By Franz Bardon (Extracted from �The Practice of Magical Evocation�)

The most important aid in ritual magic is, and always will be, the magic wand. Since the days of yore magicians and sorcerers have been pictured with a magic wand. Charlatans and stage illusionists are still making use of it today, trying to throw dust into the eyes of their audience by all sorts of tricks. The person who thinks it suffices to hold a magic wand in his hand in order to fulfil wonders is led astray.

I will give here an explanation of the symbolic meaning and the description of the syntheses of the magic wand, seen from the magical point of view theoretically as well as for practical application.

Above all, the magic wand is the symbol of the will, the power and the strength by which the magician maintains his influence on the sphere for which he has made and charged it. A magician will not have just one wand for his practice, but he will make several wands depending on what he intends to do or attain.

The actual purpose of a magic wand is to help the magician project his will into any sphere or plane. He may have a wand:
1. to influence any being, no matter if human or animal,
2. to cure people from diseases and to do away with bad, unfavorable influences,
3. to evoke high intelligences and to invoke demons and spirits.

To say that the magic wand symbolizes the absolute power of the magician is truly justified. The person having fully comprehended the mystery of the magic wand in its magnitude will never do his operations of ritual magic without this implement. It would lead too far, if I tried to state here all the possibilities of the magic wand. For the intelligent student these hints will suffice and will serve as guiding principles. His knowledge will be enlarged by ample meditation.

The magic wand is a condenser, no matter what material it is made of or in which way it is manufactured. Charged with the will of the magician, it expresses a certain power. It may be a simple one (the usual type of wand) or a complicated one.

All the wands carved out of wood are regarded as simple wands. But only a special kind of wood, suiting the purpose, may be used. Thus, hazelnut or willow are to be used for a wishing-wand.

The wishing-wand is a modification of the magic wand. Though a wand made of ash-wood may be used as a magic wand for all magical operations the magician, when carrying out operations of ritual magic, will only charge it for the purpose of curing people.

The wand made of elder-wood, proves, on account of its analogy to Saturn, especially efficient when calling up or evoking elemental spirits and demons. In making magic wands willow twigs may also be used for any type, for the willow is a very good fluid condenser. The attentive reader will remember that willows are often struck by lightning because of their high content of water, and their capability of absorbing. He may also remember the old saying referring to thunderstorms: "From the willow flee, look for a beech-tree".

The wood of an oak or an acacia, too, is an excellent material for making a magic wand. It is, indeed, very easy to make a magic wand of any of the kinds of wood mentioned.

Cut a twig, approximately 3/8 to 3/4 ins. in diameter and about 12-20 ins. in length, remove its skin and smooth it.

Often the cutting of a magic wand has been restricted to special astrological periods, and the magician acquainted with astrology is free to make use of his knowledge when making a wand. But such a procedure is by no means necessary, since the magician knows very well that the stars may have a certain influence, but that they cannot force the wise to do anything, as he actually rules them. Thus anybody may, if he likes, make by himself a magic wand out of one of the materials mentioned above.

If the magic wand is to serve ritual purposes, you are recommended to use a new knife when cutting the twig. The knife may later be used for other ritual purposes or other magical operations. It should, in that case, never be employed for any common purpose.

If the magician does not expect to use the knife again after having cut and smoothed the twig for the magic wand, he should bury it in order to prevent it from ever coming into the hands of anyone else.

Another kind of magic wand is the steel magnet which has to be equipped with an insulated grip. Take a round steel rod (the best steel to use is electro-steel, (i. e. magnet steel) approximately 12-20 ins. long with a diameter of 3/8 ins., polish it and have it nickel-plated to prevent it from rusting. After having nickelplated the rod, the magician may magnetize it by means of an electric coil, similar to the magnetization of a horse-shoe or the magnet of an electrical motor. The greater the power of attraction of the magnet, the better it works. This is the way to get a very strong steel magnet which will not only do its work as such, but which will also serve as an excellent magic wand for many magical and magnetic experiments.

