![]() Once you've got your wood shaped and sanded, you have a couple of options. Use a piece of light-grained sandpaper, or steel wool, to sand the wood down until it is smooth. Some types of wood, such as pine, are easy enough to strip the bark off by hand if you choose. With some varieties of wood, you may want to soak the staff so that the bark is wet, making it easier to strip off. This will also help you to shape the staff, if there are small irregularities on it, or to remove excess bits of branches. To remove the bark from your stick, you can use a knife (not your athame, but a regular knife) to strip the bark. In some magical systems, it is believed that a tree limb felled by a storm is imbued with a great deal of magical power. There's no hard and fast rule, however, that you have to use a certain type of wood-many people make a staff out of the stick that "felt right" to them. Another person might choose to use Ash instead, as it is strongly tied to magical workings and prophecy. For example, if you wished to have a staff connected to power and strength, you might select oak. Some people choose a specific type of wood based upon its magical properties. Whatever you're using it for, you can call your staff anything you like. In other traditions, particularly those with which Doreen Valiente was involved, the long, forked stick is called a bune wand, and is described as a branch that witches historically used to fly. Kelden from Patheos says that although the word itself is fairly new, it's a derivative of the old English distaff. In some magical traditions, rather than a straight stick, a forked one is used to create a staff called a stang. ![]() A one- to two-inch diameter is best for most people, but again, hold it and see how it feels. When it comes to diameter, you should be able to comfortably wrap your fingers around it. Hold the stick to see how it feels in your hand-if it's too long, you can always trim it down. Your best bet is to find one that is between shoulder height and the top of your head. Ideally, you'll want to find a piece of wood that has already fallen from a tree-do NOT cut a piece of wood from a live tree just because you think it would make a nice staff.Ī magical staff is typically long enough that you can hold it comfortably in your hand, vertically, and have it touch the ground. If you get a chance to go on a hike, while you're out there roaming around you should take the opportunity to look for a good piece of wood for a magical staff.
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