I am currently sitting on a virtual mountain of Ask A Witch questions to work through! If you’ve sent in a question and I haven’t replied to you privately, fear not. I’m likely to get to your question very soon.

Today I thought we’d dive into my most recent question I received because it’s a fun one.

 

Shannon writes in and asks…

 

Wands are actually my favorite magickal tool with cauldrons being a close second. I have way more wands {and cauldrons} than one Witch could ever need! I’ve made a few wands and staffs over the years. When it comes to doing witchy DIY they’re one of my favorites to work on.

You already have your wood, but for the sake of everyone else who might be wondering about this process, let’s start at the beginning.

 

Before you make a wand there are a few things to consider:

Purpose Materials

 

Your Purpose…

You can have a wand for general purposes, or you can have a wand for something specific, like a wand made specifically for doing healing work or full moon magick.

Based on your intention you’ll tend to pick your materials. This is everything from the kind of wood, metal or stone you’ll use and then any embellishments you might add. This can mean crystals, herbs, fabrics, and symbols that might be painted or etched into it.

 

One of my favorite wands that I made years ago was a general purpose wand that I made from a piece of copper pipe, filled with herbs, wrapped in leather and wire, and then topped with a large piece of quartz. Everything with this wand was intended for conducting and projecting magickal energy. Copper is an excellent conductor, as is quartz, but the quartz also helped to project energy in a specific direction at the point. The herbs I added, which filled the inside of the copper tubing, corresponded to the five elements {earth, air, fire, water, spirit} as well as an herb for my astrological sign and a personal favorite herb that I often used in my magick at the time.

 

When I made this I just filled the center of the copper tube
with the various herbs and such and then used leather
to seal up the bottom.

 

Your Materials…

All woods, metals, and stones have specific properties and will have an effect on the magick you do with it. Since you have your piece of wood already, if you know the kind of tree it came from, do a little research into the magickal energy associated with that tree. This might help you determine if the wand should be a general one or something more specific.

Once you know what your wand will be for, sit with it. Hold it in your hands, close your eyes, and feel the energy of the wood. Ask it what it wants to look like, what it wants to do…what does this little bit of spirit of this tree have to say to you?

You may begin to get a sense of what it visually wants to look like. You might even be surprised to find it doesn’t want to change! Sometimes pieces of wood want to stay the way they are while others may give the impression they want to look completely different.

Once you get a feel for the way your wand want to look, just get crafting.

 

 

These are a few others that I love. The top one is a general use wand,
the middle is also a general wand made for me by a friend,
and the bottom wand was made specifically for new and dark moon work.

 

 

A Few Tips…

Here are a few tips, but let me give you the most important advice of all…

There is no right or wrong want to craft a wand. You do it your way. This is the power of doing your tools DIY. Don’t worry what someone else’s wand looks like or how fancy other wands may be. Make something that feels like magick to you! When you hold your wand, it should feel like an extension of your arm and your energy.

Before using your wood, your crystals, herbs, and anything else you might be putting into your wand, be sure to bless everything. Crystals should be cleared, herbs awakened and blessed, and the wood itself smudged and cleared of any unwanted energies.

 

 

These are my two favorite crystal wands that I have. 
The one on the right is made with an antler fossil said to be from the 
last ice age and discovered in Florida.

 

 

Decide if you want it to look natural or not.

For a really natural looking wand, you’ll leave the bark in place, but you can strip it. If you strip the wand, you’ll want to let it sit for a day or two before doing anything else with it to make sure it is completely dry before trying to attach things to it or carve into it.

 

If you’re going to add a crystal to the top as a point, it’s like putting together a puzzle.

You want your crystal and wood just to come together naturally. That means that if your chosen crystal point has a slant on the side, you’ll want to carve a slant on your wood so they can fit together. If your crystal has a flat based you might want to blunt the end of the wood so it can sit on top. In some cases, you may need to use a hardening molding clay or putty to create a place to press your stone into.

 

You can paint it with a finish to seal and protect it.

If you stripped the bark of your wood, you could paint the want with a clear finishing seal that is infused with herbs. This will cause the herbs to stick and dry with the sealant while also protecting the wood for the future. Some people might choose not to do this in order to keep things more natural but personally, I feel if you’re using glues and things to stick crystals to your wood, it can’t hurt to protect it with a seal.

 

Personalize it.

I like to add a personal mark to wands I made for myself. This could be a sigil, bind rune, simple symbol, or your initials. It’s a way to add your own energy to the tool easily. Some people also like to do what’s sometimes called “blooding” their tools, which is to add a few drops of your own blood to the tool. This is another way to add your energy and bond the tool to you.

 

Charge Your Wand…

Once your wand is complete its time to charge it. There are lots of different ways to do this, again no right or wrong. This is what I do.

 

---

 

Holding the wand in both hands, close your eyes and go into a meditative state. In your mind’s eye see the wand in as much detail as you can. See the wand’s aura. Feel the wand’s aura with your hands. Hold each hand {one at a time} over the wand and feel around it, sensing the aura. Feel how far it extends around the physical wand…how far above, below, and to the sides.

Next, you’ll want to remove any unwanted energies from the wand before you charge it. To do this, you’ll again move your hands around the wand while doing a sort of pulling and throwing motion…pulling off any unwanted energy and throwing it to the floor or behind you.

 

As you do this say:

I remove from this want any unwanted or harmful energies from this wand that could cause me harm or block my magick.

 

Begin to place your own energy into the wand. With your eyes still closed visualize your energy coming from your hands and blending with the energy and aura of the wand. See these energies begin to wrap around each other, infusing the wand {I tend to see my energy as a golden white as it merges with whatever color the wand’s energy has shown up as}. Then begin to blow onto the wand, infusing your breath into its aura.

 

Once you feel the wand is now part of you, say something like:

I charge this wand to be a tool for doing my will, for projecting my thoughts, energies, and my magick into the world.
So mote it be!

 

Let the visualizations go and slowly come out of your meditative state. Hold your hand a few inches from the tip of your wand with the tip pointing at the center of your hand. You should feel the energy coming from the wand that may have a cool or almost breezy sensation. Your wand is now charged and ready to use.

 

---

 

The thing about wands, like all tools, is they are just tools. You are the one that brings the magick. By focusing on the goal of your tool and what you plan to do with it, you’ll be able to craft something that will be helpful. Just remember, no right or wrong way.

 

There are a few books available on wands that might be helpful as well:

The Witch’s Wand by Alferian Gwydion MacLir

Wandlore by Alferian Gwydion MacLir

The Witch’s Guide to Wands by Gypsey Elaine Teague

---