How To Prepare Magickal Tools For Use
To prepare a new magickal tool for you use.
Required Tools:
A tool
Water
Incense or aromatic herbs
Salt
Directions:
When you first bring home your new tool, no matter how you acquired it, it is, at best, a blank slate and, at worst, a mess of other peoples' energies. Before using it for your own purposes, it is a good idea to cleanse and charge your magickal tool.
Cleansing helps remove any residual energies it may have picked up from former owners or even in the shop where you purchased it. If you made the tool yourself, this might not be an issue at all, but a little cleansing never hurt anything.
Before you begin, you may wish to cast a circle if you do that when you cast spells. This is up to you. Either way, your work area should be clean and clutter free.
1. Clean your magical tools
If it is safe to get your tool wet, you should wash it thoroughly with water in which a little salt has been added and then dry it well. If your tool is made of fabric, hand wash it and leave it in the sun to dry. If your tool can be damaged by water, just clean it in the most logical way and sprinkle it with a bit of salt. If you got your tool second hand and it could use some repair, tend to it now. Then, perform whatever maintenance such a tool demands, even if it's brand new and doesn't need it just now. A wooden tool may appreciate a bit of raw linseed oil or wax, a metal or glass tool might appreciate it if you buffed it to a shine.
2. Suffumigate your tool
Once your tool is perfectly clean and gleaming, light your incense or your aromatic herbs and blow out the flame so it smolders. Once it's smoking nicely, pass your magickal tool through the smoke, declaring that all negative energy is being burned away.
3. Bless your tool
If you are of a religious bent, now is the time to dedicate your tool into the service of your God/dess(es) and ask them to look with kindness upon all actions taken in their name with this tool.
4. Name your tool
It is a good idea to give your tool a name. It should symbolize its purpose and your feelings about your magickal practice. If you feel absolutely ridiculous about naming your tool, you can skip this bit. Or just name it "My athame" or "My altar" or "My denim cloak". whatever.
5. Charge your tool
When you charge your tool, you basically tell it what its purpose is and then fill it with energy toward that purpose. To tell its purpose is easy. You can just say "I charge this athame (or I charge you insert your tool's name here) to focus and direct my energy during ritual and to represent the masculine principle in symbolic rituals" or whatever. Think hard about what you want it to do and then tell it what it's job is. Once you've told it its job, fill it with energy. You can do this by holding it in your hands or holding your hands over it and letting your energy flow into it while you focus on its purpose. Alternatively (or in addition if you like), you can leave it in the light of the sun or the moon to charge with solar or lunar energy. You may wish to choose a time when they are in a zodiac sign that corresponds to the purpose of the tool, or the element that corresponds to the tool.
6. Use Your Tool and Store it Well
Now that your tool is cleansed and charged, it is ready for magickal work. You may wish to repeat this process on a regular basis, but it shouldn't be necessary to do so every time you use it unless you are using it for something extremely different that introduces really contrary energy to that which you usually use. I like to tend to my tools in the early spring in the sign of Aries.
Store your tools well, do not leave them laying around to gather dust and energy and tempt unauthorized hands from fiddling with them. If they get dirty when you're using them, clean them off and make sure they are completely dry before you put them away. Wrap them in a cloth and put them in a cabinet when not in use so they will be fresh and ready to go next time you need them.
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