Magical Tools
- a part of the
Guild of Pagans 's
Guild book of Shadows .
The Recorder, and Ocarina. Two tools of Musical Magic within two Arts: The Art of Magic, & Melodies.
~ [
KMR #1] , Piper of All...
TO MAKE AN ELEMENTAL WAND
Wand of Air
Cut an 18 inch Lilac branch. Slowly shave only the bark off, no wood. Make sure the branch is green. Holding the wand with your thumbs, light incense under it, and let the smoke touch it. As the incense burns, chanting:
"Spirit of Air, maker of wind. Bless this wand to channel your strength through."
Wand of Fire
Cut an 18 inch Cherry branch. Slowly shave only the bark off, no wood. Make sure the branch is green (red). Resting the wand on your thumbs, light a candle under it, Push wand in and out of the flames while chanting:
"Spirit of Fire, maker of destruction. Bless this wand to channel your strength through."
Wand of Earth
Cut an 18 inch Dog Wood (or Oak) branch. Slowly shave only the bark off, no wood. Make sure the branch is green. Resting the wand on your thumbs, slowly sprinkle dirt/earth over it while chanting:
"Spirit of Earth, maker of Mountain. Bless this wand to channel your strength through."
Wand of Water
Cut an 18 inch Willow (or Drift Wood) branch. Slowly shave only the bark off, no wood (Don't shave drift wood). Make sure the branch is green (Not necessary for drift wood). Resting the wand on your thumbs, slowly sprinkle water over it while chanting:
"Spirit of Water, maker of sea. Bless this wand to channel your strength through."
Magickal Staffs
contributed by James Hunter
The staff and the wand are to common and important tools of several crafts, including shamanism, Wicca, Witchcraft, Oriental religious practices, and most native magick from around the world. The staff is a representation of the world tree, a symbol used in ALL religion - including (believe it or not) biblical religions. When you meditate, or go into trance, having your staff to lean on can enhance your journey by connecting the wood in the staff to the universal spirit of the world tree. For the Wiccans and Witches, the wand is a miniature version of the world-tree staff - it is commonly used to assist in casting circle and directing energy. Some use crystal wands, or wands made of different metals - these work and feel much different, since they are not connected to the world tree. The non-wooden wands connect to the mineral world, and are used for people who connect more to the lower world and work with earth spirits, such as the fairy. sprites, and nymphs.
There are unlimited variations on staffs and wands - I will describe here just one way that I happen to like very much and found to be very powerful when working in the shamanic context. This is by o means the 'only' way - always use a way that is comfortable for you. Use any ideas you wish and combine them with what works for you - everyone works differently.
The technique used here may be especially good for those running a coven or a group - it can be used as an achievement system to visually and magically show a persons experience level.
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The Staff:
You will need to collect a few things together before starting this project - they are: a wooden staff of a comfortable length, some leather scraps, some leather or sinew straps (or heavy string or twine), some epoxy or other durable and water-proof glue, some lacquer or wood finish, some pretty feathers, and wood working tools such as chisels or Dremel tools. You don't need to be a gifted wood carver to make your staff unique - if you don't feel comfortable carving wood, you can either cut designs into the staff or you can epoxy a finial-type decoration on the top of your staff. If you are going to use a finial, skip step number two.
Step 1. Prepare your staff for a long time of use and honor the wood.
The staff you choose should ideally be some sort of hard wood, or cedar (pine tends to leak sap and rot after just a few months) - you can get a piece of wood for a staff from any renaissance festival, a construction site where new housing is going up (find a cut down sapling), or even a hardware store (closet poles can work just fine). If you go scouting in the woods for a fallen tree, be careful that the wood is not starting to rot - if you get a tree branch, the tree should be newly fallen. When you find your piece, clean it of all the branches and bring it home. Light some incense and and seal the aura of the wood - clutch it tightly and and empower it with your essence. Give a ritual to the wood, and make it a place of honor in your heart - this wood will be your companion for a long time.
You can cut down a sapling for your staff, but there is a process to it that is very important to follow. Many people do not like to cut down saplings that are alive, since we already have a hard enough time keeping the forests safe - though there is a good method for this that the Native Americans of the East coast tribes used (according to several books anyway). First, go into the forest and take a full day looking for the perfect sapling - it should stand about ten feet high, be very straight, and have few branches on it. Go to the tree, and meditate with it - let it know that it has been selected for an Earth empowering and sacred task. Give the tree an offering - usually tobacco. Remember were the tree is, and leave. Over the next several weeks, come into the forest and visit the tree - get to really know it while it is still alive and growing. Become familiar with the section of forest that it calls home. Visit during the day and night, during the sun and rain, during the heat and the cold - each time you visit, leave another offering for it. Also, pay respects to the trees surrounding your tree - also let them know that you will be taking their companion soon, and that it will be for a sacred and honored task. After a while, you will know when the time is right to actually take the tree. Go into the forest, and cut the sapling as quickly and painlessly as possible - a hand axe should fell the sapling in two or three blows. Take the sapling and remove the branches - cut a section that you will be using for the actual staff (usually a good part is from a foot above the stump spanning 5 feet up). Take the remaining and unused parts of the sapling and arrange them around the freshly cut stump. Give offerings to the stump, and to the surrounding trees - give an oath so that the forest knows that this is for a good and sacred cause. You should leave with the blessings from the forest.
