Although you can buy wands from New Age shops made from wood and crystals, with various magical traits already incorporated into them, making your own is a very personal magical experience that will make your workings much more powerful.

There is no “Best” wood from which to construct your wand, you may have to try several before you find the one that feels just right to you. A good way to test this is to take a small twig of wood in question and point it at your palm, with the tip about an inch away make sweeping motions first north and south, then east and west. When you find your right wood, you will feel a tingling or tickling sensation as it passes the energy organ that resides in the center of your palm. Willow, Ash, and Hickory are preferred by many, sturdy yet pliable. Then again, any fruit or nut bearing trees, will make excellent candidates as well, as they make their way in the world by giving of their energy freely, without resentment or attachment.

Harvesting the wood for your wand is mainly a matter of announcing to the tree your intentions by casting a magical circle around it, and then tapping on the branch three times firmly so that it may vacate said branch, then cut cleanly and quickly as possible. It is traditional to give the tree some of your own vital energy in exchange for the wood, this is done by pricking the tip of a finger from your strongest hand, right if you are right handed, and rubbing it into the severed end of the branch. When choosing a branch, the handle end should be about the same size around as your middle finger, and the finished length should be no longer than the distance from the tip of your middle finger to the elbow. I prefer to have a knot in the handle of my wands, they help to gather energy from the hand.

After harvesting, the wand wood needs to dry out for at least one lunar cycle. DO NOT let the wood touch the ground during this time, this will help to preserve the tree’s energy in the wood as it cures.

As the wand is a conductor of magical energy, if you wish to remove the bark, it needs to be peeled off, not shaved, but NEVER remove the bark from the handle portion of the wand. The bark, or skin contains some of the most conductive tissue of the tree, and so it needs to be in contact with your hand. The center of your palms are the most sensitive spots on your body to magical energy, for transmitting or receiving, this is why and how wands and staffs work.

Bottom stones are optional, I do recommend them because of their energy absorption properties. If you choose to add one, I find that darker stones are the best. My favorites are bloodstone, black obsidian, dark brown or black onyx, or even brown jaspers. Bottom stones are best if smooth and rounded. Although wands are primarily used to transmit energy from you, occasionally they are used to receive or summon energy, in this case a grounding stone is especially functional.

I like my top stones to be faceted, either natural (like crystals) or hand cut or chipped gemstones, but many others like smooth, polished (tumbled) stones. For myself, I have found that the facuted stones seem to focus the energy better.

Stones, top or bottom, can be attached in many different ways, I don’t recommend glue. I prefer to tie mine on with gold, silver, or copper wire. I form a cage to incase the stone then attach it to the wand with tight coils that hold them by dynamic tension alone. Some prefer to use fabric, string, leather, or thread.

Keep in mind at all times when you are crafting your wand, the positive magic and rituals for which it will be used. As you work on it, feel the energies of the wood and stones mingling with your own power that you are pouring into it and it will serve you well for many years. You will find that your hand crafted wand is more personal and more powerful for your own use than anything money could have bought.