Tools of the Craft
I am grateful to Mr Halbrook of the Astercote Antiquarian society for providing this monograph on the usage of objects in traditional folk practices in the county.
As will be seen, followers of the Old Ways had limited means for the purchase of exotic and esoteric equipment, and so their tools tend to be humble - and easy to disguise, in an era of religious violence and turmoil. It is the contention of Mr Halbrook that such practices persist to the present day, hidden among the clutter of everyday things within an ordinary home.
The Archaeologist's Trowel and Brush
A trowel and brush may be used to open a doorway between here and then. The brush to discover what might be present beneath the nowness of place, by laying it on an object or landscape as if knocking away dirt from something buried, unsure of what will be found. The trowel is for cutting-through thick-time, and may be used in similar ways to a magickal knife, for the making of gates.
Mr Baxter's Binoculars
Baxter was a Clockmaker - itself, an auspicious profession for our kind - who by marvellous craft so adapted the pocket perspective so as to be able to peer through time itself, and by so doing hand down to us a remarkable series of sketches of the long-vanished Roman villa for the Antiquarian Society before his lamentable disappearance. The user cannot fail to profit by use of such a field-glass.
The Bookcase
The book case is, in and of itself, a sacred focal point. Books may be guardians of Landweird, and so a collection of books - especially one wisely curated - can hold the same mystery and wonder as the veiled statue within the inner sanctum. A case of books is the ideal starting point from which to make an altar.
An antique Welsh dresser - or combination of furniture so as to suggest one - is greatly to be desired. It offers visible shelves on which to place books, if they are deep enough; cabinets in which to store your ritual clutter, cloths and candles; and a table to work upon. Another arrangement apt to the purpose is to place a case of books within a ripped-out chimneybreast, where once there burned a fire, and a wooden fireplace surround in front of it to provide a mantepiece for statuary, offerings and candle-holders.
Broadwalking Bag
When one wishes to stride forth among the hills, there is no better fortune than a bag already packed and made. At the very least one ought to carry a flask of water, a torch, a mackintosh cloak, and first aid; additionally, tissue paper from the water closet, along with sanitising lotion and some small sanitary bags such as those for the dog. I like to carry some sturdy rope, tent pegs and tarpaulin, so to be ready to stay out if I am called to by some curiosity. And of course, the best shoes to which my purse can stretch.
I keep a packed chest of other needsome things, depending on the nature of my walk: a compass and maps; sleeping bags, roll mats and a camp stove; a picnic hamper. The easier a walk is to begin, the more often it will be taken.
Candles
The best candles are made of bees wax, and ought therefore to be used sparingly. Paraffin candles give off a strange, dangerous smell, and are at heart a fossil fuel; but soaked up by cotton wool, makes for an excellent fire-starter when out on the foot. Tallow candles can be home-made from waste products, but your housemates will not appreciate the scent, having something in it of the awfulness of the sacrifices of the Druids. Always say a thank-you prayer to the beekeeper.
The candle stands in most effectively for Light, Fire or the Sun - it is typically protective, warlike, aspiring to knowledge - or suggests a chiascuro effect by which the warmth of human living stands in contrast to the great strange dark. It is not, therefore, a necessary center to every ritual. At those times, electric mood-lighting will do as well.
Chintz
A general collection of second-hand landscape paintings, porcelein figures in historic dress and animals, horse-brasses and curiously sculpted plates and tankards of rustic ware can be arranged around the circumferance of the parlor.
The untutored visitor will see merely an odd taste in things, if they note it at all; but the wise will at once discern its meaning - for on the south wall is an engraving of a country church and a doll house on a shelf, while to the west is a statuette of a fair maden garlanded with flowers. In the east is an old lantern, fire-stokers tools and a selection of old books. Dark drapes obscure the north-west corner. It is then simple work for the dweller to roll-back the antique rugs and set about their work.
It is always better to find these items second hand, rather than new-sold. I am told that other practicioners of the craft advocate all things must be purchased brand new, so as to carry no memory or miasmic vapours into the working space. But this is false on three grounds. The first is that no thing comes from nowhere, and it is imperial folly to imagine a thing new-bought has no history in its making or its raw materials. The second is that to love the land is to long for its flourishing, and we should refuse to diminish it whenever we can. But the third and most important is that it is on old longmemoried things we find Landweird clustering about, easily re-awakened. I would caution you always to reject the purchase of newgaudy things, such as crystals, as their useage will be too obvious to your houseguests, stripping from them their strange mystery; and there can be no real doubt that they were made in needless cruelty.
The Cloak
There is no better cloak than an old woolen army or scout-blanket, secured by a sturdy pin. It keeps off the wind, and even the rain - it can be slept under, or provided to one in shock. Wool resists fire, moreso than plastic or cotton, and does not melt. There is no truer friend than a cloak, when it is cared for. The cloak can be a reminder of your office, making you at once the wandering wizard; to onlookers, a cloaked woman in the woods is an intrusion of the strange - a re-enchantment. Simple spellcraft can be performed with it: When I don this cloak, I shall...
- slip into the otherworlds, become unseen, walk weirdly, transform.
