Casting a spell is a method of asking for help in expanding the powers within you. It is almost like reaching for something that is physically out of reach, so you foster a desire to help someone through spell casting and with the assistance of a tool.
The wand is probably the most popular tool in magick. I am sure it brings to mind the magick wand of the fairy godmothers, or the staff of the magicians in fairy tales, it has survived the magick as a guide and director of power, and actually that image is not far from the truth, when we use the wand in ritual, the wand will fulfill the function of conducting the energy we raise during that ritual, the wand is an element of air.
There are almost as many different types of wands as there are users, and the difference is seen both in shape, size, and materials used for its making,I will be concentrating on a wand made of wood in this post, the type depending on the affinity each one has with each tree or the uses we're planning for it, here are the trees and their correspondences.
Birch, purification, the first month, November
Rowan, protection against spells, the second month, December
Alder, protection and prophesy, the third month, January
Willow, feminine, lunar aspects, the fourth month, February
Ash, bonding the inner and outer world, the fifth month, March
Hawthorn, purification and chastity, the sixth month, April
Oak, protection and entrance into the Mysteries, seventh month, May
Holly, superiority in struggle, the eighth month, June
Hazel, intuition, the ninth month, July
Vine, prophesy, tenth month, August
Ivy, search for the Ego, the eleventh month, September
Reed, direct action, twelfth month, October
Elder, beginnings and endings, the thirteenth month, the last days of October
Now to find the wood, it depends on what wood you wish to use, personally I use the wood available at the time, I believe I am guided to the wood to use, amazingly if you state your intent on its use, then I often find a twig appears when least expected.
Never cut a branch from a tree, some say they asked for permission to do so, I do not personally follow this theory, no one person has the right to remove a branch from a tree, I question the so called Tree Surgeons at times, but I am not adverse to the safety of humans, I prefer not to think about trees being cut down for any purpose, just my way of coping.
Twigs are readily available at the base of the Trees, the Tree itself sheds the twigs that are weak to allow for new growth to appear.
Start with a relatively straight twig at first, I measure from my elbow to the tip of my thumb and then saw off the remainder, but never discar what is left I just place it to one side and await guidance in what use it will have
Make sure your twig is sturdy and not rotted; some may lay for a long time at the bottom of the trees, and because they no longer have sap flowing through them succumb to the weather and the length of time it lays there. After a windy day you often find fresh green twigs that have snapped off, these are ideal, but pick up some older ones too, you never know what beauty lies beneath the bark.
It is easier to strip the bark with a craft knife or scalpel, if the bark is fresh then after one gliding cut down the branch you may find you can peel the rest of the bark back without further cutting, you would then leave that stripped twig to dry out naturally, this can take from 7 – 14 days depending on its thickness.
Older bark will need to be assisted to reveal what lies beneath, use your knife or blade gently positioned at a very slight angle to ensure you don’t cut in too deeply.
The next step is to remove any knobbly bits where other branches have broken off, you can carefully do this with your knife or blade to get it nearer to being flat and then just keep sanding until it is smooth, personally I like a slightly knobbly wand, why remove its character completely?
Start off with a coarse sand paper and then move onto a fine sandpaper, scouring pad you use for washing up, a new one of course not a wet one, until you have a beautifully smooth twig and the full beauty of the grain of the wood is revealed.
After sanding then wipe the twig with a damp cloth to remove any sanding residue and then you can either oil the wand with linseed oil and leave its surface natural or you can apply a glaze, I say glaze because I find it much clearer than a varnish, it does not yellow either with time as some varnishes do.
A clear glaze really enhances the grain of the twig, I sand and re-glaze at least 6 times often more, this builds up a clearer view of the grain and builds the glaze up to almost a mirror finish, it is quite beautiful, and a very strong surface of protection too.
Now to embellishing your wand, this is by personal choice, it’s your wand you have to work with it so you can embellish it with what you want, or indeed leave it unadorned, I have an elder wand and a hawthorn wand that are unadorned, they are not straight but most beautiful and need no further decoration, use your guidance here, go with what you feel.
The beauty about wand making is the fact that you can buy materials to decorate your wand that cost very little, stone chips, copper wire, cord, border peel offs or indeed stones you may have picked up. Get a really good craft glue, one used for gluing beads and gemstones, the one I use is called trim-it and is great, it dries clear and I have repaired most things with it too.
You can file recesses into the wand to make the gems sit lower, but it’s not necessary, gluing small stone chips directly onto the wand is fine; you usually find ones with fairly flat bottoms
To place a clear quartz point on the tip of your wand enhances the energy, but is not always necessary, I believe that it’s best to go with the guidance you have asked for when starting your wand. You can add feathers, stones in a cage, bells anything you want to, wands are very individual and become part of you and a very important tool on your altar.
The essence of any wand is the preparation of the wood, enjoy crafting your wand Blessed Be
