For any that clicked on here and are going ‘Hun?’ I sympathize, for at the very beginning I was clueless too, but I learned, and gathered things in a rush. I later realized that they are not necessary; magick is in the practitioner, not the tool. The four most common tools (Remember not necessary!) are the wand, chalice, pentacle, and athame.
Updating this in 2006 after letting it stand from 2003. Many things have changed. Those of you that remember the old page and the old list of articles will notice a number of changes and or absenses. The reason for the absenses of several statues, knives, bowls, pentacles, and other goods are due to a specific trunk not being picked up by my parents during a move and the trunk subsiquently being burned. Some things have been replaced, others I am still slowly replacing. Luckily I did not lose either of my wands, but many of the original statues I worked with were destroyed when the trunk burned.
The Tools
Wand- conflicts between trads (traditions) make this a little tricky to place. Some say that the wand governs the air element. Others say that it governs fire. I have settled and am most comfortable with the wand representing fire. It can be made of wood, crystal, or metal.
Mine have all been of wood and are between 1 and 2 feet in length. My present wand is about eighteen inches long, made from a lilac branch and is wrapped in a copper wire spiral with two ribbons adorning the grip (and I love it!).
Pentacle- (The star is not evil, but a symbol of unity, or wholeness in my eyes. Upside down it can be used to signify a second or third degree, but I will never use the pentacle that way.) Now, this symbol is a flat disc made from any material. When the ‘Craft persecutions were at its height the possession of a pentacle meant death. It was therefore created from materials that were easily destroyed. Today a pentacle can be made from any material- iron, brass, silver, or stone- just to name a few. It symbolizes the earth.
Mine is made from iron and sits on my altar, and I wear a silver pentacle pendant at my throat every day as a sign of protection and my faith. I love the jewelry, but it is always a reminder of what I believe.
Chalice- this can be anything- from an earthenware mug to a silver goblet. It symbolizes water, and there are often two of them, one for the lady the other for the lord or one for the practitioner and the other for the gods.
My main chalice is a blue goblet that is decorated with a string of blue and purple beads. It is my oldest tool and constantly sits on my altar. I have recently purchased a second goblet, of cobalt blue glass decorated with moons, suns, and stars. I've found myself reaching for this chalice over the previous one that served me for many years.
Athame-Traditionally, this is a black handled knife with a double edge. This knife is traditionally never sharp and never cuts on the physical plane. I have a single edged blade that is sharp and does cut. I use it as an athame or a boline. It is another tool that conflicts within trads- some say air, some say fire. I have associated it with the air.
Boline - Traditionally a white handled knife with a single or double edge. This knife is suposed to be sharp and to cut on the physical plane. I have a small pocket-knife that I will use from time to time as a Boline.
Because either of these are knives, I rarely use them. My preference is for the wand – I also have a penchant for fire.
Update: I have changed my athame to an actual ornate dagger. I spent about fifteen dollars on it. I am very careful cause it is really, really sharp. And I can have a dagger because I am married and my guy respects my tools and doesn't handle them unless I ask him to retieve a tool for me... if I happen to be in the middle of something and realize I forgot it.
Note: For teens, parents might get a little upset about a knife! And colleges don’t like weapons very much- yes they see it as a weapon.
Well those are the four most common. There are others that are pretty common, and I will list them as well.
Altar- can be any flat surface- from a rock to a table. The altar is a place to salute the Lady and the Lord and leave offerings. It’s the magick worktable and where I find myself writing spells, poetry, and performing my morning and evening devotions.
My first altar was so unlikely that you’ll probably chuckle. It was a T.V. tray. Hey, it worked, for about six months. After that I went looking f or something a little bigger. It was i a chest and a flat surface (I have absolutely no clue what it was) made out of wood planks with curved metal legs- think the legs of a lawn chair. I found several while walking and selected the best to cart back to my room. Now that thing wasn't completely stable, but then again, neither was the T.V. tray, so I learned how to balance things out. At present my altar is the top of a book shelf with my magickal texts and book of shadows stored beneath it.
Another rule of the Craft- whatever works! The main thing that I really like is the tote can store everything inside it and only takes a few minutes to set up or break down. Now you see an altar, now you don’t. Set up and size are up to the one that is setting up the altar. Mine can fit into a box, and is a box.
Note: my altar is that- an altar. It serves no other purpose.
Statues- I have several things that I use to represent the Lady and the Lord. Anything can be used, from seashells to pictures. Whatever the practitioner feels comfortable with. I also have a small statue of two winged unicorns that my little brother gave me as a Yule gift that can stand for both. I have two identical horse statuettes, one a gift from a friend, the other a gift from my grandmother. Both work very well. My husband and I were given a plaque of the goddess as a wedding gift from a Craft friend. I use it along with a deer antler.
Book of Shadows- A BOS, a Book of Illumination, a Book of Light, a Book of Mirrors, I have seen this book called a number of things, I use Book of Shadows (BOS), yet others may call it by other names. This is the magickal cookbook. It contains spells, chants, jokes, poetry, rune and tarot research, research on alphabets of other languages (I don’t see runes as such), rules, correspondence- candles, colors, day, month year, planets, herbs etc, general word definitions. Pretty much anything goes into this book! It’s a chart of one's journey through the Craft.
Mine is, at present- I’ve gone through four already- blue three-inch thick three-ring binder with a mixture of typed pages and handwritten ones. I also have a second smaller BOS, which I have with me on most days, and which goes with me when my large BOS would be way too obvious. I also maintain a separate journal.
If you want to read this, go ahead, if not they are both from witchvox, with some editing to the e-mail address.
The first one is Practical Magick, the other is Magick is Personal Responsibility
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