Step 2. Carve the staff and mark it with your energy
If you are not good at carving, or can't for some reason, you can drill a hole in the top and put a finial on it (a finial is the decorative piece used for the ends of curtain rods). Otherwise, get either some chisels, a pocket knife, or a Dremel tool and carve the top into a symbol or icon that represents you. I personally like the Dremel tool best, and can carve easily with it. Carve whatever you wish - a goddess head, a dragon, a wolf, a rabbit, whatever. If you don't want to carve a 3D sculpture, symbols will work fine as well - such as Ogham, Runic, Witches Runic, English, or just random symbols. So long as it represents you, it is fine - in case of a horrible mistake, I usually make the staff extra long so I can chop the top off and start over. If you get it right the first time, chop the bottom off to make the height correct. Whatever you do, make sure to sand it thoroughly after you are done - this will help the wood to stay more durable.
Step 3. Treat the wood
Take the lacquer that you purchased and give the staff several thin coats. Many people do not like the shiny look on their staff and don't coat it - I have to recommend against this, since it will prevent long-term outdoor use. If you have a camp out, and bring your staff, the morning dew will start to rot your staff. If you don't want the shiny look, get a matte finish. Outdoor porch and patio finish (Water Seal®, Thompsons®, Sears®, etc.) work very good. If you used a light color wood, you may even want to stain it first - you can be creative with your staining, using green or red, or using multiple wood type stains together (giving a natural tie-dye effect).
Step 4. Decorate the staff.
Next, take the scraps of leather you collected and wrap them anywhere you see fit on the staff - like like to just wrap a section towards the top of the staff - some like making runners and fringes on the staff. Take the leather or twine straps and let at least twelve of them hang off of the staff - these will be used to collect totems over the years, so you will need a few. Using different color pieces of leather can make a nice effect. Below are some examples you can use for ideas.
Step 5. Add your first totems
The straps hanging from the staff are to hold major totems and gifts that signify achievements. These totems should not be arbitrary - they should have deep meaning to you and represent major developments in your craft. When you first make the staff, take an item that shows your experience up to this point - if you wear a pagan symbol for a necklace, and have been wearing it for several months, this would be a great start. Some people change their necklace about every 6 months to a year, and these make great stepping stones - when you see them, you can easily remember your state of mind from the time you took it off and put it on the staff. The necklaces are also something that has constant intimate contact with you, and journeys through life with you at all times while you wear it. Other things that would be are are: anything you find you get as a gift during major rituals, things you find from your animal guides, gifts from friends and spiritual group members (especially teachers).
FOR COVENS: This can be a great achievement systems for group members - as they reach various 'levels', they can receive items for their staff - when a coven member sees a fellow coven member with a very full staff, they know that the person has a good amount of experience (similar to the medals that generals wear, or even merit badges in the scouts).
Your staff is now your magical companion, and should always go with you to all magical functions. As time goes on, it will keep collecting your magical essence, and become a very powerful tool for you. As many years go by, and the staff becomes old and worn, it will be like an old friend - you can also go through the collection of medallions on it and keep past experiences alive and in the present.
Besom or Broom Lore
by Mincx
Throughout history, the besom is traditionally linked
to Witchcraft, and "flying Witches".
It is still widely used today in magick ritual,
to "sweep" the psychic dirt away, cleanse the circle, or ritual area.
There are many explanations for the idea that Witches can fly on broomsticks, one popular belief being that Witches often used the mandrake root for pain relief. And to be graphic, menstruation pain.
(Mandrake contains scopalamine, which is (along with atropine) also found in thorn apple/belladonna. Both were commonly used in 'witches potions' to induce out of body experiences.)
The root would be concocted into a paste which seeped through the skin when applied to relieve the pain. It was often rubbed in the armpit area, or for vaginally, applied with the handle of the broom. Being highly hallucinogenic, this may have given the feeling or "flight" or "riding the broomstick".
It is also said that in the times of the Witch hunts, that the Church wanted to spread fear surrounding Witches, and during those times, what better way that to accuse them of having the ability to fly.
