Making a basic wand is cheap and quite easy. It’s best to make your own to have it as charged as possible with your own energy. Now, if you’re lucky enough to have a teacher, you may want to wait and see what your teacher says. Sometimes they do a "passing of the wand" when you "graduate" from their lessons. Otherwise, a wand is a very powerful, very useful, and very personal tool to have. This is why I don’t recommend going out and buying a wand as your first tool. Buy one later if you wish, but here are some instructions for making a working wand.
The first thing you need is some sort of rod. Driftwood is choice because it is tough, the bark is already gone, and it is worn smooth. Make sure it’s sturdy, though. The wrong piece can shatter. If you have no access to driftwood and aren’t planning a Spring Break at the beach before the time you want to have a wand, look for a branch. Sometimes campuses have their trees and bushes trimmed and they leave the branches lying around for someone to pick up. Look for a relatively straight branch about the width of your forefinger or thumb and about 12 to 18 inches long (Some traditions call for a wand of 21 inches). These branches are already cut for you and you only have to finish trimming it to a proper length and trim off twigs. If you can’t find one of these, I suggest buying a dowel rod or a piece of copper tubing at an art department on campus or arts and crafts store such as Hungates. I don’t suggest trying to trim a bush or tree yourself on campus to get a branch—many campuses don’t like having their property defaced by those not belonging to a lawn care service. Fallen branches are fair game, but they may be too weak or rotted. The greener the branch, the better. Salute the tree, give thanks by saying a small prayer, or anything similar to let the tree know that the branch will be put to good use. You should also leave a bit of cake or some treat for the elementals who have been displaced from that branch in their tree. (Faeries like ginger! A ginger snap cookie can be a simple gift.)
A rod alone, properly prepared spiritually, can be a powerful tool on its own. But decorations make the wand powerful, beautiful, and personal. One of the best beginning decorations is to wrap the wand. You can use anything from silver wire, to leather cord, to silk ribbon. It’s best to wrap tightly at each end with a loose wind through the middle of the wand. Wire is good if you don’t mind having metal in your circle (I keep as much metal out so it doesn’t disrupt the electromagnetic fields), yet silk is a good insulator. My wands are wrapped with black cord—one suede lanyard lacing and the other waxed cord. Black is a common color to use since it is a blend of all colors. You can fix your wrapping, cord or ribbon, with superglue. You may also wish to save some cord if you wish to dangle a few charms from the handle.
The next common object on a wand is to have a crystal point. These are used to focus energy. You may have to hollow out the tip of the wand so the crystal can sit inside. Superglue or hot glue can also hold the crystal in, and then wrap the wand with your cord. This will all depend on the size of the crystal to the shape of the wand. Try to find a crystal that’s proportional. You should be able to find a good quartz point at a museum or The Nature Company. Mine was from a pendant that I found in the beads section at Michael’s craft stores.
Along the middle of the wand, you may want to fix some small tumbled stones or beads. I put mine in the order of the chakras. When choosing stones, even when choosing your crystal point, it’s usually best to go by the energy in the stone than it’s beauty. Hold the stone in the palm of your hand—if your hand tingles, the stone usually has good energy. The stone will NOT always make a tingle or heat in your hand, so keep testing stones and go by your intuition. When in doubt, close your eyes and choose! Always consider the size of the stone to the size of the wand. You can attach them with superglue and they usually stay.
Finally, before you wrap your wand, you may want to have some small charms hanging from the handle or hilt of the wand. You can find crescent moon and star shaped tumbled stones in beads sections of stores. Hematite is a good grounding stone, and small silver or mother-of-pearl beads set the hematite off nicely. You may instead choose to have cords with white, red, and black beads to represent the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Make sure your charms have meaning, though! You can also use wooden or other beads as well. Anything natural is best. Also try to attach feathers or shells or anything else that’s small and able to string or glue onto the end of a cord. Keep the cords small, though—if they are too long they will become a hassle when you cast your circle because they will bang against your wrist.
Once you are done at the store, gather your materials and prepare to assemble. (You can eliminate any steps that you don’t plan to do.) First you want to prepare your branch. If you chose a live branch, Gardnerian tradition states that you should let it live in, or soak, for three days in the simple condensor (Strong chamomile tea). The branch should then be peeled of all bark and sanded smooth. You may also want to keep some of the condensor to "baste" onto the branch after it has been stripped. If you have chosen a piece of driftwood, dowel rod, or copper tubing, you may wish to brush on some of the simple condensor and then let it dry again. This is an optional step! Make your wand as your tradition dictates. Eclectic witches use anything that feels right, so this is a step that felt right to me.
Next, hollow out the tip of the wand for your crystal. Keep checking to see if the crystal will fit and work at it until it does. You can use a pocket knife or an X-acto knife for this. The wood pulp inside of branched is usually pretty soft. Don’t glue in your crystal yet, though! Save it until before you wrap.
Then measure lengths of cords if you want them for charms, beads, shells, feathers, etc. to hang from the hilt. Do not attach the beads yet—you may wish to trim the cord later. Glue about ¼ inch of the cords onto the hilt and let the rest hang down. You will wrap down to the end of the hilt, so don’t worry what it looks like yet.
After the glue is dried for the cords, glue in the crystal. You will wrap a little around the base of the crystal as well to give it better support, hold it in, and make the wand look cleaner. Now you should be ready to wrap.
How much cord you need depends on its thickness and the length of your wand. You may need as much as 3 to 4 yards! Begin by laying about an inch of cord against the tip of the wand that bridges the wand tip and the crystal. Turn the wand clockwise and wrap the cord tightly (so the cord lays against itself) for about an inch or so to cover the tail and tuck it in. Then widen the wrap down the rest of the length of the wand. Have about inch-wide spaces between the coils. Make sure you are wrapping all the way to the end over the pieces of cord fringes (for the charms). When you get to the end you tight-wrap again back up the wand, over some of the wide wrap to make a handle with a spiral grip. Wrap as much as comfortable to your hand. Doing the handle in this way secures the wide wrapped cord. When you have a handle that is comfortable, hold down the cord where you want it to stop and snip off the excess with scissors. Tuck it as best as you can underneath another coil and secure with glue. If the wrap doesn’t feel right to you, you can re-wrap before cutting or gluing. It may take a little practice, but wrapping the cord this way also makes it similar to making an electromagnet.
Once your wand is wrapped, you can glue on the stones or string beads, etc. to the cord fringes as you please. Make sure whatever you put on has some sort of meaning. You may want to do moon phases, life stages, elements, chakras, or anything else you can come up with. Use your imagination!
The final step in actually making your wand is this: carve or burn your initials or magickal name into the wand. Carving is easier, in my opinion. You should use a script such as the Futhark Runes, the Ogham Tree Alphabet, or the Theban Alphabet. There are also other types of alphabets. A book called "The Magician’s Primer" has a good listing of these and other scripts, as does Buckland's "The Complete Guide to Witchcraft" and the books by Silver Ravenwolf.
Once
your wand is made, it’s time to consecrate it. You have been charging
it with your creative energy as you made it. Cleanse it by the elements by
passing it through incense smoke for air and fire, and into salted water for
water and earth. Then leave the wand outside or on your windowsill in the
moonlight of a full moon. Make sure no one can disturb it. Touch the wand
often. It should now be ready for use.
While the wand is a powerful tool, remember the power is not in the wand itself,
but in YOU. You put the energy into it. You do not need a wand to cast a circle,
it is merely a mental crutch to help you focus. Practice with your wand but
always remember that
you can work just as well without it.
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