Once you have become somewhat accustomed to spellwork, you will have likely built your altar. Most magicians tinker around with different forms of Magick, create their own spells, and even enchant objects with specific energies. Throughout your witchcraft journey (especially the early years ) there will be a great deal of trial and error. Through that trial and error, you will likely make some mistakes.
Many mistakes in witchcraft will result in the energies you conjure being muddied up, unfocused, and essentially fizzling out before any Magick is achieved. Sometimes, however, a magician will create a spell or enchanted object that possesses unintended effects. These spells have to be undone quickly to avoid potential harm or unwanted outcomes. The problem is that young witches may not be capable of dismantling Magick that they don\’t fully understand. Not to mention, they are typically drained after casting the accidental spell, leaving them too weak to dispel it.
This is where the Binding Box comes in. This is a small box with a lid that can be closed that acts as a sort of vault for spells and enchanted objects whose energy needs to be quarantined. The boxes are also useful for storing potentially cursed items, stones that have collected negative energies, and anything else with a magickal energy that needs to be sealed away.
You can buy Binding Boxes online, but they are fairly simple to make if you have at least a year or so of magickal experience.
To start, you will need some kind of container that is free of any damage or holes. The container needs a lid that closely evenly, leaving now gaps.
On the inside of the box, you will mark the bottom, the top, and all sides with symbols of protection ( pentacle, cross, circle, triquetra, whatever symbols speak to you for protection ).
On the outside of the box, affix some method for signifying that the box is \”closed\”. This may be a latch, a band that buttons down, or even just a ribbon that is tied around the box. This is just a symbolic act that subconsciously \”opens\” or \”closes\” the box.
Inside the box, you will line the bottom with some form of clean fabric. It should feel important and special. Crushed velvet, satin, or even silk works great for this. It\’s all about treating it as sacred.
Inside the box, on the underside of the lid, drawn over the symbol you have already placed there, you will design your own sigil for trapping. The concepts and energies you want to put into this are \”trapping\”, \”sealed away\”, \”chains\”, \”steel box\”. Once the sigil is drawn, remember to charge it with intent and energy.
Inside the box, place a quartz crystal, some protective herbs ( mandrake root or sagebrush are good for this ), and a piece of paper. On the paper, write your commandment for the box. Write that the box is a vault to hold and trap anything placed inside it. Write that \”closing\” the box ( as designated during creation ) forms the bonds that hold the energy inside trapped and that it can only escape if the item it is bound to is physically removed from the box. Fold the paper and place it in the box.
You are now finished. Place the box on your altar or somewhere sacred and reserved for the box. Now, anytime you come across something that you can\’t or shouldn\’t dispel but you also can\’t let run free, you can place it in the box and \”close\” the vault.
This step is optional but it can be beneficial. Some witches carve or draw symbols on the outside of the box depicting deities or angels that they associate with guardians. Michael the Archangel, the Horned God, and Cerberus are common choices. If you would instead prefer to leave the outside more discreet, that is perfectly fine as well.