While most magical attacks are usually just a case of paranoid anxiety, sometimes a negative person can really hook their bad attitude onto you. We’ve all met people who are just plain negative—energy draining emotional vampires who are permanent Debbie Downers. They may not even know the effect they have on people. A bitter, miserly person that indulges in negative thinking will trap themselves and the people around them in a pool of dull energy. Or worse: you could be dealing with someone who actively hates you, is furious toward you, constantly sending anger and rage your way. If someone is really giving you bad vibes—a jilted ex or a power-tripping boss, for example—then magic circles and smudging may not be enough to keep their onslaught of negativity at bay. And if you really are being cursed by someone who knows what they’re doing, then you may need to step up your game. What to do? A simple spell for magical self-defense is the magic mirror. This classic reversal spell will take your attacker’s curse and flip it back on them. Be sure that the negative energy you’re feeling is coming from an external source, otherwise the magic mirror will be powerless to help you. If your problem is actually rooted in one of your own energy blockages, you’ll need a healer since the mirror won’t be much use. 1. Cast a Magic Circle The first step of any ritual—especially one for protection and reversal of spells—you’ll want to start by casting a magic circle. If you don’t know how, check out our simple guide here. 2. Smudge Yourself After cleansing your space by casting a magic circle, you’ll want to smudge yourself, probably with sage, tobacco or a feather. If you don’t know how to smudge, we’ve got a guide on that too. 3. Consecrate the Mirror Select a mirror that will fit in the window. A hand-mirror or cosmetic vanity will do in a pinch. Make sure it’s one you can spare for the duration of the spell, since it won’t be much use as a functioning mirror (unless you’re standing outside your house). Once you’ve selected your mirror, make sure to smudge it with sage or incense to remove any existing energies attached to it and prepare it for your spell. Set the mirror near a window by your bed, facing outside. 4. Imbue the Mirror with Intention Now that the mirror’s ready, you’ll have to give it instructions on what to do. Until you imbue the mirror with your intention, it’s just a mirror. Light a black candle and set it in front of the mirror. Pray before the mirror, aloud or softly, and tell the mirror to reflect any negative energy that may be targeting you and send it back to its source, so that whoever broadcasts negativity to you will have it bounce back on them. If you’re not a visual person, you can create a short phrase that states your intention and then chant that phrase repetitively for several minutes. But be sure to stop any internal dialogue in your head while you’re chanting. Ideally, you should combine both the visualization and the chanting to preoccupy all the senses and completely engross you in your intent. 5. Charge the Mirror. The last step is charging the mirror. After you’ve given the mirror it’s instructions, it needs some power to carry out its task. We can manipulate energy with our attention and our breath. A combination of the two is even more effective. As the old maxim goes, “Energy flows where attention goes.” So, start by fixing your attention on the mirror. A period of meditative absorption with the mirror as the object of your meditation will naturally draw your energy to it. To bring even more vital energy to the mirror, use your breath. Take a long deep breath through the nose, while visualizing your energy field absorbing free energy from all around you. Then, as you exhale long and full, visualize your breath blowing energy all over the mirror. Gazing softly at the mirror for at least five to ten minutes while breathing deeply will charge the mirror nicely. --- That’s it. Since you want the magic mirror to keep working after the initial ceremony is complete, you don’t want to close your magic circle. Just finish charging the mirror and then let the candle burn out on its own. You’ll know when the mirror is charged and ready; you’ll just have a feeling in your gut. Leave the mirror up for as long as you need to, recharging it on every New Moon. When you no longer need the mirror, wait till the next Full Moon, and then bury it somewhere no one will disturb it. Alternatively, if you want to use the mirror again, simply smudge it with sage within a magic circle three days in a row, and it should be ready to re-purpose. But if someone really is intentionally cursing you, the burial method is preferred. The magic mirror spell is a powerful practice for reversing magical attacks or assaults of unwanted energy. It can be employed time and time again to ward off negative vibrations. Magic mirrors are simple, but effective, and they can be improvised or embellished as needed. This basic spell offers powerful defensive protection against people who are actively bringing you down—whether they know it or not. Some people worry that the magic mirror spell could be considered black magic because it’s sending negative energy back to someone. But in fact, the magic mirror is simply accelerating the process of karma on your behalf. The sender of negativity will always receive it back anyway: the magic mirror just speeds up the process to get them out of your hair. If even this method of protection isn’t enough to solve your problem, you may want to consider letting a professional deal with it. Coming in for a healing session can dissipate much of the negative energy attached to you. And if you’re one of the rare cases who actually is possessed by an intrusive entity and really does need an exorcism or extraction, then it’s best to leave that up to us.