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Okay, you've
finally bought that gorgeous talisman or gem-encrusted athame that you've
been drooling over for weeks. But will it work for you magickally? How
do you purify it so that it is fit to be in circle with you and the Gods?
And how do you make it ZING with power? How To Choose, Empower and ConsecrateYour Magickal ToolsChoosing A Tool
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Every magickal tool exists on several different levels. When choosing a tool, first consider: Earth: (Material)How much does it cost (in effort, money or materials)? Can you afford that? If it is above your price range, can you 1) save for it 2) afford to splurge and look at it as a way to build prosperity consciousness? Or will you resent the food that the item is taking out of your mouth? If the later, you've already started off on a bad level, and you may wish to reconsider. Wise magickal practice holds that you should never bargain for your magickal items. The seller may resent taking a lesser price, and those "bad vibes" will travel with the item and your emotions regarding it. It is acceptable to ask "are you sure that's the right price?" but if the seller is firm, leave it at that. If you really like it, you can check back every once in a while, and who knows, maybe it'll go on sale. What is it made of? Are the materials in alignment with your magickal purpose? Silver might be desired for a item conveying psychic power while gold or brass would connect with masculine energy. Oak would give the item the powers of endurance and strength, while rose quartz stirs the heart chakra and brings emotional healing. Some materials are better not being used for magick. Plastics are connected to Uranus and bring chaos energy, so a plastic item may act in unpredictable ways. Pewter does not hold magickal energy well. Glass is a good insulator but is also not strong at holding energy. It is aligned with the Water element, however, and can work for a chalice, but may require frequent recharging - or if there are attached gems, etc you can focus the magick on them. Is the item practical? Could it be easily broken in normal use? If so, can you afford the money and magickal effort to replace/repair it? If your rituals include wild dancing you might be better off with a drinking horn or metal flagon than a dainty bit of crystal. Water: (Emotional)Does the object sing to you? Does it stir your imagination? Is it beautiful to you? Does it feel magickal? The more easily you emotionally attach to an item, the easier it will be to drum up the excitement and magickal oomph to empower it. Air: (Symbolic)Take a moment to consider the symbolism of the object. First, are there any sigils or glyphs on the item? If so, it's wise to decipher them before you use the item. Otherwise who knows what you might be empowering? For example, the maker might have incorporated an "X" symbol in the design. Wow, great! If you check the Runes, you'll find that Gifu can symbolize union with the Divine. How about other decorative elements? A grape vine motif might be perfect for an item sacred to the Bacchus, but not good on a necklace used to stave off addiction. Even flaws can be turned to magickal purpose. In Orisha traditions, cracked and chipped pottery is used to give offerings to the ancestors, symbolizing that they are no longer whole on the material plane. A coven sister of mine didn't have time to hem her new robes for a ritual, and then decided to leave them unhemmed, visualizing the unfinished portion as extending into the Earth. What is the object's shape? Soft, rounded items have a nurturing, feminine quality. Straight lines are more active/yang/masculine. A triangular item might symbolize the water element if pointing downward or the fire element if pointing up, as those are magickal sigils for those elements. Straight square lines would give the object order and stability, while flowing asymmetry would align to nature and the Earth. The former object might work for a ceremonial mage, while a kitchen witch could favor the second. Your mental focus on the item is also important. Can you imagine yourself using it? Can you visualize this as an object of power? Does it make "sense" to you? A friend of mine has a Leggo altar. For me, I can't take the darned thing seriously, and could never work with it. Beyond that it's plastic - and I'm a bit too High-Episcopagan to want that kind of disorder in my life, I would feel too much like a little kid playing make-believe, and I wouldn't be able to convince myself that magick worked upon it would be real. If I could stop chuckling long enough to work magick on it, that is. But for my friend, the same elements that stop me from using it, work to enhance his experience. For him it engenders a sense of fun, of play, and allows his Child-Self to come out and join the game. Fire: (Action)How will you use it? A huge claymore is great for outdoor rituals, but impractical for a crowded living room. And even more impractical if you have small children crawling about the floor near it. And can you even lift the thing? Maybe an Athame or at the least, a smaller sword is needed. If the object is not new, how was it used in the past? An object that's been a spoon in it's previous life, will have a hard time believing that it is now an Athame, even if you've filed it down and made it sharp and pointy. What does it DO? Hopefully, you've been considering this all along, but take a moment to re-affirm that in your mind. How will this object cause change and transformation in your life or the life of others? Is its purpose to "bring in wealth?" To "enhance physical vitality?" If until now you've been just seeing it as a pretty necklace that you'd love to wear in ritual, take a moment and think about how you can use the properties inherent in the object to create change. Maybe those boji stone earrings can balance your personal power? Or that fluorite may enhance your power of memorization and crystallize your thinking. Spirit: (Unity and Cohesion)Bringing together its physical makeup, your emotional ties to it and your purpose, the symbolism you've worked out for it and the way in which you will use it and the purpose for which it is geared does it still suit your magickal purpose? As an optional step, give the item a name. Naming something helps to crystallize what it does and gives it a spark of awareness as well as a trigger point in your consciousness. Which has more power and cohesion, "my flame-shaped earrings, dedicated to Freyja, and charged to enhance passion" or "Freyja's Spark"? Lastly, how do you give it that magickal oopmh!? How do you imbue it with Divine Spark? We'll make a brief pitstop at Purification and then head over to Consecration. |
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