The Good Witch’s Guide to Binding a Bully

To quote Judika Illes’ definition in The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, binding magic is generally performed for the purpose of “binding someone’s power, usually to prevent them from causing harm.” (Remember? Like that chanted line in The Craft: “I bind you, Nancy, from doing harm: harm against other people and harm against yourself.”)

Merriam-Webster’s primary definition of bully is: a blustering, browbeating person; especially  :  one who is habitually cruel, insulting, or threatening to others who are weaker, smaller, or in some way vulnerable.

While we good witches generally do not prefer to bind other people’s power and therefore do not seek out situations that call for binding spells, there are times when it is obviously appropriate to perform one: e.g., bully situations. Situations where someone is “habitually cruel, insulting, or threatening to others who are weaker, smaller, or in some way vulnerable.”

If you are concerned about the threefold law (that which you send out energetically comes back to you multiplied), realize that if you are indeed binding a bully, you are sending out pure positivity in the form of justice and protection on behalf of all those who are being threatened and unfairly treated. Just make sure justice and protection are your intentions, and you will be safe from undesirable karmic backlash.

An excellent time to perform a binding spell is when the waning moon is in the fourth quarter, which begins the evening before Inauguration Day and continues until the new moon on the 27th.

No matter who the bully is, remember that they are only a human, and humans can be magically bound.

Here are 3 different ways to bind a bully. If it’s your intention to do so, read through them and choose the one that feels right to you. Please be sure to cast a circle before doing any of these, and to open it when you are through.

1. Write the person’s name on a slip of paper and place it on a table. Light a black candle. In a clockwise direction, surround the name with a circle of sea salt. With a short length of black embroidery thread, tie a knot tightly around the slip of paper, allowing it to crumple. As you tie the knot, say, “I bind you [name of bully]. You are powerless to harm other people or the planet. Your insults are powerless. Your hostility is powerless. You shall cause no harm from this day forth.” Repeat 7 more times, with 7 more lengths of black thread. Extinguish the candle. Leave the paper and string in the ring of salt overnight. In the morning, flush the salt down the toilet and throw the bound name on a fire.
2. Place the Justice card from the Tarot on your altar. Light a white pillar candle as you say, “[Name of bully], on behalf of all those you would harm, insult, or overpower, I call on the archetypal energy of Justice. With this ancient, swift, and thorough power, I now bind all your power to harm.” Safely use the light of the candle to burn the bully’s full name and/or image on a piece of paper, perhaps in a cauldron or pot. As it burns, say, “Just as this paper is now reduced to ashes, your power to harm is now fully revoked and reduced to nothing.” When the ashes are cool, mix them with sea salt and flush them down the toilet. Extinguish the candle after you’ve opened the circle.
3. Obtain a picture of the bully, or just write the bully’s name on a piece of paper. Place it in a small mason jar. Pour water over it as you say, “[Name of bully], if your power to harm is like fire, I now extinguish that power completely. It burns no more.” Seal the jar with the lid. Wrap and tie it tightly with black ribbon as you say, “[Name of bully], if your power to harm is like wings, I now bind and immobilize that power completely. It flies no more.” Rotate the jar in a counterclockwise direction three times as you say, “[Name of bully], your power is now unwound. It has no momentum. It has no force. It now returns to the native nothingness from which it came.” Now place the jar in your freezer.

(Extra special thanks to my good friend Weston Donaldson for this idea!)