Note: This is not a very beginner-friendly spell. I apologize for that. There are a lot of working pieces that need to be here. Does that mean that you can’t cast this as a beginner? Of course not. If you think you have a handle on what it involves, go for it.
This spell is designed to create strong boundaries around yourself for the holiday season of December ’23. We are harnessing the power of the magic word “ABACADABRA” to create boundaries and a clear delineation between what is “yours” and what is “not yours.” This spell relies heavily on folk magic, candle magic, and numerology but can be adapted in any way that suits your practice. It can be used to create a very generalized boundary or used surgically to keep away the acts of a particular individual, organization, or family system.
The Basic Elements of this Spell
SATURN
This spell is designed to harness the intense energy of the many Saturn transits we will experience throughout December 2023 to form a protective boundary. Saturn, as one of the seven planetary powers, is available to all people on this planet. You can work directly with Saturn for this spell (making it folk magic, candle, magic, numerology, AND planetary magic) or not. That is up to you. If you wish to do this magic working directly with the planetary energy of Saturn, I suggest you do so on a Saturday, during the hour of Saturn, or on the day of one of our many Saturn transits. You do not need to leave an offering to work with one of the planetary powers, but I suggest doing so.
FOLK MAGIC
This spell uses the magic power of the word “ABACADABRA” to both create a forceful magic boundary and to decrease the influence of what you are working to remove from your life.
This is done by writing the word itself, either in increasing letters from A to AB to ABA and so on until you spell the full word “ABRACADABRA” in the creation of an upwards-facing triangle (to create or bring something towards you) or in decreasing letters from ABRACADABRA, and then ABRACADABR until you are simply left with A in a downwards-facing triangle (to decrease or rid yourself of something).
Like many types of folk magic, there is no clear origin to this word though it has been sourced to at least the second century. You will find many theories of its meaning, but I want to challenge you with a different idea: its meaning doesn’t matter. The magic of this word isn’t in its meaning, it’s in the numbers.
NUMEROLOGY
ABRACADABRA is an 11-letter word.
When we are additively creating something we start with 1 letter A and add 10 more to create our final product of “ABRACADABRA”.
When we are removing something, we start with the word “ABRACADABRA” and remove 10 letters to create our final product A.
I wrote about the basics of numerology recently. One of the applications of numerology is that we can work forward from 1 moving to a high number to bring something towards fruition, and can work backward going from a higher number to a lower to remove something. Note here that as I mentioned in my post, ABRACADABRA magic uses numbers from 1-10 (like the tarot) rather than the base 1-9 I talked about.
In this way, the word here “ABRACADABRA” isn’t essentially important and any word could work so long as you use the basics of this spell. You could use the word “Boundaries” if you wished.
For the purposes of this spell, we will stick with the word ABRACADABRA as it has a long and storied association with magic, and that has uses as well.
CANDLE MAGIC
When used specifically with a target in mind, this spell has a lot in common with cord cutting. You could choose to add a cord between your two candles and make this spell a cord cutting if you wish. The reason that I don’t do this is that would make this spell more flammable. Please use fire safely.
The Spell
You will need:
2 Candles*
Candle holders (optional)
Banishing or Protection Oils (optional)
1 fire-safe plate or tray for candle burning
A piece of paper and pen, or chalk makers to draw on plate
A notebook or piece of scrap paper
Black Salt – See Notes
1-4 Stones – See Notes (optional)
Herbs or curious specific to your intention (optional)
Tag locks for your target (optional)
*depending on your situation, many different types of candles may work here. I suggest free-standing candles so that you can read the wax, but use what works best for you. You may wish to use a figure candle to represent yourself and use any color associations that you like.
- Brainstorming
Get a pen and piece of paper and figure out what you want to remove or create boundaries around for this holiday season. You may know immediately what this is, or it may take some thought. Do you want to ensure that your father-in-law doesn’t sexually harass you? Are you looking to absorb less energy from the people you have to encounter in your work environment? (I’m looking at you retail workers…I’m so sorry) Do you want your needy neighbor to leave you alone? - Prepare your ingredients.
This can be simple or complex depending on your process and traditions. I give a lot of optional things that you can add to this spell to individualize it your needs. Keep in mind what you just brainstormed above – what is the outcome you want out of this spell? If you want protection at work, add in a way to bring this spell to work with you – perhaps in a bottle you keep on your desk or as a sachet you carry in your pocket.
