A Witch’s Guide to Banishing Spells

There are many types of spells in witchcraft. Love spells, money spells, and protection spells are some of the most popular. But, there’s another powerful spell that you should have in your repertoire. And, that’s the banishing spell.

A banishing spell is used to remove something you no longer want around you. This could be making an ex disappear from your life, ordering a troublesome spirit to leave a space, or simply sending unwanted people and negative energy away or putting a stop to bad habits and gossip.

Banishing spells are essentially leave me alone spells and can be used on people, their behaviors, or entities.

The key difference between banishing and protection magic is timing. Protection spells are generally used to create a boundary that keeps unwanted energy or influences from getting in. Banishing spells deal with something that’s already there and needs to leave. If the “block” function on your phone isn’t enough, this can help send something on its way.

In this guide, you’ll learn what banishing spells are, when banishing is appropriate, and how it differs from cleansing, binding, cord cutting, and uncrossing. You’ll also find out which herbs and tools are traditionally associated with banishing magic and get five practical banishing spells you can use depending on what you’re trying to remove.

What Is a Banishing Spell?

A banishing spell is a magical ritual used to remove a person, energy, influence, behavior, or situation from your life or space. The goal isn’t necessarily to harm whatever you’re banishing. In many cases, you’re simply creating separation and making it clear that something should leave you alone. Permanently.

You might use banishing spells in witchcraft to get an unwanted person, entity, or spirit out of your life, break a destructive or harmful habit you’ve been struggling to stop, or put an end to gossip.

That said, even though banishing can help remove spirits, if you think you’re dealing specifically with a spirit or entity, use a practice appropriate to your tradition rather than assuming a basic spell jar is going to be powerful enough for spirit work.

And, of course, like with all magic, if you’re trying to remove someone who is causing real trouble in your life, always pair the magical with the mundane. Block numbers, document what is happening, involve authorities or professionals when appropriate, and make sure you’re physically safe. Then light the candle and turn your magic up to eleven. (Or, higher.)

Banishing vs. Cleansing, Binding, and Protection Spells

It’s somewhat easy to confuse banishing spells with other types of spells, especially cleansing and protection ones, so here’s an easy way to understand the difference.

Banishing is when something is present that you want removed for good. The magical instruction is essentially: leave me alone. Now.

Cleansing removes unwanted or stagnant energy. If you’ve had an argument in your kitchen and the room feels awful afterward, you probably don’t need to banish anyone, even though you might want to. Opening the windows, physically cleaning the space, using sound, smoke, salt water, or another cleansing method may be enough. Having a repair conversation works too.

Protection and warding create boundaries that prevent unwanted influences from reaching you or entering your space. If you have a negative energy that’s bothering you, you might want to pair a banishing and protection spell together. This will help you remove the problem first and then establish a boundary that discourages it from returning.

Binding generally restricts someone’s actions or influence. Binding is sometimes used in love spells to attach someone to someone else. But, you can use it to bind someone from doing harm. In the classic 90s witch movie the Craft, they bind Nancy from doing harm against other people and harm against herself.

You may also see freezer spells described as banishing spells, but they’re more accurately a form of binding or restraining magic. A freezer spell is designed to stop or “freeze” someone’s actions, words, or influence. The two can produce similar results, but the magical mechanics are different.

Magical Tools for Banishing

There are a few everyday objects and common herbs that work well as banishing tools, such as garlic, black pepper, dirt, and onions. You do not need to put all of them into the same ritual for it to be more effective.

1. Black Candles

Black candles are commonly used in modern witchcraft for banishing, protection, and reversing work. You can carve the name or initials of the person, habit, situation, or influence you want removed directly into the wax.

You can also dress a black candle with a banishing oil and herbs. If you’re using oils or loose herbs, use very little and keep them far away from the wick.

If you need a black candle for a banishing spell, we carry them as part of the Banishing Candle Spell Booster Pack or as a single chime candle.

2. Herbs and Spices

Herbs are one of the most common tools to use magic. Unlike colored candles, which are relatively new, cultures have used herbs in banishing magic for thousands of years. The herbs used depend on what region of the world you’re in and what grows there, but some, like garlic, are consistent across cultures and timelines.

Plants with powerful, pungent, bitter, or otherwise unpleasant sensory qualities tend to be associated with being capable of repelling unwanted supernatural forces. Though, of course, there are exceptions. In a banishing exorcism in the PGM (Greek Magical Papyri), seven olive branches are used to drive a powerful entity out. And, I wouldn’t exactly consider the olive unpleasant. Your mileage may vary.

