Keys, alongside many other easily accessible and everyday tools, have a long history and listed examples of extensive use within folk magick and witchcraft.
The key has two main associations, being initiation and the gaining of entrance into something, and that of blocking or barring entry. This latter aspect of being seen to block access to something is why many witches use the symbol of the key in protective workings. This working will be drawing heavily upon traditional like for like sympathetic magic. We already know the keys qualities when it comes to workings, but we shall also be drawing upon some colour magic for this working too. Did you know that the colour red is not only a power colour for many witches, but also a colour heavily associated with protection?
Red is the colour of rowan berries, and rowan is of course a tree heavily associated within folk and plant lore as having protective qualities. Rowan crosses are said to block the power of evil witches, demons, and dark spirits, and many practitioners of witchcraft and folk ways alike, take up the annual ritual of making rowan crosses with the twigs and berries in the late summer or early autumn to have protection throughout the winter months. Red is also the colour of blood and the link to not only our mother (for we slumbered for nine months within the depths of her womb) but also of our ancestors too. Many witches pursue some sort of ancestral veneration or connection to aid in their spiritual and magical workings, and this often circles back to the colour red.
Red is also the colour of boundaries; the ability to put those said boundaries in place. I remember having a discussion with some fellow practitioners once, and we discussed why red could be a colour for boundaries. Various arguments were put forward, such as anger and defence when someone pushes our boundaries, and that it is often this ‘no, get back!’ response within us that we exhibit when someone has encroached upon us can that we feel the heat of the colour red. However, one particular visualisation floated through my psyche as the discussion ensued and it has always stuck with me.

As a Folk Witch, I work heavily with bramble/blackberry/muin. A plant heavily associated with protection from harm, being an adversary of the devil, etc.
In my minds eye I saw myself sat in a circular thicket of bramble. Outside was circling an unknown enemy, a shadow. Yet every time they attempted to break the break the barrier of my protection, my protector, the bramble, drew blood from my enemy. Drops of crimson blood fell to the ground and yet my boundary remained true. This made me consider the aspect of thwarting enemies in both boundary and protection workings. Could this be another quality associated with the colour red?
It is because of these qualities associated with the colour red that the working requires a cord of red thread.
How you make this thread is entirely up to you. You can plait is, twist it, or like me- use a braiding star. I find using a braiding star for any kind of cord makes a nice neat, tight braid, that is both easy to knot and undo again if needed. Below is a quick example video of how you can use a braiding star, if you want too!

Once you have created a red cord, simply take it and thread it around or through the key. As you do so, keep your intention set in your mind.
Is there something specific you are protecting your home from? A person you do not like, or is a threat to you and your family? Perhaps you live in an area that is known to experience a lot of paranormal activity or you live near a local graveyard and you want to protect your home from any ghostly wanderings? Perhaps you have experienced home invasion in the past, and your looking for some additional protection to compliment the other things you have put in place, such as additional locks, alarms and so on.

It’s entirely up to you how you do this, you can write a chant that you can recite over and over. You can say a specific prayer that you feel will aid in your working, or you can do what I do with this type of working, and that it focus intention on the workings objective, imagine it working, how it will work, what it will do to stop whatever you don’t want to enter your home, and then, when you feel that you have raised enough energy, you can release it with a simple “As I will, so mote it be”, “I will it so”, whatever it is you say or do to release the energy in to the working to do it’s work.

Once this is done, simply hang the key protection charm on or next to your front door from the inside. Not outside. After all, you don’t want your key going missing, and you don’t want anyone having access to it. Sympathetically speaking, leaving this charm outside may not be as effective and it means that whatever your trying to block entry of can see it and try to work around it. There is great power in secrecy, especially protection workings.

When it comes to sourcing keys for this type of protection workings, please do not use keys that actually fit any of the doors to your house. For this type of working there neds to be some distancing from what physically locks your door and what spiritually locks your door. I find old antique keys are the best option, especially if you can source one that used to lock a place of power, such as an old church or government building. You can source such keys by buying them on sites such as Etsy and eBay, or antique shops, or traditionally speaking… steal them.
However, I do not advise or advocate this, I mention it solely as an old example of folk magick. As it was believed to steal another’s key was to also borrow or harness their or the place’s power.

Your key can hang by your door for as long as it needs to, though it is advisable to be aware of the fact that most things in life have a ‘sell by date’, so to speak, even acts of witchery. Therefore, if you want this working to work perpetually, it is advisable to re-charge it now and then. Perhaps annually on a date you will not forget, such as a Sabbat.

Of course many of our modern homes have more than one entrance – windows, back doors, French doors and so on. If you are so inclined, you could place a key charm like this above each window and next to each door – although, protecting the main entrance and visualising the whole space is likely to be effective alone.

Thank you for taking time to read this weeks blog and I hope you enjoyed it!

From the time, mists, and distance between us, blessings from me to you.