Ritual Tools
Ritual tools are tools used by a witch for magickal or ritual workings. Depending upon the tradition and personal preference, you may use a lot of the tools listed below, or you may use very few. As with everything, it is a matter of personal choice and preference. Don’t think that you need to use any or all of these things.
In actuality, you are the most important tool. Don’t have an athame handy? Use the index and middle finger of your projective hand. No bowl to mix salt and water? Cup your receptive hand. No fire? Then use your mind and visualize a burning candle. As I said, the most important tool for magick and ritual is YOU.
The tools listed below are all physical things. The best tool is a tool you create yourself because it holds the energy you put into it during the creation process. But even if you’ve bought your tools (I have), you can still place your energy into them by engraving or etching your mark onto the tool. Remember to purify, cleanse, and then consecrate your tools prior to charging them.
Equally important are the non-physical tools that can be used. These are dance, music, and gesturing. The non-physical tools are excellent ways to raise power or to just connect with the God/dess/es.
Oh, if you have information about the ROD, SHIELD, and SPEAR, please send it to me. Also, let me know if your traditon (you don't need to identify it if you don't want to) uses a tool I don't have listed. Thanks.
Altar
Yes, this is obvious, but it can be anything from an elaborate construction to a milk crate, from a table in the dining room to a stump in the woods. It is a place used to center the ritual and/or workings. Many have a permanent altar set up to represent a permanent spiritual place, and to hold the ritual tools. The altar can be round or square, depending upon tradition. And traditions vary upon placement. As with everything, unless in a coven, do what works best for you.Ankh
An Egyptian hieroglyphic that is widely used as a symbol for life, love, and reincarnation. It is depicted as a cross with a looped top. Primarily used by those following an Egyptian pantheon.Asperger
A bundle of fresh herbs used during the purification of a circle and its participants. The bundle is placed into the consecrated (salt) water and then waved / shaken to sprinkle the water about. Don’t have one? Your fingers flicking the water will do just fine. Also known as an aspergillum.Athame
[Gender: Male; Element: Air and Fire] I don’t care how you pronounce it! I have seen it written with various pronunciations so my advice is to find one you like and use it. (I use "Ah-tha-may.") In most traditions, this knife is NEVER used for cutting or for any purpose outside of the circle. However, some kitchen witches do use their athame as a working tool. Also, some traditions use the athame as a weapon on the astral plane to be used in time of need.The athame is a cleansed and consecrated knife that is used to direct energy, to focus it for a purpose. Some traditions require it to be double-edged, others single edged. Some say it has to be sharp while others say it should be dull. A number of them insist that it have a black or dark handle, but a few say to use what you’re comfortable with. One theory as to why a double-edged blade is best is because power works both ways: light and dark, creation and destruction, harming and healing.
Balefire
This is a huge bonfire traditionally used only for the Fire Sabbats (Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh) in outdoor settings. However, some traditions use these fires at Beltane, Midsummer, Lughnasadh and Mabon, while other traditions would use them for Yule, Beltane and Litha. Some traditions call for the use of 9 sacred woods. You can find that information on the trees page in correspondences.Bell
[Gender: Female; Element: Air] Bells are used in ritual to signal the beginning and/or end of various parts of the ritual. They can also be used to invoke energy, to ward off evil spirits, to ring in the sunrise on a Sabbat, or to call forth the elements with a different bell (different tones) for each element.Besom
[Gender: Female; Element: Air, Water] Also known as a broom, the besom is used to cleanse the area of negativity prior to casting a circle; usually limited to use for indoors. Other magickal uses are to lay it across the top of a door for protection of the home, using a broom created of an ash staff (protection), birch twigs (cleansing) and a willow binding ( sacred to the Goddess).Boleen
[Moon Phase: New] A white handled knife used for cutting herbs, or scribing candles. The blade is usually curved and single edged to reflect it's working nature, similar to a sickle or a scythe. This is a physical working tool, unlike the athame which is a magickal working tool. In some tradition, the white handled boleen is used only for cutting herbs to retain the power within the herb, and another white handled knife, a kerfyn, is used to inscribe candles and talismans.Book of Shadows
Okay, I take it back. There is one tool that every witch needs, and this is it. A Book of Shadows (BOS) is a collection of magickal workings and rituals. Traditionally, it should be handwritten but now adays there seems to be a trend towards A Disc of Shadows (DOS); it is the computer age.What should be in this book? I can’t really tell you. Some sources tend to make it a journal of all spiritual and magickal efforts, similar to a daily journal. Others say it should be a personal collection of rituals, spells, ideas and thoughts about Wicca, and other things you find important such as runes, magickal symbols, and divination information. (You know, a Book of Reference.) It has also been known as a grimoire or a mirror book.
