The Dragon Practitioner’s Staff

 

At some time you will want to include a staff among your tools. You can choose a piece of dowel or natural wood about shoulder-high or head-high. It has been my personal experience that shoulder-high is quite long enough; as with swords and wands, a staff that is too long can create disaster in one movement. You may wish to attach a crystal or small crystal ball to the top end.

If using a smooth dowel, you can purchase four lengths of cording the length of the staff. These should be in the colors of the elements. Traditionally, these are red, yellow, blue and dark green or black. Tack or glue a length of cording down each side of the staff to correspond to the elemental directions. Attach tassels of the same color at the top end of each piece of cording; if you cannot find colors, use white instead. If you do not want to tack or glue the cording, it can be attached near the top of the staff by decorative brads or nails and allowed to swing free; if you do this, use short pieces of cording to avoid getting tangled in them. You can further decorate the staff with small bells, glass beads, or whatever seems appropriate to you. If you choose a limb or twisted wood staff, it can be decorated with dangling ribbons of the appropriate colors attached near the top in the correct order. Attach the bells, glass beads, etc. to the ribbons.

When decorated in this manner, the staff becomes the dragon bridge, or the connecting link between the magician and the astral planes. The staff is a symbol of magical authority, you right to call upon and work with dragons. It is also symbolic of the center of the circle or the element of Spirit. At times it can be used like an oversized wand. Be careful when gesturing with the staff because it is very easy to knock things over.

For convenience, you might consider having some type of holder or a deep bucket of sand near one end of the altar to securely hold your staff when not in use. Or it can be laid on the floor before the altar. The problem with this method is that you may tend to stumble over the staff when deeply involved in the ritual unless you are careful. But then, a deep bucket of sand is attractive to cats and small children. Experiment until you find what works for you.

“Dancing With Dragons”

D. J. Conway