Many herbs also have multiple meanings and uses. For instance, you’ll find that some banishing herbs are also known as cleansing or protection herbs. Common banishing herbs, plants, and spices used in powders, oils, banishing spell jars, and washes include:

• Garlic: Repels ghosts and other unwanted spirits, harmful influences, and people
• Black Pepper: Forcefully drives away unwanted people, gossip, hostility, and meddling
• Wormwood: Repels harmful spirits and clears unwelcome spiritual influences
• Juniper: Purifies, cleanses, and repels unwanted spirits and influences.
• Cloves: Banishes gossip, hostility, and unwanted attention
• Cayenne: Adds force, speed, and movement to a banishing spell.
• Rue: Apotropaic herb that repels evil, the evil eye, and harmful influences
• Plant thorns: Creating a sharp boundary and adding a defensive or forceful quality to banishing work. Good for adding to a banishing oil.

That said, just because something is often thought of as a protective herb doesn’t mean it can’t be used for banishing. Four Thieves Vinegar is a great example of this.

Four Thieves Vinegar dates back to Europe as a protective tool. Legend has it four thieves stole from plague victims without getting sick. When they eventually got caught, the authorities gave them leniency in return for the recipe.

One historical recipe for Four Thieves Vinegar (also called Marseilles vinegar) called for wormwood, meadowsweet, marjoram, sage, cloves, campanula, angelica, rosemary, horehound, and camphor.

Over time, people adapted the recipe, and by the time it made to America it was a blend of garlic, rosemary, sage, thyme and other herbs like lavender or rue. The formula was later incorporated into Hoodoo and American conjure, where it developed uses including protection, cleansing, separation, and driving away unwanted people

3. Banishing Oils and Powders

Banishing oils and powders are prepared magical blends used to add that intent to candles, petitions, poppets, spell jars, and other methods. A banishing oil can be used to lightly dress a black candle or petition, while powders may be sprinkled around or added to a spell depending on the tradition you’re working within.

There isn’t one universal banishing oil recipe. Modern witchcraft blends often combine a carrier oil like camphor or castor oil with ingredients associated with repelling or driving away.

Some named preparations belong to specific magical traditions. Hot Foot powder and oil, for example, come from Hoodoo and conjure and are specifically used in drive-away work intended to make an unwanted person leave.

If you’re using an oil on a candle or petition, use a very small amount and keep oils, herbs, and powders away from the flame. And don’t assume a magical oil is safe for your skin. They are usually at levels that are irritating or unsafe for topical use.

4. Dirt

Dirt is used in banishing work because where it comes from can give the spell a specific direction. Dirt gathered from a crossroads, threshold like a doorway, or respectfully gathered at a graveyard may be used very differently depending on the tradition and the spell’s intention.

• Crossroads dirt: Movement, transition, sending something away, spirit contact, or opening/closing roads.
• Threshold/doorway dirt: Boundaries, entry, exclusion, and controlling what can cross into a space. This is particularly useful in banishing when the intention is essentially you leave through this boundary and do not come back.
• Graveyard dirt: Connection to the dead and the spirit associated with a particular grave.
• Dirt from someone’s property or footsteps: Sympathetic connection to that person. This is common in Hoodoo/conjure work. In a banishing context, it can give the spell a direct link to the person being sent away.

4. Poppets

A poppet is a small figure made to represent a person so that whatever is done to the figure symbolically affects the person it represents. This kind of sympathetic magic goes back at least as far as Ancient Greece, and likely, further.

The effigy can be used for love magic, banishing spells, prosperity work, or pretty much any type of spell. For instance, for an abundance spell, your could create a poppet of yourself as well and cover it with herbs, oils, and symbols associated with prosperity.

6. Pins

Pins, nails, and other sharp objects have also been used as banishing tools. (They can also be used for binding, activating, or directing energy.) They are often inserted into a poppet, candle, or another object.

If this calls the voodoo doll to mind, that’s makes for easy visual, but the Hollywood voodoo doll (a doll stabbed with pins to injure someone) is a misleading mash-up of several different magical traditions rather than a straightforward feature of Vodou.

Ancient Greek and Roman magic used pierced or bound effigies in coercive and binding spells and later European folk magic used poppets made from wax, cloth, clay, and other materials to represent specific people. In Kongo traditions, nkisi nkondi figures may also contain nails or blades, but they were used to activate the figure’s spiritual power and could be connected with enforcing agreements, administering justice, protection, or other ritual purposes.

7. Banishing Sigils and Petitions

One of the simplest ways to give a banishing spell a clear target is to write it down. Use the person’s name, the situation, or a short description of the influence you want removed and then cover it with banishing herbs, fold it away from you, and burn it.. You can also create a sigil or magical symbol representing the same intention and do the same.

You could also create a banishing sigil with a phrase such as “unwanted energy leaves this home” and carve the sigil into a black candle, place it inside the poppet, or draw it on your petition paper.

