A very romanticized tool, a witch wand has a beloved place in the imagery witchcraft conjures. But what exactly is a wand and how do you use one? That’s what most folk want to know. I can tell you it’s more than pointing it at something and uttering a few words. Finally, I’ll share with you my method of super-charging my wands.
First, consider a witch wand corresponding with male energy like witch’s athame or ritual blade. It is associated with both air and fire. A wand can send out tremendous energy but is more like a kiss and a hug in most cases, think powerful but gentle energy.
I use my wands to charge items, but again with a softer but no less strong effect. They can also be used to send energy over great distances. A witch wand is perfect for blessings, healings, protection and the kinder works of witchcraft. That doesn’t mean it can’t be used for other purposes. Think of a wand as influence and encouragement vs an athame which is more like a command that can’t be denied.
And some witch wands have a more dedicated use too. I have three wands on my altar. One is made of ash wood and my major go to. Another one is made of copper and some of the darkest amethyst you’ve ever seen. That one I use in divination works. The third wand is an owl’s foot with a small gazing ball and a scrying wand, more divination but of a different kind. So, wands can be made of more than just wood.
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Which Wood for a Witch Wand?
I fashion my witch wands out of wood mostly, and sometimes other materials. Since most traditional wands are made of wood, we’ll focus on that. But which type of wood do you want to use? It can partly be determined by what is local to you. I’m still in the market for some hawthorn branches if anyone cares to ship me some, hint-hint.
Alder: Courage, strength, communication with the other side, determination and protection.
Apple: Healing, love, fertility, prosperity, beauty and abundance.
Ash: Healing, protection, purification, wisdom, prosperity. This is a good all-round wood for a wand as it amplifies almost all kinds of magick.
Bamboo: Luck, protection, prosperity, stability and strength.
Beech: Creativity, Imagination, love and friendship.
Birch: Grounding, cleansing, protection, fertility, rebirth and inspiration.
Cedar: Wisdom, protection, purification, longevity, cleansing, prosperity and love.
Cherry: Healing, love grounding, creativity, prosperity, passion and divination.
Elder: Wisdom, healing, prosperity, banishing, communication beyond the veil. Considered a sacred wood, should never be cut or burned. Find a branch that’s fallen naturally and make sure you only ever use this wood for benevolent magick.
Elm: Protection, healing, transformation, love, connection with nature spirits and knowledge.
Eucalyptus: Healing, cleansing, purification and exorcism.
Hawthorne: love, protection, fertility, working with the Fae, guarding against evil and storms.
Hazel: Wisdom, clarity, psychic endeavors, nature magick, water magick and knowledge. This is also a good all-rounder wood.
Holly: Protection, peace, strength, courage, and luck.
Maple: Strength, power, vitality, travel, communication, learning, beauty and abundance.
Oak Wood: Strength, power, wishes, wisdom, truth, healing, endurance and protection.
Pine: Creativity, prosperity, wishes, purification and protection.
Rose: Love, knowledge, divination, healing, compassion, fertility and protection of loved ones.
Willow: Moon magick, healing, love, divination and grief.
Yew: Longevity and complex magick.
Wand Walking
One tradition many witching cultures have is “wand-walking”, at least that’s what I call it. Taking a stroll through the woods in hopes of finding that perfect branch for a wand.
Fall is a perfect time for wand-walking. Reach out with your senses and go in whichever direction you feel called too. Sometimes the branch is on the ground or dangling from a tree, broken off but caught in the branches.
Don’t break or just cut a branch off, that is the wrong sort of energy and not correct in intention. If you are going to prune a tree, thank the tree and tell it what you are doing. I don’t care what anyone says, trees talk, but man has forgotten how to listen. They talk to each other and if we have ears to hear, they talk to us too. But pruning is a perfect time to harvest a branch for a wand.
Even if it is simply a fallen branch, thank the tree it fell from and ask permission to take it. Wait until you feel you have been granted permission before taking. Take it with reverence.
