find beautiful pre-made wands in metaphysical shops.
To make your own wand, you should find a tree branch that has fallen to the ground on its own (no pruned branches!). Sand and polish the rough edges of the stick. The smoke of burning sage will nicely smudge the wand if you pass the stick through the smoke. You’ll need a variety of crystals to complete your wand. Affix large quartz near the handle. You should then find crystals with properties that will complement your magic to the wand. I recommend using citrine as the pointer for the wand, as it aligns your self-identity with your spirit. Refer to the table for more on stones you can use to harness various powers.
Stones for Your Wand:
Amber—Grounding
Amethyst—Balance and Intuition
Aventurine—Creative Visualization
Bloodstone—Abundance and Prosperity
Calcite—Warding Off Negativity
Fluorite—Communicating with Fairies and other Unseen Beings
Garnet—Protection From Gossip
Geode—Getting Through Periods of Extreme Difficulty
Hematite—Strength and Courage
Jade—Wisdom to Interpret or Realize Powerful Dreams
Jasper—Stability
Lodestone—Bringing a Lover Back into Your Life
Mahogany Obsidian—Feeling Sexy and Emanating Sensuality
Moss Agate—Powers of Persuasion and Healing
Quartz Crystal—Divining Your Dreams
Rhodochrosite—Staying On Course With Your Life’s True Purpose
Rose Quartz—Love
Turquoise—Safety When Traveling
Watermelon Tourmaline—Help with Planning Your Best Possible Future
Consecrating Your Ritual Tools
You should design a personal consecration ritual for your magical tools. Use the following ritual as a simple “temple template” to build on. In essence, in this ritual you are dedicating yourself and your tools for the betterment of all and setting a foundational intention for your good works. Every time you acquire a new tool or treasure, perform this rite. As you grow in experience, you can embellish the ritual. Refer to your Book of Shadows. Is there a certain phase of the moon that brings you more clarity? Should you use corresponding colors, crystals, essential oils, incenses, and herbs for your own astrological sun and moon sign? Is there a specific deity with whom you feel an affinity? Use these correspondences to begin designing the rituals of your dreams. The more associations you learn and use, the more effective your power will grow. Keep good notes of your ritual work in your BOS, and soon you will become a “maestro of magic.”
Ritual Tools That Need Charging
You will need a symbol of each of the four elements—air, earth, fire, and water—such as: a candle for fire, incense for air, a cup or water, a bowl of salt.
One way to design your own ritual is to look at Chapter 8, which explains the four elements. Choose a symbol from the information there or from the appendices. Also let your instinct guide you to choose as you wish or what you are inspired by.
Take the new ritual tool and pass it through the scented smoke of the incense and say:
Now inspired with the breath of air.
Then pass the tool swiftly through the flame of the candle and say:
Burnished by fire.
Sprinkle the tool with water and say:
Purified by water.
Dip the tool into the bowl of salt and say:
Empowered by the earth.
Hold the tool before you with both hands and imagine an enveloping, warm white light purifying the tool. Now say:
Steeped in spirit and bright with light.
Place the cleansed tool upon your altar and say:
By craft made and by craft charged and changed, this tool [fill in the actual name, bolline, Book of Shadows, etc.] I will use for the purpose of good in this world and in the realm of the gods and goddesses. I hereby consecrate this tool ______.
Other tools you will use in ritual are more intangible. These include your breath, your intuition, your psychic powers, and your ability to focus your mental powers and spiritual intentions. Because they are intangible, only your intention can purify them. From time to time, you will use colors, herbs, oils, crystals, and numbers. Many of these ritual correspondences and associations have been passed down through the centuries, whereas many of them were invented by modern authors. Information on them can be found in the appendices in this book.
Crystals can also be charged. But tools that come from nature and are not “manmade,” but are of divine design, such as flowers, feathers, and herbs, already contain an intrinsic magic of their own and can be used as you find them.
Your tools will collect and hold the magic that lives inside you. They will become instilled with your energy and stored at your altar or in your sacred space. They will become your power source and will magnify the strength of your ritual work. Your altar should be a place of peace and meditation where your spirit can soar. Adorned with your treasured objects and the tools of your practice, it is a place of focus where you can enrich your life through ritual. You can create a wellspring of spirit so you can live an enchanted life every single day.
You can also perform rituals and make magic without any tools or implements at all. Your intention alone is extremely powerful. This simple approach could be called “zen magic.” When you perform ritual in this way, you are one step closer to the methods by which early men and women created ceremonies.
Establishing a Power Source: Creating a Personal Altar
Before there were temples and churches, the primary place of reverence was the altar. The word altar comes from a Latin word that means “high place.” With a personal altar, you can reach the heights of your spirituality and grow higher in wisdom. You construct an altar when you assemble symbolic items in a meaningful manner and focus both your attention and intention. When you work with the combined energies of these items, you are performing ritual. Your rituals can arise from your needs, imagination, or the seasonal and traditional ceremonies that you find in this book and in others. In her marvelous collection, A Book of Women’s Altars, Nancy Brady Cunningham recommends “bowing” or placing your hands on the ground in front of your altar as you end the ritual. “Grounding
