City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells and Shamanism - Christopher Penczak 2001
Ritual Tools
Urban Magick
The last items, and possibly the most important on the altar, are your ritual tools. The type of rituals you do decides what tools you will need. Standard tools include a wand, for directing energy. Wands are usually made out of a wood sacred to you, harvested from a special place with the permission of the nature and tree spirits. A wand perfect for your environment could be “harvested” at your local hardware store. Go to the plumbing section and get yourself a copper pipe. Copper tubing makes a very nice wand. Copper conducts energy. Mechanically inclined individuals may use a screwdriver or wrench to direct energy.
Traditionally, wands are the length from the tip of your middle finger to your elbow, but use whatever length is comfortable for you. You can cap it with a crystal or cork, fill it with herbs, small crystals, or other stones. You can keep and charge small vials of oil in the wand. Make sure you don’t glue in one of the ends so you can take them out if you need to access them. Wrap the wand in cloth or suede for a firm grip. Retractable TV and radio antenna, broken off from their mountings, or business presentation pointers are convenient wands too, since they are very portable. Wands are often used to set boundaries, marking off the ritual space to contain the energy raised, creating a magick circle.
Another ritual tools is a blade, which can also be used for directing energy and casting a circle. The blade cuts energy, and can be used to break bindings. Like the wand, it represents the masculine force. In witchcraft, the blade is used with the chalice to unite the masculine and feminine divine energies through the Great Rite. The blade may also carve candles and harvest plants. Some reserve a special blade for material-world cutting, and another for spiritual-world cutting. Use a special knife, or even a letter opener, for your ritual tool.
If you are burning anything in your rituals, be sure to have a flameproof container. I use a cauldron to burn offerings and intentions I’ve written down on paper. Mythologically, the cauldron has been used to represent all four of the elements. I see it as the element of spirit, like the womb and the grave, reaching beyond our realm. I use it in the center of the altar, uniting all the powers I’ve called.
Other tools depend on personal tastes. Common ones include a shield or peyton, a ritual pentacle used for invoking the four elements and spirit, and incense burners and devices for scrying, like crystals, mirrors, and bowls of water. Some crystals are used with healings and intentions. A good supply of magical herbs is needed for some spells, but you can find many in your kitchen spice rack. They are used in homemade potions and remedies. Protection items adorn an altar to protect from harmful energies. Mixtures made with iron powder and salt are used, since these two substances attract and neutralize harmful energy. Iron powder can be hard to get, so fill a bowl with sea salt and iron nails. Consecrate it through a ritual for protection and keep it on your altar. You can add to it other protection items, like sage, or frankincense and myrrh. Drums, rattles, and bells can induce a meditative state, but many modern shamans turn to the mystical tool of the walkman and drum machine to provide their trance music. The tools are as varied as the practitioners. Those you make or discover yourself are always more powerful than someone else’s. Work with the common tools you find around you, discovering their magical correspondence.