It’s a fair question that I see often.
How long, or short, should a wand be? What’s the “proper” length for this magical instrument?
The answer may vary a great deal between systems and traditions. I’ve seen 11 inches and 13 inches here and there on the Web, both a play on numerological concepts, eleven bering the first “master number” and all that entails, thirteen representing death & rebirth or at least endings and reinitiation.
The Grand Grimoire prescribes a length (of Hazel) 19 1/2 inches, the Grimoire Verum neatly forgetting to mention dimensions at all. Most online Wiki pages seem to have taken their cue from the latter, also failing to discuss how long the wand might be.
Casanova is said to have used an olive wand of 20 inches, while Franz Bardon instructs a range of 2-20 inches. Ultimately the matter of length is either debatable, or simply danced around and left unspecified.
While this chaos and silence may be fine for the standard warm-and-fuzzite, it simply won’t do for the technician among us, the magician for whom “nerding out” on the details is half the joy. Pleased to meet you, that’s me I was just writing about above.
I was taught at the start of my interest in wanding, wandcraft, et al to use the measure from the crease of my elbow to the tip of my middle finger. I can’t recall if this was taken from something by Roger Bacon or maybe a Zoroastrian tradition. Whatever the origin, this measurement is also known as one cubit, which I find totally fascinating because it can vary so immensely between individuals. wand for me is a rod for the man who taught me this, so different are we in dimensions.
[Note: I think 19 1/2 inches is also represented as a cubit, and I have seen flat statements that 19 1/2 inches is “the length of a human forearm”. IDK what to say to this, as it can obviously be disproved via tape measure and a few willing folk of different shape and size.]
What I really like about this length is the feel and measure of it in hand. I like to teach “Three C’s” when relaying insight about wanding. That is, a good wand for you is measured by the
* Comfort of its fit with your hand
* Control you have over the basic movements
* Command of energies and power you muster with wand in hand
For me a cubit nails all three of these. Maybe it will work for you as well.
Want to know a little about what kind of wood can make a great magic wand? Click here.
Also check out my complete magic wand user guide.