When Your Roommate’s Friend Brings a Gremlin

Earlier this Spring, we interviewed Laura Tempest Zakroff on her book about the art of crafting sigils, and we asked so many questions that we never had a chance to hear her ghost stories. Well, Hainted Loves, today is the day! Finally, we witness the theory put into practice, as Tempest tells us about the various spirits she’s lived with—most of whom were not evil, but could be annoying—and the wards she’s used to corral them.

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Episode Summary: How to Ward Against Annoying Spirit Energy

You can work hard to ward your home from evil entities. But sometimes, something can still slip past. Perhaps you didn’t consider warding your driveway, or your roommates’ friends. Or perhaps, something just keeps coming back when you’re all alone in the house.

Today we speak with returning guest Laura Tempest Zakroff. Last time she spoke with us, she taught us all about the use of sigils in witchcraft. Now, she tells us stories about the chilling paranormal experiences she has had that have made her particularly attentive to warding her home against evil spirits.

About the Guest, Laura Tempest Zakroff

Tempest of Rhode Island is an award-winning author, an artist, a performer, and a witch, among other things. She teaches workshops and classes on the art of sigil craft and more. She’s published 11 books and oracle decks for your various modern witchcraft needs.

You can access her live workshops, social media, and store through her website. Keep up with her books and workshops on her social: IG: @owlkeyme.arts, Twitter: @LTempestZ, FB: facebook.com/lauratempestzakroff or YouTube. Becky avidly devours the exclusive content Tempest posts on Patreon, and can’t wait for her new Sigil Witchery Oracle Deck to go on sale.

How do Wards work to protect your house from evil spirits and energy?

Lurking basement creep energy. Trash panda gremlin energy. Thank goodness Tempest is so good at crafting wards! Because that’s just what happens when you get that many witches in one spot.

Can you accidentally trap an entity inside with wards?

As Tempest says in this episode, we rarely think to ward or cleanse liminal spaces, like driveways. Also, we tend to think of the “entrances” of our home as the places where an adult human would be likely to enter the house. Few of us would think to ward our chimney, dog door, or the hole in the side of the house where the dryer vents through, even though technically these are all entrances (or at least exits) to our homes.

But as we know, ghosts don’t follow silly corporeal rules. According to many belief systems, spirits can walk right through walls, meaning anywhere could be an entrance. Perhaps that’s why practices like Feng Shui ward every inch of the home (in a sense), including solid walls. (Although if they pass through walls freely, how do ghosts get stuck in corners?)

How else can a ghost get into your house?

Instead of doors and windows, ghosts might enter our home through flowing water in a bathroom, electrical current to an appliance, a cursed object, or attached to a person. These alternative conduits could be particularly useful for spirits if our attics sport protective witch windows, and our porch ceilings are painted haint blue, a ward in itself.

We’re also constantly being told that spirits expect a certain amount of being treated like living humans. In some cultures, they get a seat at the table long after death. Perhaps some spirits hold themselves to that standard, and only enter homes through doorways like proper living folks. Even still, if a spirit felt trapped inside my home by the wards on my front and back doors, I’d like to believe they could choose to quietly slip out the vents in my soffits.

Wards, like much magick, are all about intention.

If spirits do follow human rules as some sort of psychological habit, however, it’s possible that wards work simply because someone with enough inherent magic has set the intention that they will. In that case, it doesn’t really matter where you put your wards. At least, not to the spirits. Placing your ward somewhere visibly prominent might remind you that you have it, and placing it near a doorway reminds you what it’s there for. If magick=intention, then the reminder to the caster might be all the spirit needs to respect the ward. In that case, setting wards with the intention that they should keep evil spirits out of your home, not in your home, should be all that you require for a successful protection spell.

Does sage evict good house spirits, too?

Tempest’s Italian Sicilian mom taught her to keep a clean house that’s full of meaningful, yet tidy belongings. The importance of the care and feeding of beneficial house spirits is kind of a thing in that culture, as you’ll recall from last year’s stories about La Bella Umbriana. Tempest prefers wards to sage because she worries that the beneficial spirits in her home might be evicted with the evil ones. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of sage.

Read Tempest’s book Weave the Liminal for more tips on creating helpful wards in your home without ousting beneficial spirits or trapping ghosts inside.

Witches Night Out Market

Are you local to Rhode Island? Check out the Witches Night Out Market Tempest brought to New England when she moved from Seattle. They’re a group of local witches and magical practitioners based in the New England area. The goal is to build and strengthen the local community through networking, education, and creative events.

How do you ward your home against evil spirits?

Do you display a hamsa or a nazar in your house? We’ve released some content on Patreon about our various ward experiences, but I think it’s time we delve deeper. Stay tuned for more traditions, folklore, and superstitions about warding a home from evil spirits soon. Check out Skepticism with a side of Jewish Mysticism for a spooky day in the meantime!