A friend texted me a picture of her recent purchase. It was a really impressive magic wand, made of crystal, wrapped in copper with a piece of malachite, with feathers on one end and the crystal point on the other.

She confessed that she had spent an astronomical amount of money on this acquisition at her local new age shop after lusting after it on the shop’s shelf for more than a year.

She knew it was for her, and she knew she had to take it home, no matter the price.

The problem was, once she got it home, she had not a single idea what to use it for, or what to do with it.

I was introduced to magic wands when I first discovered the New Age. In the 1980s I mined crystals in Arkansas and fashioned some of them into wands. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time.

A crystal shop keeper wanted to buy some of my crystals but not any of my wands. He shared with me the same concern that my friend, the new crystal wand owner, seems to have.

“No one can tell me what a wand with a crystal, or made of a crystal, actually does,” he said to me. “Does the wand amplify the crystal, or direct the energy of the crystal? People are making beautiful wands, but we have no idea what to do with them.”

Back then we didn’t have all the wisdom in the world at our fingertips and in our pockets.

Most of us associate magic wands with Disney, or with Harry Potter, or Hitachi. A simple Google search brought up some amazing resources for the history of magic wands, as well as their uses.

As a tarot person, I associate magic wands with the suit of Wands in the Minor Arcana of tarot. In tarot, the suit of Wands is most often associated with the element of Fire. You can also find a few decks that associate Wands with the element of Air instead.

In elemental magic and Wiccan circles, the wand is used as a tool to summon and banish either the element of Air or Fire at the beginning and end of ceremony.

Crystal wands may be made of all crystal with metal, stone, or feathers attached, as is my friend’s. They may simply be a piece of crystal or stone, either intentional fashioned or naturally occurring. I have a natural selenite wand which I absolutely love. Some crystal wands have a crystal point affixed to a metal or wooden rod.

Magic wands do not always incorporate crystals or stones. Some are fashioned of wood or metal. I have a natural wood wand which was given to me by a friend. It still has its bark; the rough ends have been sanded down.

I once had a teacher tell me that, in the absence of a wand, you can use the index finger of your right hand to summon, focus and direct energy.

Wands like the one my friend has purchased may include intentionally selected wood, stones, and metals that can be used for specific purposes. For example, the malachite on her wand  makes it very good for working with the heart chakra. If one were making a wand for a specific purpose, one might carefully choose the type of wood, stone, metals and feathers. Yet, I think it is fair to say that, with proper intention, one could use any wand for any number of purposes. I even know serious young magicians who have purchased Harry Potter wands and consecrated them for magical uses.

Whether handmade, found in nature, or purchased, I have found many uses for wands in my own practice. The beautiful object d’art that my friend just had to have should be more than an expensive tchotchke on her coffee table.

Here are some ways I commonly use wands as a magical tool. There are countless others which you can find in books and on the internet.

First, as mentioned earlier, I use wands to summon the element of Fire or Air. Typically, I use my wood wand for Fire and my selenite wand for Air. I do this when creating a formal circle for healing or meditation. I also do it if I need a quick burst of energy, inspiration or clarity.

For example, if I need to have a difficult conversation, I may take my selenite wand and point it to my throat chakra and breathe with it for a moment, focusing on bringing energy to clear and activate my throat for positive and effective communication.

If I need to shake off feeling tired or drained, I might take my wood wand and point it at my solar plexus, breathing with it to ‘turn up the fire’ in my internal furnace.

We can use wands to clear and activate all the chakras. Sometimes when doing chakra healing, I feel inclined to move the wand over each chakra in a tight circle as a way of clearly, healing and activating. To me it feels as though I am stirring up the energy.

I also use wands as part of energetic cleansing and blessing. I will wave a wand, with focus and intention, over a new tarot deck as part of the dedication process. I will walk with a wand through my home, tracing the windows, doors, and walls, with a focus on cleansing and blessing.

When I work with a wand, I first ground myself to the earth and consciously raise my own energy. Then I send that energy down my arm and into the wand. I feel that the wand amplifies and focuses the energy I have raised. I can place a specific intention into that energy and use the wand to send the energy to its destiny.

When I first acquire a wand, I do a simple ceremony to bless it and consecrate it for my use. This usually includes anointing it with oil and speaking a dedication.

When I hold a wand, very often I feel like it is guiding me in how I should use it.

If this all sounds like a bunch of New Age mumbo-jumbo, well, maybe it is. Yet, consider that the use of magic wands predates the birth of Christ, and is evidenced in many early magical cultures around the world.