#pender ward

[lailoken]

A specially customized Pender Ward, created using Lodestone beads and beads shaped from the wood of the client's oath-bound Tree familiar.

[lailoken]

A pair of Pender Wards I was commissioned for not long ago, which I thought looked especially nice together.

[lailoken]

The Pender Ward:

An Amulet of Personal Protection

"The 'Pender' is an Amulet that serves as a potent, portable, protective ward against malefic forces.

Each Pender Ward is composed from a Hagstone and a Thunderstone that are bound to one another by a length of thirteen alternating beads. Each material is chosen for its significant folkloric associations with protection —the innate virtues of which are then aligned and enlivened in specialized ritual to consecrate it as a personal amulet.

The materials incorporated in every Pender include:

A Thunderstone (a fossilized Urchin, also known as a Faery Loaf, Sherpherd’s Crown, or Snake's Egg, among various other folk-names, and traditionally held to provide the bearer with good luck and protection from dangerous forces such as witchcraft and lightning,)

a Hagstone (a holed stone, also known as an Adder Stone, Faerie Stone, or Hex Stone, among other folk-names, and traditionally held to protect against witchcraft, fae enchantment, and jinxes, thanks to the power of Running Water that was worked into it over generations)

and Pure Copper (a magically active metal, known amongst the Wise to defend against the Evil Eye, as well as offering a degree of protection from lesser Wights of maleficent virtue.)

The alternating beads can be made up from any combination of the following materials —two of which may be chosen by the buyer:

Job's Tears

Obsidian

Serpentine

Jet

Rowan Wood

and Black Tourmaline."

Anyone interested in purchasing a customizable personal ward may do so for $59 on my shop: ☆

[lailoken]

About how long are your pender wards? Also, what are the symbolic meanings of the different beads?

Each Pender Ward is going to be somewhat different in length, as unique Hagstones and Thunderstones are used for each piece. That being said, however, they are all going to be fairly close to 9 inches/23 centimeters in length.

Each bead available is made from a material I have personal experience with using in a defensive magical capacity. Accordingly, they all possess virtues that can be called upon for the sake of protection. As far as historical or folkloric associations go:

Rowan is a wood long held yhroughoit different parts of Europe to be protective against malefic magical influences—be it Witchcraft or Faerie Blast.

Serpentine is a stone that has been credited with the ability to protect against Sorcery, Disease, and Venemous Creatures in mutliple regions of the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East.

Jet has long been held by multiple cultures to be protective in general and was especially renowned for its ability to protect against things like Troublesome Spirits or the Evil Eye in places like ancient Rome.

Obsidian is one of the oldest worked human materials, and was used for Millenia to create weaponry and fashion mirrors. I believe this longstanding connection to both offensive power and the ability to reflect creates a powerful mixture of virtues to be called upon for the sake of protection.

Black Tourmaline, or Schorl, was a stone used by multiple cultures since at least the bronze age. It has a modern reputation of being able to protect against malefic forces, which I have seen others claim repeatedly stems from it being used by ancient shamanistic cultures to defend against harmful spirits, but I have yet to find a single empirical source which backs up this claim. However, I have found it to be a mineral that is useful to call upon for the sake of defense in my own experimentation over the years. I believe that Black Tourmaline's natural pyroelectric properties are the physical basis of this stone's ability to absorb and redirect energy.

Job's Tears are seeds that have been used for a very long time by humans, though, mostly for food. They have a traditional place in folk-religion and folk-magic too, however, and have been widely used in Christian beadwork and Spellwork, respectively. Where the Craft is concerned, these seeds are generally used for luck magic and healing magic, though, in my experience, these very virtues of fortune and health can be called upon to great effect in protective magics. After all, most protection could be said to simply involve preserving one's luck and/or health.

[lailoken]

Sorry this might seem obvious, but for the protection amulet and pender wards, are you simply supposed to carry them on your person, are they meant to be worn in a certain way, are they meant to be handled for prayer?

It's a good question! I will think on how I might be able to clarify that more in my posts.

They are meant to be carried on your person. A few people I know who have one keep them in a special pouch of some sort. And they could absolutely be handled for prayer, so long as they are prayers directed at keeping people and/or things safe. One could call on the power of the ward to help underscore and empower their prayer, for instance, which for many would entail handling the amulet in some way.

I hope that clears things up!