Opening at Imbolc )0(

Its the eve of Imbolc and the rebirth is taking place. On this strange cold and windy day I have been wrapped up outside chipping at, and sanding wands and athames. I managed to get the grade 2 sanding done on the majority of them so the hard work is done, now I get the fun of fine sanding. But oh it was so cold even with my many layers on. Here are the blanks I am working my way through. Next week these will be transformed and wearing their new magical clothing ;)

Chris has started chopping again which I am so pleased about because he stopped for so long. The athame blanks on the right are his. There are two hawthorn, one yew and two alder, my favourite wood. I have requests in for willow wands at the moment so all the pale wands in the middle are willow. Tonight I will string newly pyrographed pendulums and then rest as tomorrow I am going to open the Etsy shop and probably spend the next few days watching it, waiting :)))) The air is so heavy at the moment with expectations, I wonder if the new shop will work, will the rest of the world like my work, how do I get the word out about my craft? So everyone, Merry Imbolc to you all and in this time of rebirth and renewal lets look forward to a wonderful summer and thank the goddess for the gifts she gives us in whatever form they take )0(

Hecate's Key Pendulum

This is Hecate's Key Pendulum in yew. Yew is one of Hecate's five sacred trees and perhaps the most apt. Hecate is the crone aspect of the triple goddess although she encompasses all three phases. Hecate stands at the Triple crossroads and guards the gateway to the otherworld. Greek in origin her popularity for goddess worship is on the rise. The symbol on the pendulum is Hecate's symbol. Invoke Hecate for knowledge, wisdom, to speak to the ancestors and those on the other side of the veil, but respect her at all costs.

Morrigan's pendulum

This pendulum is created from Blackthorn which is one of Goddess Morrigan's sacred trees but perhaps the one that represents her the best. The tip is onyx, the triskele is pyrographed, this is the symbol that is the gateway to the other worlds   Then the beads in onyx, obsidian and carnelian are added to enhance the intent of the enquirer and  also magnify the energy of the piece. The pendulum is created in the colours of Morrigan, red and black and finally there is a raven charm at the end of the pendulum. Morrigan was said to gather at the edge of a battlefield and then would shape-shift into ravens which would go and retrieve the skulls and souls of the fallen warriors and transport them to the other world. Invoke her with respect.

Breath of Life Wand

Created this one this week. Finally my art work is beginning to flow. This is on Lilac Wood and is topped with a rough quartz point bound with white leather. The image is pyrographed and then painted. The spirals represent the breath flowing through the goddess with the spiral of life on her stomach and the cobweb of the weaver godddess for a face, and up to the tree of life. On the back of the wand is a little butterfly to represent air and transformation. Lilac wood is a lovely creamy dense wood that is quite heavy. It is sacred to Gemini, Mercury and is an Air Element. You can purchase this wand on Etsy

The Shamanic Wand

I'm quite fascinated at the moment with Shamanism and Shamanic practices. I wanted to create something that was primitive and yet unique so I used a negative style of pyrography to create this design on Hornbeam. The design holds representations of shamanic animals, wolf, Native American Thunder Bird, the arrow of power and on the other side the eye in the sun, the snake etc. I love this effect. The wand itself is spirited yet melancholy, like taking a walk on a grey day. This wand now has a new home )0(

A New Beginning

So, I finally made it onto Blogger after all this time learning my trade along with its successes and mistakes. I make pagan ritual tools which are wands, athames, staffs, pendulums and ritual cords and magical jewellry. I never ever end up with what I set out to create as I let the wood speak to me and often the end results are surprisingly lovely, along with the strange little disappointments. 

I craft in the NorthWest of England from my kitchen table. All the wood I use is found or fallen wood. I rarely, if ever, take from live trees unless the branch is damaged and needs to come off to save stress on the tree. I scour local parkland and woodland and it is good to me. The trees have become my friends, my confidants and my seasonal clock. I am more in tune with them than people I sometimes feel. 

My boyfriend started to teach me the trees on the rare days I could get out due to illness last year. He found me wood to craft and gradually as the year went on and my body began to strengthen a little more each day I began to forage in the woodlands myself.  Now, I find myself in a place where I don't think I am ever going to get any better but now I can bear it (most days), whereas once I could not so I have made the momentous decision to open up my craft work to the world. 

So enjoy what you see coming up. There are no rules and as much as I let the trees tell me what they want I like to sit and listen to the ancient gods and goddesses (and the new ones too) and craft with them in mind to keep their energies alive and strong in this world of fickle memory and forgetfulness.

Blessings from Moons Crafts )0(