| Making Your Own Tools |
| This is another subject that was requested to me by a visitor to my website. I thought that some of you would benefit from learning to make your own tools and incense. Especially those of you who are keeping your path a secret for the time being. It might be a bit strange for you if someone were to find out you purchased a magick tool if you are not yet prepared to share your beliefs with the world. Also, if you are on a tight budget, this information might be helpful. Remember the importance of personalization in your spiritual path- this can definately be extended to your tools. CHALICE You won't be creating the goblet itself, but you can decorate it and personalize it that way. Your chalice can be made of almost any material- metal, wood, bone, clay or pottery, stone, glass. If you are opting for an inexpensive chalice- go for glass. You can buy a wine glass almost anywhere. You might already own one, or your parents might own wine glasses. Once you have your glass- or whatever type of goblet you chose- you can decorate it. You can paint your glass if you wish. Draw on some runes, elemental symbols, your astrological sign, etc, or glue things to it, such as crystals. Anything with meaning to you. Don't paint up top where your mouth will be when you drink, however. If you have a goblet of bone or wood, you might carve some symbols into it. And if you have the means, you might think about etching symbols onto a metal, glass, or stone chalice. WAND You can use a small branch from a tree to make your wand. I suggest using a stick that has already fallen from the tree, and not breaking a live branch from it. You should choose a stick that is about the length of your forearm- from your elbow to your fingertips. It you find a stick longer than this, obviously you can just cut it to suit you. You want to sand the bark from the stick and also allow it to dry out for at least a week or so. If the stick is already dry, great, you can get right to work. You should sand not only the bark, but also sand the ends so they are smooth. After sanding, you can oil the stick to smooth it out further. You can use any kind of oil- olive oil or an oil maded specifically for wood. This will also bring out the grain in the wood and make it more attractive.Your wand can be used as it is, or you can decorate it as well. You can carve symbols or words of power into it, write words on, and you can glue something on the end to aid in directing your energy. I would suggest using a small crystal. You might want to carve out an indentation in the tip of the wand so that the crystal will rest nicely in it. Fill the indentation with some glue- hot glue, epoxy, or superglue will work fine. Then place the crystal on and allow to dry. You could also tie some ribbon on your wand if you like. Use your imagination. But decorating it is completely optional. PENTACLE A pentacle can be drawn on anything. You can even draw one on a piece of paper or cardboard if you are completely unable to find anything else suitable. It doesn't have to be drawn on anything fancy in order for it to have power. A friend of mine gave me a recipe for making a homemade pentacle. You need: 1 cup of cornstarch, 1 1/4 cups of cold water, 2 cups of baking soda Mix the cornstarch and baking soda in a small pot or saucepan. Add the water and stir. Heat it up for about 5 minutes over medium heat and continue to stir until it's thick and turns to doughy clay. Remove it from the pan and allow it to cool. Knead it for a few minutes and then flatten it out. You might roll it out with a rolling pin if you have one. Make it about a half inch thick. Now, you can use a bowl to cut out a circle. Discard the left over clay. Now, you can draw on your pentacle. Use a pen- with the cap on- or other pointy object to draw on the five-pointed star. Allow the clay to dry now for about a day. After it's dry, you can paint it if you want. You can also add food coloring to the mixture before hand if you like. Be careful with your pentacle because the clay will break easily if you bang it around. MAKING INCENSE I'm not into making my own combustible incense- such as cones and sticks- because it gets messy and is time consuming. I prefer to burn herbs as they are and not mix them with the added gums and powders. To burn your own incense, you should purchase some charcoal blocks (NOT charcoal for barbequing). You can find self-igniting charcoal blocks for your incense at many different stores. Craft stores often have them, sometimes you might find them in places like Meijer or KMart. You'll just have to check some stores in your area. If you can't find them locally, you can always turn to an online witchcraft or pagan store. These self-igniting charcoal blocks come in different sizes, but I generally use the smaller ones, just because I never need my incense to burn for extended lengths of time. Place a charcoal block in a censer or in a ceramic dish that is filled with either salt or sand (you don't want to burn your dish). Light the charcoal, and once it has started glowing, sprinkle your loose herbs onto it. This will burn your herbs and release their fragrances. You can use so many different mixtures of herbs for different purposes. You can use one herb, or mix several that correspond with the intent of you spell or ritual. I mix sandalwood and frankincense for meditation, sometimes cinnamon and frankincense for this purpose. Use your imagination and create your own, personal recipes. You can make any tool yourself. Most tools not described here can be found around the house if you can't purchase them- your censer can be a bowl you already own, your cauldron can be any fire-proof container you have- even a pot from the kitchen. You also can decide for yourself what tools you will make part of your practise, if any. Personally, I no longer have use for ritual tools. |