In our turbulent world, finding inner peace can seem like an impossible task.
The mind yearns for stillness yet is often tossed by storms of anxiety and stress.
Ancient traditions offer symbols imbued with the power to calm our spirits and grant refuge if we open our hearts to their gift.
These sacred symbols kindle the light of hope, helping us transform chaos into order.
Their forms are signposts on the open road, reminding us of the safety found in mindfulness.
When harnessed, their meaning smooths our journey toward tranquility.
What Are Protective Symbols and Why Are They Useful?
Protective symbols are images, shapes, or material objects that are believed to have the power to defend against evil, harm, or bad luck.
They originate from ancient cultural, religious, and spiritual traditions around the world.
The common thread is the belief that imbuing an object with meaning through rituals, blessings, or focused intention can transform it into a magical charm or amulet that radiates protective energy.
Protective symbols are useful for several reasons:
- They remind us to be mindful of potential dangers and threats. Focusing on the symbol’s meaning can put us in a vigilant, discerning state of mind.
- They provide a sense of comfort and security during trying times. The symbols represent a force of goodness watching over us.
- They are a manifestation of our desire for safety and well-being. Investing in an object with this intention brings purpose and control.
- They connect us to something larger than ourselves. The enduring nature of sacred symbols bonds us to those who have used them in the past.
19 Symbols of Protection to Inspire and Safeguard You
Since ancient times, these cryptic glyphs have been trusted as spiritual sentinels, warding off misfortune and shielding us from life’s dangers.
Let their enduring mystical power awaken your inner strength and resilience to confront any adversity.
Protection from Evil Symbols
1. Evil Eye
The ancient amulet depicting an eye is thought to defend against the evil glare that can cause misfortune. The evil eye reflects danger back and preserves your aura’s purity.
Its origins trace back to ancient Greece and Rome. Alexander the Great used the evil eye on shields and casks for protection. In India, the hamsa hand incorporates the eye. Muslims and Jews reference the eye in the Qur’an and Torah. The eye averts envy and the bad luck it brings.
Pro Tip: Hang the evil eye in your home, car, and office to stay safe from harm. Its influence shields relationships and material goods from those who would hex them with the evil eye glare. It also wards off the spiteful glances of strangers.
2. Hamsa
With its eye in the palm, the Hamsa hand averts the evil eye. It also represents the hand of God watching over you. Its five fingers stand for love, power, wisdom, health, and wealth.
Tracing back to ancient Mesopotamia, the hamsa hand emerged as a symbol of healing and protection. Depictions of the hand appear across the Middle East and North Africa, including in Islamic art. Jews call it the Hand of Miriam. Some believe it even channels energy and intuition.
Pro Tip: The hamsa returns negative vibes back to aggressors before they infect you. Place it in your home or wear it as jewelry to invoke its mystical safeguarding properties. Let its energy push back worries and misfortune.
3. Garlic
In medieval times, garlic warded off vampires and demons. It cleanses negative energy. Hang braided garlic over your door to create an invisible shield against dark forces invading your space.
Egyptians fed garlic to workers building pyramids to increase strength and protect health. Hindu myths tell of garlic repelling evil spirits. European lore warned vampires away with garlic, as it represented life and purity. Garlic hangs where windows and doors join to block entry.
Pro Tip: Grow garlic outside your home. Take cloves on trips or rub around windows and doors to establish boundaries. Wear or carry garlic if confronting evil. Let its pure, potent flavor keep your spirit safe.
4. Horseshoe
Horseshoes are believed to hold magical powers in Celtic lore and keep nightmares and curses at bay. Mount them facing up to collect good luck and positive energy.
Blacksmiths considered horseshoes lucky, leading people to collect discarded shoes they found. Their shape resembles a crescent moon, thought to have mystical influence. Horses were important and expensive, so worn horseshoes kept their essence.
Pro Tip: Place a horseshoe over your front door or bed. Use one cast from iron and hang with the two ends pointed up in a “U” shape to hold power. Salt fills the openings to prevent darkness from escaping. Let the horseshoe bless your home.
Family Protection Symbols
5. Gargoyle
These grotesque statues perched on buildings were placed to fend off wickedness. Their ugly appearance frightens away evil spirits who try to enter. Position gargoyle statues by your front door or bedroom.
Originating in early Greek architecture, gargoyles later adorned Gothic cathedrals and buildings. While grotesque, they illustrated evil’s distortion. Waterspouts in their mouths warded off flooding. At night, they came to life and safeguarded structures.
Pro Tip: Display gargoyles on porches, windowsills, and bookshelves. Choose designs featuring animals, serpents, beasts, or mythical creatures with menacing faces. Let them sit guard so you can rest easy. Their watchfulness gives you peace of mind.
