To perform magic, wands are essential so many cases! They are the symbol of great wizards in fantastic adventures as well as entertaining crowds by making things disappear. In this post, I will try to unpack where the image of the wand comes from, and also, why it is far more associated with wizards than witches. Is it finally the phallus symbol we were already expecting in riding broomsticks?
I will in the end also present a dark and twisted turn on a tale I once used to love.
„I want to wave Daddy‘s big stick“, my witch giggles over my shoulder. „It‘s so unfair to be a girl.“
Oh well … Let‘s look into it!
Ancient wands
One of the oldest sources of wand using can be found in the bible. A big wooden stick is used by Moses to perform miracles as well as lead people. The big stick to lead a group of people, or sheep or even people that in questionable metaphors become people, is mentioned in various later occasions. Jesus asks of people to cross the desert with only a wooden stick and trust in god.
„Because apparently, if Daddy shows his biggest stick, things are going to be fine“, my witch giggles over my shoulder and I almost spit my tea all over my notes.
In these older cases, wands are the larger, wooden sticks that in some works of the fantasy genre, wizards are still depicted with today. As so often, old white men leading the way.
Occult wand usage
Wands do also play a role in many occult rituals. Depending on what kind of ritual you wish to perform, they vary in shape and length as well as kind of wood. If, for example, you seek to summon all kinds of demons, just use a stick of 20cm length from a hazelnut tree and engrave Jesus’ name onto it. While engraving, declare him the king of the world, or the king of all Jews, or of all men, or whatever makes you feel as if you‘re right about the world.
For other rituals, the wood has to be ebony, or just of any tree whose bark is white.
Where do they get these specifics from? From the old, pagan religions in Europe that (slowly) disappeared with the middle ages?
Probably. We would have to ask King Solomon, since most of these occult instructions are blamed on him from so many sources. But that is an own blog post. Who was King Solomon for real and why did he write books on black magic?
So, as funny as the thought of wands as a symbol for male dominance, a phallus symbol, or anything in that sense might have seemed at first, it is a symbol of god, a father, a ruler leading the way and taking care of you, as well as asking a lot of you. Trust in a devastating scenario such as crossing a desert, or, well … summoning demons.
And finally, the dark Twist I promised. The dark twist on a tale I loved as a child. Yes, we are addressing a rather specific issue I have with the world building of Harry Potter, but I promise that this one might be an interesting one.
The promised dark twist
I think that wands in Harry Potter are the most depressing thing ever! Although I still have Hermiones wand on my bookshelf, because my grandmother bought it for me when I was 10, I more and more find their function questionable. I think that in the wizarding world of Harry Potter wands are an artificially tool to control magic and to restrict the use to human beings only.
I had these thoughts when the plot of „Hogwarts Legacy“ had me in shock. Remember? It‘s this game where goblins steal wizarding children to get wands themselves. As if that wasn‘t the execution of a harmful conspiracy theory, but let‘s not get into that right here, because it would take a while. If you want to know more about that, read this.
And even when leaving that out, I find wands in that setting so fucking depressing! Imagine a world in which magic exists and is a certain natural phenomenon that can be accessed by all kinds of beings! Humans have their way with it as well as elves, goblins, even trolls to a limited degree, but using a wand allows you to practice more complex magic, so humans restricted the use of wands to … well … only humans.
In this case, wands are an artificial restriction to a force of nature that humans want to own and not share with other sentient beings.
Now, think of magic as any other resource and let that sink in.
Either way, wands are just problematic and twisted as broomsticks and pointy heads. A witching reality is just tough.
Mistress witch writes 