DIY Wands

OMG, I just found the most awesome idea for making your own wands. I was browsing around Pinterest and found this little tidbit that looks so easy, and cool...even if you DON"T paint them!!

 

Picture 1) before painting Picture 2) after painting...both look awesome! http://browse.deviantart.com/artisan/?q=tutorial#/d389bn0
**You will have to click the picture in the link to enlarge it so you can read the instructions**

(naturally credit for the pictures go entirely to the creator of these fine wands)

Back...again :D :D

Ok, so it's again been quite some time since I've been here.

I've been wandering around this interesting internet recently and have found the creative spark again. And I'm back into bottles. I love bottles, they're pretty, you can put MORE than just liquids in them, AND, you can cast any spell on them, then give them as gifts and no one would be the wiser that it was a spell...you can just say its a pretty trinket you made with pretty herbs that you thought would look nice on the shelf.

Now, the bottles I'm going to use are not the tiny vials I had before. I'm going to try using larger, more decorative bottles. I have plans for these bottles, they're not just being made at random. A few for protection, some for prosperity, spirituality, etc. 

I'm itching to get started...the problem? I DON'T HAVE ANY SUPPLIES!! (boo hoo hoo) lol.

BUT...I have a few dollars...AND some of my supplies are readily growing in my area, so a trip may be in order. I do know that in the morning (it will be quite early, as my husband leaves early for work, and usually likes me to say goodbye to him) I will be doing some harvesting of herbs.

I'm planning on gathering some cedar, mullein, thistle, clover and some burdock. Not only are they going in my bottles, but it will be nice to have a bit of an expansion on my herb collection (I guess I'll need some baggies for temporary storage).

So...let the creative spark ignite!

Ritual Tools: Altar Pentacle

The altar pentacle is a fairly common tool used among many Pagans, especially those who identify with the Pentacle in their practice. There are MANY designs one can purchase at any online store, most made of metal, like brass or silver. However, if you do not have the funds, OR you feel it important to make your own tools to use, there are a few ways to make an altar pentacle for use during almost any ritual.

**NOTE**
The tiles I am about to instruct are not fireproof, therefore do NOT place anything hot on them.

Altar Pentacle #1
Items needed:
Wooden disc (found in any dollar store with a craft section, hardware store, or craft store)
Paint

This one is perhaps the most simplistic form of making one's own altar pentacle. You simply paint on a five pointed star on the disc, and there you go. Now how you paint it is limited only by your imagination. The altar pentacle I made out of a wooden plate, I painted the inner circumference black, painted the star in silver over the black, then the outer rim in gold, all corresponding to my path (black for absorption of negativity, silver for the Goddess, and Gold for the God (for at the time I was following a God).
YOU do not have to paint it in the same way I did, you may leave your wooden disc unfinished, and paint the star in whatever color you wish, say green, or elemental colors associating each point with their assigned colors. Whatever you wish.

Altar Pentacle #2
Items needed:
Round glass trivet or candle plate (can be clear or colored)
Candle wax

Another simple way to make your own altar pentacle, simply drip candle wax in the shape of a pentacle on the round glass trivet. While glass can be heat resistant, the wax is not, thus the reasoning for this type of pentacle to not be used with hot items.

Altar Pentacle #3
Items Needed:
Modeling clay (whatever form you wish, I used air-dry clay)

Gather some clay and work it into a round form, either with your hands, to create a unique circle, or using a glass or other rounded item to make a perfect circle.

Next, take more clay, and work it into five equal ribbons. Interlace them on top of the clay circle, pressing down, so both clay items adhere to each other (you can wet it if you like to ensure proper adhesion) OR carve into the clay disc your pentacle shape. Dry clay in whatever means instructed on the package (either in the oven, or air-dry)

Ta-Da! You have a clay altar pentacle. The beauty of using clay, is you can make the altar pentacle as large as you want. After the clay has dried, paint it in whatever way you like, OR leave it as is.

Magical Tools: Besome or Broom

The Besome or magical broom is an item used to cleanse sacred space before beginning any form of ritual. One takes their broom, sweeps, either literally or physically (going through sweeping motions), to cleanse away influential energies that may hinder the magical process of the ritual.

