Over the past several months birds have been leaving me the gift of feathers while walking my dog in the park. I took it as a sign and began thinking about making my own feather sacred smoke wand with a few of them. There are a number of tutorials online for how to do this but this is my process to create a simple but elegant wand using mostly natural materials:

Step One: Prepare a stick for your wand. I did this prayerfully and picked up a piece of maple I found that fit my hand perfectly. I stripped off the bark, took a knife and cut off the little buds and then put a little teak oil on it. You could also stain it or leave it natural.

Step Two: String feathers with twine. I used the Native American method of stringing feathers. You can find a video of this on YouTube.

Step Three: Tie feathers to stick. I did each one individually, using a square knot. Then I put a dab of Gorilla glue on the knot before snipping off the ends.

Step 4: Wrap with suede/leather cord. I used the same method to attach the leather that I did to attach the twine to the feathers. Start with a loop that’s pointing toward the finished end. Wrap the cord around the stick. Finally tuck the end of the cord through the loop and pull the string on the top until the loop closes and secures the cord. [I hope that’s not thoroughly confusing!]

Step 5: Snip the ends of the suede or attach them to the wand with Gorilla glue. You can also add any other embellishments you like.

So, that’s how I did it. I’d be curious to hear from others who have made similar wands. How did you make yours? Happy crafting!

Copyright ©2017 by David Taliesin, http://www.sabbatsandsabbaths.com