Ritual Tools
While many power objects find a home on the ritual altar and are used in ceremony, they are not necessarily the same as ritual tools. Ritual tools are objects that have very specific uses in a ceremonial setting. The smudge fan purify space. Smudge and incense begin to induce a sacred state of mind. The ritual sword may be used to cast the circle and cut openings in it for participants that need to leave or re-enter. These tools may be gifts from your spirit allies, but they have a purpose other than connecting you to Deity and holding power for you individually.
Ritual tools being great mystery and powerful belief to a ceremony. Simply by using them, you may be transported into a magickal state of consciousness. The belief in their power alone can spur you into more effective magick and deeper trance states. This can be particularly true in the early stages of your practice, but continued use can increase their power exponentially. The more you work with these tools, the more conditioned you become to the stages of consciousness that you experience through using them. In this way, they can be invaluable catalysts to the creation of magick.
Because of the important role these tools play in the creation of ceremony and the intimate nature of your psychic relationship with them, it is vitally important that ritual tools be properly cleansed and ritually consecretaed and accepted by the deities of your path.
Kristen Madden
Llewellyn’s 2007 Magical Almanac
Witches Of The Craft® 