Everyday Care of Your ~M. Handcrafted Wood Wand or Athame

Welcome to my new blog where I will be posting information and other bits. Today I'd like to present what I think will be of use to those who have natural (unvarnished) wood wands and/or athames. Firstly, submersing your wand\athame in liquid of any sort is not recommended. Wood is porous by nature and will retain some moisture until evaporation occurs.This could also cause unintentional staining if colored liquid were used or a permanent oil mark if a large quantity were used. The secret to caring for your wand/athame is to treat it as a companion, friend or family. You wouldn't leave a friend unattended in the rain or blazing sun would you? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~--> Tips: *~*~*~*~*~*~-->1) Wands/athames that I've made come waxed with soy wax (unscented) as I wanted a natural and essentially neutral protection for them. A small quantity of soy or bee's wax on a clean soft cloth warmed by your hands is a great polish. Rubbing the wax on the tool every so often brings up the colors and maintains a nice touch. *~*~*~*~*~*~-->2) If your wand/athame has carvings or deep pyrography (wood burn)designs, a clean, soft brush such as a toothbrush works wonders to remove extra wax or dust from the deeper spaces. If you would like to apply a light touch of essential oil for 'purpose' a couple of drops applied first to a cotton ball and then gently rubbed over the length of you tool, followed by a wax application would work well. I'd say here that a light colored oil would be preferable. *~*~*~*~*~*~-->3) Your wand/athame comes with a clothe pouch for storage when not in use or for travel. This would lessen dust etc. Alternately you could wrap your tool in a favorite piece of fabric or find a special box, a singular wooden wine box is good for this. (Depending on size of tool) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~--> Tips: Removing excess/unwanted energy from a tool: *~*~*~*~*~*~--> 1) The simplest ways are passing it through incense smoke or over candle flame, taking care not to touch it to the physical heat source. *~*~*~*~*~*~-->2) Alternately, if you can be out of doors privately, laying it on a patch of clean grass under a pleasant sun or moon for a few minutes would ground the energy. If you are not able to take the instrument out of doors a window sill, safe from pets would work as well. *~*~*~*~*~*~-->3) Depending on your tradition, a sprinkling of plain salt, followed by a rest period of a few minutes then dusting the salt of would work. *~*~*~*~*~*~-->4) Simply raising the tool up and asking your deity to spiritually clear the object would help. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~--> Tips on attuning with your tool: Of course the more you work with your wand/athame the more in line it will become with you. Another way is where possible keeping in close proximity to you for a period of time. The best easiest way would be to put it under you pillow while you sleep. This works well with divinatory tools such as runes, pendulums, tarot cards as well. I hope that this will be of use to you, Bright blessings ~M. of TheSpellling Bee Original content by ~M. Watkins c. 2014