Fashioning Your Own Wand
You can buy a witch wand and remodel it to suit. I tend to use wood for my wands, but sometimes other materials. Different wood has different magical properties too. Willow offers wonderful healing energy, while ash offers strength and manifestation powers. So, your choice of wood can potentially matter. Pine is for sweet wishes everlasting for another example.
You can buy a premade wand and “art” it to suit, adding crystals, symbols, feathers, charms and anything else you deem essential.
How big or small your witch wand ends up being is entirely your choice. A standard size is the inside crook of your elbow to your fingertips. Your witch wand, like your athame, will eventually give its name. It’s you, but not you, and at the same time an extension of you.
So, you have chosen or found your wood of choice, now you must “art” it, or decorate it magically. Carve symbols, wire wrap (copper is one of my favorites as it’s a good conductor of energy), crystals and feathers, leather cording etc. Make it your own but decorate it with purpose. Think of the wood’s qualities and choose decoration that matches, complements and corresponds with the wood for a powerful witch wand.
You can fix one crystal to the haft or butt-end to draw and provide that energy and fix another like a crystal point shape to the tip to send out energy. Just make sure they are energies that compliment each other. With feathers, look up the symbolism and spiritual properties of birds. With leather cording, consider the color you’ll use and why.
You can see now why one might have or create more than one witch wand. I wouldn’t mind having one of everything.
Consecrating and Charging Your Witch Wand
I consecrate and charge my wands in very similar fashion to how I do my athame.
All my witch’s tools I charge regularly, typically every couple of weeks or so, especially my wand and athame. I use these tools to bless and charge other magical items.
Typically, I use sage, dragon’s blood and myrrh resin, mixed and burned over charcoal resin. I smoke my athame and wand in this mixture. It is important, however, to enchant each ingredient separately, and then as a whole. The difference in potency and power is well worth taking the time to enchant everything, every step of the way.
I enchant the sage for cleansing, the dragon’s blood for potency, and the myrrh to amplify the effects of the other herbs, but also for cleansing and empowering.
Make sure your witch wand is clean, gather all your items, clear the energy and make sacred space, enchant everything and then grind the herbs clockwise for manifestation. It helps to break the resin up into smaller grains, it will burn and smoke better.
To begin charging, sit comfortably, holding the wand—tip in your dominant hand and handle in your off-hand. Then, draw energy from the environment around you, feel it merging with your own, and channel it directly through your witch wand. Light your charcoal to give it a head start.
Visualize your wand glowing intensely with energy. Tell it to awake. Touch the tip to your forehead (“I dedicate this to my will”), then your heart (“I bind you to my passion”). Now add some herb mixture to your charcoal and immerse your wand in the smoke. Repeat this three times.
Adjust Your Charging to Suit Your Witch Wand
You can adjust the herb mixture to suit and correspond more with your witch wand’s purpose, but I wouldn’t change the myrrh for its amplification properties of the other herbs. And you should know there’s more than just sage when it comes to cleansing.
This was very enlightening, thank you. If you don’t have a particular type off wood in your area, could you purchase from someone in another area that may sell cuttings? Would that work? Could you thank the tree when cuttings are received?
🙂 Certainly, your energy can travel all the way to the tree from whence it came. I have ash, maple and corkscrew willow here among others. My witch-wand I use the most is fashioned out of ash wood. I like ash because it’s a really good “all-purpose” wood.
I was wondering if I believe this is the right word for the tree behind me is a locust? A branch fell down and I have a beautiful piece I was thinking of using as a wand. Can that be used as a protection wand?
Hello Megan, 🙂 Locust trees, both black and honey locust, are associated with various magical and metaphysical properties. Black locust, in particular, is known for its strength, endurance, and ability to absorb negative energy. The bark is also said to correspond with and aid working with the spirit world and a favorite around Samhain. Honey locust on the other hand Honey locust, on the other hand, is seen as a symbol of strength, growth, and renewal. Behind your house I believe you have Catalpa bean trees too. I would look up images of trees before busting a move on your local greenery dearie. Catalpa is more for esoteric, hard to grasp work.