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Where did the idea of magic wands being quasi-sentient and bonded to their owners come from, anyway? JKR didn't invent it because it appears in King's Quest V (1990), and I highly doubt she played King's Quest V so I don't think she got it from there.
Magic Wands 101
In the witchcraft circles I’ve been in, wands have seemingly fallen by the wayside or at the very least haven’t been fully recognized for what you can do with them. So I decided to make a post about wands.
So why might you want a wand? For one thing, they are incredibly versatile - they can be used to create wards, trace magical symbols or words, infuse things with intention, and much more. They're also usually easy to ethically source and they can potentially last for years if cared for. You also can replace a lot of single-use items with a wand.
Now, how wands are supposed to work depends on who you ask. Your old timey Hermetic mages believed wands had special properties from the stars, but a more popular idea today is that wands are conduits for your personal energy. One might also ask a divine being one worships to bless the wand for working magic. Being someone who doesn’t believe much in magic as a literal force (I’m more for the psychological model of magic), I’m not going to endorse any specific metaphysical opinion here. I will say that a wand has the potential to be as efficacious as anything regardless of how you personally think it works.
Wands should be sized depending on how they will be used. A wand that will be used in a large public ceremony should be big enough to be visible to attendants, so perhaps around sixteen to twenty inches. A personal wand used for things like casting protective circles should be whatever size feels good to wave around, so perhaps ten to fourteen inches. A wand used for tracing magic symbols on small items can be the size of a pen.
Wands can be made from many things, like sticks, twigs, dowels, or anything you can make a sturdy wand shape from. Paper is fine if you don’t mind your wand being fragile. (To make a paper wand, you diagonally roll a piece of paper into a tube, glue it at the end, and then decorate it however you please. You can find many tutorials by searching DuckDuckGo.)
I’m sure some people out there will object to paper wands, but I say that if paper’s good enough to put a sigil on, then it’s good enough for a wand. Besides, you can write intentions on the paper before rolling it up.
If you’re going to use wood, any kind that feels agreeable to your purposes should work fine. You can search for tree correspondences or go on your own associations. (See this post to learn more about developing your own correspondences/associations. You can decorate your wand by carving it, staining it, painting it, wrapping it in wire, fabric, or leather, or by gluing things to it. Or you can skip decoration if you don’t feel like it’s necessary. (Some sticks look fine as they are, after all.)
You should hold your wand in your dominant hand. If you’re left handed, please ignore the ignoramuses who’d have you think your left hand is secretly Miroku’s wind tunnel.
Anyway, here are some ways you can use a wand. (For those of you who aren’t good at visualizing or just don’t want to do it, you can presume instead – just suppose that the energy exists beyond your sensory perceptions, like ultraviolet light or ultrasonic sound.)
Casting a protective line or circle: Trace a line with your wand above the ground or over anything you want to place a barrier over; visualize or presume a line of protective energy being placed.
Unwanted entity removal: Point your wand at where you reckon the unwanted entity is and visualize or presume magic beams coming out of your wand. Or you can visualize/presume your wand as the hilt of an energy sword and slice the entity with it.
Cleansing a space: Visualize or presume a soft cleansing energy coming from your wand. Wave it around wherever you want to cleanse.
Bestow a blessing: As you wave the wand, recite a spell according to your intent. For example, you might wave your wand over a pen while saying “may I always write well with this pen.”
I’m sure you can think of more uses yourself from here! Happy witchin'!
Round 3:
Which COVER do you like better?
Sorrow and Extinction (Pallbearer)
Aloha Moon 19 (Magic Wands)
Remember you're voting for the cover artwork NOT the musical content or artist!
Glinda wrote an essay called “magic wands, need they have a point” and was then given a wand that’s just a bunch of points
What I found when researching wand woods
Acacia: Tricky, subtle, gifted, underestimated power.
Alder: Unyielding, but seeks helpful, considerate, likeable, non-verbal magic, advanced.
Apple: Powerful, high aims/ideals, mixes poorly with Dark magic, charming, loved, long-lived, converses with magical beings.
Ash: Cleaves to one master, steadfast beliefs, courageous (never crass/arrogant).
Aspen: Duellist, martial magic, strong-minded, determined, attracted to quests/new orders, revolutionary.
Beech: Wise (young), rich in understanding/experience (grown), performs weakly for narrow-minded/intolerant, subtle, artistic.
Blackthorn: Warrior, prodigious power (can be Dark Arts), needs hardship to bond, loyal/faithful after danger.
Black Walnut: Good instincts, powerful insight, attuned to inner conflict, loses power with self-deception, loyal/impressive with sincere owner, flair in charmwork.
