Wands – Astrolabe Arts

Spiraled Spalting Wand

Here’s another experimental and single piece wand where the blade and haft are a solid piece of wood. I wanted to keep practicing my modest wood carving abilities with this one. There’s some light carving on the base of the haft and a spiral running the length of the blade and wound with copper wire. The haft also has a wrapping of waxed hemp under black rawhide. The roughly 12” long wand of spalting wood also has a coating of boiled linseed oil for preservation.

Artist: J.R. Goslant

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November 6, 2019October 24, 2019 by jrgoslant Categories: WandsTags: magic wand, wire wrapping, wood working Leave a comment

Natural Beaver Chew Wand with Blue Jay Feathers

The blade and haft are a single piece of river wood and, as evidenced by the teeth marks and pointed tips, debark by beavers. I then used different colored yarn for the patterns. The black, red, yellow, and white bands were inspired by the medicine wheel found in numerous native North American cultures with each color representing one of the four the cardinal directions. Each band is bordered by smaller blue bands I intended to represent rivers, lakes, the seas and the overall importance of water. Below those is a crosshatch pattern of dark and light green, blue, and orange on a background of white meant to symbolize the interplay between earth, water, fire, and air. The blade is coated with boiled linseed oil and comes to just under 24” in length. A strand of pyrite, turquoise, and skull beads capped with found blue jay feathers is attached to the midpoint of the wand. The patterns on the haft have also been given a thin layer of acrylic sealer for some protection against weathering.

Artist: J.R. Goslant

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October 29, 2019October 24, 2019 by jrgoslant Categories: WandsTags: beaver chew, beaver wood, magic wand, natural, shaman wand Leave a comment

Vines and Flowers Magic Wand

Another experimental wand: I wanted to try out some simple wood carving and find a medium for smaller, more detailed designs and metallic pens work quite well. It’s two separate pieces of wood joined together. I also used an acrylic sealer to protect the flowers and vines from rubbing off and to preserve the wood. There’s also a terminated quartz crystal embedded in the haft and wound with colored hemp twine for added cohesion, both physical and aesthetic. And including the embedded crystal comes to just under 15” in length. It’s also lightweight in case you’re ever inclined to carry it with you someplace.

Artist: J.R. Goslant

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October 24, 2019October 24, 2019 by jrgoslant Categories: WandsTags: magic wand, wood working Leave a comment

Natural Wand

The wood of this wand is most likely birch, but was difficult to be certain because it’s also a “beaver chew,” also called a “beaver stick,” and has had the bark chewed off. But this process has left clear tooth marks on parts of the wand’s blade. The point of the wand was also created naturally by beavers.

Continuing with the strong natural theme of this wand I attached a quartz crystal to the bottom of the haft and used vines to help keep it secure. I also attached feathers I found, one from a blue jay, a cardinal, and a small yellow bird -probably some kind of finch. There’s a little detailing done with a wood-burner and bands of yellow, blue, and red hemp to match the colors of each feather.

It’s about 13.5” long and polished with boiled linseed oil.

Artist: J.R. Goslant

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August 12, 2017July 22, 2017 by jrgoslant Categories: WandsTags: beaver chew, beaver stick, beaver wood, bird feathers, blue jay, blue jay feather, cardinal, cardinal feather, crystal, feather, magic wand, natural, nature, pyrography, quartz, quartz crystal, vine, vines, wand, wood burning, yellow bird, yellow feather Leave a comment

Knotted Haft Garnet Magic Wand

I’m very proud of this wand. When I came across the haft laying in some brush I knew it’d be perfect for wand-crafting.

The haft and blade are made from separate pieces of wood. After removing the bark from the knotted haft and shaping the blade I sanded them down, secured them together, and the whole wand a few coats of boiled linseed oil for protection and aesthetics. A garnet crystal was also embedded in the base of the haft.

Even though it’s a bit large for a wand at about 17” it’s well balanced with a comfortable, natural grip.

Artist: J.R. Goslant

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AstrolabeArts

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