In witchcraft, a magic wand is a long, pointed tool used for focusing and directing energy. But if you didn’t grow up learning about magic, you probably first heard about wands through stories or movies. Maybe you saw a magician using a magic wand in a show or saw wands sold with fairy princess costumes. Because of this, I used to think that magic wands were the stuff of myths and fairy tales. After I began practicing witchcraft, however, I realized that there are many practical uses for wands in real-world witchcraft!
I’m a big advocate of making your own magical tools, that way you can infuse the tool with your own personal energy and power. This creates a strong bond between you and your magical tool, which will make your spells all the more powerful. As far as crafts go, making a magic wand is a lot of fun, and may just get you in touch with your inner child again. If you’re looking for a fun way to spend an evening, wand-making is a wonderful activity to do on your own or with your witchy friends.
Crafting the Wand
Wooden wands are the most common, durable, and easy to decorate but feel free to use any other materials you think would work for your wand. If you are using wood, I recommend taking a walk in nature and looking for a good wand stick. You’ll want a stick that feels dry, sturdy, and in good condition. Make sure there aren’t any soft spots on the wood.
The most important thing is to trust your intuition when selecting a stick. When you pick it up, notice how it feels in your hand. Does it fit comfortably in your grip? Does it have an appealing kind of energy to it? What drew you to that particular piece of wood? Remember to thank the trees in that space for providing you with wood.
Once you’ve selected your stick, you can choose to decorate the wand with or without the bark. If you prefer the look of the wood without the bark, carefully remove the bark with a knife. Use proper knife safety when doing this. If you’re not comfortable with using a knife, you can skip this step and keep the bark intact. Use sandpaper to smooth out any rough spots on the wood, especially on the ends.
Here are some basic magical properties of different types of wood:
Oak: Defense, strength, courage, luck, and longevity
Beech: Binding work, love, and friendship
Birch: Protection, grounding, and cleansing
Cherry: Mental clarity and decision making
Maple: Love, abundance, money, and health
Pine: Protection, cleansing, healing, and mental clarity
Cedar: Healing, spirituality, and prosperity
Willow: Love, tranquility, and harmony
Apple: Fertility, healing, and abundance
Elder: Protection, prosperity, and healing
Decorating Your Wand With Magical Materials
Before you begin, think about what you’d like to use your wand for. You can make an all-purpose wand or you can get more specific such as a wand specifically for money spells, love spells, abundance spells, or heightened spiritual awareness.
Do some research on the different magical qualities of materials. Gather materials that support the magic you plan on doing with your wand. Consider using any personal trinkets that hold meaning or family heirlooms to decorate your wand. These items will add power to your wand.
Here are some metals you might consider incorporating:
Copper: Healthy, abundance, money, love
Brass: Communication, resilience, protection, abundance, and money
Silver: Psychic abilities, protection, and moon magic
Steel: Protection, healing, good sleep
Gold: Beauty, love, abundance, success, and money
Tin: Divination, luck, and success
Zinc: Protection, fertility, love, prosperity, and banishing magic
An excellent place to get affordable wand supplies is your local hardware store. You can buy copper, brass, or steel wire in a variety of different thicknesses. Go for the thinner wires as much as possible because they’re easier to bend around the wood. Nuts, bolts, and pipe fittings can be “screwed” onto the shaft of your wand. You can also create interesting designs on your wand with furniture tacks and small nails.
Many witches like to add crystals to the ends of their wands. You can find small crystal points at your local rock shop. Use wire to wrap the base of the stone and attach it to the end of your wand. You might want to use some heavy-duty glue to secure the stone to the wood. Some crystal points have holes drilled through them, which makes them very easy to attach to the end of your wood with wire.
These are some of my favorite crystals for wand making
Clear Quartz: Power, protection, and general magic
Rose Quartz: Self-love, friendship, and romantic love
Citrine: Love, success, abundance, money, career breakthroughs
Amethyst: Intuition, psychic connection, and healing
Agate: Protection, courage, and strength
Jade: Balancing emotions, unconditional love, prosperity, luck, banishing negativity
Smoky Quartz: Cleansing, protection, and banishing negativity
Hematite: Optimism, determination, grounding energy, willpower, and attraction magic
Selenite: Cleansing, power, mental clarity, willpower, and spiritual connection
Labradorite: Intuition, psychic abilities, transformation, dreams, and meditation
Sodalite: Logic, truth, tranquility, self-esteem, and positivity
Other Magical Wand Decorations:
- Incorporate color magic by painting or dyeing your wand. Paint it all one color, or create multi-colored images and designs.
