Magick of Spiders

There are several popular ways to banish that tend to dominate conversations in the magick sphere. They range from casual to formal and everywhere in between. Some people use tools and others use only themselves. Much of banishing is about personal preference once a magician has a certain amount of power or energy at their disposal for this purpose. Banishing comes in just as many sizes, shapes, and obscure incantations as there are devoted practitioners.

It is not one size fits all and is oftentimes personal to how each magician came to being a magician. For people who don’t regularly practice magick or those who are still getting their toes wet, banishing is an important steppingstone to evocation, invocation, worship, feeling comfortable, closing down castings safely, and much more. It can be especially important when magick tools like tarot and Ouija are involved—regardless of how safely or recklessly they are used.

Overall, banishing is something that every person, however interested in magick or not, should learn. When we walk around the grocery store or have friends over, energy that isn’t ours clings to us and our spaces. These are far from the only instances though. When we have intense negative emotions in a space, that energy might also linger for a while without a banishing, and if something happens to the neighbors that energy might also affect you and your space. This practice is not only contingent on you and your spiritual hygiene, but also that of those around you at any given moment. Banishing is something that should be happening regularly whether it is through a full and intense cleansing ritual, a simple sentence, an outpouring of energy, or an easy daily practice.

“Banish. Banish. Banish.” These words are a staple of the magick community for a reason. Get on board and stay safe and protected. Learn when to banish, when not to banish, and how to banish.

Why Banish & When Is It Time to Banish?

There are many different and extremely valid reasons to banish and to not banish. Deciding to banish can be as simple as feeling a desire and as complex as having to handle an entity that torments your every moment for months. Deciding not to banish is similarly important. For example, you might walk into a cemetery and feel creeped out, but banishing is probably not the best answer in this situation because you’ve willingly walked into an area with a certain energy that is unlikely to dissipate regardless of your efforts.

It is always time to banish when you feel an energy or entity in your space that feels threatening. It is also always time to banish when you have been having a rough patch–emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, interpersonally, etc.–for a while! Another thing that signals a potential need to banish is returning to your space after you have been out in spaces with dense energy or after other energies have been in your space.

Dense does not only mean many people, instead it can be an intense or impactful type of energy that lingers. For example, attending a funeral or wake could bring about a need to banish. Having other energies in your space could be as simple as family visiting or could mean having police barge in and change the energy through their presence. Whatever alters your perception of a space by charging it in a non-desirable way can lead to a situation where banishing is important.

The next relevant question here is what needs to be banished. It might be easy to know when there’s a shadow person chilling in the corner of the living room, and it might be easier still to know when your friend dropped off a parasite on their last visit. But it isn’t always easy to know what you’re trying to banish if you just have a feeling that something is “off” about the energy of a place or even your own personal energy. This is when being able to “scan” your energy and surroundings comes in handy.

When deciding to banish something external, like the aforementioned shadow person, parasite, or a shade that has randomly dropped by for a visit, consider your motive for wanting to banish. Are you afraid? Has it been making you hungry for snacks at midnight for the last week? Is it threatening you, your pet? Are you just possessive about your space and want it gone? These questions will help determine your best strategy. But they also serve as a check to make sure you would rather banish than come to an arrangement (like binding a wayward shade or adopting a parasite to spring upon your next enemy) with the energy you feel unsure about.

If you are having a personal energy issue as opposed to an external one, deciding what and how to banish is a bit more complicated. You should follow the suggestions above on knowing when it’s time to banish, but you will need to exercise caution that you do not also hurt yourself in the process. This is not limited to physical harm like slicing a hand open; it is more related to your energy and the energy entangled with it that needs to be banished. As mentioned, a “scan” of your energy will be important to determine what needs to be released. This can be uncomfortable, but the banishing of something internal is likely to be even more disconcerting. Only attempt to banish things from within yourself or another person if you know you are capable, have relevant experience, and you (and/or the other party) understand that it is unlikely to be a comfortable process.

When To Not Banish?

This question is very tied to how you manage your power and what you are and aren’t comfortable with. Sometimes, it’s best to banish and sometimes it’s best to wait it out, try to interact with the energy, or something else entirely. Take a moment to reflect if you don’t feel imminently threatened or severely, aching oppressed by the thing you are considering banishing is my best advice. Provided you have reliable judgement, worst case scenario is that you banish promptly and best case scenario could be anything from a new “friend” to gaining something marvelous. In any case, you will have acquired valuable experience from breathing a moment before acting.

I think it’s easiest to discuss when not to banish through personal perspectives and stories, so what follow are quick outlines of some of my experiences not banishing.

