The Wand is one of the most easily recognized Wiccan symbols and altar tools.
Wands are used for divination, channeling, and directing magickal energy.
Unlike the broom and very much like the athame, the wand is very handy and portable. While the athame represents the mind’s ability to understand, the wand represents the ability to access other areas that are not created by your mind. The wand represents Divine wisdom.
One thing is for sure, the wand is a personal tool powerful enough to create change.
Symbol, Direction and Element
The wand’s direction is South and East. Just like the athame, it is a masculine tool.
According to Gerald Gardner, the wand symbolizes the element of Air. As a symbol of Air, the wand is aligned with communication, intellect, linear thinking, logic, and telepathy. There are also some traditions that believe it symbolizes Fire.
Using The Wand
The wand is a tool used to invoke spirits. In his Book of Shadows, Gerald Gardner says the wand is “used to summon certain spirits with whom it would not be meet to use the athame.” What he meant by certain spirits were the elemental spirits who are scared of iron and steel.
So use the wand for divination, to summon the rulers of the four directions, to invoke the deities, and to cast a circle.
The wand is also used to plant a hole in the soil before putting in the seeds during Spring Equinox. The seeds stood for the hopes, dreams, and desires of the people.
Materials
The wand can be made from any material like wood, metal or rock. But the most popular wands are made from Ash, Oak, and Willow. This is because wands made from the sacred woods are very powerful.
Most Wiccans also like to make their own wand. It is a very natural way of going about having and owning a wand. They would search for the most fitting branch in the woods and shape it down to wand-form. They would decorate their wands with etchings and set the tip of their wands with gemstones or crystals.
Some Wiccans are even content with just the chalice and the wand, one feminine and one masculine tool.