6. Lion
In China, stone lions stood guard at building entrances, protecting all inside. Fierce and courageous, with alert eyes, the lion remains vigilant against any who would do you harm.
For thousands of years, lion guardians have symbolized power and protection of both homes and holy places. Chinese lions defend gates while Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity use the lion as a divine guardian.
Pro Tip: Position lion statues outside entryways or facing entrances inside the home. Adopt the lion’s courage and strength against adversity. Let its regal, protective presence uplift and empower your spirit to stand tall.
7. Lock and Key
Secure your family bonds with matching lock and key pendants or tattoos. The lock represents a mother’s unconditional love in protecting her child. The key is the child’s loving return. Close to the heart, this talisman fortifies family ties.
In Victorian times, lock and key motifs symbolized love and commitment. Often exchanged between sweethearts, the giver kept the key and the receiver the lock. Today, they represent any close relationship of caretaking.
Pro Tip: Give locks and keys as meaningful gifts between parents, grandparents, siblings, or dear friends. Display together on a necklace, bracelet, or tattoo. Remind loved ones you hold the key to each other’s hearts in a lifetime bond.
8. Owl
Symbol of wisdom and foresight, the owl sees what lurks in darkness. Place owl figures around your home to ward off misfortune and watch over your family. The owl alerts you to danger before it strikes.
Owl imagery appears in ancient Greek, Celtic, Hindu, and American Indian cultures. With large eyes that see at night, the owl peers into darkness and mysteries beyond human sight. Its vigilance detects deceit and thieves.
Pro Tip: Position owl statues facing windows and doors to scan for threats. Put a figure in your child’s room to monitor their safety as they sleep. Ask the owl to use its wisdom to expose lies and protect innocence.
Spiritual Protection Symbols
9. Om
This sacred Hindu mantra encapsulates divine energy in its sound. Chanting Om aligns your spirit with the universe, strengthening your aura against invasive negativity.
The written symbol ॐ visually represents the Om sound. Its curved line symbolizes the waking state, the dot represents the dream state, and the arc is the deep sleep state, together encompassing all conscious levels.
Pro Tip: Chant Om during meditation or visualize it in trying times. Om purifies, harmonizes, and protects. Let its vibration resonate through cells, lifting you to a higher state. Om connects you to your divine spirit beyond harm.
10. Shield Knot
Celtic in origin, these interconnected squares form a protective knot. The four arms stand for earth, air, fire, and water. On jewelry, it deflects harm from the four directions.
Dating to Viking times, shield knot designs adorned shields, crosiers, and stone crosses. Interlaced for eternity, the lines symbolize life’s continuity. Four elements unite in harmony, forging an impenetrable barrier.
Pro Tip: Wear or hang the shield by entrances at home, work, or in your car. Visualize it as you start journeys for security. The knot’s balancing, fortifying energy brings stability when you feel tossed about. Find shelter in its continuous protection.
11. Triangle
With three balanced sides, the triangle represents dynamic spiritual power. Pointing up, it directs your attention and energy heavenward for divine protection. Surround yourself with upward-facing triangles.
Ancient Egyptians revered the triangle as sacred geometry. The Greek philosopher Pythagoras saw mathematical perfection in its angles. The triangle focuses energy, reflecting negativity away to defend you on all sides.
Pro Tip: Display upward-pointing triangles above doorways, on walls, and in rooms needing protection. Use triangle patterns on rugs, blankets, and artwork. Its dignified strength brings order and pushes back malignant influences.
12. The Cross
A universal symbol of faith, the cross drives away wickedness. Its vertical and horizontal lines unite Heaven and Earth with protective power. Display crosses in your home to disperse menacing energy.
Dating to ancient Babylon, the cross merges the divine world and the physical world. In Christianity, its vertical axis connects God and man. Intersecting lines banish devilish forces from all directions seeking to gain access.
Pro Tip: Hang crosses in entryways, bedrooms, and other vulnerable areas. Wear or carry one when needing extra protection. Make the sign of the cross in troubled times to invoke its sacred guarding force. Surround yourself with crosses to feel God’s watchfulness.
Greek Symbols of Protection
13. Caduceus
This staff entwined with two snakes symbolized safe passage for the Greek god Hermes. The snakes’ wisdom provides spiritual protection, while the staff brings steadiness and strength.
Myths tell of Hermes using his caduceus staff to induce sleep and change form. It became associated with medicine and healing. The staff’s wings represent transcending human limits, while the twin snakes embody duality and harmony.
Pro Tip: Use the caduceus when you feel off balance and need spiritual grounding. Let it center and steady your mind against turmoil. Call on the soaring wings to lift your perspective above earthly woes and see with wise serpent eyes.
