Magickal tools are a witch's best friends; they allow us to shape and send energies through them in specific ways so that the energies are best able to perform their task. It is very often said that your tools will best suit you if made yourself, or barring that, unique to you. Dig around antique stores, attics and garage sales until you find things that are perfectly suited to your tastes and style of witchcraft. My first athame was made from a dinner knife that felt just right in my hand, and my favorite chalice is a blown-glass goblet filled with bubbled inclusions, a perfect mix of water and air.

The Athame

The athame (prounounced Ath-A-May) is a witch's ritual knife. Generally dark-handled (but it does not have to be), it channels and directs energy away from the witch's body. It is very precise, having a point which very accurately directs power. It can be used to direct energy as a cutting tool as well. The athame is symbolic of the God during the wine blessing, and are traditionally associated with Air or Fire.

The Chalice

The chalice is often a goblet of some kind, symbolic of the Goddess and used to contain the wine for the cakes and ale blessing. They are usually made of something silver, which is the metal and color of the Goddess, but it does not have to be. The chalice corresponds with Water.

The Wand

The Wand is often used during invitations to the Deities and Watchtowers, and is usually made of a wood sacred to the Goddess. Different kinds of wood have different properties, and wands are as different from one another as people. They may be decorated with leather, feathers, beads, stones and crystals, or none at all; often they are carved or painted in runes and other magickal symbols. The wand is traditionally associated with Fire.

The Pentacle

Pentacles of the altar variety come in many different forms; carved in wood, stone, made of clay or sometimes just sewn into cloth. Pentacles are used as consecration tools. The symbol of the pentacle is symbolic of all the elements, but is usually associated with Earth as a tool.

There are many other tools as well, not perhaps as vital to the solitary's practice, but still useful and lovely:

The Cauldron

Cauldrons are used for a larger group as a chalice would be, but is considered to be where magickal transformations take place. Filled with water, they are often used for scrying. Like the chalice, the cauldron is symbolic of the Goddess and female power and is associated with Water.

The Staff

The Staff is a larger version of the wand, again highly personal. The decision to use a staff over a wand often comes when practicing in groups, but I like to use mine when I am outdoors.

The Besom (or Broom)

The besom is a powerful symbol of home and hearth, and used to clean ritual spaces, as well as cleaning negative energies from your own home. The besom plays a role in the handfasting ritual, when the bride and groom leap over one to exit the circle.

The Bolline

The Bolline is a small, sharp, white-handled knife used only for cutting herbs and plants, which the athame should never be used for. It is often sickle-shaped, but does not have to be. Some traditions don't use the bolline; it is up to the individual solitary if they wish to.

The Sword

The Sword is again a larger version of the athame, used as a potent energy-cutting tool. It is often used by coven priestesses to draw the boundaries of circles and open and close gates therein.