Everything Under the Moon

Many years ago when I first started on my path I had a wonderful teacher, we have since lost contact. He instructed me to take the time to whittle and carve my own wand and I did. He had told me to choose between 3 different kinds of trees/woods... and for the life of me I can't remember which 3 he told me, not can I remember which one I had chosen at the time. I found the perfect one and whittled and carved until I found it to be perfect for me- sanded it and burnt my name in it and LOVED it... In 2010 it broke- I cried... I've bought other wands I've found on the internet but I don't connect with them as much as I did with the one I made...

So long story "short"- lol... What kind of woods do you think those 3 choices would have been? I do know it wasn't pine or willow. What woods would you choose and why?
Thank you for your advice!!!
Bright Blessings,
Lenaleanna

For my 2 cents, if it was a wand you found in the area you live in now, it may have also been birch, elm, cottonwood or maple. Of the 4, maple is the toughest to carve and shape, cottonwood is the easiest. Maple is feminine in nature and is associated with the element of water, very good for moon magic. The leaves are easily recognized and the seed pods look like little wings. There are over 100 species of maple. Birch is easy to carve and has similar properties but with some masculine energy. Birch wands are good for cleansing and purification spells and recognizable by it's papery peeling bark. There are many species of birch as well, it grows all over the US. Elm is also easy to find and work with. Elm is also associated with water and attracts love, it is also a good wood for strengthening psychic abilities. It has a rough and channeled bark and is found near willows and cottonwoods. Cottonwood is very common and fast growing, often found along waterways, ponds and damp areas. Very easy to carve and with interesting bark. Cottonwood has many medicinal uses and is associated with self-reliance and personal strength, to find cottonwood, just follow the flying fuzz. Any of these make wonderful wands. If I were you, I would not necessarily seek a particular wood, rather just wander the woods until your wand finds you. I'm sure you know not to cut from a live tree, as I have found that it is easier to go out after a windstorm and choose yours from nature's magick supply store nicely laid out on the forest floor.

Thank you T'a Nuk... You remind me of my first teacher explaining it the way you did!!! I know we have all of the trees you mentioned as we live on a farm and our family is big on planting trees. After reading your reply I have decided it was either between elm and cottonwood- and then my husband came home and I discussed with him to see if he remembered- and he insisted it was elm. Looks like I'm going out and wandering around in our grove after it's done sprinkling!!!
Thank you again so much!!!
Bright Blessings,
Lenaleanna

How did you break your wand? Get hit by lightning? (Just teasing). There are specific instructions for wand crafting in the book by Oberon Zell Ravenheart "Grimorie For the Apprentice Wizard" page 104 &105. Your wand is the most valuable magickal tool you will ever own and should be with you for a lifetime so it is good to be sure it has been crafted correctly ie proper harvesting of the wood, length, drying, oiling and crystal selection etc, We definitely should craft our own wand and never purchase one mass produced by others, Once in your possession and properly cleansed and dedicated no one other then you should ever be allowed to touch it. I used a branch from a fruit tree (orange) and now keep it in it's own case nestled with a sprig of white Sage and secured inside my altar/storage chest.

My wand was made by my son-in-law's friend. It's part of my Professor McGonagall costume. I don't use a wand in my practice. That's my personal preference.

I'd just picked up a suitable stick from the ground beneath a maple tree at the cemetery during a lunch hour stroll. I like maple trees. I left an offering. Took it home& peeled the bark, dried and sanded it, then dabbed olive oil on a paper towel & rubbed it down. I've had it 25 years. I keep it on my altar tucked behind a tray so the next generation thieving cat leaves it alone now.

Oak would have probably been one.

I find that many are fascinated by the wand, and there are many views on crafting, dedicating, cleansing, storing, etc. All are correct as it is the energy and intent behind these actions that make them effective. While it is preferred by many, (myself among them), to make their own wands, it is not sometimes practical or even possible. Suppose you desire a wooden wand, but live where there are no trees? Do you go to your hardware store and purchase a piece of milled lumber or a dowel? Sure! Perhaps trees are plentiful, but you haven'the means to carve it? I state that it is perfectly acceptable to accept a simply carved or peeled stick from somebody, and then "make" it your wand. If you have the option to choose the wood you want, even better! I take joy and spiritual fulfillment from creating wands, and if they benefit others by my passing them on, then the blessing is two-fold. I see it as an opportunity to spread beauty and perhaps help others along their paths, plus I can yack about them all day!

