 It's hard to think of druids without thinking about their staff. That magical tool has such mystery and power associated to it. Hi and welcome to Esoteric Moments. Today, I'm going to share with you how to make a druid staff and the ways you can use it in your practice. Before we get into the video, just a quick reminder that you don't need any tools to be a druid or to practice druidry. Tools allow us to be more efficient and certainly enjoy some practices more, but it is not necessary. If you feel like it's worthwhile to make or invest in finding tools for your practice, great. Then hopefully this video will help you as you make your druid staff. My druid staff is made from a beech tree and it has three stones on it attached with leather. The stones are amethyst, turquoise, and lapis lazul. Now, the four steps to creating your druid staff begin with finding your branch. I would suggest forming a relationship with a special tree and really asking permission from the tree in order to use one of its branches. Doing some research beforehand on the tree and its magical properties is a great way to get started. Druids often enjoy using oak trees or maybe a branch from another olem tree, but really what tree species calls to you and what you feel a magical affinity to will be the best. Also keep in mind when you're picking out the branch that you want it to be a comfortable staff height. So many people that means that it's going to hit kind of your elbow and maybe have a nice hand hold right where your elbow is at a nice 90 degree angle. Some people really like that super tall standing out staff, but that type of staff will be harder to walk around in the woods. So keep in mind that balance between practicality and magicalness. Step number two is preparing the staff for use. For me, this meant removing the excess bark that was flaking off and rubbing it with linseed oil as a finishing and protectant. For you, it might mean just brushing dirt off. Whatever is going to allow you to use the staff cleanly and effectively. I would avoid the most intense chemicals for finishing off a staff, but you know, whatever works for you. When I used linseed oil on my staff, I first did a light sanding of the entire branch, rubbed linseed oil, let it dry, sanded again, rubbed linseed oil, and I did that about three or four times to really allow the branch to get a good soaking of the linseed oil. So hopefully it will live for many years, even as I tromp up and down the woods in wet rainy days or snowy days. Okay. Step three, you will want to pick out decoration. I've seen a lot of incredible staffs where people have used wood burning tools to carve ruins or olem into their staff. I've also seen people who have painted their staffs and that's lovely. And other people who go like me into just adding crystals or other feathers, things that bring joy and really connect to the magical elements of their staff. Think carefully about what symbols you are going to add to your staff and make sure that the way the symbols react to your inner world and your magical practices are really on the same level. So a staff is a tool that will be used for directing energy, walking, and movement and magical connection. So perhaps picking symbols that go against those ideas won't be as useful in a finished product. Okay. Number four is often called consecrating or kind of initiating its grand life as your druid staff. This is also the beginning of your relationship with the staff. I would suggest opening up a magical circle, maybe beginning your ritual like you do a regular sabbath or asbestos situation and then taking a moment to call out to the spirits of place, to whatever deity you work with and really form a relationship. Offer it up as a new magical tool, ask that it be a auspicious tool in your workings. When I did kind of my first ritual and initiation with my druid staff, it was a pretty powerful experience for me and I really felt that staff come alive and have a connection. I also think that another great way particularly for a staff to be consecrated or initiated would be to go on your first walk together. You don't have to do a high end ritual to begin your relationship. Using it as its practical tool the first time is also a great way. Now that you have this magical staff that you love and you've started a relationship, what do you do with it? What does a staff actually work as as a druid? Druids will give you different answers but generally a staff is used a little bit like a wand and a little bit like a walking stick. For me the biggest use my staff gets is in walking meditations and kind of just my regular land awareness practices. My staff is very musical, there are a lot of sounds that it makes because my stones just are free flowing and as I walk and set my staff down it also makes another noise. This rhythm and beat that I form between walking and the staff moving helps really get me in a mindset that leads me open to hearing the rest of the land and connecting magically to things. I love the way that when using my staff during a magical meditation I can feel the energy of the earth and that place really kind of form a circuit between my body, the staff and my feet and that motion and sound that I hear as I'm using it and walking with it takes me to another place and that communication between human mind and other world and earthly world is much easier, just flows in a different way. As I'm communicating with the land in this way I can often get images or sounds of stories of maybe what happened here before and I can also get a sense of where the land needs assistance or requests that are coming to me. It's a little like doing a magical soil sample of the land. You get a sense for what is really abundant and what is maybe lacking in that space. You can also use a magical staff, kind of like a wand when you open a circle. Many druids will use it to cast the directions and open their circle. This is another great use of your druid staff. It can also be a powerful meditation tool just to hold it and connect to that specific tree spirit that you formed a relationship with before making your druid staff. Connecting with the trees I think is a time-honored tradition of druids and is a wonderful way to find new wisdom and new paths for your druid practice. In the comments below tell me whether you have a druid stuff and what your favorite way to use it is. I am curious to hear your stories. Today's sapling shout out goes to AlineMac1 over on Instagram. She had a couple posts where she compared the obad ovate grade cover of the new course to the old course and she shared that with me and we had a great conversation about the ovate grade over on Instagram. Thanks for watching and as always may you find peace in the sacred grove.