The broom is another simple item that need not be elaborate in its creation. One may take a simple straw broom obtained from any department or craft store and decorate it with ribbons, feathers, beads, shells, stones, etc to make it one's own.

To make your own Besome, you may need
-Thin branches or straw (for the bristles)
-A thicker branch (for the handle)
-Ribbons
-Other items you wish to use to decorate your broom (beads, feathers, other ribbons, etc)

Gather branches in a bunch and try to make them as uniform in length as you can (trim the ends if you wish). Take your thicker branch (to be used as the handle) and surround one end with your bunched branches. Secure them with either twine, or to be authentic, willow branches. Wrap tightly from the top and wind down about a quarter of the way down the branches, and tie it secure (BE SURE the willow is fresh before wrapping, otherwise it may break).

Next, simply wrap ribbons around the broom and tie them securely in place. Thread ribbons through beads and affix feathers to the beads to make a fanciful broom.

Consecrate the broom for use, and begin sweeping sacred space.

Above is a picture of my broom I made for Samhain. It's five reed fans I obtained from my local dollar store and bound together with orange and black ribbons.

Magical Tools: The Athame

The Athame is a Witches blade. Generally a black handled, double-edged knife used to direct energy, similar to the Wand. The idea being in the past, if "Witch Hunters" stumbled upon a Witch's home, a wand would draw unnecessary attention, whereas a knife would be inconspicuous, and thought of as another kitchen utensil.

One may make their own Athame by taking any double edged knife and decorating the handle...either inscribing it with various symbols holding great meaning to you, or simply painting it black. Some skilled workers will forge their own metal athames, but some others aren't that adept and only work on replacing handles, but keeping the blade itself.

The interesting thing about the athame is, because it's used to only direct energy, and not cut anything physical, the athame may be made out of just about anything, ranging from metal, to wood, to even bone.

If you're not too picky on whether or not your athame's blade is metal or not, you can make your OWN athame, with the help of a skilled carver or even a dremmel tool.

All you need is a length of wood (however long you want your athame), and a dremmel tool or carving knife.

On a whim one day, many, many moons ago, I took it upon myself to create my own athame out of a scrap piece of wood my husband had. I grabbed his dremmel, figured out how to attach the grinder, and just grinded away. What was left when I was done was what looked like a wooden knife (the blade a little thicker than I wanted, but it was my first attempt at wood carving, so it turned out well).

If you have the idea in your head of how a basic double-edged blade looks like, you can try to make a blade that looks like a traditional knife, only wood. But the nice thing is, that an athame doesn't have to look like your typical blade. It can be as amateurish as you like. It can just be a flattened out piece of wood with a thick handle. The inspiration is all yours.

Once it's all carved out, all you need do is decorate it (naturally, if you want). Paint it, carve into it, wrap it in ribbons. Do what you like to it, cuz it's your tool, used for YOUR purposes!

Have fun with it!

Magical Tools: The Wand

The wand, in many Pagan practices, services as a tool of energy direction. Many Witches and Wiccans use them in circle castings to form a circle around them and the area they are working, either for protection, or to seal off an area dedicated to just them and their deities.

Generally a wand is long stick uniquely decorated and consecrated for use by the practitioner.

To make one really depends on the individual, however many people don't know how to make one or what goes on one. Here, I will provide a possibility on how to make your own wand.

Gather a stick of some kind. Most people prefer this stick be natural in some way, either gathering it from a live tree or finding one on the ground. I feel one on the ground would be better, as it's not damaging to the tree (breaking or cutting a tree branch is like cutting yourself. You introduce bacteria and dirt into the tree and could cause serious disease or problems to form in the tree). Still some others (usually those who live in the city or other place that doesn't have an abundance of tree life) will go to a hardware store or department store and obtain a length of dowel rod (a smooth, rounded stick) or even a copper pipe.

Take your stick, wrap the ends in yarn, ribbon, or cord in a color you deem appropriate for what you want to use your wand for (i.e. white/silver for generalized energy direction). You can also add a quartz point to the end to increase and focalize the energy direction extending from you then the wand.

A wand shouldn't be something that's difficult to make. Certainly one may make it as elaborately as they wish, by adding beads and feathers to it, but a wand may be as simple as just a simple stick, consecrated for use.