First of all one must locate the north and the south pole on the magic electro magnetic rod and mark both poles: the south-pole with a minus and the north-pole with a plus. For the insulation of the rod the middle must be then wound with a silk ribbon as wide as the palm, i. e. about 3-4 ins. A rubber hose of the same length or a wooden handle that has been pierced for this purpose may also be used.

Such a wand will enable the magician to cause many magnetic and magical phenomena, of which only a few will be treated here. If the magician is working with the electromagnetic fluid of the universe, intending to intensify it strongly in the physical world, then he must take hold of the wand in such a manner that his right hand will touch the plus-pole and his left hand the minuspole, with the ends of the rod touching the middle of his palms. After this the electrical fluid from the universe has to be led via the right side of the rod into the magician's body by means of the imagination. The plus-radiation of the rod (odpole-radiation) will thus be strongly intensified as it has the same oscillation and will make it easier for the magician to store the electrical fluid in his body.

The same procedure has to be applied to the magnetic fluid of the south-pole. Vice versa the magician now intensifies the electrical fluid again, which he has previously stored up in his body, this time concentrating it into the plus-end of the rod so strongly that he can make his influence work directly on the physical world.

The same goes for the magnetic fluid which he will be able to store up in his left, that is the negative pole radiation. The middle of the rod, covered with the insulating material, will remain neutral. If the magician, by force of imagination, now concentrates his intention into the condensed electromagnetic fluid of the steel magnet the wand indeed becomes a magic wand. By means of the electromagnetic fluid, which radiates as a brilliant light from the rod, any realization on the physical world will be possible. Initiates usually apply this wand for influencing sick people and for all magnetic phenomena.

This magic electromagnetic wand is, by the Law of the Universe, an excellent condenser with the same kind of oscillation as the universe, but in a most subtle way. The person meditating on this will be able to find other methods easily due to the universal laws. The magician will, for instance, be able to either pull the fluid out of the universe like an antenna and store it in his body, or to transfer it by force of imagination to other people, near him or far away. The wand will soon be an indispensible implement for the magician, for the positive and negative powers concentrated in it will help him to create the necessary oscillation in his electromagnetic fluid.

Besides this, there are magic wands charged either with solid liquid, or combined condensers. Much could be said about how to make such rods and which methods are to be used, but I will only mention the most appropriate to serve the magician in his work. Take the twig of an elder-bush, 12-20 ins. long and 3/8 to 3/4 ins. in diameter, peel off its skin and smooth it with sand-paper. Then remove its pith so that you get an elder-pipe. Put a cork on the one end of the pipe and seal it with sealing-wax, insert a condenser (a liquid condenser, if you like) from the other side, then also seal this end of the pipe airproof. The rod is now ready for use.

You may, if you wish, use a different kind of wood, for instance, the twig of an ash, willow or oak tree, or of a hazelnut bush. The twig, which has no pith must, however, be pierced through carefully with a fine drill, making a pipe of it. Instead of the liquid condenser a solid condenser may be used, the same kind of condenser described in "Initiation into Hermetics".

It is also possible to use a piece of blotting paper soaked with a liquid condenser instead of a solid condenser, which, after it has dried well, is charged, and then, after having been rolled together, is inserted into the hollow space of the rod.

The disadvantage of wood is that it will, as time goes by, moulder or be affected by the fluid condenser, which will cause it to become perforated. It might therefore as well be replaced by a metal-pipe. Those kinds of metals which are good conductors of heat and electricity are best. The best of all, of course, is a copper pipe with a diameter of 3/8 to 1/2 inch.

In order to avoid any oxidization on the surface of the metal, the pipe can be nickel, chrome, or tin-plated before it is filled with the condenser. One opening must be soldered together at once, the other immediately after having filled up the pipe; thus you get a first class magic wand, applicable for all purposes.

Magicians working with the magnetic and the electric fluid in turn will do well to procure for themselves a rod made out of a thin iron or steel pipe, as recommended above, for operations with the magnetic fluid, and a copper-pipe for operations with the electric fluid. A universal wand is manufactured in the same manner, with the exception that a nickel-plated brass pipe must be used, instead of a pipe of copper or iron.