The Clock-Compass
The presence of a clock - be it running or no - is a welcome addition to any rite. Indeed, to fill the home with as many old clocks as possible creates the optimum place in which time might begin to break through. Two clocks that tick, one set as to run slightly afore the other, and placed one at either ear, can assist in accomplishing altered states of perception. For many years, I have had two carriage clocks atop the mantle of my contemplative space - one silver and one gold.
The twelve positions on a clock can be taken to signify the Sun, the Star, and the two Moons, with eight subdivisions in-between. The setting of a clock, therefore, can begin your work, by setting your intention to evoke a certain position - as time is really only ever another kind of place. The hour hand is the primary destination and, if desired, the long hand can indicate an aspect or secondary factor.
Once you have established a language of position and location on the dial, you may ask questions of the clock-compass, by closing your eyes and reflecting as you turn the knob. When the hands settle, you may discern answers by interpreting the position given.
A more simple operation may be accomplished by beginning at the present time, and turning the hands backwards or forwards to suggest a motion in time. A clock-compass can most profitably be carried into the field in the guise of a pocket watch.
A clock can be set to run backwards with ease, by reversing the polarity of the electro magnet in the motor that runs the clock. To undertake this, merely open up the mechanism and reverse the position of the electromagnet itself.
The Commonplace Book
The Commonplace Book is a collection of images, lyrics and quotes. Its cluttered collage of words echoes the Landweird’s fragmentary, unfinished, palimpsest memory. Include anything you find significant in the Commonplace Book. It can be a battered notebook, a beautiful handwritten book, a typed quote collection, a deck of index cards, a photocopied zine: whatever you will enjoy looking at and handling.
This is different from the traditional Book of Shadows, as described by Mr Gardener. It is not a book of rituals, instructions & correspondences; it is also not a journal or mirror book, for recording work and ideas. It is a devotional book – a kind of psalter or prayer pocketbook. The Commonplace Book is an aid for creating ritual and reflection. You can look at it before bed. You can find quotes to meditate on. You can find devotional verse to speak in prayer. You can read through it as a very simple, no-energy spiritual practice. Do not be intimidated by the empty pages, for in time you will build up a dragon’s hoard of memory.
In contrast with the Reading List – which you are encouraged to freely share – the Commonplace Book is private. You may pull out and share quotes as needed, but the book itself is your own and should be shared with others only under special circumstances. It is a record of one's vision of the Landweird, and that is always profoundly odd.
The Door
The Door represents the conscious shutting out of the Stellar from the everyday - as something ever-present that may be warded off, but never fully forgotten.
Representation of the door could be painted onto a card; modelled in clay; built as a wooden miniature; part of an old dolls house; or envisaged as a Jacobean Almery in an overgrown church, to which you alone hold the key. Mine is a key box, made to be hung upon the wall, in 90s pine with a charming knob. When a Door cannot be made, it can be imagined - always half-glimpsed and just behind where the eye can see. For in fact, wherever we go, the Door is always with us.
The Door is the most sacred place in any rite. You will know when the time is right to open it.
The Masks
With the donning of a mask, one sees or is seen differently. Masks can be found or made, all the better from natural materials - they may be named, and consecrated to different purposes. A mask may have an indwelling spirit, or be a mere tool; it may come in a dream or journey, or be designed for your need.
The Map
Any walker must keep in stock an assortment of maps, for planning adventures abroad; but such things can also be employed profitably in rituals of place - such as by positioning a river-stone atop its representation, or laying a stick between two places to join them.
The wise will, over time, begin to draw their own maps - first, on the landscape, by places walked between, in the pattern of years and of visiting and re-visiting; second, on paper, like a child would do, calling the places of your wandering by their hidden names; third, to the otherworlds by pathways none other knows.
The Spirit Lantern
The Spirit Lantern is to be employed when wandering far-abroad in worlds unseen. Select it with care, and light a candle within before commencing journeying - this little light is your connection to the body, a tenuous thing vulnerable to winds and sputtering out. It cannot be replaced with a torch and battery, for we must give the Devil his chance, and we cannot travel far without flickering.
The Walking Stave
The stave assists the rambler by safeguarding his or her knees while traversing downhill, and providing extra stability on rough terrain. The stave can be combined with a sheet to provide ad hoc shelter from the wind, and can be crawled ontop of in case of quicksand.
Waters
If one feels reluctant to go outdoors, there is always cause to walk forth and collect holy water within a consecrated amel or container. Water represents directly the Domain from which it was taken, of three kinds Skyish, in order: water from a fast-flowing stream, water from the sky, water from the sea; and on the other path, water from a marsh or bog. This water can then be further aspected or amplified by placement out under moons or suns of various kinds, and the immersion of complimentary herbs. Any jar so consecrated ought to be labelled against forgetfulness, and disposed of where it came from - or at very least, with thankful words - if no longer in use.
There is no 'all purpose water' in our craft, save perhaps that which comes from a tap: the meaning of each is precise. Spring or streamwater is most similar to 'holy water' for healing and blessing; rain-water brings the storm and sorrow, great reversals and unbinding; sea-water is best for banishing, memory and the dead; marshwaters, strange transformations.