I’m not sure if this photo is just AI generated - as most stuff is these days - or whether it’s an actual table, but as soon as I saw it, I wanted it!
It got me thinking about when we start out on this path, and we are bombarded by online resources, books and the “advice” of others about how we should practice and what we need to do so.
We are often told - or at least we have an expectation - that we need all manner of intricate, and often expensive tools and equipment in order for us to “fit in” with our magickal peers.
We think we need the most ornate athame we can find, or the most expensive cauldron, millions of expensive crystals, or a whole library full of antique spell books.
But in reality all we really need to practise magick is ourselves!
You see the tools are merely that - tools. Without the intention behind them, they are as useful as a lump of metal or stone, just sitting there doing nothing.
I use the analogy of a knife. Those who know me well and have listened to any of my talks will be familiar with this analogy, but it still rings true.
A knife is merely a tool. It’s a neutral object. Neither good nor bad.
If you place a knife on a table and look at it, it’s just a knife. It’s a piece of sharpened metal, with a handle to hold it.
Now we can have have lots of different types of knives. We can have ornate antique blades, a kitchen knife, a butter knife, an intricately decorated samurai sword... It doesn’t matter; either way, they all will do the same things when placed on a table and looked at.
Nothing.
They’ll sit there and be a piece of sharpened metal a handle. That’s it.
It’s only when we place our intention behind that knife that it becomes something more. That’s where the magick actually happens!
If we have positive intentions, that knife can be used to prepare food for a hungry family, it can be used to cut away a cancer, it can be used to spread butter on your toast in the morning.
If we have harmful, negative intentions, that very same knife can be used to harm or even take the life of another person.
The knife itself hasn’t changed. It has no magick or power of its own. It’s WE who have the power to make that knife into something else! All through our intention.
So when thinking about the tools of our craft - and especially when starting out on your first steps as a witch - don’t be blinded by the glamour and glitter of shiny things. The tools are useful yes, but it matters less than the intention you hold while using them.
Be mindful of your intentions at all time. Choose the tools that resonate with you and how you want to practise. Sometimes the tools choose and find us. Go with it.
A good rule of thumb though is to use tools as close to their natural state as possible.
Natural things are sacred, more sacred than anything we can buy, the closer to the natural world something is, the more natural energy runs through it. The more processed things are, the less energy they’ll have because that energy is lost during the processing. So natural will always trump brought.
Find things while out walking, look for how you can make your own, your practise and joy will be far more rewarding.
And don’t ever try to “fit in”.
After all, you’re magickal - you don’t need to fit in with anyone.
Be the magickal 'you' that you are.
For more musings, why not join the Facebook group Beneath The Canopy?