#cunning tools

i follow the teachings from Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways; by Gemma Gary, and Viridarium Umbris: The Pleasure-Garden of Shadow; by Daniel A Schulke, pertaining to stave-crafting.

this stick comes from a pine tree, although due to the circumstances i'm not entirely sure the entire species. it might even be from a norway spruce tree! but the meditation i've done communing while carving this stick has given me the vibe that this is from a pine, so that's what i've been referring to it as.

within the Ogham*, Pine is indicative of foresight, wisdom, regeneration, divine intervention, & mother goddesses.

Gemma Gary describes the virtues of pine staves as such:

Pine: Of both fiery and airy virtue, of aid to the workings of healing, prosperity, exorcism, protection, wisdom, progress and the increase of power.

In Viridarium Umbris: Pleasure Garden of Shadow, Daniel Schulke has an entire passage concerning the virtues of Pine, Rustic Lord of the Lonely Places:

The Pine stands as the ally of the Wayfarer upon the Path for its many uses, both practical and magical. The presence of Pines is an indication of life, as the Trees tend to grow in community and attract diverse beasts and worts to their domains. Dead wood provides excellent kindling for the fire, and live wood cut for timber is one of the most versatile and workable of woods. Nuts found within the cones provide a wholesome food to sustain the body; all species are edible. Its sap is both nutritive and medicinal, and, should additional sustenance be needed, the green needles may be brewed into a nourishing tea. Thus, though often found spreading its branches in the wild lands, the Pine-forest serves as a place of Sojourn and respite whilst walking the path in pilgrimage.

The Genius of the Pine, despite its preference for wilderness, is on the whole friendly toward man, hence its adaptation in many circumstances to domestic existence, and bestows the virtues of ingenuity and adaptation.

In species it numbers almost one hundred, widely distributed throughout the world, and some kinds, such as the Bristlecone, may attain ages in advance of 4,500 years. Though numerous exotic conifers have come forth unto Albion in recent centuries, its principal Pine-warden is the magnanimous Pinussy/vestris or Scots Pine, which may be seen in its truly wild state now only in isolated places in the Highlands, however in certain hedges in East Anglia it curiously makes a home among the more usual hardwoods common there.

With most Pines, trunks of larger trees reveal sap-flows where the fragrant resin has hardened; this may be collected and used for varied purposes of Art, such as for fumigation or for making varnishes. However, not every Pine species produces resin of good and wholly aromatic quality, thus it is a matter of discernment which the simpler must arrive at by cunning and diligent investigation. Where a certain pine resin is left wanting with regard to its aromatic properties, it may still be used as an agent of binding.

Needles harvested and dried green will retain aromatic virtue and may be burnt, together with resin and cones, as a suffumigant strong in powers of earthing, and keeping haunting shades of the dead at bay. This power of removing ghost-infection is doubly potent in the resin.

The cones, after having expelled their seeds, serve as encharmed vessels for the work of thaumaturgy, each of the numerous hollows capable of being filled with a different enchantment. Likewise, the hollows of a cone may be packed with flammable unguents, aromatic resins and powders, and the whole set to roast slowly upon the hearth-fire of working as a splendid per-fume. Such aromatic ingredients may be derived from the Pine direct, in the form of resin, ground bark and needles, and twigs, or from other worts and trees as dictated by Ingenium.

in The Green Mysteries: Arcana Viridia, Daniel Schulke describes the following properties of pine:

The Spirit-Retinue of Pine: Provision, Reliability, Versatility, Probity, Alliance, Penetralia, Refuge, Godship, Endurance, Valor, Principled Cure, Thriving Vitality, and Quiet Rapture.

Its powers in ceremony are Purification, Protection, & Illumination, though it also possesses a strong oblative principle, and is a natural adjunct to healing. As manifesting the resonances of the classical planets, it is principally a tree of the Sun, both in the scope of its occult power and its Jupiter, particularly when the nut is considered.

recipe for witch powder from Gemma Gary:

Camphor oil — 1 drop, Dragons blood — 3 tsp, Earth from places of power — 1 tsp, Madder root — 2 tsp, Mugwort — / tsp, Patchouli oil 1 drop, Salt — 1/2 tsp