Tools of Witchcraft

In witchcraft, and indeed in magic, there are tools that one uses to channel the powers needed to create magic. They could be for channeling intent into charms and amulets, poppets and potions. There are other tools that are not for channeling as well such as bells and drums, musical instruments, scrying mirrors, bone fetishes and other such tools for inducing trance.


For a while many of my readers/listeners have been asking me to post about my personal tools and what I use or don't use. Well now that I have some time I will do just that. We will start with my most important tool in my toolbox and also how I came to acquire it.


We will start with:

THE STANG

The above is a picture of my personal stang (next to it is a cleaning broom, not an actual besom, but that is being created as you read!). It is made from Poplar wood which is strong in the underworld currents. Attached is a Raven's Feather and a shell. The antler was a gift from my stepfather a long time ago and I have used for a long time. The staff, funnily enough, chose me. I was walking around in an area that I wanted to contact and I was thinking of how I should have brought my walking stick to bat any persons that would wish me harm when this staff flew right up and thwacked me in the face! It has been with me ever since and since then I have painted the symbols that you see on it and my uncle helped me wax it and bind the antler with leather.


The stang is a tool that represents the world tree. I call it my branching staff and when it is set in the ground in the center of my compass the branches represent the upperworld and base reaches down into the lower world and the staff is the axis mundi that I go up and down upon. It is my altar and my riding pole. I have used it in the past (before I moved to Spokane) to travel to the Otherworlds with great success.


Robert Cochrane was the one that popularized the stang in modern traditional witchcraft, but it was in use far before him. The Witch of Forest Grove had this to say about the staff:

"Stang is an Old English term for a distaff which in its earliest form was simply a forked tree branch with two or more tines."

A Distaff was a tool used by spinners before the invention of the spinning wheel. Cord or twine was wrapped around the top of the distaff, which was taller than the spinner, and then spun onto a spindle. The distaff was used by witches of the past to represent the creatrix and possibly Fate. Spinning has been associated with creation in many different culture and indeed it has been associated with Fate herself! It is said that spinners should stop their spinning on the Twelve Mother Nights of Yule to honor Fate and that they should burn a bit of Flax as an offering to the goddess Below. 

Stangs were also used in England at one time as punishment for males that had been unfaithful to their wives, or were rapists, molesters and so on. They were made to walk down the street with the stang between their legs pulled by a donkey. This was degrading for the men for the distaff and spinning were a womenly art and not for men to practice. But times have changed now.

WANDS

Here is my collection of wands, four of which were gifted to me by my uncle (Bless him!) and one of witch was gifted to me by a Land spirit. I shall go in order of the top to the bottom. The first wand, the dark one, was made from a thorn tree outside of our house. As payment for helping to remove it (it was getting very old, the poor thing) my uncle created this blasting rod from the very potent thorn wood! 

A blasting rod is traditionally made from either Oak or Blackthorn and is usually longer than a normal wand (which should be the length of your forearm at least). The rod was, and is, used by witches to throw the "fear" upon those that have offended the witch in some way; in other words to curse them. I have not had the chance to use it yet, and hopefully I will not need to use it often! 

There was once an excellent article on the difference between Hawthorne wands and Blackthorn wands. The site is no longer up, which is a real shame because it had some excellent articles on wortcunning. However, it had an article on the types of woods used in wands, specifically Hawthorne and Blackthorn. 

Hawthorne, shown above, is used in magic for healing and protection and fertility (most fruit trees are). Indeed the berries make an excellent tea! It is also traditionally the tree that one "falls into" to cross over into the underworld and for that it is called in some traditions the Faery tree. A wand created from a Hawthorne tree is powerful in the ways of protection.

On the opposite a Blackthorn seen here:

Is also powerful in protection but on the other side of the spectrum. By that I mean that it is used more as defense and for fighting back whilst Hawthorne is more passive protection. The large thorns in Blackwood make excellent needles for piercing poppets and also for witch bottles! The wood is very dense and is used in Ireland to make shillelaghs. Many walking sticks are made from Blackthorn because of its hard, durable wood. 

However, there is no Blackthorn or Hawthorne in Washington (or at least not where I am!) and so we made a blasting rod from this tree. The needles are quite large as well and I saved some to use in witch bottles and cursing if it should come to that. Holding it one can feel the potent power waiting to be unleashed, but again hopefully I will not have to use it. 

The second wand that you see in the above picture is my general purpose wand. Again a gift from my uncle upon arrival into his home I was told in a dream to wrap copper about the handle. I did so and the effects were immediate. My focus when holding the wand was sharper and the powers channeled through the wand were much more focused, like a scalpel. It is possible that I was asked to attach the copper because of the lack of identification of the wood itself. My uncles wands are all made from recyclable materials that he finds around the houses and he was not sure of the woods type. I am under the impression that it is birch or rowan, I am not sure. 

The wand is a smaller version of the staff and is used for directing energies. I use mine to trace symbols over and over again to get into a trance state, or to charge various sigils that I create. Whenever I am creating a charm or something I will use this wand to seal the magics in the herbs and oils in the pouch. I will also use it to stir brews that are not too hot to implant my intent whilst the brewing process is taking over. 