I would also suggest making a small batch of black salt specific to this working – you can start with a base of culinary black salt if you have it (the sulfur certainly adds an extra oomph), but regular salt will do here as well. Write what you want to be rid of (John S. Doe or my workplace’s Full Name) on a small piece of paper and burn it down to ash. Mix the salt, the ash, and other botanicals that provide protection or banishment to create the black salt for this spell. - ABRACADABRA
The first step in constructing this spell is the writing of our magic world: ABRACADABRA. Your final product should look like the graphic above ^^^ with the full word in the middle and two triangles stretching to the top and bottom of your space. If you can, write on your surface using dry-erase markers or chalk. If it’s not possible, you can use a piece of paper. You want the full word ABRACADABRA to be the center line in your working space.
Note: This spell (we are really and truly doing spelling here, folks) takes up a lot more space than you think it will. It is 21 lines, to be exact. You may get the spacing wrong and have to start over. It’s okay. We’ve all been there.
Ideally, because we are working this spell Away from ourselves, you would want to start writing from the top of the “page” – starting with A, working all the way to Abracadabra, and moving back to A. This may not be possible for you because it can take a lot of spatial awareness to get the ABRACADABRA in the middle this way. If you need to write that first and work your way out to both A’s, that will work fine. We will also add in the movement part of this later in the spell. - ADD YOUR CANDLE TO THE PLATE
Setting candles is a personal process that can vary among different traditions. In a way that works best for you, I suggest becoming better acquainted with the candle you will use to represent yourself during this spell.
This can be done in many different ways. You can carve your name and date of birth into the candle. You can rub the candle over your body to absorb your essence, breathe life into it, charge your candle with energy, and let it sit on your altar; the possibilities are endless. If you have a skin-safe protection oil, you can anoint both the candle and yourself to create a strong sympathetic link. The process can take as little or as long as needed.
Note: one of the reasons that I suggest using a figure candle that you find to be representative of yourself here is because I personally find it easier to complete this step in a candle working when the candle looks like me
Once you become acquainted with your candle, put it in the A spot at the TOP of the ABRACADABRA drawing. This is very important. You need your candle to be on the “MY SIDE” of this spell working. You want the energy to be increasing towards our magic word ABRACADABRA.
Note: But Minx, there are other ways that you can turn this spell. No, this is a spell – literally spelling. We are deep in letter and word magic here. It needs to be read in the way that we are taught to read, left to right and top down. If English is not your native language and the above doesn’t apply to you, that might be a sign that this is not the right spell for you. In this way, this spell is fixed – that is what is Saturnian about it. - LIGHT YOUR SIGNIFIER CANDLE
Again, you should add your own magic here. However you do this, make this a power moment for you. You are in charge here. You own your own boundaries. Up until this point, we were in the creation phase of this spell and the above steps could be done in any order. From here on out, we are casting this spell. Each subsequent step should follow quickly. - CREATE YOUR ENERGETIC BOUNDARY
Using your black salt, create a line across the word ABRACADABRA on your plate. This is the basis for your energetic boundary, a physical representation of the line between “My Side” (what you are bringing with you through the holiday season) and “YOUR SIDE” (all that other stuff you want to keep out). What you put here is what you will likely want to put into a spell jar or sachet to carry this magic during the month ahead. This doesn’t just have to be black salt, I like to add volcanic stones to further ground my boundary into reality. This is where you should add the stones if you are including them in this spell.
If you want to charge a type of charm or jewelry with the energy of this magic, you can place it in the center of the Top/”MY SIDE” half of the spell. (Consider putting it into a dish of some kind to keep it away from potential wax spillage)
Really focus here on building your boundary. You can do this by speaking aloud, affirmations, energy work, or any other way that suits your practice.
You may wish to say the word “ABRACADABRA” aloud after you have finished this step.
DO NOT CONTINUE ON TO THE NEXT STEP OF THIS SPELL UNTIL YOUR BOUNDARY IS SOLID AND COMPLETE. - CREATE AND PLACE THE OTHER CANDLE
The big thing here is that you should tag lock this candle to the things that you are keeping out of your life. You can use names and dates of birth, business names, business cards, or anything that piques your fancy here. If this is a general protection spell to keep other people’s shit at bay you can write “YOUR SIDE” on the candle. You can add a banishing oil here if you would like.