Many covens have a group BOS, and if you are a member you’ll copy all or a portion of that book. But you should also keep a separate one for work you do on a solitary basis. My personal opinion is that a BOS is a place where you’ll want to keep rituals you’ve created, invocations you’ve used, information about your personal deity(s), and a "recipe" section of successful spells noting how the spell was created. Your book can be loose paper in a three-ring binder or a hand-bound book of velum paper.
A BOS is a very personal tool, and you should never, under any circumstances, open or touch another witch’s BOS without their permission. (Actually, that applies to any tool, but most importantly to a BOS.) Some traditions require that the personal BOS be buried / burned with the body upon the death of the owner, while a coven BOS would be returned to the existing coven.
Though you can purchase a number of BOS’s, yours should remain private. And, should you ever intend to use your BOS as a basis for training another witch, always give credit for work copied from another. That way, credit will be given where credit is due.
Bowl
[Element: Water] Actually, there are usually two bowls on an altar, one for water and the other for (sea) salt. This are used during the purification and consecration of the circle and/or its participants. Refer to Asperger.Burin
An engraving tool with a wooden handle and a thin pointed rod or nail used to magickally scribe candles, etc.Candles
You’ll almost always find candles in ritual use regardless of the tradition. Candles are used to symbolize the God/dess/es, and used for magickal workings. Candles are extremely important in ritual use for the Imbolc Sabbat.Cauldron
[Gender: Female; Element: Water; Moon Phase: Dark; Sabbat: Samhain] Thanks to Shakespeare, many people have the image of a witch as a hag (or three) muttering around a boiling cauldron. Though of varying sizes, it usually is of a dark metal with three legs. It has a number of ritual uses:
· as a container in which magickal transformations can occur and
· filled with water and fresh flowers to represent renewal and rebirth
· containing fire to symbolize return of the Sun God at Yule
· filled with water and used for scrying at SamhainCenser
[Gender: Male; Element: Fire] Yes, the gender is male because it is used to contain the heat put out by the burning incense; the incense gender is female. The censer or brazier is used to burn incense. It can be an elaborate tool on chains to swing the smoke about, or a simple as a wooden stick incense holder. You can even use a bowl filled with salt or sand to absorb the heat from the smoldering charcoal and/or incense.Cingulum or Cord
A Witch's magickal cord, especially if worn as a belt or girdle. Some traditions use the cord to take a "measure" of the witch during first level initiations. They are also used in some traditions to bind the witch to the coven. I personally have no experience with cords, so if this information is not quite correct, please let me know.Dirk
A ritual knife of the Scottish tradition.Disk
[Gender: Female, Element: Earth] Usually a heat-resistant flat disc inscribed with the pentagram that may also have other inscriptions as well, such as those found in the Key of Solomon. In some traditions, it could be a plate. This tool is used for protection, to invoke entities, and as place to set amulets, charms, objects, or cakes upon.Divination Tools
Any tool used for divination purposes, such as a mirror, tarot cards, or runes. See the page on Divination included in this site. Not every tradition includes divination tools as normal ritual tools.Drum
Drums are being used more and more within a circle. They are used to set a beat for dance and/or song, which in turn is used to raise energy. Through rythm and pitch, a drum can help shape the intent and strength of the energy raised, and can help focus the mindform of a group.Essential Oil
Used to consecrate and anoint people and objects.Fetish
An object imbued with magickal power that has been consecrated to a particular deity. (See Image)Goblet
