A freezer spell is a binding spell that uses ice to stop something harmful in its tracks. You write down the behavior you want stopped, such as gossip, harassment, or meddling, seal the paper in water, and freeze it. As long as it stays frozen, the behavior is held still. It's one of the simplest spells in folk magic, and it's undone just as simply, by letting it thaw.
What Is a Freezer Spell?
A freezer spell is a kind of binding spell that freezes a harmful behavior or situation so it can't move forward. It works on the idea that like affects like, which is called sympathetic magic. Water flows and changes, and ice holds perfectly still, so freezing a written petition is meant to hold the problem still too.
People use freezer spells to stop gossip, end harassment, keep a meddling person out of their business, or put a stubborn situation on pause. The Isa rune, the Norse rune of ice, carries the same meaning of stillness, which is why many practitioners draw it on the paper.
What Does a Freezer Spell Do?
A freezer spell is meant to stop a specific harmful action, not to hurt anyone. Done well, it quiets the gossip, stalls the meddling, or cools a conflict that keeps flaring up. It doesn't make anyone sick, unlucky, or miserable, and it isn't meant to.
If You're in Physical Danger, Get Safe Before Any Spellwork
If someone is following you, threatening you, or could hurt you right now, call for help and get yourself to safety before you do any spellwork at all. A freezer spell works slowly, on a behavior over time, and it won't stop someone who is actively pursuing you. Your safety comes first, every time.
If you're in immediate danger, these are the steps to take, in this order:
- Call 911, or your local emergency number if you're outside the US.
- Get somewhere public and safe, like a store, a police station, or a friend's home. Don't lead the person to your home if you're being followed.
- Tell someone you trust where you are and what's happening.
- Keep a record of messages, calls, and incidents, with dates and times, so you can report them.
- Reach out for support. If the person is a current or former partner, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is free and open 24 hours a day at 1-800-799-7233, or you can text START to 88788. Advocates there can help you make a safety plan and explain protective orders.
Once you're safe and the practical steps are underway, a freezer spell can be part of how you take your power back. It works alongside locks, reports, and the people looking out for you, never in place of them.
Where Freezer Spells Come From
Nobody has documented where freezer spells started, but the freezer version has to be fairly recent. Home freezers only became common after separate freezer compartments were introduced in 1940, according to the history of the refrigerator. The ideas underneath it are much older: binding spells, sympathetic magic, and the folk belief that cold stops things in place.
Freezer spells now appear in many modern witchcraft and folk magic books. Some books on hoodoo, the African American folk magic tradition, describe "cold box" spells that use a fridge or freezer for binding and stopping gossip, including a 2013 book reviewed by The Wiccan Rede. Hoodoo is a living tradition, and its own versions are best learned from practitioners within it. The spell on this page is a general folk magic version anyone can use.
What Freezer Spells Are Used For
Freezer spells are used to stop harmful behavior, protect yourself, and pause situations that are getting worse. Here are the most common uses:
- Stopping gossip: People use freezer spells to quiet rumors and lies being spread about them.
- Harassment: Some use one to stop unwanted calls, messages, or contact.
- Meddling: It can help keep someone from interfering in your relationship, job, or family.
- Workplace conflict: Some practitioners freeze a coworker's undermining or credit-taking.
- Protection: A freezer spell can be part of a protection plan, freezing a threat while you put other safeguards in place.
- Your own habits: Some people freeze one of their own habits, like impulse spending or texting an ex.
Freezer spells aren't for forcing love, controlling someone's choices, or making someone suffer. A spell that tries to freeze a person's whole life tends to tangle up your own along with it.
Is a Freezer Spell Ethical? Karma and Doing It Right
A freezer spell is ethical when it freezes a harmful behavior, not a person. Writing "Jordan's gossip about me" is very different from writing "Jordan," because the first stops one action and the second tries to stop a whole human being. Many practitioners believe that magic aimed too broadly comes back on the caster, so the narrower and clearer the target, the cleaner the work.
Keep these guidelines in mind:
- Name the behavior. Write the action you want stopped, along with the person's name if you know it.
- Aim at the source. Aim the spell at the person causing the harm, never at a house, an address, or a group of people who might include someone innocent.
