[Opinion] Wand Lore Megathread

[Ash L.]

IDK if there any wand wavers about the place, but I am somewhat partial to a wand of wood in ritual or natural magical applications and so I ask any present who do wield a wand whether or not it's wooden, would you be willing point the way to whatever wand lore you have found worthwhile?

Cuz, damn. I've rarely come across any content on the topic. Sure this grimoire tells you to use Hazel and cut the wand just before sunrise and that grimoire says put these markings on it after you cut it on the day and hour of Mercury and yadda yadda but try to find a good read about the how to and how come of it all.

Over the years I've put some time into trying to "rediscover" the (I think) lost lore of this tool and I gots me a right purdy neat little method a'goin' but I'd still love to find some traditional instruction on the matter. It surely would only help my cause.

Thanks to any and all with input.

 

[Yazata]

Not a lot of responses but a similar thread :

Rod questions

What's up guys. Recently I've been playing with rods alot. I use rods everywhere, at home, outside, in the park. Any chance I get I whip out my rod. I really like rods, but unfortunately all these daily exercises have taken a toll on my favorite rod and it's starting to warp. I was thinking of...

wizardforums.com

 

[Shade]

Does anyone have a favorite type of wood for their wand/s?

I was considering going with rather…
Holly , White Ash or Pine
(Carving, sanding, polishing by hand + then engraving and I have very large white citrine I was going to break to get the size shards I need)
I’m then Drilling out the core, thread copper through the wand and use as a handle wrap or Engrave some grooves and use them to wrap it along the grooves downward to make a handle with a small citrine at the base or tip (no matter which way I create it I was going to use the citrine.)

ya’ll have any preferences as to use the crystal on the base or the tip?
any opinions to have a good match to put at the base or tip to go along with the citrine that’s simpatico?
(to give you an idea my wand is for more cleansing/banishing/protection sort of things.)
Madagascar Rose wood looks nice but I can’t find any supposed metaphysical properties about it, so if you are privy to that I’d be interest to know.
(I also have a bamboo staff I was going to spice up.)

What are y’all’s opinion on a bamboo staff? Any design recommendations?

Athame’s
I’m going to forge my own athame by hand with a forge, anvil, a hammer and chisel to imbue it while working on it. I also want to make an intricate display sword.

Any opinions on the best course of action to make an enchanted Athame dagger? (Such as the your favorite sigils/Symbols to use for one.)

How often and how do you personally incorporate them into your own practice?
(especially interested in hearing a Chaos Mage’s uses but I eagerly away all responses no matter the discipline)

I’m just curious, I have a rough idea how I’m going to make mine. But y’all are creative and I’m eagerly await all the members insight. Let your preference and opinion be known incase it gives me some ideas. I’d be very appreciative.
Thanks

 

[Xenophon]

As for the athame, good luck forging your own---that kicks ass! I knew of a guy that chipped his own from flint, but never got to see the piece. I've made a couple of half-assed efforts that way, but to date just would up making large gravel.

Sigils should be a highly personal thing. Personally I use a bindrune that hints at my magickal agenda.

 

[Shade]

As for the athame, good luck forging your own---that kicks ass! I knew of a guy that chipped his own from flint, but never got to see the piece. I've made a couple of half-assed efforts that way, but to date just would up making large gravel.

Sigils should be a highly personal thing. Personally I use a bindrune that hints at my magickal agenda.

Yeah it’s going to take a lot of work especially my first couple to practice but I finally got all my stuff in, the metal, the forge, hammers, tongs, angle grinder, vice grip, sandpaper, anvil, metal file the no residue charcoal and some heat resistant gear.

Yeah sigils typically are highly personal, I was thinking of doing astrological theme for mine. Moon, water, cancer ect, my want will be more nature down to earth: It’ll be interesting to hear what others do

 

[Xenophon]

Yeah it’s going to take a lot of work especially my first couple to practice but I finally got all my stuff in, the metal, the forge, hammers, tongs, angle grinder, vice grip, sandpaper, anvil, metal file the no residue charcoal and some heat resistant gear.

Yeah sigils typically are highly personal, I was thinking of doing astrological theme for mine. Moon, water, cancer ect, my want will be more nature down to earth: It’ll be interesting to hear what others do

I liked Nimrod de Rosario's bindrune for his now long-defunct Knights of Tyrodhal order: The Tyr rune surmounting the Odhala rune. The outline suggested a crab with a spear for a head.

 

[Yazata]

Best of luck. A tip to make a wand with a copper core: take two pieces of floorboard (they have these canals in which you can place the copper+any crystals splinters) glue them together and then use a lathe (if you have it..).

I am currently making yet another copper dagger by the way. 3mm thick and 30x3 cms.

 

[Shade]

Best of luck. A tip to make a wand with a copper core: take two pieces of floorboard (they have these canals in which you can place the copper+any crystals splinters) glue them together and then use a lathe (if you have it..).

I am currently making yet another copper dagger by the way. 3mm thick and 30x3 cms.