The magician wealthy enough for financial considerations not to matter can use, instead of the fluid condenser, a condenser made of semi-precious stones. He will use for his electric fluid, a copper-rod the inside of which is filled with pulverized amber, an unsurpassed condenser for this kind of fluid.

For his operations with the magnetic fluid he will, in this case, have to fill up the steel-pipe with pulverized rock-crystal instead of using a solid condenser. Rock-crystal, again, is a very good fluid condenser for the magnetic fluid. But it is also possible to solder two separate small pipes, thus making a single rod out of them; one half of the tube is, in this case, filled up with pulverized amber, the other with pulverized rock-crystal. Having done this, a single rod, separated in the middle, will contain both kinds of fluid condensers. In a case like this, however, the two halves must be connected by a thin piece of copper - or iron - wire going through the centre of both pipes. The outside of such a rod may be nickel- 45 plated. This ideal wand then has a unique fluid capacity and will serve any magical operation.

There is still another possibility: a wooden rod may by ornamented with seven rings made of the planetary metals. The rings should be fixed to the rod in quabbalistic order. That is, a golden ring (for the Sun) is placed in the middle of the rod and three metal rings on each side.

The following metals may be used for the rings in question:

• Lead corresponding to Saturn

• Tin corresponding to Jupiter

•  Iron corresponding to Mars

• Gold corresponding to the Sun

• Copper corresponding to Venus

• Brass corresponding to Mercury

• Silver corresponding to the Moon

Apart from this, the rings may have engravings portraying the intelligences of the above-mentioned planets. The use of a wand like this will, in general, be restricted to the conjuration of intelligences of the seven planets. When used for other purposes, it will not prove superior to the other types of wands. This is all the magician needs to know: from the examples above he will, by himself, be able to proceed to other variations.

The shape and the size of the wand plays a minor part. The most important thing about a magic wand is its charging for practical use, a description of which is given below.

The charge of a magic wand is done in much the same way as the charge of a magic mirror provided with a fluid condenser for special purposes. There are many ways of charge for a wand. They all depend on what the magician intends or wants to use it for.

Above all, the magician must always be aware of the fact that the magic wand is a symbol of his will, his strength and his power, and that it is representing a container like a fluid condenser of that power, quality etc. in which he is not only able to transfer, but also to store up that power, according to his wish, to an exeedingly high density.

It matters little if such a rod is nothing but a simple twig, cut and adapted accordingly, or if it is a complicated wand, saturated or filled up with a fluid condenser.

A magic wand may be charged with:
1. the magician's will-power
2. special qualities, faculties, etc.
3. magnetism, biomagnetism, etc.
4. the elements
5. Akasha
6. the help of a light-fluid

Here are some examples for practical use:


With regards to Point 1, charge with will-power:

Take into your hand the wand which you have prepared and concentrate your will on, or rather into, the wand; that is, transfer your whole consciousness into the wand so that you feel you are the wand itself.

Your concentration must then be filled with the idea that all your will-power, your strength, is embodied in the wand. This kind of concentration must last for at least five minutes without any interruption. Already at the moment of embodying your will into the wand you have to think that whenever you take the wand into your hand your will-power will be put into action and that everything you want to have happening will happen.

When you have transferred your whole will by utmost tension and strongest imagination into the wand, you end the charge of it by wrapping it into a piece of pure silk and putting it in the same place as your other magic implements.

After some time load the wand again in the same manner, and every time you repeat the cerem.ony you must increase the intensity of your imagination. Never forget that your whole spiritual will is embodied in the wand. It is important that you limit the time and if possible, also the space of the power concentrated in the wand; that is, concentrate your willpower into the wand with the idea that as long as it will exist it will represent all your will, all your power, and remain effective.

A wand charged in this way will remain effective till you die, or should it be your special wish, even beyond your physical death, that is, it will remain a magic wand. It may even last for centuries, and its influence may even increase with time, providing you have charged it with the wish that its power should grow from one day to the next.

The effectiveness of the wand will first work on the mental sphere, then, after some time and repeated charging, on the astral sphere, and finally even on the physical world.