4 Simple Banishing Spells

1. Black Candle with Pins and Petition

This simple banishing spell combines a petition with a black candle, pins or nails, and banishing herb to give the working a very clear direction: remove this person, influence, or situation from your life.

Ingredients You Will Need:

• 1 small black chime candle
• 5 small straight pins or nails
• 1 small piece of paper
• A pen
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 1 pinch of garlic powder
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 candle holder
• 1 fire-safe bowl or cauldron large enough to contain the entire working
• Banishing oil (optional)

Step-by-Step Instructions for your Protection Spell:

1. Write Your Petition: Write the name of the person, situation, habit, or influence you want to banish on the paper. Underneath it, write a short statement describing what you want to happen, such as “[Name or thing] leaves my life and no longer interferes with it.” Fold it away from you. (You could also use a sigil to represent this if you don’t want to write it all out.)
2. Prepare the Candle: Insert the five pins at different heights along the black candle. As you insert each one, repeat your intention aloud. The pins are being used to reinforce the command into the candle.
3. Put it Together: Put the folded petition in the bottom of your fire-safe bowl or cauldron. If you’re using a banishing oil, douse the paper with the oil. Then sprinkle the paper with the herbs and salt. Then place the candle inside. I tend to light the bottom to get the wax to melt a bit so it adheres to a surface.
4. Light the Candle: Light the candle and focus on the unwanted influence moving farther away from you. As the wax melts and reaches each pin, allow the pin to fall into the fire-safe container.
5. Dispose of the Remains: Once the candle has finished and everything is completely cool, gather the wax, pins, petition, and herbs and dispose of them in an outside trash bin away from your main living space. The spell is intended to remove something, so you don’t need to keep it on your altar.

The Magical Mechanics:

• Black Candle: Commonly used in modern witchcraft for absorbing, removing, reversing, and banishing unwanted influences.
• Pins: Add the symbolic action of piercing, fixing, and directing force toward the target of the spell.
• Petition: Gives the spell a specific target and states exactly what you want removed.
• Black Pepper: Adds a sharp, repelling quality and is commonly used in modern folk magic to drive away unwanted people, gossip, and interference.
• Garlic: Has a long apotropaic history associated with repelling harmful or unwanted influences.
• Cayenne: Adds heat, urgency, and movement.
• Folding Away From Yourself: Gives the physical movement of the spell the same direction as its intention: away.
• Banishing Oil: Adds another layer of removal or drive-away intent. The oil soaks into the paper to really infuse it with your intention.

2. Plant Gift

This banishing spell works a little differently because instead of simply sending someone away, you’re creating a magical boundary between their space and yours. A protective plant becomes the visible part of the gift, while banishing herbs and thorns are placed beneath the plant in its soil reinforce the intention that the person move away from your life and stay there.

The pot needs to be large enough so that the plant can thrive it in without the person needing to plant it in the ground or transfer it to a larger pot anytime soon.

Ingredients You Will Need:

• 1 protective plant: garden sage, bay leaf, mugwort, wormwood, etc.
• 1 medium or large attractive pot with proper drainage
• 1 small piece of biodegradable untreated paper or natural-fiber cloth
• A small amount of banishing herbs, such as black pepper, garlic, or rue
• A few small plant thorns

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Prepare the Banishing Packet: Grind up the herbs using a mortar and pestle or stir them together and place a small amount of them along with several thorns onto a piece of untreated paper or natural cloth. As you do, focus on the person no longer interfering with you. Close the packet or fold the paper away from you a few times to close it.
2. Prepare the Pot: Add enough soil to the bottom of the pot that the packet will sit well below the plant’s root ball. Place the packet flat in the soil rather than wrapping it around or pressing it directly against the roots.
3. Add the Plant: Add the plant and fill around it with fresh soil as you normally would. As you cover the packet, visualize the working being buried and the boundary between you becoming firmly established.
4. Give the Plant: Gift the plant to the person you want to go away. Once it leaves your possession, consider the spell released with it rather than continuing to repeatedly work or check on the outcome.

The Magical Mechanics:

• Banishing Herbs: Ingredients such as black pepper, garlic, rue, or wormwood add the driving-away or repelling element.
• Plant Thorns: Add a sharp defensive boundary to the working. Their sympathetic meaning is straightforward: crossing back into your space should meet resistance.
• Burial: Placing the ingredients beneath the soil conceals and anchors the working while symbolically putting the unwanted relationship or influence beneath and behind you.
• The Gift: Physically moving the plant out of your possession gives the spell an unusually literal action: the banishing materials leave your space along with the person they’re connected to.

3. Banish Bad Habits Spell

This spell is an adaptation of one of the spells from Judika Illes book The Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells and could help you banish a habit or pattern that you can’t seem to release.

