Babylonian-Style Demon-Traps

An ancient charm to protect a home, in two versions.  You can learn more about them at this exhibit at the University of Michigan.

Version One: Emergency



Version Two: Permanent

You will need:
A wooden salad bowl
sandpaper, various grits (80, 150, 240, 600)
salt
water
beeswax
Holy anointing oil (or Abramelin oil "watered down" with olive oil.)
a clean tin can
a mid-size pot
a rock
A sharpie marker
A woodburner (optional)
candles

Before beginning, wash the bowl well with soap and water, and then scrub it out with salt, and give it a final rinse.  Allow it to dry (ideally in direct sunlight).

Once it's dry, over the course of several days, sand the bowl until it is the smoothest thing you have ever touched.  While sanding, always sand in towards the center (ie, up the outsides and down the insides).  Imagine the bowl to be animate, to have a personality.  It loves you, and you love it.  It will protect you, be a strong guardian over you and your home.  I'm not playing.  Love the bowl.  Don't sand for longer than you can keep the feeling up, do it in several sessions.

Design a demon trapping design to go inside your bowl.  Good choices are pentagrams, circles of holy names, or illustrations of demons bound in chains.  You can also write an incantation in a spiral around the inside.  Check out the link above for lots of inspirational pictures.

After you are done sanding, wash the bowl in water, and allow it to dry.

Put some beeswax in the tin can, and set a pot of water to boil.  Put the tin can in the pan, until the wax is melted.  Take it off the heat and slowly mix in oil.  You want to mix in 2-3 times as much oil as wax.  Let it cool, and you should have a thick cream.

Carefully pencil your design onto the bowl; spend some time to get it just the way you like it.  When you are happy with it, ink it in with the sharpie marker or burn it in with the wood burner.  Having done both, I like the ink better, because it makes a much clearer line.   Talk to your bowl, explain what you're doing.  Express your gratitude for its work protecting you.

Light two white candles, and ask God (or whoever/whatever) to empower the bowl as a creature of earth, a strong protective, and divine shield over you, your home, and your family.

Slowly rub your cream into the bowl, thanking it profusely and proclaiming your love.

Place the bowl, open side down, in the corner of whatever room has the front door in it.