The time required until a wand, first effective on the mental world, becomes effective in the physical world depends on the magician's maturity, training and power of imagination, and also on what he is striving for.

The magician who is well acquainted with quabbalah will know that to bring about a realization from the mental sphere into the physical world, usually about 462 repetitions are necessary; by then the influence from the mental sphere takes shape, that is becomes condensed in the physical world. This, however, does not mean that the magician may not be able to bring about the same kind of success earlier than this.

As already pointed out, the magic wand's power of realisation depends on the intention and purpose for which it has been made and charged. One could query whether the rod needs to be charged at all, since the magician's will should suffice.

The magician, however, will not always be in a position to expand his mental exertion in the manner necessary for the transfer of one's will. There will be situations which will exhaust even the best magician, who then would be incapable of concentrating to his fullest power of expansion. However, a skillfully charged magic wand will also have its effect at moments when the magician is not using his will-power, but is just concentrating his thoughts on the realization of his wish, using his magic wand for this purpose.

There is, of course, in this case a slight danger that a blasphemous person may get hold of the magic wand in order to realize his own desires, which, if it happened, would go on the cost of the magician and his rodvoltage. Therefore a magician will always do well not to tell any person, not even his best friend, for which purpose, in which respect, and in which manner he has charged his magic wand. This way of charging a magic wand with one's will-power will generally serve to influence beings, spirits, human beings and animals which are to act according to the magician's absolute will and which are to obey the magician's magical power, no matter whether in this physical world or on the mental or astral planes.

The influence of the magician is not at all restricted to living entities; it will also work on dead matter if this has been taken into consideration at the time of its being charged.


Regarding Point 2: charge with qualities, faculties and the like:

Under charging the wand with certain universal qualities is understood qualities such as omnipotence or other specific ones which the magician needs for his realizations in the mental, astral or physical planes and which are concentrated into the rod in the same manner as described above.

It is possible (similar to the charge with the magician's will) when charging the wand with a certain quality, to impel the quality into the wand not only by embodying one's consciousness into it and by condensing the power, but also by pulling the quality down from the universe by means of one's imagination and concentration of will-power, thereby condensing the quality in the wand, thus charging it.

Constant condensing of a certain quality will make the relevant spiritual power if concentrated in the wand a direct physical power. This means that with the wand the magician is in possession of an accumulator equivalent to a battery powerfully charged with electricity. That then one and the same power may be used for good as well as for bad purposes is true, but a magician, having proceeded as far as this in his individual training, will never think of any evil motives or try to put them into action, since he, at all times, is anxious to be regarded as a true and faithful servant by Divine Providence.


Regarding Point 3: charge of the wand with Magnetism, Biomagnetism or Prana:

The same procedure is to be followed as described in the preceding chapter.
It is recommended, however, to achieve the storing of power in the wand without transferring one's consciousness into it.

This can be effected by mere imagination, by means of the magician's body or directly from the universe. In this case, too, the magician must not forget to set limits to the power transformed into the wand. He must also, by force of imagination, concentrate on the purpose he wishes the wand to serve.

Repeated charge of the wand will make it not only effective in the mental and astral planes, but also in the physical world. The experienced magician need not be told again that the power then dwelling in the wand will radiate to the furthest distances.

If he introduces the Akasha-principle between himself and his object, he will be able to bridge time and space, and the power in question will immediately, by using the wand, work on the person concerned with the same kind of influence, intensity and success as it would be if the person were standing right in front of him.

Charged with life-force or magnetism, with the right idea of setting limits or conditions (that is, in this case, with the idea that the life-force or magnetism in the wand will be automatically intensified from one day to the other) the wand will easily enable the magician to call into existence any phenomena that can be effected by life-force.

With a rod charged in this way, even an unexperienced person could work miracles, providing he knew how to use it. Therefore it is in the magician's own interest to keep well the secret of his magic wand. He may also charge his wand in a manner that it will automatically, without any effort on part of the will-power of the magician, bring to him a piece of life-force from the universe, which will then radiate from the wand.

