Wishing Willow Wands

It began when I had finished harvesting this year’s willow crop. The enormous piles of long straight willow rods were just waiting to be used for various projects around the farmhouse. Some would be used to create fencing panels to surround the ever growing compost heap. I mean, who wants to look at a heap of chicken poop?

The larger rods were already earmarked for building arches and other decorative large structures on the property. That still left a great many thinner rods. Willow has so many amazing uses! It provides pain relief in the form of a tincture or tea made from the bark, or it can be made into living fences, furniture, or baskets — the list is exhaustive.

I admit it; I have a love affair going on with the willow trees that surround my land. Looking at this year’s huge haul made me feel incredibly rich. All that potential creativity piled high. Did you know that you can start a willow tree by taking a green branch or rod and planting it straight into the ground? The willows that form my living fence will grow meter long rods in their first year. In subsequent years, they will grow much longer rods in one season.

I was enjoying myself while rummaging around in my mental list of possible projects when my brain decided to go on a mini exploration of the shapes I could create by bending, folding and twisting willow rods. Does that ever happen to you? You start out thinking about something essentially practical, and imagination just takes over with all kinds of ideas? This particular foray into imaginative willow-bending tended towards spirals, a favourite shape of mine. Since I consider spirals to be both primal and magical, my mind leapt over to a pentacle. A five pointed star or pentacle is probably the best known symbol for magic. And wouldn’t you know it, you can draw one using a single line! A willow rod is basically a single line, so all I needed to do was figure out how to “draw” by bending a stick.

I enlisted the help of my daughter and we sat down with a pile of willow. She gets credit for figuring out how to fold the star shape (thanks sweetie!) while I discovered that I could secure the shape by twisting the leftover stem down the main branch. Tada! A star wand is born. It even included the spiral I had originally visualized.

Since the willow is such a giving and regenerative tree it seemed appropriate to endow the wands with the power to grant wishes. Besides, they reminded me of the wand of the Disney fairy god mother, and wasn’t she granting wishes?

Adding the power to grant wishes was really just a playful idea, but I found myself thinking along the lines of spell casting. Everyone knows you need a charm to say aloud when creating magic right? “Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo” was already taken, so I made up a little rhyme to say as I formed each star. The rhyme was a way to infuse enchantment into the wand. Thus they became magical wish-granting wands. Each point of the star is symbolic of an area of life you may put a wish into, and saying the rhyme allowed me to focus intention into each bend, twist and fold I was making. In truth, willows seem to have an enchantment all their own with no help from me.

Even if you don’t have a crop of willow, you can make your own wand with a star. All you need is a long, straight, and slim branch from a tree. Make sure it’s green and not dried out or it will break instead of folding. You’ll need a branch that’s a least 3 feet long. You can watch me do the folding, tucking and twisting in the video below. Saying the rhyme is optional. Maybe make up your own?

Turns out the willow tree (in all it’s forms) has been revered all over the world throughout history. It has long been considered an enchanted tree and is used for practical and magical purposes across the globe.

And this from J.K. Rowling: The following description of the powers and properties of various wand woods are taken from notes made, over a long career, by Mr Garrick Ollivander, widely considered the best wandmaker in the world. As will be seen, Mr Ollivander believes that wand wood has almost human powers of perception and preferences.

And really, who is going to argue with the creator of Harry Potter’s magical world?

I haven’t got any proof that these will work, only a sense that making a wish while holding a wand with pre-loaded magic might just open a door or two. I suppose I should test a few by giving them to friends or their children. Imagination is clearly a doorway to creating new things, otherwise the wands would not exist.

And speaking of Fairy God ART Mothers… (how’s that for a segue?)

Don’t forget to check out my new book, but only if you are an artist who wants to make a living selling art -

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