Great pieces of advice! The shadows can hide some nasty things if you’re not prepared for them. I won’t go into my specific protection methods, as I believe they probably only work for me and could be dangerous for others to follow suit without preparation.

I will give this bit of anecdotal evidence though. I was performing a fire ritual of release for a group of friends. I prepared an offering to the fire that included gifts (to express gratitude) and a few protective herbs (sage and burdock root) as well as incense (which I always intend to be cleansing and set a tone for all of my rituals). I also had my black tourmaline and a few other protective and wisdom stones in my pocket.

The final offering after everyone placed their written notes of what they wanted to release into the fire was a shot of whiskey for all involved, including our new/old fire friend, to seal it all in. Well, after I took my shot, I gargled the fire’s shot in my mouth and spewed it onto the flame. You can guess what happened next. It was particularly windy that night and when the whiskey hit the flame, a wall of fire over 7 feet tall exploded into the direction of one of my friends. He was unaware as he was focused on the moon and saying a silent prayer of gratitude when all of a sudden he was enveloped in flame. His beard and eyebrows were slightly singed, but he was otherwise okay and felt extremely blessed and cleansed. I believe the added protective measures I took at least somewhat helped ensure his safety. However, I know I’ll be much more careful with fire rituals next time!