Cedar: Strength of character, unusual loyalty, perspicacity, perception, frightening adversary if crossed (especially for loved ones).
Cherry: Strange lethal power, exceptional self-control/strength of mind (especially with Dragon core), prestigious.
Chestnut: Curious, multi-faceted, takes color from owner, skilled tamers of beasts, Herbology, fliers; with Dragon: fond of luxury, less scrupulous; with Unicorn: concerned with justice.
Cypress: Nobility, heroic death, brave, bold, self-sacrificing, confronts shadows.
Dogwood: Quirky, mischievous, playful, needs excitement/fun, capable of serious magic, clever/ingenious owner, dazzling enchantments, refuses non-verbal, noisy.
Ebony: Combative magic, Transfiguration, courage to be self, non-conformist, highly individual, outsider status, holds fast to beliefs.
Elder: Rarest, trickiest to master, powerful, scorns non-superiors, only kept by remarkable wizard, special destiny, affinity with Rowan.
Elm: Presence, magical dexterity, native dignity, fewest accidents, elegant charms/spells, sophisticated, advanced magic.
English Oak: Loyal friend, strength, courage, fidelity, powerful intuition, affinity with natural world.
Fir: Survivor's wand, staying power, strength of purpose, poor for changeable/indecisive, suited to Transfiguration, focused, strong-minded, intimidating.
Hawthorn: Strange, contradictory, healing, curses, most at home with conflicted nature/turmoil, not easy to master, can backfire.
Hazel: Sensitive, reflects owner's emotional state, needs master who manages feelings, outstanding magic, devoted (wilts), detects water.
Holly: Protective, helps overcome anger/impetuosity, dangerous/spiritual quest, volatile, conflicts with Phoenix feather (but powerful combo).
Hornbeam: Talented, single pure passion/obsession/vision, adapts quickly, personalized, absorbs owner's code of honor, sentient.
Larch: Strong, durable, courage, confidence, hard to please, hidden talents, unexpected effects, exceptional match.
Laurel: Cannot perform dishonorable act (but powerful magic for glory), cannot tolerate laziness, cleaves to first match, lightning strike if stolen.
Maple: Traveller, explorer, ambition, new challenges, status, high achievers.
Pear: Splendid power, warm-hearted, generous, wise, popular, well-respected, mixes poorly with Dark magic, resilient.
Pine: Independent, individual, loner, creative, adapts to new methods, destined for long lives, sensitive to non-verbal.
Poplar: Integrity, consistency, strength, uniform power, clear moral vision, reliable.
Red Oak: Unusually fast reactions, dueling, light of touch, quick-witted, adaptable, distinctive spells, good in a fight.
Redwood: Brings good fortune (attracts lucky people), falls on their feet, snatches advantage from catastrophe, intriguing, exciting exploits.
Rowan: Protective, never Dark Arts, clear-headed, pure-hearted, equal/outperforms others in duels, affinity with Elder.
Silver Lime: Seers, Legilimency, mysterious arts, considerable status, desirable.
Spruce: Requires firm hand, has own ideas, bold spell-caster, good sense of humor, superb helper, loyal, flamboyant/dramatic effects.
Sycamore: Questing, eager for new experience, loses brilliance if mundane, combusts if bored, curious, vital, adventurous, learns/adapts.
Vine: Seeks greater purpose, vision beyond ordinary, hidden depths, sensitive to match, emits magic upon suitable owner's entrance.
Walnut: Highly intelligent, innovators/inventors, versatile, adaptable, can be lethal weapon if subjugated by no conscience (feeds unhealthily).
Willow: Healing power, unwarranted insecurity (often hidden), greatest potential, fastest progress.
Yew: Rare, unusual/notorious matches, power of life/death, dark/fearsome reputation (dueling/curses), fierce protector (not inherently Dark), never mediocre/timid.
I know it’s probably a consequence of the author forgetting about the wand situation because Hooky has been running for five years but I like to think he chose it because the wand reminds him of Dani.
Wands
I wanted to find a cool gif of a magic wand, but my brief search brought up mainly Harry Potter scenes and the OTHER kind of magic wand, which is not what I'm looking for (though I'm betting that would attract attention, which is the point of the gif, right?).
Anyway, imagine a gif of a magic wand.
I want to hear from people or follow people who use wands in their work. I don't use a wand currently, but I'm beginning to feel like I want to.
What kind of wand do you like? Do you have several that are used for different purposes? Do you like wood? Metal? Do you like wands that incorporate crystals? Do you usually make your own? Do you usually get your wands from someone else?
