Nightmare Guardian

Create a happy guardian friend to watch over you at night and shield you from nightmares. This is a fire-free spell but it requires a moderate amount of botanicals. During this process you may create a thought-form. If you don’t want that to happen, avoid personifying your guardian and just make a regular charm bag. Create a sigil that represents the bag and use it to control or destroy the thought-form.
Ingredients:

• A charm bag
• One or more of these herbs: rosemary, anise seeds, thyme, or mullein. Or, any herbs which protect from nightmares or guard sleep.

Prepare your charm bag. You can decorate it like a little person to watch over you if you want to. Consider adding sigils related to protection of sleep, or drawing/embroidering a sword and shield on to your bag. As you create the bag, give it instructions on how it should behave and what it is meant to do. The bag may be as large or small as you wish. If it is large enough it can function as a pillow. If it is small enough you can wear it as a pendant at night. Otherwise you can place it close by where it watches over you.
As you create the charm bag, be aware that you are creating an empty vessel which will be filled with the energy of herbs. The energy of the herbs will be blocked or focused depending on how you construct the magical bag.
When you are ready, gather your herbs. If you desire, take them under the moon. You must fill them with your personal energy and request assistance in guarding against nightmares.
Fill the charm bag with your herbs. The amount of herbs you use, and in what combination, is up to you. Research the herbs and use your intuition; they will have different effects.
Tie the charm bag tightly closed with final instructions.
Gently holding the bag, sit quietly until you are aware that you are a part of nature. As a witch, you are a powerful force, both ruler and servant of the forest, and within you is the sacred breath of life. Breathe deeply, feeling the life-force of Nature fill your lungs. Then, gently exhale on your guardian, giving it life.
Place the guardian in it’s designated area. Recharge it often using personal energies, lest it become overwhelmed by nightmares and turn against you.
If the guardian feels “bad” or “wrong” or “creepy” after you create it, untie the top of the bag and announce the guardian is destroyed. Separate the bag from the herbs. Throw the herbs away and destroy the bag (burn it or cut it in to tiny pieces). Throw it all away outside your home.
Miscellanea: Making charm bags
If you like, create a second guardian who’s job it is to draw in pleasant dreams.