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Magickal Tools - The Wand
The wand is often concidered one of the most important tools of the Craft. It is used mostly for channeling energy into yourself, as opposed to channeling energy outward, which is the use of the athame. The wand is often used for invocations and for casting circles in some cases. It may be used for what-ever use that you see fit. No one can tell you what works best for you.
The wand may be made of anything but wood is the most common thing. You may have a wand for general usage, or a few specific wands for different purposes. In most traditions, it is of the element Air, though in some it is concidered a tool of Fire. The wand is also a tool of the God, or masculine divine.
How to Make a Wand
When I wanted to make a wand, I searched everywhere for a detailed 'how-to' and I even went as far as to start a huge thread on the biggest Pagan newsgroups on Usenet. I came to realize that all you need to know is a few things and you're set...
Odds are you're making a wand out of wood. You may wish to use wood from a certain tree that correspondes to your intentions for the wand. I just found the 'perfect' stick in my yard. I don't know where it came from but its alright. It works for me. Now the length is a personal choice. Some say it should be from the elbow to the tip of the fingers. Mine is about the length of my forearm. Just make sure it's not too big or too small and make sure it fits in your hand well.
Next, decorate it. I went about this in a strange way. I stripped the bark with sandpaper and then I held the wood over a candle flame to darken it. Next I wiped off the ash with a papertowel and it gave it a nice, dark tone. Luckily for me, my stick had an opening in it just wide enough to put a finger of quartz which is for channeling and amplifying energies. I secured it with a bit of regular school glue and that was that. I then glued a smoooth clear gem to the bottom of the handle so that my hand would hit that instead of the rough bottom of the wand. My girlfriend did not use the quartz tip. Instead, she sharpened the tip and mized some herbs and candle wax together and dipped the tip in there. That is a really good idead to me. That way, you can scrape off the wax and put some with herbs for whatever you need for a certain spell.
Then, I found some black iron-on patch and I ironed it on for a grip. Then I did carvings. Choose symbols of the sign you associate the wand with or your sign or what-ever feels right to YOU. There's no wrong symbols. First I'd give them a light trace with a box cutter or a knife and then I would put them under a candle's flame so that it would get almost totally black. That would make the wood easier to carve, so I then carved it really deep and scraped off where it was burned. Then I painted the carvings with metallic gold Inca acryllic paint. Natural pigments are best but go with what you've got.
Next, I found a peice of copper wire and spiraled it from the top of the grip to the top near the quatrz. I tied it on there with silver thread and I was done. Here is a picture of my wand:
Links:
RitualMagick.com - Handmade Wands (This is where I bought my current athame. Check their clearance section for great deals.)
AzureGreen - Search For Wands (Well-trusted and established occult stores)
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