- Try the gentler options first. If talking, blocking, or setting a boundary would solve it, do that first. A line of black salt across the doorway may be all the protection you need.
- Plan to end it. Decide ahead of time what will tell you the work is finished, so it doesn't sit in the freezer for years.
Magic walks alongside real-world help, never in place of it. If someone is threatening you, start with the safety steps in "If You're in Physical Danger, Get Safe Before Any Spellwork" above.
What You Need for a Freezer Spell
You need a freezer-safe container, paper, a pen, and water, and everything else is optional. Here's the full list:
- A freezer-safe container, such as a wide-mouth canning jar made for freezing, a small plastic container with a lid, or a zip-top freezer bag.
- Paper, such as light parchment or any plain paper.
- A pen, preferably with black ink.
- Water, enough to cover the paper completely.
- A black candle, optional, such as a black chime candle, to burn while you work.
- A pinch of black salt, optional, for extra protection. Our black salt comes in small packets.
- An oil, optional, to dress the paper. Many people use a drop of Stop Rumors oil or Shut Up oil for gossip, or Binding oil for other behavior.
How to Do a Freezer Spell, Step by Step
To do a freezer spell, write the behavior and the person's name on paper, fold it away from you, cover it with water in a freezer-safe container, say the words, and freeze it. Here are the steps in full:
- Choose your time. Many practitioners cast freezer spells during a waning moon, when the moon is shrinking, or on a Saturday, the day of Saturn and limits. Any time works if the situation is urgent.
- Light the candle, if you're using one. Take a breath and get clear on exactly what you want to stop.
- Write the behavior and the name. Write the specific action, such as "Jordan Smith's gossip about me," in the middle of the paper. If you don't know who's responsible, write the behavior and "whoever is behind it."
- Draw the Isa rune. Draw a single straight vertical line across the writing, which is the Isa rune for ice and stillness.
- Dress it, if you like. Add a drop of oil to the corners of the paper, or a pinch of black salt in the container.
- Fold the paper away from you. Fold it in half, then in half again, folding away from your body each time to push the behavior away.
- Cover it with water. Put the paper in the container and add cold water until it's covered, leaving room at the top for the ice to expand.
- Say the words. Hold the container and say:
Cold and still, cold and slow,
the harm you do can no longer grow.
Locked in ice, held fast and tight,
it stops right here, by day and by night.
- Freeze it. Seal and label the container, then put it in the back of your freezer, where it won't be moved or thawed by accident. Let the candle burn down safely or snuff it out.
Freezer Spell Jars: Can You Put a Mason Jar in the Freezer?
Yes, you can put a mason jar in the freezer if it's a wide-mouth jar made for both freezing and canning, and you leave room at the top. Water expands as it freezes, so an ordinary glass jar, or any jar filled to the brim, can crack. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, wide-mouth dual-purpose jars are tempered to handle extreme temperatures.
Follow these tips for a freezer spell jar:
- Use a wide-mouth freezer jar. Look for jars labeled for freezing and canning.
- Leave headspace. The NCHFP suggests extra space in narrow-mouth jars: about 3/4 inch for a pint and 1 1/2 inches for a quart. For a small spell jar, leave at least an inch.
- Start with cold water. Never put warm or hot glass straight into the freezer, because the sudden temperature change can crack it.
- Use plastic if you're unsure. A small plastic container or a zip-top freezer bag can't shatter, and it works just as well.
How Long to Leave a Freezer Spell
Leave a freezer spell in place until the behavior stops, then for a little while after to be sure it holds. Many practitioners check in at each full moon and ask whether the work is still needed. Some freezer spells stay put for a few weeks, and some stay for a year or more. If the situation is completely resolved, it's good practice to end the spell rather than leave it forever.
What If You Move or the Power Goes Out?
If you move, carry the container to your new home in a cooler and put it straight into the new freezer. If the power goes out and it partly thaws, many practitioners simply refreeze it and say the words again. If it thaws completely, you can treat it as a sign to check whether the spell is still needed, and recast it if it is.
How to Undo a Freezer Spell
To undo a freezer spell, take the container out of the freezer, let it thaw completely, and pour the water out away from your home. Then deal with the paper and close the work:
- Let it thaw. Take the container out and let the ice melt on its own.
- Say the closing words. Hold the thawed water and say:
Ice to water, water to ground,
what I held is now unbound.