First, laziness. Let’s be really honest here. I have known multiple times that a good banishing was needed, and simply not handled it because I wanted to lay down and shut my eyes and not be worried about strange energies. I have taken a nap instead of banishing so, so, so, so many times. I will not lie and say it fixes the problem but ultimately, I put trust in my practices and what protects me (spirits, friends, wards, etc.) and sometimes have simply not cared enough to banish. A couple distinct times I have placed a crystal or sigil under my pillow or set an orgonite dragon head beside me in the bed.

Second, before and after rituals. Some people are very dedicated to banishing pre- and post-ritual. I commend them for it but I am simply not one of those people when doing personal magick. In the very beginning, I can remember light banishing/cleansing before ritual but it was never intense or much more than ringing a bell and pushing my energy outwards. After I picked up my practices though, there are very limited times that I have done banishing related to ritual. One time, an uninvited entity dropped by during my ritual trying to portray itself as the spirit I was calling. Another time, a spirit targeted me (at the behest of another practitioner) in the middle of a ritual I was holding. Baring extenuating circumstances, I don’t see a need to banish and so I just don’t. I trust that the spirits I invite come and then leave. I also trust that the other protective systems I have in place will effectively handle any other unwanted energy.

Third, outside. I treat spirits outside much the same as I treat animals/bugs outside. That is not “my space” and they are free to roam it as they please. For example, in my room the spirits and any animals I encounter have to follow at least some of my regulations but outside is their domain; as it is not mine I am held to being respectful of that. I would not go to a graveyard to do a banishing, that sounds so many levels of wrong. Likewise, I would not wander into the desert and attempt to banish every spirit or uncomfortable patch of energy I walk into. I have, like many spiritual people, come across entities and energies in outdoor spaces. If they make me uncomfortable, I tend to pretend they don’t exist aside from a compulsory shiver if I can’t help it. If they seem respectful, I might nod. If they seem interested in me, I might pause and briefly converse. Just as I would not throw someone out of their own home, I would not banish an entity in its space, outdoors, unless I had a very good reason.

And the last I’m going to mention is because I want to get to know the thing. Once, I had a scary dream there was a shade in the house and it chased me to my bedroom door. In the morning I got up and looked at the place the shade had started from in the dream, sure enough there it was. I got confirmation from another magician as well. I could have done a banishing or a cleansing, but I’m not very inclined toward either as I’m sure you’ve all figured out by now. So instead I sat down in front of the space after dark and read some cards. “Death” was a funny one as I wasn’t sure whether it meant the spirit had died or killed people. Regardless, it decided to respect my rules so I didn’t ever banish it. I was told later to stop communicating with it by a trusted familiar though, so I did. Otherwise, I might have bound it for personal use.

The bottom line is, banish when you feel you need to and don’t banish when you don’t need to.

Banish. Banish. Banish.

The most important is to remember that intention is everything, and power is a close second.

If you have those two things, there should be hardly anything that you can’t manage to get rid of. From “spells” as easy as saying “Get out,” to rites as complex as they can be imagined, intention and power are the two constants. Feel the energy out, take a breath and mediate, focus on what you want gone, and project. There’s no need to be extreme unless the thing is also extreme, which is pretty rare.

In most cases, a space might need a good cleansing after being overwhelmed with outsider energy or a parasite might need the boot. Of course, there are methods out there like LBRP (which I will not comment on as it is not a method I prefer), true exorcisms, and singing bowls. These all work when used properly so if you are using a method that is clear cut and has explicit directions then follow those.

Aside from explicit methods, there are also personalized ones, or preferences that magicians gather along their path. For me, those include asking/telling the thing to leave and forcing it to when necessary. If you know there is something that needs to be banished and can communicate with it, my suggestion is to communicate that you want it gone. If it chooses not to leave, direct a bit of your energy toward it so that it knows you are a magician and are willing to take steps to make it leave. Sometimes they leave quickly, sometimes they resist. When something resists, this is when it is important to make well-informed choices about the path you want to take.

In the case of banishing something external, these might be helpful ideas. With a parasite, simply seeing it and “burning it” can be effective, so can tearing its head off though, threatening it, or offering it another suitable meal. With spirits that are not upper class, but not so weak they roll over at your first request, you might want to meet them on the astral and have it out, or use a more formal banishing rite, religious “music” and certain compositions that are structured with the purpose of banishing can also be helpful aids.

Shadows and shades are not usually the easiest to get rid of and quite often try to resist, but they are not usually too tricky to handle either. A tip with shadows and shades is to completely ignore them unless they demand attention, these beings like to feed off your energy and when you stop handing it over they tend to lose interest. If they are demanding attention though, you can try communicating with them, from my experience most have something they want or something that keeps them around. The ones that are harder to banish, you might have to call someone up, but mostly after a chat you’ll be able to get them out yourself.

In the case of banishing something within you, or something internal, different strategies should be used. Banishing something within you is probably going to be a terrible experience. Banishing something within another person is also probably not going to be a good experience (from a feeling standpoint, but it’s a good learning experience) for you or anyone else directly involved. This type of working aligns well with the term “unbinding.” I’m not giving details on how to do this, but here is background on it.

