If this time of year has you spooked, here are some tried and true methods of protection.

1. Place a pinch of salt mixed with red and black pepper at the corner of each room and one at the center -– like the five spot on dice. Pray over it while you lay it down. Then follow up with a pinch at each corner of the house and one at each corner of the property. Replace as necessary, about once a week.

2. Dress the front and back doors and the windows once a week with a few drops of Fiery Wall of Protection oil, or any  protection oil from a reputable, old-fashioned spiritual supplier. With oiled fingers, make a tiny X at each corner and at the center.

3. Place mirrors so that anyone who looks into your windows or doorways gets their gaze bounced right back at them. Some people find Mylar on the windows “to keep out sun and heat” also keeps out the evil eye and bad luck.

4. A line of red brick dust across your doorway is another good old way to protect a house. Just touch it up as needed. You can buy it from spiritual suppliers or just smash up a red brick with a hammer. If you’re smashing up a brick for yourself, you can have a good old time cursing out your enemies. And don’t stop with the mean people you know -— make sure to include “all enemies known AND UNKNOWN.”

5. If you’re any good with potted plants, you can keep a cactus in each window where passersby can look in, so if anyone’s giving you the stink-eye it’ll “put their eye out.”  (My Justice Altar stands beside a window, so I like to keep a vase of thistles there.)

6. Evil eye charms -– they look like little blue eyes made of glass –- will keep your keychain or necklace working for you. Hamsa hands, also called Hands of Miriam, are an old Muslim and Jewish charm which many rely on.

7. Dab a little protection oil on a wet washcloth and throw it in the dryer with the rest of the laundry, thereby dressing everybody’s clothes. And don’t forget towels and linens!

Once your cleansing and protection work is done, I recommend regular use of Lucky Mojo’s Lucky 13 oil. It’s originally intended for gambling luck, but since it contains black cat hair and other things thought to be unlucky — to turn the bad luck into good luck — it’s often used by people who need to end a long run of bad luck.