The best way to try to describe it is to purify or remove unwanted lingering energies from a person, place or thing. It also means to cleanse and purify an item or persons. You can also banishing negative feelings or vibrations from a tool or an area.

There are two main reasons for consecrating your ritual items. One is to remove the vibrations of other people who have handled (touched) your ritual tools. You do not want everyone else’s energies lingering or attaching to the magickal tools only you will be using. I know there are some people who say this does not matter. I believe and most witches will agree with me on this that it does matter.

Your ritual items should only be handled by you or your coven members if you are involved in a group or coven. The Coven or Grove may have a special "community" sword or besom. Everyone within that group may use or handle the tool from time to time. The reason for not letting other people touch your items is to keep it sacred and free of their emotions or energy.

Think of it like a sponge. It can and will pick up floating energy or auras. It will absorb yours and anyone else’s baggage when touched. Everything in your home can pick up floating energies. If you and your partner/spouse have an argument then those negative energies are released into the air. They will be absorbed by everything in its path. Both positive and negative energies can transfer to just about anything in site whether you can see it or not.

So this would make it a very good reason to smudge/cleanse your home quite often. In fact, you should consecrate your home before you move into it and when you decide to move into somewhere else. In this way you will be removing unwanted energies you and family members might leave behind for the new tenants and as you move into a new and different home the previous owners will be leaving you their negative thoughts or energies as well. So be sure to consecrate the entire house.

As with all marriages or relationships negative attitudes or fights can and will arise on occasions. So you may want to re-consecrate your home more often, perhaps once a month if you are in a stressful relationship.

The other reason would be to personalize this new tool and make it just yours. This will also increase and add to your personal powers. You should become close and very familiar with your tools that will be used to direct energy or divine the future. So just consecrate each new tool individually when you first get it. Be it from the occult store or self made, you need to cleanse and purify all ritual items.

This question kind of relies upon you. It depends on if you allow other people to see or touch your personal magickal items. Most non magickal people will have no knowledge about a consecrated tool. Their first instinct is to naturally pick up that awesome new athame you just got from the witch store. Wrong. This would really piss me off if I had already consecrated the tool in my deity and or spirit guide’s name for my use only during Magick or rituals. Think of it as a diary. Would they want someone going through their diary and fingering all the pages and leaving all their negativity? No way, it is very personal. So too is the cleansed ritual tool.

Here is another situation. You just made a really cool wand out of willow tree. You consecrated it already and the neighborhood kid picks it up to play with this neat looking stick. Well I bet the parent of this child has no clue it holds powerful energy. The kid has no idea what he holds in his hands. He/she may be considered innocent. The usual cop-out from most people (adults). This to me is still a no-no. Think of it like this, you probably went to a Christian church when you were younger right? Did anyone in that church ceremony ever get up and go to the altar and just start picking up the holy water and playing with the bottle or finger the altar tools? No they do not. They should not out of respect. This same idea applies to the pagan ritual (ceremonial tools) as well. It is very disrespectful to the owner of the tool of concern.