This kind of charging the wand with magnetism - biomagnetism - is preferred for curative operations. A magician working in the medical field may like to make use of this method and heal people far away from him by force of his wand charged in the above mentioned manner. In the hands of a magician, a wand charged in this manner, which can heal people miraculously over the widest distances, is, no doubt, a blessing for the suffering man.

The charge of a magic wand with an electric, magnetic, or electromagnetic fluid is always the same, with the only exception that the transfer of the magician's consciousness may be omitted.

If only one wand is to be charged, the procedure is a little more complicated. For the wand to be charged with one fluid only, be it electric or magnetic, that fluid has to be drawn from the universe with the help of the imagination und must be impelled into the rod, to which end the magician has to concentrate on the wish that whenever he desires something, the fluid inside the rod will realize at once what he wishes, even though it be directed to the furthest possible sphere or the Akasha-principle. If you terminate the accumulation so that the fluid accumulated in the rod will intensify itself automatically from the universe, that it will, in other words, work by itself bioelectrically and biomagnetically, the rod will grow into an enormously strong battery.

The magician is recommended to accumulate in his own body, prior to every use, the revelant fluid in order to be strong enough for the work with the accumulated fluid of the wand. If he is not willing to do this, he should at least insulate himself before he starts work by putting on a pair of pure silk-gloves, preferably manufactured by himself.

Not before he has thus insulated himself should he take the wand into his hands. Since the magician usually works with both fluids, he should take the wand charged with the electrical fluid into his right hand, and the wand charged with the magnetic fluid into his left. It is always better to charge two rods; one with the electric the other with the magnetic fluid, especially if simple twigs or wooden wands, which are not impregnated with a fluid condenser, are used. This is not absolutely necessary, but it will make work easier.

The magician who has a wand filled with a fluid condenser, without the wand being parted in the middle, will find it more advantagious to have the wand filled with only one fluid, as this also will make the work easier for him. If the rod is to be charged electromagnetically, that is if both fluids should be prevalent in the wand, the magician must use a rod which has no hole in its middle. Either end of the rod has to be pierced instead, and each half of it has to be provided with a fluid condenser. The magician must, however, put a mark on either end to remind him where the electrical and where the magnetic fluid is.

To give the magician a better view, the half provided for the electrical fluid is usually painted red, the half provided for the magnetic fluid is usually painted blue. The rod must then be charged in such a manner that the largest intensity of the fluids rest at the ends of the rod and that the middle, insulated with silk, remains neutral.

Charging of either half has to be carried out separately, that means that you may draw from the universe first the electric fluid, accumulating it in the one end of the rod until that end is sufficiently loaded, and immediately after that the magnetic fluid, or vice versa.

The magician should never try to accumulate the electric fluid several times and then the magnetic fluid several times; for the equilibrium of the fluids inside the wand must be maintained.

The magician must therefore accumulate the electrical fluid on one day and the magnetic fluid the next day. When charging the wand again, he has to go about in the other way.

The magician will charge a rod with the electrical or the magnetic, or both fluids, if he wants to make his influence work by the help of these fluids on objects nearby or far away, regardless of their being subject to the Akasha or existent in either the mental, astral or physical world. Special variations of operations, for instance such as volting or treating sick people, or bearing of certain imaginations, will not be dealt with here, for the person having carefully studied up to this point will now be able to work out for himself his individual working methods.


Regarding Point 4: the charge with elements:

This kind of charge can be effected in two different ways:

1. The magician, by help of imagination charges his rod - no matter, whether it be simple or provided with a fluid condenser - with desire that when using it, the elements will have to obey him, regardless of which sphere they may belong to. If the wand has been sufficiently charged with the magician's power over the elements, then the results wanted will be brought about by the beings of the elements.

The magician will do well to expand his power to all elements, fire, air, water and earth, so that he will not be forced to restrict his operations to a single element. When evoking, the magician should call to his magic circle the heads of the elements, one after the other, and have them swear to the magic wand that they will give him their absolute obedience at all times. After that the magician may, if he likes, engrave on his wand the relevant symbols or seals of each individual head of the elements.

