Letters to Moonchild

July 9 1998 Merry meet Moonchild, Magickal tools come to you of their own accord, either you say a little spell to the Goddess to direct you to the appropriate pre-made item, ( this usually applies to the dagger or Athame and the Chalice, unless you happen to be a pop whiz at metalsmithing or glass-blowing, these tend to be objects you can't make yourself) or you go out hunting for the perfect stick to make into your wand, or a round flat stone to make into your pentacle. After you say the prayer, almost by accident you'll find exactly what you were looking for, sometimes in the strangest places (my current chalice I got at a garage sale that I felt directed to stop at on my way home from work) I'm still working on the webpage that has the intricate blow-by blow of construction and consecration, but good beginner elemental weapons consist of: a silver or fine glass chalice, a double-edged dagger preferably with a black handle, a circle of wood or stone (around four to eight inches in diameter with a pentacle (pentagram within a circle) painted or engraved on it, and a stick (hehe) the stick can be any wood, but I prefer oak, rowan, or ash, and can be any length, but I prefer 13 inches(oak staffs are wonderful, I have one, but it's kind of hard to stuff into a backpack for a quick drive into the woods for a sabbat and I hate having it hanging out the window of the car (I own a tiny little Nissan) and drawing pentacles with an eight foot staff over an amulet is a bit awkward. You can even use a piece of dowel found from a hobby shop if no suitable stick pops up. There are lots of ways to decorate these items, but I paint the Hebrew names of the Angels of the Four Quarters on mine in the appropriate color and I use a rather elaborate Qabalistic ritual to consecrate them. This is not strictly necessary, but for me this process helps "power them up" in my mind, better than other consecrations. There's also nothing wrong with buying pre-made items from an occult book shop, if you can find one, provided you clear them of negative or unwanted energy. My altar is set up in my room on a little dresser that I use soley for storing my magickal gear, it faces east and when I want to do a ritual I pull it out into the center of the room so I can make a circle around it. I don't do very many rituals in-doors though because I have four children and a husband intent on ruining my concentration, so most of the smaller rituals I do in the woods behind my house where there is a good flat rock that makes a wonderful altar, and the larger ones ( Litha, Samhain, Imbolc, Lammas, Yule, etc. ) a few miles away in the oak grove. Talk to you again later, Walk in the Light of Her Love, Firesilk

This page last modified 9/10/98