Banishing something from within another person: My favorite way to handle these is to have the person (the one having something banished from within them) lay down and drift mentally. Don’t anchor to any thoughts, or feelings. After a few minutes, regulate breathing and drop down into a much less focused and much more calm/passive state of mind.

The person conducing the banishing (“you”) can do a number of things to feel more comfortable and make the other party more comfortable. You can light incense, candles, and incorporate other scents into the working. These should all be calming and not stimulating which means for example, Lavender and Vanilla not Dragon’s Blood and Patchouli. Make sure the person you’ll be working on is calm (as can be) and comfortable. Some people get cold easy, some people heat up fast, some people can’t kneel for too long, some people can’t stay still unless they are asleep. You are responsible for the other human involved; this is your ritual and you are running the show.

You are responsible for the other human involved; this is your ritual and you are running the show.

Make sure they have a blanket is my first suggestion because blankets really do wonders for people. If they can’t sit or lay still, have them color in a coloring book or journal; whatever is mindless and devoid of technology should work out. If they’re stressed, have a conversation about not holding on to anything that comes up mentally, emotionally, or physically during the rite. There’s more to this, but these are the barebones of it: make sure they are okay in the beginning because that will set the tone.

You should find a position that you can stay in for a while without needing to shift around too much or stretch. Yes, these banishings/cleansings can be broken up, but there is no telling how long you might spend per session sometimes. Clear your mind–if you can’t then you shouldn’t be doing this. Tune in with the other person, as you will have done a few times leading up to this, and connect with the energy that needs banishing.

This is the nuance part, the part that I am going to vaguely explain because it is not for newbies and not for people who can’t figure it out themselves at least in part. Basically, you manipulate that energy, cleanse it and then it release it. The complicated part with this is that a lot of times, energy that needs to be banished does not want to leave, and often it brings up negative associations that both the person having the banishing done and the person conducting the banishing can experience. There are, of course, other methods. This is just a 11 word explanation of my preferred version (maybe later on I’ll make a real post with this method). For fear of people who are too inexperienced attempting, I will not say more at this time though.

* Before this rite, you need to have scanned this person at least three times to understand what is going on and have a plan to remove what needs to be banished.

* Before this rite, you need to discuss clearly and sincerely what you and the other person are going to do if someone needs a break or to stop the rite. This includes a word/phrase (“I need a break,” or “Pause,” or “Lights,” or anything else) and/or a gesture/sound (hitting the surface you or they are on a couple times, clapping, jingling a bell, etc.). The reason for this is that you are both probably going to have your eyes closed and these rites can get a bit intense. Check in regularly and pause or stop when it’s needed. Don’t torment anyone unnecessarily, it’s not helping anything. You are in charge, this is your rite, act like it and be responsible.

* Read the next section for a personal example.

Banishing something from within yourself: It’s pretty much the same except you are in both positions. Make sure you are comfortable, make sure you are in touch with your boundaries and can recognize when you need a break/to stop. And then do the rite. I would say you should not be coloring or journaling or anything else, mediate and focus completely on yourself and what you want to banish.

I will give an example on this, once I was extremely bound with another human. It took months of unbinding to undo what I had done, mostly, in a couple days. I felt physical pain that this other human felt at times, I also felt mental/emotional feelings from this human. I bound us intentionally because this human was, for a time, very important to me. I intertwined our energy during the binding, I linked just about every part of myself with every part of this human. I could push my mind a bit away from “loud and focused” and know nearly in a moment what was going on with this other human. So, that’s my setup.

The unbinding took months I said. That was the preliminary unentangling work. It was a lot of consciously unentangling myself from the sticky web I had wrapped around us both, it was a lot of emotions and finding the other human’s energy inside me by which I mean the person’s thoughts floating in my mind. One day, after one of my very last communications with this human, I laid down and did this unbinding rite.

I felt it for weeks after. Felt the separation of energy I had held so close to me for so long and heard the thoughts roaring in my mind with all their anger and exasperation. These rites aren’t for fun and they’re hard to get through in the moment and after as well. These rites bring up and stir the past in traitorous ways, they force you to feel every inch and memory and moment as it untangles. Aside from the energy split leading to thinking even more about what’s gone, it can leave an empty space if care isn’t taken to avoid that; it’s also important to be cautious of what you fill that space with if you do.

If you’ve been bound deeply or for a long time, these unbindings/ banishings/ cleansings are going to be especially intense. In other words, for every moment you have been bound and for every part of you that has been bound, you will feel that unbinding. You will feel the “cleansing” which might not feel like becoming clean at all. I don’t advise people try to play with this unless they’re capable of handling it magick-wise and personally. Again, you examine the energy, unbind, and release it. (Remember to release to the right place, inside or out.)