1. Are you needing protection from something physical?
2. Are you needing protection from something emotional, physiological or psychic?
3. Are you wanting protection in anticipation of something or from something happening again?

• Black Onyx - My favorite stone (as you could tell by the blog name right?). I am constantly wearing it, as you should when you use Onyx - the longer it stays in contact with your skin, the more powerful and attuned to you it becomes. It helps fortify your psychic self from being drained of energy (think energy vampires) and it also absorbs and transmutes negative energy. It also helps to make you feel grounded. As someone who deals with mental illness, whenever someone asks me how they can keep some self control and not let their emotions get the best of them, this is the protection stone I offer them. Quite literally helps protect you from yourself when you are being your own worst enemy. Love, love, love it! *also comes in banded, white or green and those have different properties.
• Jet - Great stone for empaths, helps absorb emotions, particularly negative ones. If your jet breaks, it did its job. Daily cleaning (sometimes more often than that depending on who you've been around) will prevent that.
• Labradorite - helps aid in defense of a psychic attack.
• Black Tourmaline - Helps ward off negative energies that are being sent to you unintentionally. Great daily wear. *Do keep in mind there are other colors and variations including black rutilated quartz (basically it is clear quartz with black tourmaline shards in it) that can also be useful but for something different.
• Black Obsidian - Also used in banishment it is one of the strongest protection stones. It aids in riding hexes and curses (which means it protects against them too) and can also return any energy back to the sender. *Snowflake obsidian could be used in place of black onyx for mental health protection.

Herbs

• Angelica -Very powerful protection herb as it protects against negative energy and attracts positive energy; creates a barrier against negative energy. Use in healing & exorcism incenses; scatter for purification, protection, and uncrossing. Add to incense to promote healing or to the bath to remove curses, hexes, or spells.  Sprinkle ground herb in the shoes to prevent tiredness and weakness. Sprinkle around the outside perimeter of the home for protection and exorcism. 
• Bay Leaf - Place in the corner of each room in the house to protect all that dwell there. Carry bay leaf to protect yourself against hexes & curses.
• Cloves - Cloves are burned to stop gossip as well as to purify & raise the spiritual vibrations of an area. Use to bring a sense of kinship to a social gathering. Wear for protection and mental clarity. Said to protect babies in their cribs if strung together and hung over the crib (being sure that the strand can't fall into the crib, of course!). Burn to drive away hostile forces, and stop any gossip about you. Carry to bring comfort during bereavement. Cleanses the aura.
• Heather -  Carry in sachets or charms to protect against rape and other violent crimes. Hang or use in home decorations to promote peace. 
• Peony - Protection from hexes and jinxes. Hang in the home or car for protection. Warning: While the flowers & petals have the positive qualities listed, the seed is called 'Jumby Bean' and is known for promoting dissension and strife.

Deities

• Hecate - (pronounced like hey-caught-A) She is a very popular Goddess, since she is known for being the Greek Goddess of Witchcraft. She is very found of dogs. Offerings of Belladonna, Oak, Yew and Garlic are seen as favorable to her. 
• Ganesha - Touted as the Hindu god of travel. Many believers hang his portrait in their cars as protection while traveling. He is whom I would invoke if you are wanting to protect yourself during a long drive, a transatlantic flight, etc. He likes traditional Indian sweets such as Laddu and modaks and bananas. I offered banana taffy since I am not familiar with Indian cusine at all (i and it worked just fine.
• Freya - Another popular Goddess this time of Nordic origin. Even though she is known as a Goddess of love & fertility, she also presides over the realm Folkvang, whose inhabitants she selects from among slain warriors. A very powerful Goddess if you want protection and I recommend leaving mead, honey or meat. She is often depicted as riding in a Chariot pulled by cats - so herbs associated with cats (i.e: catnip) are also favorable.
• Odin - I am very particular to Odin as he is one of the few male deities I truly adore. He sacrificed his own eye to gain knowledge, which if you haven't gathered, carries a lot of weight with me. Odin is often accompanied by two ravens, Huginn and Muninn (tricksters the both of them), along with the wolves Geri and Freki (whom you cannot lie to) and his eight-legged horse, Sleipnir. Tributes of  buckeye, mustard seed and ash key are often looked upon favorably. 
• Athena - Probably the most notable of the Protection Goddesses on this list, she has always been associated with warfare and owls. This has been my main deity through most of my practice. In working with her, I cannot give you specifics because she is particularly choosy and what worked for me will most certainly not work for you. It will be one of those "I've seen this before, what else do you have?" and you can lose her favor rather than gain it. She is not an enemy you want to make. Since she also deals with creativity, be clever in how you attempt to win her favor. Think Odysseus outsmarting the Cyclops in the Iliad for inspiration. 

Sigils / Symbols