Mystical Properties of Wand Woods
March 12, 2012 9:25 PM Subscribe
What is a good source of information about the magic's properties of different woods in wand making?
I recently started down a wizardly path of mystical exploration and am exploring the foundations of ritual magick. Along my path I have acquired the need for a more suitable wand than my handcarved stick. When I have gone to some of the handcrafted wand shops around the internet I have been barraged by varying explanations of the mystical properties, pros and cons of each wood. I have also heard varying descriptions from other pagans that I have interacted with.
My question is is there an authoritative source on the mystical properties of wand woods in existence, particularly older sources?
Thanks for your help,
Darger
I recently started down a wizardly path of mystical exploration and am exploring the foundations of ritual magick. Along my path I have acquired the need for a more suitable wand than my handcarved stick. When I have gone to some of the handcrafted wand shops around the internet I have been barraged by varying explanations of the mystical properties, pros and cons of each wood. I have also heard varying descriptions from other pagans that I have interacted with.
My question is is there an authoritative source on the mystical properties of wand woods in existence, particularly older sources?
Thanks for your help,
Darger
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs includes trees. But, this is a list with no authority behind it. The difference between willow and pine, if identical to look at, are going to be indistinguishable to you and to the yawning void that is the cosmos.
It is all a nice bit of theater and you need something theatrically appropriate. Something that looks nice, has personal importance, and feels right. Those little harry potter wands are tooth pick thin and have little weight. A wand hewn from an oak branch is going to feel like a cudgel. Which makes you feel right? Which puts you in the role? That is why I would suggest you either craft your own or pick one out in person.
posted by munchingzombie at 10:30 PM on March 12, 2012
It is all a nice bit of theater and you need something theatrically appropriate. Something that looks nice, has personal importance, and feels right. Those little harry potter wands are tooth pick thin and have little weight. A wand hewn from an oak branch is going to feel like a cudgel. Which makes you feel right? Which puts you in the role? That is why I would suggest you either craft your own or pick one out in person.
posted by munchingzombie at 10:30 PM on March 12, 2012
Seconding Tomorrowful. During the short time that I dabbled in such things, I quickly found that sources are contradictory and that there's no real consensus about the meaning of particular symbols and rituals.
Perhaps you can find a particular source that you feel comfortable following and that works for you, but I would suggest that you open yourself to the idea that the journey you are on is one of personal discovery and self-exploration as much as anything else, and that therefore you should allow yourself the freedom to build your own symbols and rituals, to borrow and adapt and seek your own individual manifestation of divine or mystical truth.
To that end, if I were doing something like searching for a ritual wand that possessed certain properties, I would look within myself and to my own worldview. I would think about what properties I wanted it to have, and about what it was in the world around me that I felt embodied or symbolized those properties.
For instance (and this is only an example that comes from my own internal symbolic language) if I were looking for a wand to bring me strength and will, I might choose one made of oak. If, on the other hand, I were looking for something to help me accept life's travails and to bend to the currents of the world without being broken by them, I might choose willow. Just my own thoughts on the matter, you oughtn't consider me any kind of authority on such things. I am an authority on nothing.
Anyway, I would suggest that in the absence of any true consensus or agreement among those who consider themselves experts on magickal matters, you should try to forge a path that works for you, rather than following one that has been set out for you. You ought to be especially cautious of books, for while I am sure there are many people who have published books on these things with the highest intentions, I know for a fact that there are others who have written books on magick for no higher goal than to make money off of people who are seeking direction for their worship, with little thought given to the veracity of their words.
Good luck to you, I hope you can find something that works for you.
posted by Scientist at 10:32 PM on March 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
Perhaps you can find a particular source that you feel comfortable following and that works for you, but I would suggest that you open yourself to the idea that the journey you are on is one of personal discovery and self-exploration as much as anything else, and that therefore you should allow yourself the freedom to build your own symbols and rituals, to borrow and adapt and seek your own individual manifestation of divine or mystical truth.
To that end, if I were doing something like searching for a ritual wand that possessed certain properties, I would look within myself and to my own worldview. I would think about what properties I wanted it to have, and about what it was in the world around me that I felt embodied or symbolized those properties.
For instance (and this is only an example that comes from my own internal symbolic language) if I were looking for a wand to bring me strength and will, I might choose one made of oak. If, on the other hand, I were looking for something to help me accept life's travails and to bend to the currents of the world without being broken by them, I might choose willow. Just my own thoughts on the matter, you oughtn't consider me any kind of authority on such things. I am an authority on nothing.
Anyway, I would suggest that in the absence of any true consensus or agreement among those who consider themselves experts on magickal matters, you should try to forge a path that works for you, rather than following one that has been set out for you. You ought to be especially cautious of books, for while I am sure there are many people who have published books on these things with the highest intentions, I know for a fact that there are others who have written books on magick for no higher goal than to make money off of people who are seeking direction for their worship, with little thought given to the veracity of their words.
Good luck to you, I hope you can find something that works for you.
posted by Scientist at 10:32 PM on March 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Esoteric Archives page on wands tries to cite sources old enough to at least be interesting as historical curiosities.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 10:43 PM on March 12, 2012
posted by Monsieur Caution at 10:43 PM on March 12, 2012
(Notice that on that page Monsieur Caution linked, there are several sources which state that a magical wand must be made of one specific type of wood or another, and that they do not agree on what type of wood that should be. If you're going to trust a specific source, think about why that particular source among all others is the one whose advice you choose to heed.)
posted by Scientist at 11:04 PM on March 12, 2012
posted by Scientist at 11:04 PM on March 12, 2012
Don't buy your wand on the internet, either craft one yourself or go to a real shop where you can handle the wands. I had a friend in college who had a shop bought wand, not sure if it was bought online or not but it had no 'power', it was 'dead'. I don't know if that was because it was varnished so your hand had no actual contact with the wood or because it was made from mass-harvested wood but when you held it there was no connection.
