Tools you will need are a good saw purposefully made for cutting wood. I use a pruning saw which is perfect for cutting any kind of branch efficiently. It may be advisable to ask a specialist which saw to use if you are unsure.
Choose wisely which tree you cut from. An Oak tree may be very desirable if you are following a Druidic Path but it takes years for an Oak to replace a 6 foot branch. Besides, most sessile and pedunculate oaks (the two main types in Britain) rarely produce straight branches. If you do find a length perfect for your needs, that is great. Remember that the Oak is sacred and special for another reason – it sustains over 200 different types of other plant, animal and insect life forms. Be careful not to disturb the ecology which depends on the Oak tree to any great degree
Rowan, Hazel, Birch, Holly, Ash, Hawthorn and Blackthorn live shorter lives than Oak but are faster growing and can replace branches quicker, without having to disturb the ecology too much.
They also provide straighter branches than the Oak and are much better for staffs. Be careful when handling Yew as it is poisonous. Every part of the Yew tree is poisonous except for the red berries, which birds love to eat and they do not digest the black seeds that are harmful to humans. During the winter months the bark of the Yew tree is at its most toxic and it is essential to wash your hands often and before eating. Once the bark has been stripped away down to the heartwood it is still prudent to wear a mask when sanding – breathing in the wood dust from a Yew tree may cause respitory problems. I have a cousin who makes longbows from Yew and has suffered the effects of its wood dust!
The best time to cut your staff or wand is during the non-growth cycle of the tree, which in most cases is during the autumn and winter seasons. During those seasons the sap will be flowing less, providing better conditions for the ‘seasoning’ process (see below) of the piece, and tree itself will also be less prone to attracting disease to the area where you have from it. If you are cutting during the spring and summer seasons it may be a good idea to paste the cut area of the tree with some wood glue to protect the raw heartwood from the elements.
It goes without saying that you should always ask permission from a tree before cutting anything from it and always thank it afterwards for sacrificing some of its body for your use. These acts will help ensure the safe transition of the tree’s magickal and spiritual energy which you will be able to utilise once you have made your staff or wand.
Lastly, and this is my personal golden rule: when cutting from ANY tree observe the Minimal Impact Rule. If by cutting a staff or wand from a tree you are going to adversely affect on the growth of that tree you are doing it serious harm. Good judgement will be your guideline as well as knowledge of that particular tree’s growth pattern. It would also be a good idea to learn some basic forest management cutting techniques, such as coppicing and pollarding, which can be applied to actively encourage the growth of a tree even after you have cut your piece from it.
Seasoning
Once you have cut your desired item you will need to ‘season’ it, which means it will need to be slowly dried out. Some woods, if dried out too quickly, will crack at the ends where they have been cut and where smaller branches have been cut from the length of it. A good tip is to seal over any bare parts of the wood with wood glue to prevent oxygen from drying them out too fast.
Seasoning in a constant temperature is desirable. Another good tip is to cut a length a little bit longer than you actually need just in case the wood does crack while seasoning. This gives you more length leeway when it comes to actually making your staff or wand. Seasoning will be proportional to the size of the piece you have and on the type of wood; a Holly staff will need to season for 2 to 3 months whereas a Holly wand will likely only need a month. Hazel staffs may only need up to a month to season. Holly and Blackthorn are prone to cracking so make sure they are thoroughly seasoned before stripping the bark from them.
It may be prudent to cut a few small test pieces of any tree just to see how fast or slow they season before you go out, choose and cut a length long enough for a staff. The last thing you need is for your perfect staff/wand to crack beyond use during the seasoning and it will have made all your efforts up to that stage a waste as well as the sacrifice of the tree itself in vain. Be wary of leaving your wood for too long to season as an over-seasoned staff will make its bark too difficult to strip away when you come to work on it. Three months, a literal Season, should be an adequate length of time for most types of wood.
Working on your staff and wand
Some people may choose to leave the bark on their staff or wand and some people may like to strip off all, or part of, the bark. I have two penknives suited to my purpose; one large for simple stripping and a smaller one for the more intricate areas, knots and natural honeysuckle-twisted lengths I generally favour. Please be careful when using knives. Cut and strip away from you wherever possible and make sure that if your knife does slip you don’t have your hand in the way. It’s no good having a staff or wand if you don’t have any fingers left to hold it! In no
circumstances use a Stanley knife – they are too sharp and are not designed for working with wood.
Once the bark has been stripped away down to the heartwood you may want to leave the staff/wand a couple of extra days to dry out a bit more before the sanding process can begin. First start with a course sandpaper to take away any rough areas and also to get rid of any of those prominent knots you don’t want along the length. Work your way down with a medium grade paper and finally to get a nice smooth finish use fine grade sandpaper.
Actually getting to work on the wood is my favourite part of the whole process as I get to know and understand intimately the properties of the wood I am working with. Holly, I have found, needs much patience, especially around any knotted areas. Blackthorn and Yew strip easily and the heartwood is easy to sand and leaves a lovely smooth finish. Hazel is easy to strip but it is also easy to make mistakes and cut too deep at times. Oak and Rowan are similar.
Some of you may be experienced in carving and may desire to carve patterns, runes, faces etc upon your staff/wand, or you may desire to etch symbols and patterns using a pyrography kit. Both of those techniques are wonderful talents to implement.
The finishing touches
Before you can take your beautifully hand-crafted staff or wand outside you will need enhance and protect from the elements. Three or fours coats of linseed oil and/or natural bees wax are perfect finishing touches to you piece. You may wish to add a stain to the wood so make sure you do that first before adding the linseed or bees wax. This final process will bring out the grain on the wood and make the staff/wand look truly professional. Please follow any manufacturer’s instructions when applying stains, oils and waxes. If you are going to use the staff for walking it is a good idea to also add a rubber ferrule to the tip to protect and preserve it from wear.
Some magical properties of trees
Birch: Beginnings, purity, cleansing.
Rowan: Protection and insight.
Alder: Defence, resurrection, new life.
Willow: Harmony, inspiration, serenity, comfort.
Ash: Strength, learning, wisdom, healing.
Hawthorn: Sacred to Brighid, Faery tree, for release of negative energy
Oak: Guardian, fate, strength and growth.
Holly: Energy, balance, love, empathy
Hazel: Wisdom, divination, inspiration
Apple: Vision, physical cleansing, choice
Blackthorn: Magical power, choice, challenge, change,
Yew: Perseverance, transformation (the endless cycle of life)
This article © Copyright Rick M Carr/Witcherman 2006-2014
Not to be used or reproduced without permission from the Author
Ogham Divination 
ahahaha…no fingers for hold it was funny…thanks for the teachings and nice to hear from you the love and respect to the nature that some not talk about when teaching how to build the staff. thanks for teaching twice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I pulled the blackthorn Ogham card today along with Alder and Elder. I came to your site through a search for a bit more information. Thank you so much for sharing…it’s good to be here. During the day a deer appeared outside and we maintained eye contact…it was a soothing and loving experience, and guidance to be in grace during challenge. Thank you again. I tend 4 hazels, 2 hawthorn, beech, birch, chaste berry…and a ginkgo tree. Green blessings.
LikeLiked by 1 person