The magic wand is an ancient conjuring representation of mystery. To the uninitiated, it’s no more than a piece of wood. To me, it is a reminder of the joy and pleasure of an entertainment art that has existed since ancient times.

If you’ve ever dealt a deck of Tarot Cards, you’re familiar with “The Magician” card. It shows a magician pointing up to the heavens with his wand, and down to the ground with his finger. He serves as a human conduit between heaven and earth, his wand serving to draw energy from the universe and to harness it for practical use.

I have a collection of magic wands – some of them quite tricky with built in gadgets – but only one  has the distinguished role of my “working” wand. It was custom-made to my specifications by master craftsman Thomas Wayne. (CLICK PHOTOS FOR DETAILED VIEW)

The wand is made of ebony, with sterling silver ends. The ferrule tips are made from the ivory tusk of a 4000 year old mammoth.

The designer, Thomas Wayne is a pool cue artisan from Alaska (which explains the mammoth tusks) and really outdid himself with my wand. His pool cues sell for upward of $20,000, due to the rare materials and his detailed workmanship.

Note the initials that he engraved in the ivory: SC (for Steve Cohen). I like the serpentine way the letters intertwine with each other.

Here’s a photo of the wand in action:

Photo by Roger Hagadone

And another:

Photo by Clay McBride

These days, many fans of the Harry Potter books own a prop magic wand of the type seen in the movies. You can buy finely handcrafted wooden replicas of Harry Potter’s wand at Alivan’s online store. I own one of their “Conjurer’s Collection” wands, and am quite pleased with it.

A magician’s tradition you may not be aware of is the “Broken Wand Ceremony.” This is the name of a ritual that is still performed today at a magician’s funeral. During the memorial service, the deceased magician’s actual wand (or a symbolic wooden replica) is snapped in half. The person administering the ritual often recites:

This wand without [name] is now useless. The magic that infused itself into the life of performing on this earth is now broken and joined with the magic of the eternal.

Unfortunately I have lost many dear magician friends over the past year – some of the true legends in the business. These include Charles Reynolds, Patrick Page, Bob Elliott and David Alexander. Their deaths have left a large void in the world of magic.

To end on a more upbeat note, one of my all-time favorite magicians Tom Mullica had a terrific idea using magic wands at his Atlanta magic bar, Tom-Foolery. Each year, he would “retire” his wand, and introduce a new wand. The new wand would be used for the coming year, and then be retired in turn. He started this tradition in 1975 and continued it through 1988. Mullica is currently auctioning his magic collection, and here is the display case containing eleven years worth of hand-painted wands, used in performance. Mullica’s wands were manufactured in India by the firm Tayade.

Oh, if wands could talk…