Magical tools and their uses: a few thoughts
There's a common stereotype that a wand is an essential tool for magic. In reality, at least in this world, a small, narrow implement is no better a tool for precision than one's finger (and, ultimately, one's mind); indeed, having to conduct energy through a thing that is not part of you before releasing it could cause the energy to become unstable and poorly-directed (though this could be averted if the wand were in some way bound to the practitioner or made part of them), and a small tool might not withstand being a conduit for large amounts of energy for very long, unless made of a particularly resilient substance. It may, perhaps, serve as a psychological crutch if a person feels their own self too unreliable a tool, but in that case the mage's false assumptions about themselves will be a burden to their magic in any case.
There are, however, various implements that are used to aid in magic. While none are ever necessary, mages may frequently find them useful, albeit for different reasons than people might consider a wand to be useful.
One category of these is that of performance tools: items that are decorative and used to add a particular kinaesthetic aspect, visual appeal, or symbolic significance to a ritual, for the purposes of devotion and display to the energies or creatures involved (which also serves to get the mage into an appropriate mindset), enhancing the performance if that itself is the method of the magic, or pure artistic flair, as may be desired for performed displays of magic designed primarily to be pleasing to a crowd. In this sense, they largely serve as props rather than strict tools. The most common of these is a simple staff: a baton that adds weight to physical gestures and can be spun and swirled to create attractive patterns. Such a staff is usually not as long nor as heavy as the melee weapon of the same name, and as such is more easily wielded by even those with low physical strength. With most such tools, the entire force of the spell will not be channeled out through the implement; the spell will originate from the mage's body, as is normal, and the tool will become part of the body for the purposes of being charged with magic. This generally allows a small aura of light to gather around the tool, thus causing it, when moved, to draw patterns in the air.
Other things than staves are also used in this capacity, mostly for elaborate artistic displays rather than practical magic. A length of chain attached to either an oil-soaked bundle of ropes and cloth, set alight, or a crystal sphere charged with magical energy, is one such tool, allowing for even more elaborate trails of light and flame to be conjured than with a staff, given a suitably dexterous and gymnastic mage. While it may not seem like a traditional mage tool, similar setups have been created using nunchaku, with fire or crystal at either end. Also used are lightning nets, staffs with semicircular grids of metal netting at one end, charged with electrical energy and used in pairs: when brought close or banged together, impressive showers of sparks cascade between them. A mage may also employ ribbons or other conventional dance props as tools in such a performance.
Swords and other weapons are sometimes used, though more rarely: they serve the same purpose as a staff, but are more dangerous to handle and have martial connotations that many mages don't like to invoke when dealing with the metaphysical realm, a place where one's thoughts should be focused on transcendence and harmony. The raw adrenaline induced by having to handle these tools correctly can be a powerful ritual component, but often proves to be a distraction.
Another use for tools in magic is to extend a mage's abilities: not typically in precision but more often in capacity. One of the human body's weaknesses in magic is that large amounts of energy held within it for too long can damage it or become uncomfortable. A crystal sphere or other crystalline artifact, usually attached to a small hand-hold, can aid in magic by containing energy until a mage is ready to release it. While crystal can store more energy for much longer periods of time, weight for weight, than the human body, crystal tools are by necessity much smaller than a human and so limited in their effectiveness, but they are one good way to increase the amount of energy that can be added to a spell. They can also be encouraged to release their energy in a controlled way, often more difficult for a person who is struggling to contain the energy building up within them; if very small amounts of energy need to be released over a long period of time, a crystal charged with a spell and entrusted with the task of doing just that is a good choice. Crystals can have ideas impressed upon them, and their "memories" are incredibly long; while energy stored in them may fade over time, the concepts associated with that energy will not. As such, a crystal tool can be given a task and repeatedly "topped up" with fresh energy as that energy is used up in successive iterations of the task.
Of course, just about anything can be turned to the service of magic; there are many more kinds of magical tools than this article mentions here, but my discussions are limited to what I know. For the Harmonian mage, tools are mainly auxiliary: a mage's own body, mind and Runes are the only things one really needs to do magic, and all else is largely for the sake of personal tradition or ritual seeming.
There are, however, various implements that are used to aid in magic. While none are ever necessary, mages may frequently find them useful, albeit for different reasons than people might consider a wand to be useful.
One category of these is that of performance tools: items that are decorative and used to add a particular kinaesthetic aspect, visual appeal, or symbolic significance to a ritual, for the purposes of devotion and display to the energies or creatures involved (which also serves to get the mage into an appropriate mindset), enhancing the performance if that itself is the method of the magic, or pure artistic flair, as may be desired for performed displays of magic designed primarily to be pleasing to a crowd. In this sense, they largely serve as props rather than strict tools. The most common of these is a simple staff: a baton that adds weight to physical gestures and can be spun and swirled to create attractive patterns. Such a staff is usually not as long nor as heavy as the melee weapon of the same name, and as such is more easily wielded by even those with low physical strength. With most such tools, the entire force of the spell will not be channeled out through the implement; the spell will originate from the mage's body, as is normal, and the tool will become part of the body for the purposes of being charged with magic. This generally allows a small aura of light to gather around the tool, thus causing it, when moved, to draw patterns in the air.
Other things than staves are also used in this capacity, mostly for elaborate artistic displays rather than practical magic. A length of chain attached to either an oil-soaked bundle of ropes and cloth, set alight, or a crystal sphere charged with magical energy, is one such tool, allowing for even more elaborate trails of light and flame to be conjured than with a staff, given a suitably dexterous and gymnastic mage. While it may not seem like a traditional mage tool, similar setups have been created using nunchaku, with fire or crystal at either end. Also used are lightning nets, staffs with semicircular grids of metal netting at one end, charged with electrical energy and used in pairs: when brought close or banged together, impressive showers of sparks cascade between them. A mage may also employ ribbons or other conventional dance props as tools in such a performance.
Swords and other weapons are sometimes used, though more rarely: they serve the same purpose as a staff, but are more dangerous to handle and have martial connotations that many mages don't like to invoke when dealing with the metaphysical realm, a place where one's thoughts should be focused on transcendence and harmony. The raw adrenaline induced by having to handle these tools correctly can be a powerful ritual component, but often proves to be a distraction.
Another use for tools in magic is to extend a mage's abilities: not typically in precision but more often in capacity. One of the human body's weaknesses in magic is that large amounts of energy held within it for too long can damage it or become uncomfortable. A crystal sphere or other crystalline artifact, usually attached to a small hand-hold, can aid in magic by containing energy until a mage is ready to release it. While crystal can store more energy for much longer periods of time, weight for weight, than the human body, crystal tools are by necessity much smaller than a human and so limited in their effectiveness, but they are one good way to increase the amount of energy that can be added to a spell. They can also be encouraged to release their energy in a controlled way, often more difficult for a person who is struggling to contain the energy building up within them; if very small amounts of energy need to be released over a long period of time, a crystal charged with a spell and entrusted with the task of doing just that is a good choice. Crystals can have ideas impressed upon them, and their "memories" are incredibly long; while energy stored in them may fade over time, the concepts associated with that energy will not. As such, a crystal tool can be given a task and repeatedly "topped up" with fresh energy as that energy is used up in successive iterations of the task.
Of course, just about anything can be turned to the service of magic; there are many more kinds of magical tools than this article mentions here, but my discussions are limited to what I know. For the Harmonian mage, tools are mainly auxiliary: a mage's own body, mind and Runes are the only things one really needs to do magic, and all else is largely for the sake of personal tradition or ritual seeming.