14. Labrys
A double-headed axe, the labrys stood for feminine power. Greek goddesses used it to smite enemies and protect the innocent. Place it by your bed or front door to shield your space.
Also called a Lemnian axe after the island where it originated, this symbol represented creation, life, birth, and regeneration. Both heads gave double strength and mirrored feminine duality. Goddesses wielded it in battle to cut down evil.
Display labrys figures prominently where vulnerability lurks. Use labrys imagery when summoning up inner power or severing destructive attachments stealing energy. Let it lend the ferocity needed to defend your spirit.
15. Delta
The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, Delta, resembles a triangle. Zeus adopted this shape for thunderbolts to demolish monsters and shield the gods. Its three lines repel threats from all directions.
In mathematics, delta signifies change. The triangle’s dynamic shape embodies Zeus’s transforming power. Three sides evoke his domain of earth, sea, and sky. Lightning bolts radiate the Delta’s protective capacity.
Pro Tip: Visualize the Delta when feeling powerless against invisible threats. See it pulsing in your mind, emitting the force and energy to repel harm. Let its thunderous shield keep destructive danger at bay. Delta fortifies your spirit.
16. Iris
Iris is the Greek personification of the rainbow and was known to bridge heaven and earth. Her rainbow delivers messages from the gods and thwarts harm sent from mortals. Display its multicolored arch to safeguard your home.
As a messenger, Iris moved between realms carrying a pitcher of water from the River Styx. Her rainbow connected the divine and mundane, blessing Earth with color and diversity. Iris means “Goddess of the Rainbow” in Greek.
Pro Tip: Surround yourself with rainbows using prisms, art, and clothing. Invoke Iris to uplift your spirit above earthly burdens. Let her rainbow lift you up and bear you to safety should darkness descend.
17. Helm of Darkness
Hades wore this helmet to become invisible and avoid danger. During spiritual attacks, visualize donning the cloak of invisibility it confers. Its stealth will conceal you until peril passes.
Offered by the Cyclops to Hades, this helmet rendered the god invisible so he could come and go from the Underworld unseen. Its magic cloak of concealment allowed Hades to evade harm completely.
Pro Tip: Wear or display the Helm of Darkness to slip past obstacles and threats unseen. When feeling the target of malice, imagine pulling its cloak around you. Doing so shields your energy and attention until security returns.
18. Harpe
The sword used by the Greek goddess Perseus could cut through any defense. Keep an image of it to sever negative attachments draining your energy. Its sharp edges will protect your spirit.
This magical, curved sword was gifted to Perseus by gods who knew it could slice through illusions and destroy monsters. It beheaded the Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone.
Pro Tip: Visualize the Harpe when feeling weighed down by everyday burdens. See it cutting bindings and shooting light to dissolve problems. Display Harpe pictures to cut through falsehoods and protect what’s real. Its edge pushes back limitations.
19. Sphinx
With the head of a woman, the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a serpent, the Sphinx defeated anyone unable to answer her riddle. Sphinx carvings guard against mysterious threats.
In Greek myth, the Sphinx blocked travelers from entering Thebes until they answered her riddle. Failure meant death, so she protected against the unwise. Oedipus solved the riddle, and the Sphinx killed herself.
Pro Tip: Use Sphinx images when you need to shield knowledge and discern truth from lies. Let her strength and wisdom stand sentinel when facing puzzling predicaments. Deploy Sphinx protection against enigmatic threats beyond understanding.
How to Use These Symbols for Protection in Your Daily Life
Integrating protective symbols into your routine can have profound effects, inviting in their mystical energy to guard against harm. Experiment with different methods to find what resonates most strongly for you.
Focus on the Meaning
Contemplate the symbol’s significance and purpose. How does reflecting on its origins and the beliefs attached make you feel sheltered or uplifted? Let the meaning give you purpose.
Display the Symbol
Place images of the symbol in your home or office to create a soothing ambiance. Facing the symbol can center your mindset whenever you feel the need for comfort or resilience.
Wear or Carry the Symbol
Keep it close through jewelry, tattoos, or carrying an object imprinted with the sign. Touching the symbol can provide a sense of solace and security throughout the day.
Use in Meditation
Incorporate symbols into meditative breathing exercises. Visualize the shape enveloping and protecting you or repeat sacred words like “Om.” This can induce tranquility.
Final Thoughts
These enduring protective symbols carry mystifying yet comforting messages from past eras into our modern lives. As you learn their origins and integrate them into your routine, may their hallowed energy grant you a sense of empowerment to navigate each day’s uncertainties, awakening your inner spiritual guardians.