Nope I’m working pretty much purely by hand so can’t use a lathe, and I wanna try to keep the wood all in one piece, the amount of time it’s take me is irrelevant so I’m ok with that admittedly that’’d Make thing a lot easier. The only mechanical tool I would use is a drill for the core of the wand (less fancy lathe ) and an angle grinder to help get the shape right on the athame, pretty much everything else I can use just my hands/hand tools
I’m glad to know if I have any questions then you have experience. I bet you can make some really awesome looking stuff. I was thinking of making a staff of Thoth at one point with a copper plating over the wood,
I was curious as to what people did to personalize their wands, athame’s and such.

Post automatically merged: Aug 20, 2024

It’s also really annoying trying to find the metaphysical properties of wood without running into any Harry Potter stuff -.-

 

[Rowena]

I'd suggest that you might want to look at Elder (Sambucus spp.) for wands.

The correspondences are generally wand friendly - it's traditionally used to direct air into fires, and channel water for agricultural use, and has a lot of liminality in it's folklore giving it a useful otherworldly ambiguity.

Physically, it is soft, easy to cut and carve, and has unusually soft heartwood - like packed cotton-wool - which is easy to extract, and which is why it is also a traditional wood for whistles & flutes. I've hollowed out small pieces with nothing more than a flat-head screwdriver - and I've seen people use heated long-reach screwdrivers to hollow out much longer pieces, so if you want to go completely hand-tool only it would be a good choice.

 

[Sabbatius]

Alferion Maclir's Book is not bad either on explanation on what woods are utilized, though he focuses mostly on purpose.

 

[Anziel_Merkaba]

A long time ago I made a wand out of oak with a quartz crystal tip. I made it to align with lightning but I never really used it for much because my practice is more focused on internal work and direct manifestation so I don't use tools often.

 

[Shade]

A long time ago I made a wand out of oak with a quartz crystal tip. I made it to align with lightning but I never really used it for much because my practice is more focused on internal work and direct manifestation so I don't use tools often.

Same mine is most internal work so I wanted to go with the holly or white ash with a white citrine for cleansing my meditation area.

 

[Wizzard420]

Does anyone have a favorite type of wood for their wand/s?

I was considering going with rather…
Holly , White Ash or Pine
(Carving, sanding, polishing by hand + then engraving and I have very large white citrine I was going to break to get the size shards I need)
I’m then Drilling out the core, thread copper through the wand and use as a handle wrap or Engrave some grooves and use them to wrap it along the grooves downward to make a handle with a small citrine at the base or tip (no matter which way I create it I was going to use the citrine.)

I always let the wood choose me and often as i adventure or work outdoors I find perfectly suitable sticks to carve into my wands. My personal favorite are willow (for health and protection) and creosote. I think using a cactus spine would make a really unique powerful wand as well!

 

[Xenophon]

Best of luck. A tip to make a wand with a copper core: take two pieces of floorboard (they have these canals in which you can place the copper+any crystals splinters) glue them together and then use a lathe (if you have it..).

I am currently making yet another copper dagger by the way. 3mm thick and 30x3 cms.

Now that's an idea. I'm going to read up on whether bamboo can be used for wands. Same principle, but I'm not sure about he magickal uses if bamboo.

 

[Khoren_]

Now that's an idea. I'm going to read up on whether bamboo can be used for wands. Same principle, but I'm not sure about he magickal uses if bamboo.

You might want to look into the chinese and japanese relations (i'm sure you're aware)
I can't imagine a major resource like that having no magical uses at all.

 

[Xenophon]

You might want to look into the chinese and japanese relations (i'm sure you're aware)
I can't imagine a major resource like that having no magical uses at all.

I wonder if one could line bamboo with strips of another wood that has strong magick associations. Hawthorne is plentiful here. Ash too. One wonders about cross-influences. Technically, bamboo is a grass. Still...

 

[Shade]

I wonder if one could line bamboo with strips of another wood that has strong magick associations. Hawthorne is plentiful here. Ash too. One wonders about cross-influences. Technically, bamboo is a grass. Still...

I’ve been thinking ove mixing different woods but mostly I use copper/brass/silver ect.. it’s be investing to see the outcome even just from aesthetic pov.

 

[Shade]

Each wood has its own metaphysical properties, my favorite was just a thin pine with a dip in the tip I placed a copper bb and wrapped copper wire from th ball to the handle. But if you’re using a grimoire you may want to follow their method, or a different type of wood, I know Holly is popular but expensive same as black obsidian wood, which is like 5-7x more expensive than holly. Like a 1inch or 1 1/4inch by 14 inch piece of holly is $5 but the black wood is &20-30 for the same dimensions.

 

[AlfrunGrima]

My dad once made me a large holly wand, carved beautifully as a present. He kept it secret till the day he gave it to me. It was a powerful wand, more than I ever had. The thieves who were entering my house seem to like it too, they robbed me from that wand.

The energy of that wand felt solid, robust. With stormy weather the energy felt a little heavy, almost cluttered. At those days I prefered hawthorn or a very small elder wand with a copper thread wired as a spiral around it. Nowadays I don't use a wand anymore, just my bare hands. But I don't perform ceremonial magic.

 

[Shade]

I want a nice, straight white piece of Holly or even an Ebony wood, but quality always varies and can be hard to come by.
that’s such an amazing gift, it’s sad to hear someone would actually steal it. v.v RIP