Personalizing a Wand Naturally

The wand is the most used among the four elemental tools, so I make sure that my wands have a personal touch.

The oak wand I bought from La Dea is already beautiful as it is. I love the grain of the oak, and I didn't want to hide its natural beauty by painting on it or attaching gemstones, feathers, metal wires, etc. as I did with my previous wands. So I decided to do no other embellishments on it other than burning my name on the wood.1

Pyrography is tougher than I expected. What I used to burn the wood was a 40-watt soldering iron (as was recommended by woodburning articles that I googled), but I wished I had a hotter one so that I could burn the wood with a single stroke. The texture of the wood makes it hard to 'write' on, and the handle of the soldering pen becomes hot after some minutes. Thankfully I managed to inscribe my name recognizably in Theban letters after some sweat and finger-burns.

Write the inscription in pencil then burn them away.  

To protect the wand, I had to treat it with a special wood finish - which is linseed oil mixed with a few drops of dragon's blood. Dragon's blood has been used by magicians for centuries to increase magic power, but here I also use it symbolically for the fire element, and to represent the blood that would 'awaken' this ritual object to life. Wood varnish would make it look too glossy and artifical. Linseed on the other hand is natural, and not so sticky so I can use my hands to apply it on.

Linseed oil and dragon's blood.

I didn't realize I would need only a few drops of wood finish to cover the entire wand, so I still had some left  for my newly-made pentacle.

Basbasan Nawa!




[1] I was about to inscribe it in Ogham, but opted to go Trad Wiccan than Druidic, so I chose Theban.
[2] Visit La Dea's website : http://ladea.moonfruit.com

Posted in: altar, spiritual flame