June 11th, 2015

I meant to make this post yesterday, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what I wanted to talk about until like 11:00 last night, so obviously that didn't happen.

Purchase from Silver Bonsai

I've been interested in the concept of threshold magick for quite some time, but it was brought back to my attention earlier this week while skimming through Scott Cunningham's The Magical Household. He has a section dedicated solely to the role of the threshold, and what it can mean to the magickal practitioner.

There is an old belief that spirits cannot enter a place unless they are invited, and this is the real point of the threshold as a magickal construction. When one casts a circle, one is establishing a temporary threshold, and as such must then carefully invite in those spirits or other powers which one is working with. The physical doorway acts similarly; doubtless, you've heard stories about vampires or other entities which cannot enter a home until they are asked.

What separates a house's threshold from, say, the doorway into Super Target? I was reminded of a quote from The Dresden Files: Summer Knight. (For those who haven't read the books, a summary; Harry Dresden works as a wizard in downtown Chicago, helping the CPD with supernatural murder cases, and etc. Quasi-Pagan, film noir, and urban fantasy style. Kind of great. I definitely recommend it.) The quote goes like this:

I stepped across her threshold. Something tugged at me as I did, an intangible, invisible energy. It slowed me down a little, and I had to make an effort to push through it. That's what a threshold is like. One like it surrounds every home, a field of energy that keeps out unwanted magical forces. Some places have more of a threshold than others. My apartment for example didn't have much of a threshold - it's a bachelor pad, and whatever domestic energy is responsible for such things doesn't seem to settle down as well in rental spaces and lone dwellings. Murphy's house had a heavy field surrounding it; it had history. It was a home, not just a place to live. 

-Jim Butcher, Summer Knight, ch. 7

Personally, I disagree with the sentiment that rented spaces do not have strong thresholds, but really believe that it comes down to the last statement - in order to have a strong threshold, a place needs to be a home, not just a place where one stays, transiently. This is, in my opinion, the key difference between the thresholds of public and private spaces. In a store, a museum, or etc., the theory is that anyone is welcome, and as such, very little boundary exists. That being said, a case could be made for places like expensive stores, fine restaurants, or etc. - that feeling of unease one gets upon entering may well be a result of crossing a threshold where one is not wholly welcome. Even though the space is technically public, it still caters to a specific clientele and is really only trying to invite them in. 

 Regardless of the semantics of public boundaries, in a home, we consciously and unconsciously project a desire for privacy and exclusivity, and this carries over to the energy of the place. If one were renting a place longer than the short term (say, more than a couple months), I see no reason why the same kind of barriers and protections couldn't be readily established.

As a young adult living at home, I recognize that our house has a main threshold, of course, but other zones have them, too. In open areas, like the living room, the boundary is shaky and not very defined. However, my own room has a much stronger threshold. I keep a very clear division between my space and everyone else's, and even if the rest of my family doesn't know anything about magick, they sure know that this space is mine, and mine alone.

If your concern is that your boundaries may not be strong enough, and you would like to lend more power to the sanctity of your living space, consider some of these ideas.

• Establishing wards is one way to get the ball rolling, by deliberately marking out one's territory on the astral and calling powers to defend it. 
• Redecorate. Get rid of clutter and objects you have no use for or connection to. Try to have the bulk of your furnishings be ones which you, personally, enjoy. 
• Cleanse. It's one thing to leave the energies of, say, a family heirloom intact, but if you're buying anything, especially secondhand, and all the more so if you plan to use it for magick, it's always a good idea to erase the energy imprint of old owners and replace it with your own. 
• Care for your home. Whether it's a city studio apartment or a fixer-upper in the country, be proud of your place. 

The next suggestions for threshold enhancements come paraphrased from Cunningham's book

• Hanging a gourd outside on both sides of a door prevents negativity from entering
• Chalk a circle on the door to stop ghosts from entering (do not use if you like ghosts)
• Dill and garlic both have protective qualities; hanging them near the door will stop ill-disposed people from entering
• A bag of salt or bells hung on the doorknob will stop negative spirits (see also: these amulets)
• A blue door repels evil, as does leaving two crossed needles under the mat
• Ferns, lilies, marigolds, and juniper can all be grown around the door in beds or pots for added protective benefits
• There's no end to what can be done with keys. Any number of protective spells have been devised employing them