- Carve sigils, letters, or numbers into the wood for added meaning, or draw the design with a permanent marker.
- Decorate your wand with colored string or ribbon. Use knot magic by tying knots into the string before winding it around the wand. Add decorative beads to the string.
- Add jewelry like rings, necklace chains, and earring studs to the wand. Consider securing these materials to the wood with a strong adhesive.
- Add feathers, dried flowers, or other bits of nature to your wand.
How To Identify The Energy Of Your Wand
If you’ve crafted your wand to be used for a specific intention, you can begin using it for your spells immediately. If you don’t know what kind of magic to use your wand for, you can perform a bit of magic to find out.
The simplest way to do this is to ask your wand what energy it carries. To do this, hold your wand between your palms and close your eyes. Ask the wand (aloud or in your head), “What is your current energy?” Sit quietly and wait for a response. The response will usually come in the form of a thought that floats into your mind. Stay open to whatever responses you receive.
You can also lay your wand on your lap and close your eyes. Allow yourself to receive the energy of the wand as you meditate. Do this for five to ten minutes. Journal about what kind of energy you’re picking up from your wand.
A third way to identify the energy of your wand is to use tarot or oracle cards. Shuffle your cards as you normally would and ask the question, “What is the energy of my wand?” Draw a card to reveal your answer. You can ask some follow-up questions such as: “What kind of spells are best suited for this wand?” or “What are the strengths/weaknesses of this wand.”. Record your answers in your journal or grimoire.
Remember, it’s possible that the energy of your wand may change over time. Perform any of these techniques as many times as necessary if you sense a shift in energy.
How To Use Your Magic Wand
There are many different ways to use your magic wand, and these are just a few to get started. Once you’re comfortable with these methods, intuitively explore other ways to use this magical tool in your practice.
Activating a Crystal Grid
Create a crystal grid in any shape you’d like. Hold your wand in your right hand and point the tip at the crystal that is farthest from the center. Begin to meditate on the intention of the crystal grid. Slowly move the point of the wand over the crystals as if you’re “connecting the dots” starting from the outside and moving in towards the center. Keep focusing your mind on the intention of the crystal grid. Once the tip of your wand has made it to the center of the grid, state your intention aloud and lift the tip of your wand up toward the sky. As you do that movement with the wand, you’re sending your intention up into the universe.
For those of you looking to go a little deeper into crystal magic, my course Crystals for Witchcraft was designed to be a straightforward, easy-to-follow guide to learning how to make use of the incredible power of crystals in your magical practice. No airy-fairy, hard to understand new age jargon here. Every part of this course is simple to understand and the modules build on each other in order to ease you into the world of crystal magic.
Focusing & Directing Your Intention
Point the wand at your altar, candle, inscription, or whatever magical object you’re using to power your spell. Visualize a beam of light (your own personal energy) moving through your hand, out the tip of your wand, and into the object. The point of the wand can direct and focus that energy into your magical object to supercharge your magical intention.
“Writing Out” an Intention
Use your wand to set an intention by “writing” your intention in the air letter-by-letter, and word-by-word with the tip of your wand in the air. Finish your spell by pointing the wand up to send the intention up into the universe.
Cleansing or Charging Yourself
Set your intention before you begin your spell. For example, you can choose to cleanse the negative energy from your body, charge yourself with loving energy, or cover yourself with protective energy.
To begin, point the tip of your wand at your feet and make circles in the air over your body. Start at the ground and move up your body until the point of your wand is circling the crown of your head. As you do this motion with your wand, visualize colored light shooting out of the wand and seeping into your body. Observe any sensations in your body as you perform this spell.
Casting a Circle
Hold the wand in your right hand and visualize a blue light (or any color you like) shooting out of your hand, through your wand, and out into the center of your circle. In your mind’s eye, see the light getting bigger until it is your desired size. Step into the center of that space. When you are ready to close your circle, visualize the light floating down to the earth and disappearing like melting snowflakes.
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Updated on June 18, 2024 by Avery Hart
