Skeleton Keys are ancient keys that have the power to unlock multiple locks. They have been used over many centuries and in many places in the world, both for protection and for opening the path ahead to new opportunities, clearing obstacles. Traditionally, keys symbolize knowledge, success, and passage, as well as freedom and liberation. Skeleton Keys specifically symbolize openings and passages. Opening up to new opportunities and experiences, passing into new realms of consciousness. They "unlock" the door to new ideas, buried knowledge, magical practices, and spiritual understandings. They are used to remove obstacles in your way and clear a path to your deepest desires and highest goals.

Over the years have been associated with certain deities. Skeleton Keys are most closely linked to Hecate, greek goddess of magic, witchcraft night, the moon, and ghosts. Essentially, all things transcendent and deeply magical. The ancient greek Orphic Hymn to Hekate underlines her role as the keeper of the key with the line "Unconquerable huntress hail! The world's key-bearer never doom'd to fail." Hecate is a fiercely protective goddess, and using a Skeleton Key (sometimes referred to as Hecate’s Key) is a way to wrap her protective energy around yourself.

Skeleton Keys are also associated with Hestia, the Greek goddess of the hearth, home, and family; Janus, the the ancient Roman god of beginnings, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings, classically depicted as having two heads facing in opposite directions, as if he is simultaneously looking to the past and the future; and Anubis. the ancient Egyptian god of the dead and guardian of the underworld. Again, these associations speak to a Skeleton Key’s ability to protect you both in general (as Hestia protects those in their homes) and as you embark on literal or metaphorical journeys and passages.

Skeleton Keys are most often used as protective talisman and as amulets to open the way to new beginnings, clear blocks, and help one pass through a spiritual, emotional, or situational block. They are often called upon when one embarks on a journey, whether that be a literal sojourn or an emotional journey into the depths of one’s psyche. They are also invoked during important life portals, such as births, deaths, moves, breakups, and career changes.

A powerful way to use a Skeleton Key in your own spiritual practice is to embed it with an intention for a journey or passage you are embarking on. First, identify the passage you are about to go through (or are going through). Maybe you are entering into a new phase with your business or career, your love life, or your healing. Maybe you are diving deeper into your spirituality or stepping into your power.

Once you have identified your passage and your intention for that passage, take your Skeleton Key ( better yet, if you have a Hand Mala with a Skeleton Key use this ) and gather your journal and any other magical items (such as crystals, herbs, incense or candles) around you in your sacred space. Set the tone with your magical items, ground yourself, and begin to meditate holding your Hand Mala while focusing on your intention moving your thumb and middle finger over each bead of your Mala holding the key with your other hand.

Imagine your intention flowing from you to the Key, as if you are infusing the key with this intention. Journal any feelings or insights that come up as you are doing this. Then, keep your Mala in a Scared place such as your altar or you carry her with you in a pouch ( but don’t let others touch your Mala) as you embark on your passage, using it as a way to anchor and embody your intention for this time.

Skeleton Keys- Unlocking Your Path