wand

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (September 2008)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

An 82 cm long wand of iron with bronze details and a unique model of a house on the top. It was discovered in a Völva's grave in Köpingsvik, Öland. There is also a pitcher from Persia or Central Asia, and a West European bronze bowl. Dressed in a bear pelt, she had received a ship burial with both human and animal sacrifice. The finds are on display in the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm.

A wand is a thin, straight, hand-held stick of wood, stone, ivory, or metal. Generally, in modern language, wands are ceremonial and/or have associations with magic but there have been other uses, all stemming from the original meaning as a synonym of rod and virge, both of which had a similar development.

The Great Book of Saint Cyprian gives step-by-step instructions on how to make a magic wand.

Metrology

"The giant Galligantua and the wicked old magician transform the duke's daughter into a white hind." illustration by Arthur Rackham, depicting a magician with a wand

The wand is also a pre-Norman unit of length used in the British Isles equal to approximately the modern metre, apparently dating from an early use as a yardstick (originally as a generic term). The 'wand' survived for a time under the Normans. Then when the yard was established, the wand came to be known as the 'yard and the hand', and then disappeared, either slowly or by being banned by law.

The old English unit of 1007 millimetres was called a 'wand', and although the 'yard' was created to replace the wand, the wand was still used for some centuries because of its convenience as part of an old English decimal system that included:

• 1 digit (base of long finger) about 20 millimetres
• 10 digits = 1 small span (span of thumb and forefinger) 200 millimetres
• 10 small spans = 1 fathom (1 arm-stretch from finger tip to finger tip) about 2 metres
• 10 fathoms = 1 chain about 20 metres
• 10 chains = 1 furlong about 200 metres
• 10 furlongs = 1 thus-hund of about 2000 metres

The wand that has survived today as part of folklore may in fact be a rendition of the ancient British length unit. Thus a true wand would be a metre in length and not 30 cm.

Symbolism

In ecclesiastical and formal government ceremonial, special officials may carry a wand of office or staff of office representing their power. Compare in this context the function of the ceremonial mace, the sceptre, and the staff of office. This is a practice of long standing; in Ancient Egypt, priests were depicted with rods. Its age may be even greater, as Stone Age cave paintings show figures holding sticks, which may be symbolic representations of their power.^[1]

Religious usage

Ancient Egyptian wand. From the collection of the Brooklyn Museum.

In Pharaonic Egypt, toilette articles, weapons against possible enemies, amulets against serpents, were also left in the tomb, together with magic texts and a magic wand which enabled the ka (soul) to use them. The rod of Moses was a hazel wand (Genesis 30:37)^[2] as depicted in catacomb frescoes of the third and fourth centuries. In classical Greco-Roman mythology, the god Hermes/Mercury has a special wand called a caduceus.

Six to eight foot long staves with metal tips adorning them are carried traditionally in Freemasonry during rituals of the Craft. Ceremonial uses may have several wands for different purposes, such as the Fire Wand and the Lotus Wand in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In Zoroastrianism, there is a similar ritual implement called a barsom. In Wicca and Ceremonial magic, practitioners use several magical tools including wands for the channeling of energy—they serve a similar purpose to the athame although the two have their distinct uses. While an athame is generally used to command, a wand is seen as more gentle and is used to invite or encourage. Though traditionally made of wood, they can also consist of metal or crystal. Practitioners usually prune a branch from an Oak, Hazel, or other tree, or may even buy wood from a hardware store, and then carve it and add decorations to personalize it; however, one can also purchase ready-made wands. In Wicca the wand usually represents the element air, or sometimes fire, although contemporary wand makers also create wands for the elements of earth and water as well. The wand is most often used by modern Pagans, witches, Shamans and others in rituals, healing and spell casting.

There is some scholarly opinion that the magic wand may have its roots in the drumstick of a shaman, especially in Central Asia and Siberia, as when using it to bang on his drum or point, to perform religious, healing, and magical ceremonies. ^[3]

Tarot cards

"Wands" is also another name for the suit of Batons or Rods, a suit of the minor arcana of the Tarot. It is normally associated with the element of fire.