This, however, is by no means absolutely necessary, for the wand in the hands of the magician represents the magician's absolute will and his power over each being of the elements. The shape of the seals of each head of the elements will become visible to the magician in his magic mirror or by direct transfer with the mental body in the realm of the elements.

On top of that, the magician might well, on account of his personal experience and development, construct a symbol of the relevant element and have the head of any element swear to it that he will always be the obedient servant not only of the symbol which the magician has engraved in the wand, but of the whole wand.

2. The other way to charge the wand with elements is as follows:
The magician draws the element which he wants to use for his work directly from the universe, that is, its particular Iphere, by force of the imagination, and dynamically accumulates it in the wand. When working with this kind of loaded wand, the results wanted are not caused by the beings of the elements, but directly by the magician himself.

The advantage of this way of charging a wand is that it will give the magician a strong feeling of satisfaction, because he is the immediate cause of the magical effect. It is necessary, however, that a separate rod be manufactured for each of the elements and the wands must be stored apart from each other.

To prevent the magician from mixing them up, he must be sure that he can easily differentiate between them by their outside appearance. Each wand may, for this purpose, have the colour of the relevant element.

At the beginning the results will only occur on the mental plane, but prolonged use and repeated charging will make it work also on the astral plane, and eventually also on the physical world.

This kind of wand will enable its owner to influence all manners of spirits, men, animals, even inanimate nature, by the element, similar to the influence of the electromagnetic fluid. Good magicians are able to cause, by the force of such a wand, marvelous natural phenomena, for instance, change of weather, acceleration of the growth of plants, and many other things of that nature.


Regarding Point 5: Charge with the Akasha-principle:

When applying this principle, the charge of the magic wand is possible, but not any kind of accumulation, since the Akasha principle cannot be intensified. But repeated meditation on the qualities of the Akasha-principle with all its aspects in the magic wand will finally enable the magician to create causes in the Akasha-principle, which will itself realize in the mental and astral planes, and also in the physical plane.

Using a rod charged in the manner described, the magician will be able to impel, by force of imagination, a power or quality via the wand into the Akasha, which then, like a volt created by an electromagnetic fluid, will have direct influence on the three-dimensional world from above. Such a wand will be regarded with awe by positive intelligences and will have a frightening effect on negative beings.

A wand charged in this fashion is usually preferred by magicians working with negative beings, so-called demons, in order to make them pliant. For further details on this subject see the chapter dealing with necromancy.


Regarding Point 6: Charge with Light-Fluid:

The universal light, from which everything has been created, is to be accumulated in the wand by help of imagination and consideration of the qualities of the light, so that it will shine like a sun (concentrated universal light).

A wand charged in this way is usually employed for theurgical purposes, that is for the evocation of higher beings of the light and intelligences, for it is an excellent magnet which will make the relevant light beings pay attention to the magician's will and desire. Besides this, all other measures must be taken, like, for instance, the insulation of the rod with white silk, its secure keeping and so on.

Not only will the magician be able to work, with the help of the wand, in the physical world; he will also be in position to transfer, with his mental or astral hand, or with both, the mental and astral shape of the wand into the relevant plane and will have his influence work in these planes without having to hold the wand in his physical hand.

In case of the exteriorization of his whole mental body, he can take with him not only the mental shape of his magic wand with all its qualities into the mental plane but also the mental shape of all magic implements and aids, and there he is able to operate as if he were present with his whole physical body to carry out the operations.

Never should the magician forget that the wand represents his true will in its completeness, absoluteness and power, which may well be compared with a magical oath, and therefore many magicians have their magic wand symbolize not only their will-power, but also the magical oath, which, from the hermetic point of view, may never and can never be broken.

Many magicians carve into their wand the symbols appropriate to their will-power and the charge of the wand. Universal symbols, signs, seals of intelligences, divine names, and the like, may serve this purpose as far as they represent the true will-power of the magician. The details of this particular matter are left entirely to the magician's individuality.

The magician will know from these instructions how he has to go about reaching his aim, and it is up to him to provide, if he likes, his wand with a secret name standing for his will-power. It will also be clear to the practicing magician that such a name must be kept a secret and must never, under any circumstance, be spoken.