Challenge Entry
This is an interesting challenge for me – it’s definitely more of a “theoretical” challenge than a “practical” challenge (for lack of better words) because I don’t personally use a specific wand in my practice.
This is where the theoretical side comes in: I don’t use a wand in the sense of what most people imagine when they think of wands, but I do use various implements to direct energies.
In my personal opinion/unverified personal gnosis, a wand isn’t necessarily a specific item, as Francisco stated:
To me, a wand is anything that is used as a tool to direct energy. That being said, I use various items as wands based on my working: spoons and spatulas (and even pots and pans!) for my kitchen witchery, my pocket knife when working with green witchery, etc.
Most of the time, I use my hands, fingers, pocket knife, or athame as stand-ins for traditional wands to direct my energy and intentions.
As an extension of thinking about my personal interpretation of what a wand is/does, I also took time to reflect on why I don’t personally feel drawn to wands as most people view them. This was a very tough question for me to answer because, for me, wands are just one of those things that just never really resonated with me and I don’t have any particular reason. It’s just like how I have never been drawn to collect coffee tables the way my dad does: it just doesn’t spark a particular interest or inspiration in me.
The only plausible explanation for my lack of draw to wands that I could think of is that I personally tend to associate wands with high/ceremonial magick, which, although I don’t judge people who follow that path, I have absolutely zero interest in. I’m the kind of person who actively seeks to avoid the dogma of religion – of anything, really – so to me, anything that reminds me of established dogma instantly causes me to lose interest. I think it may be this aversion to dogma that leads me not to be too interested in the form of wands as they’re traditionally viewed.
On the flip side, my resistance to dogma encourages my open-mindedness because I also believe that resistance to dogma is a dogma in and of itself. I am planning on experimenting with the use of “traditional” wands moving forward, but I want to do so when I organically come across a wand that I feel drawn to.