Place the candle on or near the bottom A spot on the “YOUR SIDE” half of the spell. It should be below the line of your boundary. THIS IS IMPORTANT. See above. - LIGHT AND WORK YOUR CANDLE SPELL This is the kind of spell that I think benefits substantially from the caster using their words to power this spell. After you light the candle, talk about what you have created a boundary against. If you are protecting yourself from a particular person or group of people, address them. If you are doing general protection, you can address the candle itself or the planet Saturn.
It doesn’t have to be long-winded or eloquent. You definitely can write a rhyming couplet if that’s your thing, but a few strong words straight from your heart are fine, too.
Depending on your environment and the type of candles you use, this spell might burn out quickly or require days to complete. Please practice safe candle practices and extinguish your candles if you will not be present. If you wanted to use numerology to boost this work, performing the ritual for 4 days (for the structure of Saturn and our 4 sided drawing) would be appropriate. - THE AFTERMATH
As written, this spell is intended to last from the time you cast it until at least 1/1/24. It could last longer. Unless you write an end date until this somehow, this spell will last as long as you are upkeeping it somehow. That said, I am not intending for this spell to be upkept – this spell is designed specifically to protect you during the holiday season which ends on 1/1.
I suggest keeping this spell intact until this date. There are multiple ways to do this. You could keep your tray out on your altar through the rest of the month. You could keep a portion of the boundary salt in a spell jar or other container. If you have charged a charm, that will carry the energy of the spell. After 1/1, dismantle the spell and cleanse your objects or space. When you eventually dispose of this spell, you can do it in any fashion that works well with your practice.
VARIATIONS ON A THEME
There are as many ways to make this spell your own as there are people who cast spells. You can work more closely with Saturn energy by using days or the week or planetary hours, as mentioned above. You can use petition papers, prayers, oils, herb blends, and anything else that you incorporate regularly in your practice. You can include your deities, ancestors, or familiar spirits.
I want to touch on a few ways that I can see to alter it for specific situations.
BANISHMENT
If you are using this spell to banish a particular person, I would immediately collect the remains of the “your side” candle and put them into a small spell jar with additional banishing components and dispose of this jar off of my property. I would personally use a public trashcan, perhaps in a space of public transit to show that I would like them to move AWAY from me.
If using a spell like this to banish, I find it especially useful to do a wax reading on the “Your Side”/Target candle to see how successful the spell will be. Note here if the wax from this candle moves towards or crosses over the black salt boundary. Some people are very persistent and will need stronger magic than this. PROTECTION OF THE SELF
I touched on this above, but I wanted to reiterate this here. If you need to bring this spell with you out into the world (when you go to work or to a holiday party) – BRING THE SPELL WITH YOU. Take a small bit of your boundary black salt and seal it into a small bottle or wrap it in a piece of cloth to make a sachel. Alternatively, you could charge a charm with this spell and bring the charm with you. PROTECTION OF YOUR HOME
This can take on a couple of different forms. If you work from home and need protection over your devices to keep out people’s unnecessary shit, try charging an object that you can keep next to your computer or device. (something that you can wear on you while you work might work here, too) If you are inviting people into your home from the holidays, you might wish to take your protective black salt barrier and line the doors to your home with it. (Under a welcome mat works perfectly for this) You can instruct this barricade to do nearly anything – remove unnecessary negativity for anybody who crosses over it, as an example.
EMPATH PROTECTION
Yeah, I know, it’s a taboo word these days, IDGAF. Some people need energetic protection from other people’s emotional spew. That’s just the way it is. Whether it is actual psychic empathy or unhealed hypervigilance, the end result is the same. This spell absolutely can help with this. I don’t think that it’s a good long-term solution, but I know from personal experience that the holidays are rough for HSPs. I highly suggest using lava stone (porous basalt) as a part of your energetic barrier if you are struggling with this. This is entirely my UPG but lava stone filters impurities out of water and I have used it effectively to filter out unwanted emotional input on many occasions. In this case, I would use the lava stone in the barrier and then carry it on me for the duration of the spell. I must reiterate this though: this is a stopgap and will not make you better at handling overwhelming emotions or emotional output from other people in the long term. Use it sparingly because it can dim your emotional input overall which has other yucky side effects.
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I really hope y’all find this helpful. Though this spell is drawing on our strong Saturnian influence during the month of December, it could be used at any time with or without Saturn’s influence.