Druid Crafting

I have not posted in some time. I've been hard at work at my second master's degree which has finally concluded! 

While I have not been giving this blog the attention that it deserves, I have been busy investigating new aspects of Druidism. The first aspect is more spiritually based: the crafting of magical items. For me, these items represent my intentions for their use and do not contain any literal magic. They remind me of my goals and aspirations as I work with them and self-reflect. The second aspect is more scientific: herbalism. 

Wands

As I continue my daily walks through my neighborhood, watching the leaves change as we enter fall, I have been collecting gifts left by the trees. I also have been picking up suitable branches cut by neighbors as they leave the remains gardening work by the curb for collection. Sometimes I am able to sit or stand with a tree and personally thank it for its gift, but often times I find wood scraps set off on the curb from trees on private property.  In any case, I figure these trees would not mind their limbs being used for honorable purposes.

When crafting the wand, I try to leave as much of the natural shape of the wood that I can. That is the way the tree grew them, who am I to question that?

First, I use my pocket knife to shave off the bark and whittle away any nubs that may interact with the flow of my energy. Next, I hand sand each branch down with progressive sand papers to 1500 grit, which leaves them looking like wooden glass. Then, each wand gets an oil bath and a polish. Finally, they are hand wrapped. While at this point the wand is finished being made, I still do not consider these wands complete. 

In order for the wand to truly be considered complete, they need an intention set. With my personal wand, I set my intentions for it in a ritual that I conducted with my good friend who set their intentions for their wand (which was also crafted by me). 

 

The wands in the picture here are "blanks". They are wands that I've finished the process of creating, but have not built a personal relationship with. I hope to continue creating these wands and give them out to friends.

Moon Water

Moon water is another spiritual item that I crafted. A friend joined me for a moon ritual on the harvest moon (which also happens to be Mid-Autumn/Moon Festival in my spouse's culture). All around a good evening.  

We followed a modified version of the Full Moon Ritual contained in The Druids Book of Ceremonies, Prayers & Songs. The modifications were designed to align more closely to my own religious beliefs (or lack thereof). One of the reasons that I was so drawn to this particular ritual was that very little of it needed to be changed to accommodate my beliefs and what is there is as accessible to me as a non-religious practitioner as it was to my friend who is a more traditional Pagan. 

Herbalism

I have only just started to scratch the surface of this topic. Herbalism has always been intriguing to me and having lived in China and Taiwan for many years, its quite interesting to see the juxtaposition between Eastern and Western approaches to medicine. China is, of course, quite famous for its "TCM" (Traditional Chinese Medicine) which is essentially formalized herbalism. 

This book is the first book on my Earth Path Studies list. While I have not had too much time to go through it in depth, I did find a recipe for a tincture of lemon balm, which I have growing in the garden. Quite interestingly, while it is already early November, my lemon balm started shooting up fresh stalks. I made enough for a mason jar worth and I'll have to see how it turns out in the next few weeks. 

As always, thank you again for being a part of my journey. 

Kyle 

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