copied from elfwreck from feri, for your pagan pleasure
ELFWRECK WRITES:
The Three Feri Wands
As taught to me by Eldri Littlewolf, as taught to her by Victor Anderson
(This is different from the White Wand/Artist, Green Wand/Healer, Black Wand/Grandmaster system used by some Feris.)
The wand of a Feri, like the belt of a martial artist, denotes skill and power, not social status or hierarchical rank within the tradition. Witches defer to the black wand because it denotes experience and competence, not because it is due respect or admiration.
The first wand a Feri receives is white-new wood, stripped of bark. Over time, as it's used, the oils from the witch's hand and the materials it has touched soak into the wood, and it is slowly stained to a greenish-grey color: glas. It has become the green wand. After more use, years of practice and activity, more dirt, sweat, oils and blood soak into it, and it darkens even more until it is black.
The black wand of the master isn't an honor bestowed from the outside, but a fact, a physical representation of certain aspects of the soul and aura. The very experienced witch has a black wand, whether or not that's acknowledged by anyone else.
A ceremony to celebrate each stage of this is appropriate but there isn't a point at which the wand "becomes" green or black; it's a gradual process. A ceremony only notes "this has happened," not "this happens today." It notes "we acknowledge and honor your skill and experience," but it does not grant either. Almost always, the ceremony is a case of "we really should've done this a long time ago."
These wands aren't markers of time, but of practical experience: if you take a white wand, put it on a shelf and never touch it, it never darkens; a person who's initiated but stops practicing never earns a green or black wand, and a person who only rarely does witchcraft will be much slower to earn the green wand and may never get to the black wand, while someone initiated much later may earn both fairly quickly.
White wand: Beginner, new initiate; has the tools of the craft but not much experience wielding them. Very much still learning.
Green wand: Experienced witch, coven leader (possibly one among several); comfortable using the tools of the Craft in many circumstances because s/he has experience in those circumstances. Able to teach and initiate others.
Black wand: Master witch, warlock or sorcerer, founder of new lines; is skilled with all tools and none. Someone who has grown beyond what they've been taught and has built a solid enough practice to teach it, in addition to or instead of what they learned.
The Three Feri Wands
As taught to me by Eldri Littlewolf, as taught to her by Victor Anderson
(This is different from the White Wand/Artist, Green Wand/Healer, Black Wand/Grandmaster system used by some Feris.)
The wand of a Feri, like the belt of a martial artist, denotes skill and power, not social status or hierarchical rank within the tradition. Witches defer to the black wand because it denotes experience and competence, not because it is due respect or admiration.
The first wand a Feri receives is white-new wood, stripped of bark. Over time, as it's used, the oils from the witch's hand and the materials it has touched soak into the wood, and it is slowly stained to a greenish-grey color: glas. It has become the green wand. After more use, years of practice and activity, more dirt, sweat, oils and blood soak into it, and it darkens even more until it is black.
The black wand of the master isn't an honor bestowed from the outside, but a fact, a physical representation of certain aspects of the soul and aura. The very experienced witch has a black wand, whether or not that's acknowledged by anyone else.
A ceremony to celebrate each stage of this is appropriate but there isn't a point at which the wand "becomes" green or black; it's a gradual process. A ceremony only notes "this has happened," not "this happens today." It notes "we acknowledge and honor your skill and experience," but it does not grant either. Almost always, the ceremony is a case of "we really should've done this a long time ago."
These wands aren't markers of time, but of practical experience: if you take a white wand, put it on a shelf and never touch it, it never darkens; a person who's initiated but stops practicing never earns a green or black wand, and a person who only rarely does witchcraft will be much slower to earn the green wand and may never get to the black wand, while someone initiated much later may earn both fairly quickly.
White wand: Beginner, new initiate; has the tools of the craft but not much experience wielding them. Very much still learning.
Green wand: Experienced witch, coven leader (possibly one among several); comfortable using the tools of the Craft in many circumstances because s/he has experience in those circumstances. Able to teach and initiate others.
Black wand: Master witch, warlock or sorcerer, founder of new lines; is skilled with all tools and none. Someone who has grown beyond what they've been taught and has built a solid enough practice to teach it, in addition to or instead of what they learned.