune).
