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Pagan Tools
In some traditions, there is a great deal of emphasis placed on tools. Personally I feel that the only tool you really need is your own mind; everything else is secondary! You can do a ritual in the middle of the woods with no other tools than things you find on the ground, or you can do a carefully choreographed ritual with all the proper tools, and the outcome may be no different. Remember too that the price you pay for your tools does not affect their performance! I have an athame that I spent $75 for, because I absolutely fell in love with it, and I have a chalice made of copper that I picked up for a few dollars at a secondhand shop.. They both serve me equally well.
- Altar
- The focal point of any Pagan ritual. An altar can be as simple as a flat rock or a clear space on the ground, or as elaborate as an antique tea-cart. My indoor altar is a video tape cabinet with locking doors that stands in a corner or my dining room.
- Athame
- Simply, an athame is a knife. Traditionally it is a double-bladed, black-handled knife which is only used for magick ritual, but that is by no means a must! I know witches who are perfectly happy using a Swiss army knife, a carving knife picked up at the local cookery shop, or even a sword! The athame is a masculine tool, and represents the element of fire. It is used to help cast your magic circle and to direct the energy you have raised.
- Bolline
- A bolline is also a knife. This one, however, is generally a white-handled knife, used for tasks not specifically related to ritual. This might be cutting herbs for medicines, for example. It is not necessary to have both, and for many witches, one knife serves both purposes.
- Broom
- Well, no, we rarely ride to Sabbats on brooms these days; my Honda Civic is much more comfortable! Many witches keep a broom, also called a besom, next to their altars. Brooms are used as purifiers and are associated with Water. Sweep your ritual area with your broom before beginning your ritual, then lay it across the threshhold to protect you. And of course no handfasting would be complete without the happy couple jumping over the broom for good luck!
- Candles
- Candles are an integral part of any witch's ritual, and indeed often of their daily lives! We use candles in ritual to represent the Goddess and God and the four elements, to represent the purpose of the ritual, and just to give light! Candles are often used in simple spells or to set the mood for a larger working. They are used to aid in meditation, and to give a wonderful ambiance to anything the witch chooses to do.
- Censer
- An incense burner. You can buy a fancy expensive one, or you can use a plain bowl filled with sand or salt. This will absorb the heat from the burning incense and keep it from setting anything else on fire.
- Chalice
- Again simply speaking, a chalice is a cup. It is a feminine tool and represents the Goddess and the element of water. Use a clean drinking glass, a curved leaf, or a special dish you found at the second-hand shop.
- Incense
- Incense, appropriately enough, represents air. Many specialty shops sell fantastically expensive imported or hand-made incense. You can also use the kind you buy at Walgreen's, or learn to make your own (Scott Cunningham's books give some wonderful recipes). The origin of the incense is less important than the associations the scent has for you.
- Pentacle
- This is a flat, circular piece of wood, stone, or metal, on which a pentagram has been drawn or inscribed. It represents the element of Earth. It is used as protection, and to place objects on which are to be ritually consecrated. As with all your tools, it doesn't have to be something fancy! Use a large stone out of your garden, or saw the end off a log. Pentacle and pentagram are used in slightly different ways; a pentacle generally is three-dimensional.
- Wand
- One of the Witch's most important working tools. Wands are used to invoke the Goddess and God, draw the magic circle, direct energy, draw magic symbols...It represents the element of air. Stores sell beautiful wands fashioned of silver and studded with crystals, but they are not any better than one you make yourself, fashioned from a branch willingly given by a friendly tree...
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