Luna Ignis Beech Keppen with ball end

This keppen is approximately 4 inches in length.

Keppens are very traditional English cottage witchcraft. Wands have a very ceremonial magick history, many of the old grimoires have instructions for cutting and making wands. Traditional cottage witches in the west of England used “keppens” instead. They are basically a mini or pocket wand. The type of wood used lends power to the spell based on Ogham tree lore… So Oak for success, blackthorn for cursing, birch for healing, apple for love, alder for protection and so on. Easily concealed in the hand, pocket or purse they are highly portable and can be used discretely even in public or the workplace!

Beech is “Queen of the Forest” in old England with of course Oak being the King. Beech is a pretty and hard wood. Its nuts feed the forest animals. Beech forests are beautiful and revered places in England.

Beech groves have been found in and near important places of power; Avebury and Cerne Abbas to name two. They maybe have been used for food as much as their majestic presence. They have been said to have inspired the building of Cathedrals; the high vaulting arches mimic the high arching branches of the Beech Grove. Beech is thought of as The Mother of the Woods. Beech is also known as the Beech Queen who’s consort is the Oak King.

Beech is known for her generosity of spirit, she gives both protection and nourishment, as she fans her branches out into a broad canopy that is useful for shelter and her beech nuts used to be a valuable food source. People once relied upon her beech nuts to keep themselves from starvation, and collecting them helped strengthen the bonds between the community or clans. Beech was also used as a good luck charm, and pieces of it were thought to bring good fortune to the wearer. Many legends talk of serpents and Beech trees and the poet Tennyson referred to the ‘serpent-rooted Beech tree’; good examples of such are to be found at Avebury.

Beech is linked with time, wisdom and knowledge but especially written wisdom, as the Beech was used in thin slices to write upon and form the very first books. This is corroborated by the fact that Beeches were called ‘Boc’ by the Anglo-Saxons, which later became book. Even today the Swedish word ‘Bok’ means both book and beech and in German ‘Buch’ means book and ‘Buche’ means Beech.

Sacred to Saturn, Beech brings needed change, wisdom, discipline and the mysteries of time!

Each of Paul's wands and keppens are unique. There is no plan beforehand, the wand is allowed to manifest as it wills, Paul just helps it along.

Wood is of course a natural product. Paul works with the branch, interesting boles, cracks, are incorporated and left by design. Paul also never removes all the bark, as like skin it comes in many layers and some of the lower layers have their own gorgeous color and details!
Oiled with one of our award winning Luna Ignis brand range of anointing oils to protect the wood and make the grain pop!

Long before Paul was ever a blacksmith he carved and was a wandsmith. Before even Artes And Craft opened as a witchcraft store, Paul was making wands and selling them at pagan festivals and gifting them to friends. Being English, Paul would often cut wood when visiting England and return to the USA with some of the most famous classical Celtic magick woods of Ogham lore. In fact, this was one of the founding principles of Artes And Craft, was to bring beautiful ritual tools and goodies from the old world to pagans in the new world. Paul loves crafting heirloom quality unique ritual tools for pagans, druids, ceremonial magicians, Traditional witchcraft and wicca.