While there are witches who prefer not to do any banishment - myself included, I think everyone should know how to perform at least one method of banishment to protect themselves and their own space. Some might say that banishment goes hand in hand with protection.

When to banish?

It's recommended to perform a banishing whenever you feel vulnerable. If you're in an unfamiliar place or feel an energy that transmits an unwanted sensation, perform a banishing. Whenever you begin and end a ritual, the practice of banishing before and after rituals ensures that no intrusive energy interferes. Initially, it serves as a warning that only invited guests may enter the circle. Finally, it confirms that only the emanated energies resonate with the Universe.

Upon waking and before bed. Banishing upon waking helps keep your strengths active so that the day is free from unwanted influences. Before bed, it protects you in the dream world.

Which banishing to do?

To be effective, the banishment needs to make sense to you as an expulsion. It's important to test different approaches and see which ones work for your psyche, understanding that you're strengthening yourself in the face of your weakness.

It is recommended to have at least three types of bans in your repertoire:

A simple and discreet method that can be used in public environments;

A ritualistic method, used during magical acts;

An elaborate method for correcting spells gone wrong or dealing with more complex obsessions and possessions.

Types of banishing

Sound: with musical instruments, bells, music or songs.

Physical: with sigils, meditation, amulets, herbal baths.

Mental: with visualizations of symbols or making them in the air with a finger or equivalent instrument.

It's possible to combine different types of banishing to enhance results. Ideally, you should create and customize your own methods. Prayer or mantra, for example, are powerful banishing rituals that bring you into a mental state aligned with your intentions to promote energetic cleansing.

Discreet banishings

Watch something funny (video, joke) to shift thoughts from fear/insecurity to something fun.

Snap your fingers so the negative energy goes away.

Put on some banishing music in your headphones and listen carefully. Have a playlist ready for this. Or make your own mantra / song.

Make the movement of wiping dust from your clothes, visualizing the bad energy being expelled. Pass your hand in front of your body, forming an energy shield.

Draw protective or banishing sigils repeatedly on paper or your skin.

Say a prayer to the gods or spirits you trust for protection.

Ritualistic banishings

Make a magic circle around you.

Burn protective herbs around the home, light some incense, sprinkle salt over the windows and doors.

Light a black candle anointed with oil (from top to bottom) to draw out unwanted energy. After it burns, break the wax and discard. If necessary, write the name of the person attacking you on the candle, crossing it out.

Place sachets of protective herbs or banishing sigils in the ritual area and invoke their forces during the act.

Play a percussion instrument (earth) to ground energies or a bell (air) to carry them with the wind.

Draw banishing symbols in the air with your finger, wand, or athame at the cardinal points. You can also form the symbol by snapping your fingers.

Complex banishings

Purification and protection herbal bath, with herbs like coarse salt, rosemary and rue. Or do an egg cleansing.

To banish an object: Place it in a box of coarse salt, in the center of a circle of black candles anointed with protective oil and salt. Then, bury the box away from home.

Prepare banishing spells by asking for help from spiritual mentors, gods, or nearby spirits.

For energy sent by someone: use a magic doll representing the person and work on potential mental pattern changes.

Make representations of the person or situation to be banished and place them in a mirror box consecrated for banishment.

There are also famous banishing models, the most famous being that of the Golden Dawn; the Ritual of the Lesser Pentacle (RMP) is a fundamental ceremonial ritual in modern occultism, created by the Order of the Golden Dawn to protect and focus a practitioner before magical workings. The ritual involves visualizing pentagrams at the four cardinal points, along with invoking divine names and archangels, to seal a magical circle of protection.

Another famous model is the Ruby Star Ritual (Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram for Thelema), a banishing and invocation ritual based on Thelema and Chaldeans, conceived by Aleister Crowley. It uses a set of gestures, Greek and Latin words of power, and the visualization of pentagrams to invoke and banish forces, beginning with the Kabbalistic Cross and purification, and concluding with the closing of the circle.