Have you considered a crystal wand? They're more expensive but I think there is more general consensus on their properties and certainly more literature.
posted by missmagenta at 1:07 AM on March 13, 2012
Have you considered a crystal wand? They're more expensive but I think there is more general consensus on their properties and certainly more literature.
posted by missmagenta at 1:07 AM on March 13, 2012
When I was pondering choosing one, I was planning on just wandering through hiking trails until I saw an already-fallen stick of approximately the appropriate shape. I was okay with doing a bit of shaping (cutting it to size, sanding down rough edges, removing twiglets, etc) and would make sure taking fallen branches was legal for the area. (Place like Yellowstone Park, prooobably not.) This way I'd know the tree it came from did NOT need that branch anymore, and I wouldn't be risking causing it any more trouble or harm than it had already gone through. Never really did find a wand, but I do now have a roughly four and a half foot staff that I pack around now and again.
You could attempt to identify the branch by what tree it was near, but it'd be no guarantee if you're looking for a SPECIFIC type of wood. My suggestion is more of a 'let it come to you' idea.
posted by Heretical at 2:22 AM on March 13, 2012 [3 favorites]
You could attempt to identify the branch by what tree it was near, but it'd be no guarantee if you're looking for a SPECIFIC type of wood. My suggestion is more of a 'let it come to you' idea.
posted by Heretical at 2:22 AM on March 13, 2012 [3 favorites]
As Grant Morrison would say in so many words, and Crowley would say in a lot more words, "The whole point is to use whatever feels the most witchy to you." Accepting authorities at their word is antithetical to the whole thing.
posted by cmoj at 10:48 AM on March 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by cmoj at 10:48 AM on March 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
column 39 of table correspondences 1 in crowley 777 lists 31 plants rowed up 1 X 1 with a total of 47 other columns. 777 contains an answer to almost all questions of this sort. I am sure a copy can be found online. The plants column is on page 10 of my copy.
posted by bukvich at 3:54 PM on March 14, 2012
posted by bukvich at 3:54 PM on March 14, 2012
Response by poster: Hmm, interesting ideas! Thanks for the link, Monsieur, that was a very interesting find.
A lot of people raised that I should follow whatever path I'm on. I find that hard to describe sometimes. I just try and follow the path of the wizard, because that's what I call myself, a wizard, although I'm finding myself dabbling in a little bit of everything right now. In all honesty, Crowley kind of turns me off a bit with his talk of ritual sacrifice and what not (I want to be nice,) but he does seem to have a ton of thoughts on magick.
What do you guys think about Crowley? Was he a jerk? Should he be trusted? Elucidate. I want to hear your opinions.
Do you think there is any particular path to follow in magick that is more trustworthy than the rest?
posted by dargerpartridge at 6:19 PM on March 14, 2012
A lot of people raised that I should follow whatever path I'm on. I find that hard to describe sometimes. I just try and follow the path of the wizard, because that's what I call myself, a wizard, although I'm finding myself dabbling in a little bit of everything right now. In all honesty, Crowley kind of turns me off a bit with his talk of ritual sacrifice and what not (I want to be nice,) but he does seem to have a ton of thoughts on magick.
What do you guys think about Crowley? Was he a jerk? Should he be trusted? Elucidate. I want to hear your opinions.
Do you think there is any particular path to follow in magick that is more trustworthy than the rest?
posted by dargerpartridge at 6:19 PM on March 14, 2012
Was he a jerk?
Demonstrably.
Should he be trusted?
He said over and over that he shouldn't. This is the mark of someone worth listening to for me.
I can only tell you what I'm paying attention to right now. I think the nuts and bolts of why, or how it seems these things work is important, so Robert Anton Wilson is high on that list. He also says not to trust him. I've been sprinkling into that some of the specific rituals/procedures of Chis Hyatt and Israel Regardie, you know, just to keep demonstrating to myself that there are mechanisms that I don't understand.
As for Crowley, I'm not sure what kind of path you're following, but modern magick is very much an empirical process, and Crowley is pretty much the bridge between deliberately-obfuscated medieval alchemy and modern 8-Circuit/LSD/Zen/Metaprogramming thought. Maybe you're not into smearing yourself in goat's blood and stuff, but it doesn't make much sense to me to ignore Crowley entirely. He was certainly able to enact his will.
posted by cmoj at 8:54 PM on March 14, 2012
Demonstrably.
Should he be trusted?
He said over and over that he shouldn't. This is the mark of someone worth listening to for me.
I can only tell you what I'm paying attention to right now. I think the nuts and bolts of why, or how it seems these things work is important, so Robert Anton Wilson is high on that list. He also says not to trust him. I've been sprinkling into that some of the specific rituals/procedures of Chis Hyatt and Israel Regardie, you know, just to keep demonstrating to myself that there are mechanisms that I don't understand.
As for Crowley, I'm not sure what kind of path you're following, but modern magick is very much an empirical process, and Crowley is pretty much the bridge between deliberately-obfuscated medieval alchemy and modern 8-Circuit/LSD/Zen/Metaprogramming thought. Maybe you're not into smearing yourself in goat's blood and stuff, but it doesn't make much sense to me to ignore Crowley entirely. He was certainly able to enact his will.
posted by cmoj at 8:54 PM on March 14, 2012
Response by poster: Just a funny sidenote. My Gmail Inbox has 777 new messages at the moment.
posted by dargerpartridge at 7:14 PM on March 15, 2012
posted by dargerpartridge at 7:14 PM on March 15, 2012
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posted by Tomorrowful at 9:32 PM on March 12, 2012 [5 favorites]