I think the 3 you are trying to remember may be Oak, Ash and Thorn.? The thorn refers to Hawthorn. Although there are many woods that were sacred to the Celts. There is a ditty about 9 woods too (burn em fast and burn em slow) and then there's Ogham which utilizes sacred trees as an ancient alphabet.
I like temporary wands too, you find em, utilize them, offer them back.
bb, FF

Lenaleanna wrote:What kind of woods do you think those 3 choices would have been? I do know it wasn't pine or willow. What woods would you choose and why?

Every tradition has their own methods about what wood to use, how to gather it, the size it should be, how to make the wand itself, and so on. If you are not working within a particular tradition, it might be time to broaden your choices a bit. A wand can be made from many, many different kinds of woods. Each wood tends to carry it's own energy and symbolism. Some woods are also easier to work with than others. You might also pick an area to take from rather than looking for a specific wood. I use a stang and not a wand, so a little different, but I always try to take the wood from a liminal space after working with the spirits in the area, giving offerings, divination, etc., for quite a while. In my practice we also prune from living wood at the appropriate time of year for this tool - but again, everyone has their ways... But still, good to know the wood and if it will work for what you want to do. If you want to carve and whittle it, some woods might not work so well.

(I actually do have a wand I use on rare occasion, but someone else made it for me as a gift - very beautiful, lots of crystals and little details done in clay, but not very sturdy due to all the little details. Not ideal for dragging out into the woods! Something else to consider when making your own, but since you've made and worked with a wand before I'm sure you know. )

Thank you all for your thoughts and advice!!! I'm sorry I had forgotten about my post until today- with everything going on in life I had to put it on the back burner.
Bright Blessings,
Lenaleanna

Shekinah wrote:How did you break your wand? Get hit by lightning? (Just teasing). There are specific instructions for wand crafting in the book by Oberon Zell Ravenheart "Grimorie For the Apprentice Wizard" page 104 &105. Your wand is the most valuable magickal tool you will ever own and should be with you for a lifetime so it is good to be sure it has been crafted correctly ie proper harvesting of the wood, length, drying, oiling and crystal selection etc, We definitely should craft our own wand and never purchase one mass produced by others, Once in your possession and properly cleansed and dedicated no one other then you should ever be allowed to touch it. I used a branch from a fruit tree (orange) and now keep it in it's own case nestled with a sprig of white Sage and secured inside my altar/storage chest.

Lol... Shekinah, I'm glad it wasn't by lightning... I agree with you, making my own is more about putting my own positive energy into it and keeping it forever. We were moving from one house to another and somehow it was put somewhere it shouldn't have been and it broke in half... I had had it for years!!! I was so emotional over it!!!
Bright Blessings!
Lenaleanna

Siona wrote:

Lenaleanna wrote:What kind of woods do you think those 3 choices would have been? I do know it wasn't pine or willow. What woods would you choose and why?

You might also pick an area to take from rather than looking for a specific wood. I use a stang and not a wand, so a little different, but I always try to take the wood from a liminal space after working with the spirits in the area, giving offerings, divination, etc., for quite a while.

I agree Siona, My first one was from a branch that had fallen off a tree in my grove, since we live on a farm and have a lot of trees I have a lot of options. I've done many rituals, spells and offerings out in our grove. I don't think God and Goddess would mind me using one of their offerings in the ground.
Blessed Be,
Lenaleanna

The tool breaking is perhaps natures telling you its time you need a different tool / something new / a time of spiritual renewal to coincide with the physical move?

So instead of using the materials you were told about you should endeavour to choose your very own?

My first wand was Oak and shaped like a lightning bolt (quite unusual) which I discovered by chance beneath an Oak tree on Brownsea island. I took the double symbolism and the serendipity as an omen.

firebirdflys wrote:There is a ditty about 9 woods too (burn em fast and burn em slow)

Would love to hear that, I'm immediately reminded of Robin Williamsons "The Woodcutters Song" from the album "A glint at the kindling (and five bardic mysteries)"

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The Woodcutter's Song

Oak logs will warm you well
That are old and dry
Logs of pine will sweetly smell
But the sparks will fly
Birch logs will burn too fast
And chestnut scarce at all, sir
Hawthorne logs are good to last
That are cut well in the fall, sir

Surely you will find
No compare in the hardwood logs
Cut in the winter time

Holly logs will burn like wax
You could burn them green
Elm logs burn like smolderin flax
With no flame to be seen
Beech logs for winter time
Yew logs as well, sir
Green elder logs it is a crime
For any man to sell, sir

Surely you will find
No compare in the hardwood logs
Cut in the winter time

Pear logs and apple logs
They will scent your room
And cherry logs across the dogs
Smell like flowers a bloom
But ash logs smooth and gray
Buy them green or old, sir
And buy up all that come your way
For they're worth their weight in gold sir

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