The Magician’s Wand, Part 4

THE WAND OF THE CONJUROR During the middle ages, conjurers began using wands to imitate their religious counterparts. They began assigning great powers to their instruments. Magic wands were commonly used by European conjurers by the 15th Century. In fact, a gaffed wand, loaded with a rolled-up playing card, was first mentioned in 1740. Since the 19th Century, tarot cards featured early...

The Magician’s Wand, Part 3

THE WAND OF THE WIZARD Several thousand years ago, the ancient Druids of Great Britain carried wands, usually made from a hazel or mistletoe branch, with a pine cone attached on one end in honor of Dionysus, the god of the vine or trees. This wand was later called the Priapic wand, named after Priapus, the Roman god of procreation. Priapus was often equated with Pan, the nature deity of Greece....

The Magician’s Wand, Part 2

THE STAFF / CADUCEUS CONNECTION Long rods or staffs were generally used by the animal keepers (shepherds) and wise men of the tribes. In the Old Testament is recorded the stories of Moses (and others) who performed magic with their rods. In some magical traditions, the act of the magician touching his staff to the Earth represented the directing of consciousness towards Humanity. If he, instead,...

The Magician’s Wand, Part 1

INTRODUCTION The magic wand is the instrument and symbol of the magician’s power. As author Henry Hay once wrote: “The touch of the wand for the… purpose of causing a magical transformation assists… in leading the audience to believe that such a transformation did take place at that particular moment.” The magician should always have a wand to define his character...