Other uses

• In music, the term sometimes applies to the modern model of conductor's baton (the earlier staff and baton cantoral being heavier and thus unfit for precise gestures).
• In literary language, "wand" can be a synonym for rod as an implement for corporal punishment, in the generic sense: either a multiple rod or a single branch (switch or cane), but not a specific physical type.
• Given their various symbolic and other associations, wands are suitable pervertibles, especially for role play.
• Based on their magical symbolism, stage magicians often use "magic wands" as part of their misdirection. These wands are traditionally black, with white tips.
• A lacrosse stick is colloquially referred to as a "wand."
• "To wand" is a colloquial verb that means to check something with a handheld metal detector, such as at the airport and high security buildings.^[4]
• Wooden wands of about 60" in length were popular exercise implements during the Victorian era, particularly in the U.S.A. and in Canada, being used to perform various flexibility and strengthening routines.

Modern popular culture

Circe with her magical wand, painting by John William Waterhouse

Magic wands commonly feature in works of fantasy fiction as spell-casting tools. Few other common denominators exist, so the capabilities of wands vary wildly. Note that wands fill basically the same role as wizards' staffs, though staffs generally convey a more 'serious' image; a fairy godmother would often use a wand, possibly with a star or some form of decoration on the end, while Gandalf would most likely not (however, in The Hobbit, he is seen using a wand to fight the goblins of the Misty Mountains and their Wargs). In dramatic fiction, wands can serve as weapons in magical duels. Wands are also common in the fictional fantasy world of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. A wand is also present in the Children of the Red King series in the possession of Charlie Bone.

The first magical wand featured in the Odyssey: that of Circe, who used it to transform Odysseus's men into animals. Italian fairy tales put them into the hands of the powerful fairies by the late Middle Ages.^[5] In the ballads such as Allison Gross and The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea, the villainesses use silver wands to transform their victims.^[6] In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the White Witch's most feared tool is her wand, whose magic (not necessarily by touch, as depicted in the film) is capable of turning people into stone.

References

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

v • d • e Wicca Key concepts Wiccan views of divinity (Triple Goddess · Horned God) · Witchcraft and Magic · History of Wicca · Witch-cult hypothesis · Wiccan morality (Wiccan Rede · Rule of Three) Wicca portal Notable Wiccans Margot Adler · Eleanor Bone · Gavin Bone · Raymond Buckland · Jack L. Bracelin · Dorothy Clutterbuck · Scott Cunningham · Patricia Crowther · Dafo · Janet Farrar · Stewart Farrar · Gerald Gardner · Ipsita Roy Chakraverti · Raven Grimassi · Philip Heselton · Aidan Kelly · Frederic Lamond · Adriana Porter · Alex Sanders · Maxine Sanders · Doreen Valiente Denominations British Traditional Wicca: Alexandrian Wicca · Algard Wicca · Blue Star Wicca · Central Valley Wicca · Gardnerian Wicca · Other: Celtic Wicca · Christian Wicca · Dianic Wicca · Georgian Wicca · Seax-Wica · Odyssean Wicca · Universal Eclectic Wicca · Faery Wicca · Traditional Initiatory Witchcraft: 1734 Tradition · Cochrane's Craft · Coven of Atho Rites and Rituals Esbat · Great Rite · Drawing down the Moon · Fivefold kiss · Wheel of the Year · Wiccaning Paraphernalia Book of Shadows · Altar · Magical tools in Wicca (Athame · Pentacle) Other Pentagram · Coven · Craft name · Summoner · Watchtower · Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches · Witchcraft Today · The Meaning of Witchcraft · What Witches Do · Charge of the Goddess · Eko Eko Azarak · New Forest coven · Bricket Wood coven · Wiccan Laws · Homosexuality and Wicca · Museum of Witchcraft · Witchcraft Research Association · Skyclad · Dettmer v. Landon · Coven of the Far Flung Net · Fluffy bunny Related Contemporary Witchcraft · Paganism · Neopaganism · Stregheria · Thelema · Hedge Witchcraft · Robert Cochrane · Cecil Williamson · Charles Cardell · Raymond Howard · Sybil Leek · Rosaleen Norton · Aleister Crowley · Margaret Murray · Ronald Hutton · Leo Ruickbie