Who's got a staff?

[Kima]

What is a staff for?

Beating up demons unfortunate enough to step into my circle.

[Explorer]

What is a staff for?

Beating up demons unfortunate enough to step into my circle.

What!? You discriminate against demons? I thought druidry was all-inclusive and all about peace, free love and understanding?
Demons go through hellish times anyway, with less and less people believing in them.

Say, DJ, isn't it time for you to start a new pet project? Like a "Save the Demons" campaign? Or perhaps we could all curse water at a set time and provide a home for them in the crystals that form?

[Kima]

@ Nico

I like to use a small staff to cast my circle. I'm not sure why but it makes it a lot more real. And the wand's too short to beat anyone up, really

[Explorer]

@ Nico

I like to use a small staff to cast my circle. I'm not sure why but it makes it a lot more real. And the wand's too short to beat anyone up, really

true... but I don't like beating up people or things with a staff. That is soooo BC.
I use swords and spears for that. I once killed a Holly King with a sword with Midsummer, and the Oak Queen 6 months later. And twice a Beltane Queen with a spear. And my own throat was cut with a knife once or twice with Lughnasadh.
I wonder if druids in the future will use guns for that, because it has a more authentic feel than phasers.

Anyway, I did make a staff, but I have never used it because I don't really know what to use it for.
I use my finger or a wand to cast a circle, but that wand is just an undecorated stick that I found.

[Lily]

Wow Nico, you are really taking this "wild druidry" thing seriously eh?

[skh]

To lean on while standing in the circle in group rituals?

[Lily]

well, skh, during my first group ritual that I facilitated (with someone else) I nearly died from stagefright so yes, to lean on...

[Kima]

The staff (or wand) I use now comes from a beech branch that stood in the way of my circle. I decorated it a little by removing strands of bark. It is curved at the end which makes it easy to hold when I walk (although it's not big enough to lean on properly) and which I also use to cast the circle. I might add an owl feather, but am not sure yet.
That would make it look a lot more New Age

[Daire]

Anyway, I did make a staff, but I have never used it because I don't really know what to use it for.
I use my finger or a wand to cast a circle, but that wand is just an undecorated stick that I found.

Haven't found much use for casting circles, but this sounds much like me. I have had a staff now and then, undecorated just a large stick. No idea why, or what to use it for, but Druids always look cool holding one.

Dáire

[cursuswalker]

This thread is the ideal arena for this little bit of self-satire

THE STAFF DELUSION

Once there was a Druid
Who had a mighty staff
‘Twas six foot long and of good girth
And impressed his other half

And then one day he lost it
Or did he throw it away?
In any case from that day on
Other druids were made to pay.

For from that day he loudly claimed
At gorsedd, moot and grove
That there was no evidence for staffs
And for arguments he strove.

Now some among the druids
Were patient to explain
That the gurt big sticks they held aloft
Could be used just like a cane.

While others there were among them
Who asked why he could not see
That it was clear that there were staffs
So why not let it be?

He replied with a certain brashness
That the objects they held were posts
Or staves at best, or even poles,
Walking sticks at the most.

And from that day on when in a robe
He carried a bag of twigs
For this, he declared, was the reality
For a druidic-staff skeptic.

[Lily]

awesome

[bioai]

I've found this thread very useful, as I too am looking at making a staff, thanks everyone.

[DJ Droood]

I have two staves. One I found walking my dog...it is about 5' long and has a knot of wood at the end that looks like a dragon...including a bit of moss for hair...I haven't done anything to finish it, but it has natural worm etchings that look like elf writing...I marveled at it on the forest path for a long time, until a dog snatched it from me and I chased it down and wrestled the branch from it, and explained to the startled and frightened owner that it was my stick. I've used it at a few group activities because it lends balance to the robe and makes me feel druidy.

I have another straight and hefty branch, about 6 feet, with a pair of deer antlers attached to the top. The antlers were in the basement rafters of our house when we bought it...I remember seeing them when we did the tour and hoping that they would leave them. This staff rests in the corner of my basement pub looking magnificent.

[penyou]

Hi

I have a staff that was gifted to me from our 3rd order grove member. It's a maple staff, was gifted at my initiation at Beltane. I have decided that i would like to use pyrography, to symbols on my staff, and i practicing on odd pieces of wood that i have salvaged from a friend of mine who is a cabinet maker. Im from Swansea, but i now live in Canada, hence the maple.

[Ade Sundog]

I have a staff , or more likely , a stick ( a thumb stick ) . It is made of Hazel , it comes from a Hazel thicket i was coppicing , a few years
ago. It is nice and straight. I left the bark on , and sanded it down lightly ,then rubbed linseed oil in.

I used to think i needed a staff , then i wondered what for. So now it's a walking stick , and very nice too

[Twyrch]

I am considering making a staff out of the branch of a young elm tree and would like to know more about the way others have done it. Can you describe your staff, the reasons why (and how) you made it, and what you use it for? I want to make sure that if I decide to go for it I will do every step thoughtfully

I got a staff, but I bought mine. It was hand carved by someone in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and has the Green Man carved into the top of the staff. It's 6 feet long and is made of Ash wood. I love this staff and felt a connection to it, even though I didn't carve it myself.

[Karl]

As Winter is getting on here in the UK I've been seriously contemplating cutting myself a staff, more for walking in the snow and ice than anything else. However I have one small conundrum.

I'm a very 'earth' element person, prefering the deeper, more ancient aspects of things, looking back instead of forward, and so forth. SO I am tempted to have as decoration at the head of my staff the rootball of the small tree. Of course this means that the wood of the staff would be inverted, and the tree would be (gasp) upside down! Which just doesn't seem right. So I ask you all what your opinion on this matter is?!

[Duellist]

I have a staff, but (to my shame) I am not actually sure what species of tree it comes from. I found a branch in roughly the right size, broken free of a tree by heavy winds, then trimmed off the jagged edge at the wider end to make it the bottom. I really should work out what family of tree it belongs to, but it was kind of sitting there in the path waiting for me rather than something I went looking to acquire.

It's been about a year since I found it and it is half-stripped of bark, unpolished, unwaxed and waiting to be finished. I think I kept meaning to do it 'before the next grove celebration' and then failed to make it to one since last year. (my wife can't get weekends off work)

[Kima]

I am tempted to have as decoration at the head of my staff the rootball of the small tree. Of course this means that the wood of the staff would be inverted, and the tree would be (gasp) upside down! Which just doesn't seem right. So I ask you all what your opinion on this matter is?!

That's what Gandalf has in The Lord of the Rings, and his pipe is hidden among the roots

[Karl]

If it's good enough for Gandalf it's good enough for me!