Dealing with Intruders, Human and Otherwise

a request from a friend

An online friend asked me, in my capacity as a witch, to please get rid of the wasps, termites and mice in a country home she’s about to occupy, and also to put a curse on anyone breaking into the place.

It’s not quite how witchcraft works. Or anyway, not how I work.

First of all, I don’t do curses. (Some do; it’s a personal thing.) I believe, along with many others, that the energy you put out comes back to you multiplied – so I try to be careful what I put out. In any case, as I explained to my friend, I think it’s much better to prevent people from breaking in, if possible. Cursing someone after the event might seem like a fitting revenge, but won’t fix any damage done or goods stolen. Better if there were nothing to be revenged for. Setting up some magical protections would be a preferable idea! That's both easy and effective. Dealing with human intruders (without cursing) is the easiest of these requests to meet.

Witchcraft is earth-based, down-to-earth, practical. We like to work with, not against Nature. Also we prefer to be pretty specific in our goals. And if there’s a way to get something done without needing to use magical energy, we’ll try that first. (Telepathy’s wonderful, but phoning is easier.) Or we’ll use the mundane methods as well as the spells – on the theory that you try everything which might help.

So I’ve been trying some things, as requested, to clear the invaders out of a house I have never even seen a picture of, and which I don’t know the location of. (A banishing spell. Sending Reiki to the situation. Putting protection over the house.) They may or may not work. And I have some suggestions as to what my friend could do herself.

Because, unlike me, she does know what her house and its location look like, she would surely be better than me at doing some serious visualisation exercises: spending some time getting into a meditative state first and then seeing the place free of pests, clean and shining, structurally sound…. It would be most effective to visualise this in detail, repeatedly and with fervour.(Creative visualisation is a very well-known technique by now. It’s not regarded as specifically Pagan, more New Agey.)

If she wants take things further, in the spirit of working with Nature, she might use some kind of repellent for the wasps and mice – and maybe even for the termites. It could be a spray of some kind, but that’s rather anti-Nature. I’d be investigating the possibilities of repellent plants she could grow, which would keep working year after year. If there are any, that is.

There are ways to communicate telepathically with living things. (I assert without further justification. I know this is so, from experience; but I realise many people might find it hard to believe.) My friend could try this, or I could try it for her – but I’m not sure how effective it might be in this case. Mice, for instance, are usually quite uncooperative. They have trouble seeing any point of view except their own. It might be necessary to provide another place for them, if possible – depending where the house is (I am imagining it deep in the bush, but she only said ‘in the country’, which could mean practically anything). I haven’t worked with either wasps or termites before, so I have no idea how well they respond to requests or persuasion. I have in fact attempted this for her, but at this stage I have no idea if it was successful – nor, if so, how long it would last. I think it's best to try other methods as well.

While I’m not fond of killing things if it can be avoided, sometimes it’s the only or best option. I remind myself that Nature is not always kind and gentle. My friend might do well to invest in some mousetraps! (They could be the kind that catches the mice alive so they can be taken to a different place.) Wasp nests can be destroyed before the wasps hatch. And I am sure there are plenty of experts who could advise her how to get rid of termites.

The most alarming thought is that the termites could already have done irreparable damage. Maybe it’s prosperity magic she needs, to be able to afford to deal with that!