Rather than trying to overpower the habit, the spell gives you somewhere physical to place the energy you’ve attached to it. Once that energy has been transferred into the candle, the final step is simple: get it out of your space.

Ingredients:

• 1 small bottle with a stopper
• Olive oil
• Fennel (or fennel essential oil)
• 1 small black candle

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Make the Oil: Pour some olive oil into a small bottle. Add ground fennel or fennel essential oil to the oil and gently shake to combine.
2. Dress the Candle: Rub a small candle with the oil.
3. Work with the Candle: Hold the candle (unlit) in your hands and visualize all of the pain and struggle you’ve experienced due to this habit flowing into the candle. Hold the candle until you feel you are no longer carrying that energy but the candle is holding it.
4. Remove the Energy: Take the candle far away from your home and your space and throw it out in a trash can.

Note: This spell can support your intention to change a habit, but it isn’t a substitute for medical, mental health, addiction, or other professional treatment when those are appropriate.

The Magical Mechanics:

• Black Candle: Gives the unwanted habit or pattern a physical container and supports the spell’s intention of removal and release.
• Fennel: Used for purification, protection, and clearing unwanted influences. Here it supports the process of separating yourself from a pattern you no longer want to carry.
• Olive Oil: Acts as the carrier for the fennel and allows you to physically dress and prepare the candle for the working.
• Energy Transfer: Moving the emotional weight of the habit into a physical object gives the spell a clear sympathetic action: what was carried by you is now carried by the candle.
• Disposal Away From Home: Physically removing the candle completes the banishing action. The object representing the habit leaves your space, and you don’t bring it back.

4. Banishing Negative Energy From Your Home

Sometimes cleansing a room isn’t quite enough. If a particular argument, visitor, event, or other influence seems to have left something behind, this spell gives that unwanted energy a clear instruction to leave.

Ingredients:

• 1 small black candle
• Juniper, rosemary, or another cleansing or repelling herb
• A bell or chime
• A fire-safe dish

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open the Windows or Door: Give the unwanted energy a symbolic and physical way out. If you have an animal or small child, don’t keep the door open.
2. Light the Candle: Focus on what you want to release and light the candle in an area where it will be safe as you move around the home.
3. Move Counterclockwise through the Space: Carry a bell or chime through the rooms and make sound particularly in corners, doorways, and areas that feel stagnant. If you safely use incense or herbal smoke, burn the juniper or rosemary as you move widdershins (counter clockwise) through your space.
4. Direct It Out: Work toward the open windows or doors, telling the unwanted influence to leave and not return.
5. Close the Spell: Extinguish the candle and throw it out in a trash bin outside once it is fully cool. Close the window or door and follow with protection or warding.

When to Do a Banishing Spell

You can cast a banishing spell whenever you need one. If someone is making your life miserable on Tuesday afternoon, you do not need to wait eleven days for the dark or waning moon before telling them to energetically go away.

If you prefer working with magical timing, though, certain moon phases and planetary associations work particularly well with banishing.

The waning moon is the most obvious choice. As the visible moon becomes smaller, witches often use that decreasing energy for spells involving release, reduction, endings, breaking habits, and removing things from their lives. The dark moon is also commonly used for release and banishing work and it is associated with Hecate, the Greek goddess of crossroads, magic, and witchcraft.

You may also see Saturday recommended for banishing because of its association with Saturn, the planet connected with boundaries, endings, and restriction. Mars can also make sense when the spell involves confrontation, severing, or forcefully pushing something away. But you can also work with these planetary energies during any day of the week during their planetary hour.

Banishing Spells FAQ

What is the easiest banishing spell for beginners?

A simple black candle spell is one of the easiest places to start. Write what you want to banish on a piece of paper, light a black candle, visualize the unwanted influence leaving, and safely burn or tear up and dispose of the petition.

Banishing spells can also be done through spoken chants or energetic movements like the LBRP (Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram). Or, you can ask a deity or work with an ancestor or spirit from your own tradition to help remove the unwanted influence.

Can you use a banishing spell to get rid of someone?

Yes. Banishing magic can be used to create separation between yourself and an unwanted person. The spell does not need to cause harm. Your intention can simply be that your paths separate and they stop interfering with your life.

What herbs are good for banishing?

Common herbs and spices used in banishing magic include black pepper, cloves, garlic, and juniper. Choose ingredients whose magical correspondences fit the specific purpose of your spell.

What moon phase is best for banishing?

The waning moon is commonly associated with banishing because it corresponds with decrease, release, removal, and endings. The dark moon is also used by some witches for banishing and release work.

How long does a banishing spell take to work?

There is no set amount of time. Some situations shift quickly while others unfold over days or weeks. Take practical actions that support the spell and avoid repeatedly recasting it because you’re anxious about the outcome.