Rattled To The Finish

 I feel like celebrating at the finish of crafting a particular strange rattle wand for magic ritual spells. It's been two years in the making, waiting for the right things to come together mostly. At the end I already had on hand the final items needed, but it didn't all come together until last night. This project has been strong on my mind with the feeling that a person who needs this rattle may be ready for it soon. Every step of the way I followed internal guidance in selecting the materials to include and how they should go together; I adore how magic reveals itself in this manner of instinctive crafting! I consider an item or material that comes to mind to add to a ritual tool and get either a sharp (no) or a warm (yes) sensation in my center core. After feeling that sensation I turn to various reference materials to confirm that my selection indeed fits into the energy pattern of what I'm crafting and its purpose overall.

What has been created here is native to America, but seems to be more of an African American based Hoodoo tool rather than my usual Indigenous American inspirations. Understand that I am but the crafter, so I can only tell of an objects properties; the owner must decide how the object is best used. My feeling with this piece from the start was that this is a thing to be used for removing and cleaning; spirits, entities, ghosts, possession, Elementals, Shamanic conflict on the Spirit Plane in the Otherworld. Each one of the items used in its crafting has a large amount of associated symbolism that could be interpreted many ways.

I've included a quick snap shot of the projection end of this rattle wand. The main materials used are as follows: Pin Oak wood, a large male rat skull, a young alligator foot, a slice of High John the Conqueror root, grey colored fossil shark tooth, deer leather, black fox fur with a portion of the mouth of the pelt, brass and copper. The skull has been given mock eyes made of orange and blood red fired glass beads. The rattle sound is created by holding the wand upright and shaking the brass cones against the oak and each other.

Now I have one final bridge to cross or question to solve -- how to offer the rattle for a new owner to find? I have a lidded pine wood box set aside that the rattle fits well into, and it could be decorated. It seems like a good idea to offer the rattle with a protective box, especially since this probably isn't an item that would be used on a daily basis. I have also considered the concept of an upright display stand made of wire, but that would leave the rattle exposed to dust and general energy debris. That could perhaps be solved with an acrylic display case engraved with protection symbols. I could also assume that a new owner may already have a storage solution in mind. It's this matter of deciding how to present the rattle that's needed to finish up the project. The right choice will make itself known -- of that I am certain. So, I await the next step in this rattles journey with excitement, wondering how it will evolve and grateful that I was able to take part in its creation!

Thoughts, comments and input welcomed. -- Tree Pruitt

Share