Whatever the reason, the broomstick, ir "besom" is still a widely used tool in Pagan rite, and often used in blessings of fertility.
Some folklore of the besom
An old English Saying:
"Buy a broom in May, and you will sweep your friends away."
In Welsh Tradition among the Gypsies, there was an old custom of the broomstick wedding. The couple solemnized their rites before witnesses by jumping over a broom placed in a doorway, without dislodging it. To dissolve the marriage, they had to reverse the process, jumping backwards out of the house, over the broom, before the same witnesses.
An old Yorkshire belief:
should a young girl inadvertently step over
a broom handle she will become, a mother before she becomes a wife.
In Sicily, on Midsummer's Eve,
a broom is placed outside the home to ward off any wickedness
that might come knocking.
Never sweep after the sunset, or fear chasing away happiness
or hurting a wandering soul.
Brooms laid across the doorways are believed to keep evil out.
Never use a broom when there is a dead person in the house.
Never bring old brooms into new houses
as a broom becomes attached to houses
so leave the old one behind.
Never walk on a broom.
Never use a broom to sweep outside the house,
unless the inside of the house is cleaned first.
If you sweep under someone's feet
tell them that you will dance at their wedding.
Otherwise they will have bad luck.
A new broom should sweep dirt out of a house
only after it has swept something in.
"Making a Besom"
design & creation by: Edain McCoy
Here are some easy to follow directions for handcrafting your own besom by Edain. If you would like a Besom of your own, they are fairly easy to find in craft stores, country markets, or folk art fairs. You can also invest your energies into making one, a good idea if you wish to use it in place of a Wand or other ritual tool.
To make a Besom you will need a four-foot dowel one inch in diameter, a ball of twine, scissors, and straw or other long strands of pliable herbs.
Take the straw, or another herb you have chosen for the bristles, and allow them to soak overnight in warm, lightly salted water. The water softens the straws to make them pliable, and the salt soaks out former energies.
When you are ready to make your Besom, remove the straws from the water and allow them to dry a bit, but not so much that they lose the suppleness you will need to turn them into your Besom.
Find a work area where you can lay out the length of your dowel, and begin lining the straws alongside the dowel. Starting about three inches from the bottom, lay the straws, moving backward, along the length of the dowel. Begin binding these to the dowel with the twine. You will need to tie them very securely. You can add as many layers of straw as you wish, depending on how full you would like your Besom to be.
When the straw is secured, bend the top straws down over the twine ties. When they
are all gently pulled over, tie off the straws again a few inches below the original tie. Leave the Besom overnight to allow the straw to dry.
The dowel part of the Besom can be stained, painted, or decorated with Pagan symbols, your Craft name, or any other embellishments you choose. Dedicate your finished Besom in your Circle as you would any other ritual tool. ~From Edain McCoy's book “The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old Ways” (C) 1994.
Wiccans use tools in the working of magic, and to create the circle. The use of specific tools can get us in the right mood for the purpose intended. An important tool, owned by many Witches, is an athame or ritual knife. The athame is charged with the energy of the owner and is used as a pointer to define space (such as casting a sacred circle) and as a conductor of the owner's will and energy.
A bell can be used during ritual, to invoke the Goddess since it is a feminine symbol, or rung to ward off evil spells and spirits.
Other important tools are the symbols on the altar which denote the Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit.
A small dish of salt or soil can be used to symbolize the Earth and its properties --stability, material wealth, the body, and practical affairs.
A censer can be used to symbolize Air and its properties -- communications, vitality, intellect and understanding.
A candle or small pot of fire may symbolize the element of Fire and its properties -- will, transmutation, life-force, and power.
A chalice can be used to symbolize the element of Water and its properties -- cleansing, regeneration, reincarnation and immortality. A chalice or cup is basically a cauldron on a stem. It symbolises the Goddess and fertility and can be used to hold water.
An ankh, clear quartz crystal or representation of the Goddess/God can be used to symbolize Spirit and its properties -- perfection, balance, illumination and eternity.
A pentagram symbolizes the five elements, four of matter(earth, air, fire and water) and the quintessential - spirit. Tracing a path around the pentagram, the elements are placed in order of density - spirit , air, fire, water, earth. Earth and fire are basal, fixed; air and water are free, flowing. The single point upwards signifies the spirit ruling matter.
A circled pentagram, known as a pentacle, contains and protects. The circle symbolises eternity and infinity, the cycles of life and nature. The circle touching all 5 points indicates that the spirit, earth, air, water and fire are all connected. Pentacles are also hung over doors and windows to act as protective devices.
~adapted from "Wicca" by Scott Cunningham, "21st Century Goddess" by Adams, Glisic & Paul, and 'stormy1sbewitchery.faithweb.com' online~
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