[Gender: Female; Element: Water; Moon Phase: Full; Sabbat: Litha and Yule] This tool is also known as a chalice or cup. I prefer not to use the term chalice because of it’s Christian imagery. This tool holds the ritual wine or juice, and symbolizes the Goddess.Image
Object which symbolizes the God/dess/es. I like corn dolls made at Lughnasadh or Mabon, but others use statues or candles (silver for the Goddess and gold for the God). Whatever is used, it should be appropriate for the deity it represents.Incense
[Gender: Male; Element: Air] Incense is a smoldering combinations of herbs and chemicals which release sent during the heat process. Incense is used to focus concentration, to create altered states of consciousness, and to purify an area.Libation Bowl
This tool is used to collect the ritually offered portion of food or drink for a Deity until the offering can be given back to the earth.Pentacle
[Gender: Female; Element: Earth] The pentacle differs from a pentagram in that it is a physical representation of the pentagram. (e.g. - when sealing the quarters, a pentagram is drawn in the air; while the altar disc is engraved with a pentacle.) It is not used or worn inverted! As shown on the Elements page of this website, the fire points of the pentacle represent the five elements: spirit, water, fire, earth, and air. Many times it is used for protective purposes or for banishings. Many Wiccans wear a pentacle as pendant. During home smudgings, pentacles are sometimes placed onto windows with clear nail polish. (Okay, there is an exception to the inverted pentagram rule, but its use is very limited within a specific traditon.)Priapic
A wand used in fertility rites and handfasting ceremonies. In general, it is about 21 inches long, with a phallus carved on the top 8-9 inches. An alternative carving is a pine cone.
RodScourge
[Gender: Male; Element: Earth; Sabbat: Lughnasadh and Mabon] If you use this, please provide me info. I believe it is used in Scottish or Saxon traditions.
A small device made from leather or hemp that looks like a multi-tipped whip. It is used in Gardnerian traditions as a coven tool of the Crone, representative of authority within the Coven. It is a symbolic weapon used to remove negativity from ritual space when casting a circle. With rare exception in some covens (for meditation and divination preparation), it is never used to strike anyone or anything. However, it is used in traditional Gardnerian initiations to symbolically scourge the initiate.
ShieldShillelagh
[Moon Phase: Waning; Sabbat: Lughnasadh and Mabon] If you use this, please provide me info. I believe it is used in Scottish or Saxon traditions.
[Gender: Male; Element: Fire; Moon Phase: Waxing; Sabbat: Beltane and Ostara] Magickal tool used mainly by Irish Celtic traditions that is similar to the staff in other traditions.
SpearStaff
[Sabbat: Beltane and Ostara] If you use this, please provide me info. I believe it is used in Scottish or Saxon traditions.
[Gender: Male; Element: Fire; Moon Phase: Waxing; Sabbat: Beltane and Ostara] A ritual tool used like a wand, or in some tradition in the place of an athame. If ivy or ribbons are entwined within / around the staff, and it is topped with a pine cone, it is then known as a Thyros.Stang
[Gender: Male; Element: Fire; Moon Phase: Waxing; Sabbat: Beltane and Ostara] Ritual tool, also known as a Venendum, that resembles a two-pronged trident. Used primarily with Roman pantheons.Sword
[Gender: Male; Element: Air; Sabbat: Imbolc] For ritual purposes, it is like an athame. Usually a sword is used in covens rather than in solitary work.Wand
[Gender: Male; Element: Air and Fire; Moon Phase: Waxing] The wand is used similarly to an athame. Unlike the athame, it is also a working tool and can be used to stir things in a cauldron, or trace symbols on the ground. As to it’s length, some traditions state is must be 21" in length while others measure the length from elbow to finger tips. Some say it must be absolutely straight while others allow for variations within the wood.
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