Happy New Year! W00t!

So, I have been in the market for a wand for a while. I never really had an interest in them except for a couple years ago when I saw some fantastic crystal tipped, wire wrapped wands and thus I have an on and off desire to look for them. Since I don’t really know of any wand makers in Baltimore or Maryland and the ones I see in the metaphysical shops looks lame to me, onward to Etsy I go! It seems to have everything I want in one place, I would not trust Ebay at all and google searches are headache inducing.It’s best that the wand is handmade, anything manufactured would not really feel the same in usage since it wouldn’t really mean much. Besides, the average wand is made of wood, to have them mass produced just doesn’t seem right since wands are supposed to be as different as the people buying or picking them.

First thing I noticed when I searched for wands on Etsy is the “Harry Potter ZOMGZ” overload and by the 25th page, it was kinda getting a little freakin annoying. I like Harry Potter, the books were very well written and the wands in the movie were fantastic but, please, not everyone is buying a wand for a prop. Some of the wands in the book cannot be recreated so simply (like phoenix or unicorn cored wands) and for the love of the gods, we get it, it’s supposed to be all mystical and magical, calm down. The descriptions for wands should not be corny or misleading. I already noticed a couple that said they had powerful spells in the handle of the wand and were used in spell duels. Immediately, I closed the tab, they’re clearly shooting for the teenage Pottermore crowd, even though some of the price tags clearly don’t agree. Now this doesn’t mean that one should totally pass up the HP inspired wands or any other inspired wands. I have seen some with R2-D2 and Sailor Moon wands, they’re great for younger practitioners or the young at heart. Inspired is fine but it’s important that the seller doesn’t mistakenly insult their potential buyer with leaning too heavy on the books because it’ll make that wand look like a cosplay prop very fast.

When it comes to looking up wands, the person who made it should be able to tell you everything about the wand. What is it made of (wood, wire, stone), how long is it (8”, 23”) and any other important details (crystal tipped, cored, creation of handle) that is a must-know. I have seen a couple nice wands but the person didn’t include what kind of wood or stone and that put me off because I want to be sure I’m getting what I’m buying. The only downside to buying wands online is that you can’t hold them and get a feel for them. I’m mega picky with wands and various other Pagan products to the point that even if I like the look – and trust, there’s plenty that look stunning – but if I don’t like the energy it gives, I won’t want it. I’m not buying a wand simply because it’s pretty but also for witchy practice. You pretty much gotta stare at pictures and try to sense what would be best for you. There is one maker that does give out free wood samples though to see how it would resonate with you (it’s the last picture on the bottom) and I think that’s great.

As far as price is concerned, that’s up to the practitioners. All a wand is, is simply a stick with possibly some embellishments on them. I’ve seen wands that are in the range of $5-$10, I’ve seen wands that are straight in the hundreds. I want a wand that won’t break the bank and I’ll not regret once getting it. Last I want to do is go after opening the box and lamenting, “I just paid $80 for a branch. A branch off a tree. A dang stick. Which grows for free. I spent more on a stick that grows for free than I do my electric bill.” That wand has to be something interesting and worth the price. The wand I was hunting for was $25, not a bad price for what the wand is made of and the fact I’ve been searching it for nearly half a decade.

The average wand should be the size of your forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Now, unless someone is going to go for a custom made or limits themselves to wands that are that size, that isn’t always applied here. I have seen wands being sold that are about 8” and I have seen wands in person that were about 5” tall. It really varies for the practitioner. I would like a wand that is preferably reaching a foot. Apparently, in my wand search, there are several that say they come with certificates of authenticity. I can see how they are supposed to reassure the purchaser but the thing is they’re not backed by some council of wand makers or anything. It is assumed that the wand you’re depicting is yours (I know there are some wayward folks on Etsy but follow me) so to me the certificates seem pointless a little bit.

What I think are really cool are the cored wands. Wands with actual cores such as this one which is an ironwood with horse hair in the core. There’s also another that can be cored with bone or a particular wood. Part of this is indeed because I am a Harry Potter fan, ha! Another is because a cored wand could lend more to ritual working and spell working. I just think it’s amazing but it’s no promise and definitely no must that the wand I get will be cored, the one I have been searching for wasn’t and that didn’t bother me.

Looking at the wands, it’s clear that they come in such different types and styles. Not all wands are made of wood, there are plenty that have a glass or bone base or totally made of wrapped wire. Some are really whimsical looking such as this cute copper wand, and some that have some polymer clay on them. I would not prefer a wand made of polymer clay or resin because they’re not entirely natural but it is great for those who may prefer them. There’s even lavender wands, which I think look great! For the wooden wands, not all are simple, slender sticks. Some are forked, clearly modified driftwood, things of that nature. That’s pretty good for those who want the roughness of nature that a straight wand could not provide. Some have defined handles and others don’t. It may be expressed through leather wrapping or carved out. It doesn’t matter to me either way if it has a super defined handle or not but I still thought this was pretty nifty. I just love how diverse the wands are. Here’s a wand that has little skulls carved in it! And another that has a claw holding an amethyst. Like I said, there’s wands for just about every practitioner, you just have to look for them.

For me, I did finally find the wand I was looking for and it turned out to be the wands I saw all those years ago. After looking at over 105 pages of Etsy finds under the word “Wands” and 32 possible wand choices, I finally found wand I was looking for. It’s pretty tapered, just how I like them, and no definitive handle but a lovely copper wire-wrapped point with crystals at the tip set on red oak or ironwood. A lil’ bit of sleuthin has brought me to this site, Magic Wands of Wizardry. Check them out! They made the wands I fell for all those years ago. These wands are fantastic in person and it took me years to find so don’t be surprised if it winds up on the “Links of Interests”. It’s definitely getting featured in this month’s The Arts! without a doubt!

I hope this helped you out, it was quite a task for me to simply sit down and search. And for once, it actually got me the wand I actually wanted and have been looking for for years, a lovely ironwood  with a copper wrapped tip that holds a moss agate and clear quartz.