How to Craft Your Own Sacred Objects

Just the other day, Veronica went to the creekside with three piece of twine and she crafted a sacred object, a relic. It is a beautiful hanging charm with stones and stories tied into the string and it is hanging from a window now and as I look at it I feel the power that seemed to flow through her as she made this connection between herself and the water flowing just outside our home in the Catskills. She called this charm (PUT NAME HERE)

There is power in stories and relics are objects that have mystical powers built around stories. Like so much of our history as a civilization, the idea of relics has been coopted by religious organizations and other power structures. They seek to tell us what is worthy of mystical and ancient value. I am going to tell you that organized religions are not the owners of reliquary. I am going to tell you that you and I and we can craft and create relics and I am going to show you how.

Find yourself in an old European church and you may find yourself in the presence of a relic: a piece of cloth that once was a garment of a figure from that church's history or perhaps a bone from a revered saint. In the eyes of this church and the believers of this church, those things are indeed relics. They are sacred objects, parts of the story of the religion, a connection to a mythology or history that feels awe inspiring.

All established religions have relics. People far and wide travel to connect with these objects, to connect with the stories and to connect with faith and belief. It is a natural thing to have sacred objects. I ask you though, what objects do you connect with? What objects feel powered by stories and beliefs and magic in a way that you connect deeply with your own stories and beliefs through these objects?

If we here, at this moment, desire a path of new discovery, new stories, fresh beginnings in the making of myth and belief, where are our relics. Must they be ancient? Must they be anything? Can we create them through story and experience and by sanctifying them with our own traditions, rituals, songs and stories? I believe we 100% can and 100% should!

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Here is what I believe a relic is. 

1. A crafted relic is an object with a story that connects to a belief or experience, personal or shared.
2. A crafted relic has a name.
3. A crafted relic has a story.
4. A crafted relic is valuable to you and perhaps others well-beyond the perceived value of what it seems to be.
5. A crafted relic is usually composed of a found object, an augmented object or and object that has had deep significance. 
6. A handed-down object that you would like to make into a crafted relic must have a deeply meaningful story that connects you to something mystical; life, death, love, hope, power, etc.
7. The relic must be used in a ceremony.

Here is how to craft and create a relic.

1. Either have an intention and meditate on that intention. What are you in search of? What seems to be a challenge for you or others? What feels meaningful and deserves exploration? 
2. Either search for or find an object that calls to you. Veronica and I have both deliberately crafted relics and have found objects that served as relics. In both cases the objects felt as if they were calling to us. The Amulet of Intuition was deliberately crafted and used in the Strawberry Moon Coven ceremony. The found Staff of Truth was used at our wedding ceremony and The found Staff of Infinite Possibility at the wedding ceremony of friends. Both of the staffs were found during vision-quests.
3. Craft an object, preferably from at least one found item. Make sure the object can withstand time, wood, stone, metal. These things can last a lifetime. Start with that.
4. Add your own creative design or flourish to the object. Make it your own. Reach deep inside and let your creative juices flow. If it helps, let your object sit under the moon for a while to gather moonlight. Let it sit in anointed water. Wash it in the smoke of a cauldron. Sing to it! The crafting can be a physical manipulation or decoration of the object or it can be the crafting of ceremony around the object. 
5. Create a story for that object. What is its power? This can be an important step. What are you feeling as you craft this object? Are you looking for protection? Love? Wealth? Mystery? Knowledge? It's really up to you. You should get in touch with the material in a soft, meditative, enjoyable way. Feel it in your hands. Look deeply at it to perceive its essence. What is this thing? When did you find it? What power does it feel lives within it. Don't be shy here. Really go for it!
6. Wear this relic on your person. Use it in ceremony. Let it stay beside you as you sleep and let dreams wash over it. Keep it with you or present it in some alter space in your home. Show it to friends and family. Sing its praises! You are the creator of a legend so make it legendary!
7. The power of a relic grows with time. The more who know it, the more how see it, touch it, relate to it the more powerful it becomes!

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So, there you have it! I know you all have objects that have meaning in your lives and now you have the means for CREATING meaningful relics. We are the masters of our stories. We are the ancient beings and the magic lives within us and around us. 

Create a relic and you will be connecting with the child within and the wise old sage and the cosmic truths that live within us all and bind us with creative meaning and mystical power. It will be a sacred object and you will, over time see it is a great treasure.

Here is an image of the Amulet of Intuition crafted for the Strawberry Moon Coven in the Chelsea Hotel in 2019. A simple piece of Hemlock Pine twisted into a circle and bound with wire. Everyone at the Coven squeezed the juice from strawberries and we dipped our amulets into the juice to signify appreciation of the sweetness of the world and we moved the amulets through the smoke and embers of the cauldron as we performed an incantation. I have worn mine ever since.

There have been a lot of changes since then, many made in the spur of the moment. Going upstate to write during the pandemic led to Veronica and I buying a home together. Traveling to New Orleans this year just to get away led us to meet a host for the Witch Camps. The Amulet of Intuition has been around my neck and I believe it has helped make these in the moment choices that much more powerful. The Amulet is part of me, part of my story, part of the magic and power of the seemingly random choices made that produced amazing, unexpected results.

I created a relic from just a twig, some wire, a ceremony, a full moon and the power of the ceremonial magic at the coven. I believe in the relic, what it stands for and the story of its creation and growing influence in my life.

Let yourself be free to create, use clear intention and purposeful energy and harness the power of storytelling objects by creating your own relic and you'll find yourself wrapped in the mystical embrace of the a power forged by your own imagination.

-- David Varlow