By Phoenix McFarland
From the treetop nests of apes to high-rise condos of modern humans, one thing remains true. We harbor strong feelings about the places we call home. Home has been called “the place you hang your hat” and “the place where they have to let you in,” but home is more than that. Our homes become extensions of ourselves, a repository of our memories and our dreams.
To many Pagans, home is also a place of worship. Anthropology tells us that the Goddess was evident in the earliest homes, which often included a niche in the wall bearing a statue of the Goddess, conceivably to bless the home and its inhabitants. This was the first known house magic. As the first Gaia figures evolved into specific deities involved with the home, we saw Goddesses such as Hestia occupying the household altars. Modern Catholics with crucifixes above their beds and statues of Mary guarding their front doors are only a step away from the ancient Pagans and their Gaia figures.
Giving your home a magical name is one way of using magic to protect your house. It was a much more romantic and creative system than today’s dehumanizing addresses. Naming one’s home is still a practice so common in England as to be considered conformative. In North America, however, it is still rare enough to be considered a refreshing idea.
My husband and I have named every home we have lived in. First we got to know the house, its quirks and graces. Then we found the perfect name. Finally we hung a carved wooden sign with the new name on it near the front door. When we moved out we left the sign because it belonged to the house, not to us. We were delighted to see that long after we moved out, each new tenant retained the name and the house name signs still swing overhead, welcoming friends.
While the thought of naming one’s house is quaint and creative, what practical purpose does it serve? Many. In searching out magical names for our homes, we look inward and explore our own expectations of what we hope this living situation will afford. That helps to fine-tune goals, and sometimes acts as a catalyst for better communication between dwelling partners. Mostly, in assigning a house a magical name, we can combine that act with protection and blessing rituals to draw good fortune into the lives of its inhabitants.
How To Pick A House Name
You can use the following criteria in naming your home:
Descriptions of the house: House of Seven Gables, Red Gate Cottage, The White House
Location of the house: Bay View House, Gothamview
Distinctive vegetation growing near the house: Holly House, Fir Manor, Cedar Cottage
Fantastic elements connected with the house: Elfin Estate, Avalon, The Hobbit Hole
Mythological aspects: Valhalla Hall, Diana’s Den
What the house is used for: Covenstead Corner
When you decide to give a magical name to your home, try looking at the house through fresh eyes. Ask yourself some questions:
What did the house look like when it was new?
What will it look like when it’s old, if it’s new?
What sorts of people have lived in it?
When you first saw the house, what made you decide to live there?
What is your favorite spot in the house?
Those questions help determine what the house is like now. Next, ask questions to determine what you’d like the house to become:
What role do you want the house to play? (sanctuary, power base, lover’s getaway, family nest, animal’s den, covenstead, hobby place, office, springboard to a nicer place, retirement home, nursery, etc.)
What element do you want to improve to become the most noticeable about the property?
What do you want to attract into your home?
What/Who do you want to repel from its doors?
What do you want to convey to others in the name?
If this is a temporary house, what sort of permanent dwelling do you want to attract into your lives?
This last list is the most important in formulating the basis of a house blessing ritual. Getting these goals and expectations clearly in focus helps you to achieve a clear direction in your house magic. Each person can have a hand in name choosing, perhaps in carving or painting a sign for the front door as part of the ritual. Anointing it with oils or passing it through the elements as you weave a protective spell around it, will make it a talisman that hangs outside your front door attracting and/or warding off energy. You can do this as part of your house cleansing ritual. Cleanse it first, physically and spiritually, ridding it of all past negative energies. Then do the house naming as part of the protection spell that seals it from future negativity. I usually paint a little pentagram on each of the house’s windows with clear nail polish during this ritual. The nail polish is mostly invisible except when the light is right, then a crystalline-looking pentagram emerges to shine in the Sun before becoming invisible again. Very good ju-ju. At the end of the ritual, hang the house name sign near the front door. Then you will have more than a charming sign that greets all who come to your door. You’ll greet them with magic!
Source:
Phoenix McFarland, “Magickal House Names”, c. 1999.