The next wand is my serpent vision wand that was gifted to me by a land spirit. I found it on one of my hikes and it was just sitting there before a hollow tree. I placed it within the hollow tree and left it there for three days and nights before I returned to retrieve it. I did this one a whim and I have no basis for it. My final visit was quite interesting and I felt like I had to go through a trial to find the clearing where the wand was left. I got all turned around and mosquitoes (which don't usually bite me) were attacking my face all the time. But when I finally retrieved the wand this all stopped and the way back was made clear to me. 

I use this wand when I am seeking wisdom from an area. I will place the tines gently against my eyes and then have the base against the ground. The powers of the Land are pulled up through the length of the wand and I receive whatever it is that I need to receive. 

Next in line is that tiny little wand that was my first failed attempt at carving. My uncle perfected it without my knowing and called it "Nephews Gratitude" the cheek....But I love it all the same. I have not given a purpose to it yet, but something tells me that it can be used for divination purposes via the tarot. I have yet to use that little wand. 

The final wand, and probably my favorite of my collection, is the Crooked Wand or Bent Wand. Inspired by Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways by Gemma Gary my uncle created a slew of what he called "Witch's Wands" which were wands that had a more earthy feel to them. This was one of his creations that he gave to me for my birthday, much to the confusion of my other aunt who is under the impression that I am Christian. The Crooked Wand is used for pulling in certain energies for a specific intent and then they are directed out the other end into the charm or potion or which what. It is a wonderful wand and I am excited to use it in my spellwork because it is so multi-purpose! I keep it right at the fore of my cabinet of supplies to use in a pinch. 

Now I just need to learn to carve my own wands! 

THE DAGGER

The dagger is nothing too special. I use it to cut cords and herbs and other such things. In some traditions the dagger is used to open a door way between the worlds, or to direct specific energies or to represent the phallus for fertility rituals. My purposes are a bit more practical. The dagger is used to cut and to make a furrow in the land or in someone's life. It was gifted to me by a random druid at a pagan expo, I know not why. But I love the designs on it and it has been with me ever since. My uncle, out of hatred for the original handle and sheath, created a new sheath and handle for my uses. I am much more pleased with this than the original. The sheath has a hex sign, the symbol of mercury, and my personal sigil upon it. It hooks neatly onto the belt (a discovery that my uncle did not initially intend) and the handle has a copper wire running down the middle and is capped with a brass star. 

THE BLINDFOLD

This is my blindfold that I use when I am trancing. I have a problem with fluttering eyes so this completes the darkness around me so I can sink easily into travel. Again since being in Spokane I feel like I am moving through tar...but I still try to preserver. 

THE CAULDRON

This is my little cute cauldron! Made from cast iron and holds a quart of liquid. So far I have used it simply for holding water that I use to ritually cleanse myself because I do not trust the stove top with it...

Traditionally a cauldron represents the womb and the center of creation and this is no different for me. The water within is the water of the Land and it is so blessed to be a medium of spirits and powers and sorcery. The darkness of the cauldron makes an excellent scrying surface on late nights when I am not doing anything. I have had better success with a small crystal ball that a friend had, but I am trying to learn to scry through water since I lack the crystal ball now. 

Usually to scry I fill the cauldron with water, burn an incense of wormwood, mugwort and frankincense and place a single candle behind the cauldron and turn off all the lights. That is how I did it with the crystal ball, but I may have to try placing the lantern behind my head rather than in front of me and see how that works. More on that in a later post!

THE STONE

This is my hearth stone, so named because I found it in the foundation of the house in which I am currently living. It is my connection to the Land whilst I am indoors and is sometimes used in some traditions as a focus to return from Travelling. I have not yet used it in this manner seeing as travelling here has been so hard for me, I am not sure why still. This stone I use as my inner foundation, however. It is my rock and I focus on it when I have slipped into a trance to return "Home" as it were. It is in the center of my working table upon which goes one of my two skulls (usually the goat skull) to use for communication.

THE SKULL

Here are my two skulls that I have. No, that is not a real human skull. It was a gift from a friend who knew that I was in Hamlet. Little does he know I do not use it for Hamlet's "Alas, poor Yorick!" monologue. It is there to represent my ancestors and is sometimes placed upon the Stone when I am honoring those that have passed. The skull next to it is my pride and joy. It is a goat skull that I purchased from ebay though I tried in vain to find a donor here in Washington (I have found someone to give me a horse skull though, so yay!). Upon this skull I poor ritual offerings to my Master and I stare into those hollow eyes to slip into my trance states. They are both very useful in my craft and I hope to obtain more skulls because I am truly fascinated by them! 

These are just a few of the tools used in traditions of witchcraft. Everyone has their own tools that they use, these are merely mine. I also hope to create a besom and am currently constructing a scrying mirror, I just need to find a pane of glass that fits the frame that I found. All of my tools are handled with loving care and they each have their own personality. Below in the cabinet are also various oils and jars of herbs as well as a motar and pestle. You may have also glimpsed the bell that I use when I am calling to the spirits for ritual offerings. Since my uncle and I share the working area his tools are also around, but I felt it impolite to show them without his permission. 

I realise that a lot of my tools were gifts, and I feel that is truly a blessing. Do not feel that you must buy a bunch of expensive tools to create witchcraft! All of my tools came to me when they needed to come to me and when I was ready and some of them will probably leave me when they are ready to leave me or when I no longer need them. 

Thus is the way of the Spirits. 

Wassail and Frith!

Angus.