A sacred table that holds all the ritual tools upon it. It is a place of worship to the deities, and a place to perform all your spells and rituals. The table is usually and preferably made of all wood, especially if it is to be a permanent indoor altar. If one is to perform an outside ritual, then any tree stump or flat rock will do very nicely for an altar. Personal altars can be placed just about anywhere in your home or temple; they can be on top of bookshelves, on dressers, on top of a filing cabinet, a small oriental table (like mine), a small portable altar or just a simple altar cloth on the floor. Keep an eye on those fiesty little kittens though, they like to meddle with anything magickal.

A magickal journal in which spells, rituals, recipes, and "witchy" experiences are recorded to. (BOS is short for Book Of Shadows.) Some Witches choose not to let anyone see their personal BOS, and then some do not mind...it's just a matter of choice. Covens and Groves may have a "bos" for their group that either everyone in the coven can contribute to or is compiled by the Priest/ess or their designated scribe. Most Wiccan covens will have each member keep a coven BOS as well as their own; this is how we do it in our covens. You may want to put dream logs, meditations, workshops, rituals, herbal spells, special dates and Sabbat info or other such documents into it. Your Book of Shadows can be as simple as a blank diary or a 3 ring binder from Wal-mart. The color is of personal choice, but black is usually chosen by most practitioners.

A double edged knife. It is used for directing energy that is raised during our spells or rites. The Athame is not used foreveryday mundane things,so we use it to cut energy (air). In Pecti-Wita or Scottish witchcraft, it is used for everything, making the aforementioned statment only inclusive to Wicca or certain types of Witchcraft. The athame can be whatever length you feel is comfortable; a six inch athame is sufficient. You should try to make your own Athame, but if you cannot, then simply buy one and be creative with it-personalize it with sigils or magickal symbols, preferably a dull color or black handle. Your magickal name will look great and will make it a very personalized tool for performing magick rites and drawing the circle or power (energy).

Some witches say it can be too large if you are working indoors or confined space, but they work really nice in your rituals if you have the room or work outside. One thing you can do is try to get a shorter sword if it seems to awkward or too heavy. Most Covens also use a sword and is usually the Priest/ess has uses it {Whoever is casting the circle}for the whole Coven. We have short swords that I got from a local antique shop; they do a nice job and are really light. I believe it works really great in Dragon Magick rituals as well.

This is a very special knife in which they normally have white handles. Now unlike the athame, the bolline blade is crescent shaped and single edged. It is used as a working tool for instance cutting herbs and carving wands, it is not usually used for ritual uses. The Druid Sickle is pretty much the same thing and was also used for cutting herbs. Some say that it was Golden, but it seems unlikely since Gold is a very soft metal, making it impractical.

The wand is very good item to have; it is an instrument of invocation and is also used for drawing "The Circle" on the ground or mid-air (directing energies). It has many uses and is generally associated in the ceremonial craft, however many Wiccans use them as too. It can be made of several types of woodssuch as: willow, hazel,cherry, oak,etc....you get the idea. Crystal and copper pipe with crystals on the ends have also been used. You want to be crafty in designing your wand, it is your own to create.

The besom is used for cleansing the area or sweeping away the negative energies. We do not fly on them no matter how many movies you have seen! Although that sounds like alot of fun, we just don't. They do not touch the ground while sweeping your sacred space. It works great during a house cleansings too.

Or an incense burner is used for rituals and magick spells. Used to purify the magickal area you are working in. It can also represent the Air element. There are two main types. One is a swinging type,like the Catholic Priest use. And then there is a plain censer that has a lid, usually made of brass. Some newer types of censer found at Soma Luna have a wooden handle so you won't get burnt fingers as easy. Use corresponding scents for rituals and or magick spells. Frankincense or Myrhh are great all around types to use.

It was mainly used for cooking and brewing stews or herbal remedies, but it is used for a number of otherthings like during spells; you usually burn your written spell into the cauldron for it to manifest. You can also use a cauldron for burning candles as it is a heat-proof container (this will work in the instance of no candle holders). It is also a representational symbol of the Goddess and the Element of Water.In Celtic traditions, the cauldron is associated with the Goddess Cerridwen or Bran the Blessed.

Also known as the "cup". It is used to hold your offering of choice to the Deities {Wine/Mead, fruit juice or water}. Can be made of silver, crystal, brass, gold or whatever material you prefer. Also symbolizes the Goddess and fertility or the Water Element. When used with the Athame they create the union between The Goddess and God (Male/Female) aka: "The great rite". The Priest dips the athame into the chalice of the priestess as she holds it. The chalice may be drank (sipped) and then passed amongst the coven during the cakes and ale ceremony. The remainder of the wine offering is then given to the gods. Depending on tradition, you may give the gods the first drink of it.

A note on calling spirits: If you want nature spirits in your ritual, do not use a bell; it is said that the sound of the bell will hurt their ears and they will run away when they hear one. It may also drive away the faery folk, which is not conducive to your work if you intend on working with them!

Just like it looks, it is used for crushing and blending herbs and incenses. This is the most effective way. Some herbs that you buy, or if you hand pick them, may need to be a smaller and finer grain so it is necessary to crush them. You will need to combine more than one herb and other magickal items together for most spells. It may be beneficial to have more than one set if you are mixing edible herbs at different times than non-edible.