The work is done, and I am free,
and I release it peacefully.
- Pour out the water. Pour it on the ground away from your home, or down an outdoor drain.
- Dispose of the paper. Burn the paper safely in a fireproof dish, or tear it up and throw it away off your property.
- Clean the container. Wash it with hot, soapy water, or recycle it.
Freezer Spell vs Honey Jar Spell
A freezer spell and a honey jar spell work in opposite directions. A freezer spell stops and cools a situation, while a honey jar sweetens someone's feelings toward you. Some practitioners use them together, freezing the gossip of a hostile coworker, for example, while keeping a honey jar going for the boss. If you want to send harm back to its source rather than stop it, a return to sender spell is the closer fit.
A Freezer Spell Without a Freezer
You can cast a freezer spell without a freezer by using winter itself. On a night below freezing, set the container outside overnight, then bury it in a snowbank or keep it outdoors for as long as the cold lasts. You can also freeze the paper inside an ice cube tray if space is tight. Our guide to winter witchcraft has more ice and snow magic.
Freezer Spell Safety
Freezer spells are simple, but a few practical cautions help. Keep them in mind:
- Use the right container. Use freezer-safe jars with headspace, or plastic, so glass doesn't crack in your freezer.
- Label it. Mark it clearly so no one in your home mistakes it for food.
- Keep salt and oils out of reach. Don't leave black salt or spell oils where children or pets can get into them.
- Burn paper safely. Use a fireproof dish when you burn the paper, and never leave a flame unattended.
- Get safe before any spellwork. A freezer spell won't stop someone who is actively pursuing or threatening you, so call 911, get somewhere safe, and report it first. Spellwork can wait until you're safe.
Freezer Spell FAQ
What is a freezer spell?
A freezer spell is a binding spell that uses ice to stop a harmful behavior or situation. You write the behavior on paper, cover it with water in a container, and freeze it, so the behavior is held still for as long as the ice lasts.
What does a freezer spell do?
A freezer spell is meant to stop a specific harmful action, such as gossip, harassment, or meddling. It isn't meant to hurt anyone or bring them bad luck.
How do you do a freezer spell?
Write the behavior you want stopped and the person's name on paper, draw a straight line through it for the Isa rune, and fold it away from you. Cover it with water in a freezer-safe container, say your words, and put it in the back of the freezer.
How long does a freezer spell take to work?
Many people notice a change within a few days to a few weeks, but there's no set timeline. Check in at each full moon, and leave the spell in place until the behavior has stopped.
Can you do a freezer spell on someone else?
Yes, freezer spells are usually aimed at someone else's harmful behavior. Keep it ethical by naming the specific action you want stopped, not the whole person, and by aiming it at the person responsible rather than a place.
Can a freezer spell stop someone who is following or threatening me?
No, a freezer spell can't stop someone who is actively pursuing or threatening you. If you're in danger, call 911, get somewhere public and safe, and report it. Once you're safe, a freezer spell can work alongside those steps.
Is a freezer spell bad karma?
A freezer spell aimed narrowly at a harmful behavior is generally seen as protective, not harmful. Many practitioners believe trouble comes back when a spell is aimed too broadly, such as at a person's whole life, so keep the target specific.
How do you undo a freezer spell?
Take the container out of the freezer, let it thaw completely, say a few closing words, and pour the water out away from your home. Then burn or tear up the paper and clean the container.
Can you put a mason jar in the freezer?
Yes, if it's a wide-mouth jar made for both freezing and canning and you leave room at the top for the ice to expand. Ordinary glass jars filled to the top can crack, so use plastic if you're not sure.
What do you put in a freezer spell?
The basic freezer spell needs only paper with the behavior written on it, water, and a freezer-safe container. Some practitioners add a pinch of black salt, a drop of an oil such as Stop Rumors or Binding oil, or the Isa rune drawn on the paper.
Can you do a freezer spell without a freezer?
Yes. On a night below freezing, you can set the container outside or bury it in a snowbank, or you can freeze the paper in an ice cube tray if your freezer is small.
Ice is patient. It doesn't argue or chase. It simply holds what it's given until the time comes to let go. A freezer spell works the same way, giving you a little stillness so you can get on with your life while the cold does its quiet work.
