design-test1

The wand. The Magic Wand! People may mock the Broom, misinterpret the Knife or accidentally use the Cauldron as an ashtray, but the Wand, even before Harry Potter, can only be understood as a magical tool.

I make and even sometimes use wands. It is something of a specialty for me, and here I will share my understandings with you. I learned these things by reading them in books, listening to trees, interpreting the growth of vines, and by working directly with the god Mercury.

The Wand is a tool of Air. The Wand is a tool of Fire. Which tradition do you subscribe to? The confusion between the use of knife and wand for fire or air is a problem for many practitioners, especially if their tradition calls the wand an air elemental and they read Tarot cards, which calls the wand a fire element! I made my acquaintance with wands before I did with Tarot, so it was easy for me: Wands are Air. Branches waving in the Wind. Wind, Wand, possibly even cognates. Words and Will Winding through the Wand. Thoughts and ideas directed to make manifest. The teacher’s pointing stick, the conductor’s wand. Of course, the wood burns! And many other arguments, but my main point must be: the elemental association of fire/air wand/knife is mutable and the practical applications of the tools partake of either or both elements. Nuff said!

Wands are usually made of metal or wood, and often topped and sometimes bottomed with stones. The wood or metal conducts the magical energy, and the stone point is to direct or radiate the energy. If a bottom stone is used, it is to absorb or ground energy in the hand before it is transmitted up into the wand itself. Although the wand is primarily used to transmit energy, words, or will from the practitioner towards the goal to manifested, sometimes the wand can be used to receive or summon energy or deities, and in this case a grounding stone is especially functional, and top stones can be selected to enhance this capacity.

The energy transmitted from a wand can be of two natures: directional or radiating. The type of wood or metal influences the propensity to direct or radiate, but the top stone and the will of the practitioner is more important. Directional energy travels very far and is used primarily for directing will into the universe. Radiant energy is more localized in effect, resembling the glow around a candle flame, and is used primarily for healing (the caduceus) or altering the energetic natures of objects, as in blessing and empowering a crystal ball or talisman.

If you read a magic book it will tell you that you must make your own wand. If you are a good craftsperson, this is probably true. If you are not a craftsperson, this is probably false.

If you follow the instructions from a magic book for making your own wand, there are some things they tell you to do which will hamper or impede the usefulness of your wand.First, many will tell you to be sure to harvest your wand at the proper pruning times of the year, so that you don’t hurt the tree. While as an avid environmentalist I agree with not hurting trees, harvesting at any time of the year hurts just a little bit whether you call it pruning or not. For the best energy potential, especially directional energy transmission, harvest your wood during the active growing phase of the tree or bush and the branch you are harvesting. You want to maximize the upward/outward motion in your wand, and that is happening most during the active growing seasons in your area.

Some books will tell you to gather virgin wood, of one year or less growth, but I don’t always find this new wood big enough to harvest, nor do I find older wood less conductive. They also say that your wand should be as big around as your middle finger and measure from the tip of your middle finger to your elbow, but I use this as just an old guideline, preferring to harvest the wood at lengths that maximize the transmission of energy (e.g., between joints or taking advantage of knots where energy can be gathered from the hand, etc.).