Pagan tools and accessories

[snowyowl]

As a newcomer to Paganism I'm starting to build up a collection of equipment. I've got a specific question but thought a more general thread on the various aspects of choosing, acquiring and using our tools might be useful.

I like to wear pendants and have a few such as crystals, Woden's spear Gungnir, Thor's hammer Mjolnir, and a couple of dragons (representing the English white dragon or Wyvern).

My question is around second hand items. One of my dragon pendants is second hand, I know the previous owner and I haven't worn it yet. Will it still be infused with their energy and need 'emptying' before I start to use it, or is it ok just to start wearing it and the old owner's energy will gradually be replaced with mine? Or am I better to avoid second hand items altogether and start afresh with new?

[WhiteWarrior]

I have an altar of sorts. Most of the items on it are second if not third, fourth and fifth hand. Some are gifts. A box of crystals, a rabbit fur, a cross in a horse shoe, two drums, several dream catchers, little pouches with crystals, little rocks from a cathedral, a number of pendants with various symbols, a sickle, a clear crystal ball. I would not dream of 'emptying' them of their old energies. Crystals can benefit from cleansing, of course.

I know that not all these items are pagan as such. But they do connect with what I am. So yeah, I say embrace the old energies. Add to them.

[snowyowl]

Interesting perspective WhiteWarrior, thanks. In my researches on this topic most commentators suggest following our intuition and learning to become sensitive to the energies ourselves, so I guess we do what feels right.

In the end I decided to bury the dragon pendant in the garden near to an old tree, it's land which I have worked on for a number of years, so I guess my energy and the earth's are intermingled there. I'll leave it there for a month to complete a lunar cycle and then start to wear it.

For my altar I've got a large stone for the base, and a statue to get started. I might put a plant on too, for a connection to the living world.

[Miss Hepburn]

Gee whiz, snowyowl, even a chair from an antique shop needs to be 'cleansed'.
Be careful. :)

[snowyowl]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Gee whiz, snowyowl, even a chair from an antique shop needs to be 'cleansed'.
Be careful. :)

Gosh, I'm keen on second-hand stuff, often to be found in charity shops and it didn't occur to me about all the other things. How would you cleanse something like a chair or come to mention it, old books or the used chess set I got on ebay? I came across smudging in my researches, perhaps I could try that.

[FairyCrystal]

Originally Posted by WhiteWarrior

...I say embrace the old energies. Add to them.

Doesn't mean that these old energies serve you. They can potentially harm you energetically even.
And you don't have to remove everything.
I always go for letting go of everything that doesn't serve you or me.
"You" being the item.

I was recently gifted an amber bracelet that had belonged to his mother. I have no interest whatsoever to have her energies getting into mine.
So currently it is on selenite and before I even consider wearing or using it I will cleanse it further.

Often 2nd hand items hold dense energies. You don't know what went on in the home or with the previous owner.
Possibly a lot of stress, anger, illness and whatnot. I don't need that to enter my home or energies.

Whatever it holds that does serve me and/or the item can stay by how I cleanse.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by FairyCrystal

..You don't know what went on in the home or with the previous owner.
Possibly a lot of stress, anger, illness and whatnot. I don't need that to enter my home or energies.

Exactly!!!
Sorry, smowyowl, I'm not an expert on 'how' to cleanse things. Words, rituals, smudging, salt, selenite....you name it!

[snowyowl]

Thanks all. Yes as in other areas of life, health and safety come first so there's no harm in starting with that. In the subject of paranormal research and ghost hunting there's the stonetape theory, saying that human energies can be stored in crystalline materials like stone; and metals are also crystals. However as I move into my Paganism I'm going to be calling on the gods and goddesses for guidance and protection too so that's another way to approach this.