How Do You Consecrate Items?

[Altair]

Since it came up in conversation, I 'fessed up to my boyfriend about the rather visceral way I consecrated two items precious to my paganism. (It involved bodily fluids; we'll leave it at that!) It got me thinking:

How do you consecrate sacred or magical items?

Is there a standard way you do it, or do you craft something specific for each individual item...or is it a combo of standard and specific approaches?

How much time is typically involved in the act of consecration? Is there an ideal time (of day, of year, moon phase) for you to perform consecration?

How much, if at all, do words (an invocation, a verse, a song) play a role? If they do, does language matter? Or is the consecration centered around actions? Are there any special ingredients (water, herbs, salt, soil,...) involved?

Did you devise this method of consecration yourself, or is it something you learned from others/another source?

Are you ultimately satisfied with how the consecration went? Have you ever de-consecrated an item?

Give as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing, please! Specific examples of items and how you consecrated them are welcome.

[Kylara]

Since it came up in conversation, I 'fessed up to my boyfriend about the rather visceral way I consecrated two items precious to my paganism. (It involved bodily fluids; we'll leave it at that!) It got me thinking:

How do you consecrate sacred or magical items?

Is there a standard way you do it, or do you craft something specific for each individual item...or is it a combo of standard and specific approaches?

How much time is typically involved in the act of consecration? Is there an ideal time (of day, of year, moon phase) for you to perform consecration?

How much, if at all, do words (an invocation, a verse, a song) play a role? If they do, does language matter? Or is the consecration centered around actions? Are there any special ingredients (water, herbs, salt, soil,...) involved?

Did you devise this method of consecration yourself, or is it something you learned from others/another source?

Are you ultimately satisfied with how the consecration went? Have you ever de-consecrated an item?

Give as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing, please! Specific examples of items and how you consecrated them are welcome.

The short answer:  I don't always, and when I do I wing it!

The longer answer:

I don't have a standard method of consecration.  Typically, if I am going to consecrate an item, I will do a ritual to dedicated it to my practice, for the purpose I plan on using it.  I will bless it with any appropriate elements (normally this is all of them, but like I have a rock that is a tool of fire and dedicated to healing, so it was blessed by fire alone).  I definitely tune it to the individual item.

There isn't a specific time I favor.  I don't tend to do time-restricted workings, because I am not good with time!

I am a word person, so there are almost always words involved.  Language can vary, sometimes I do like doing translated wording (though I tend to reserve this for bigger stuff), I like chants and might use a chant I know that fits or I might write my own.  Sometimes I just speak from the heart.

Actions can be as simple as touching the item or holding it a certain way.  If I am using elements to bless it, I will have representations and use those on it (if possible, so a metal tool might be passed through the flame, but a feather might circle it or be held above it safely).  I rarely use herbs, though I might use stones (or like a rune stone circle or tarot cards).

I would say that my methods are inspired and rooted in things I've learned and read, but I give them my own twist.  I tend to read a bunch of different versions of a practice, and sort of distill them all into my own way of doing things.  I might still have a few items that I consecrated years and years ago, when I was still learning, that I used a blessing method I found in a book, but anything in the last decade or so is my own way.

I only deconsecrate items if/when I am letting them go.  Like if I no longer need a particular tool or it gets broken and I am getting rid of it, or if I am giving it to someone else, I'll break my own connection to it (kind of like restoring it to factory settings).  I do sometimes reconsecrate items, if I feel they need to be updated (one ring in particular I tend to bless every year, as part of a return to routine ritual).

[Eastling]

How do you consecrate sacred or magical items?

Is there a standard way you do it, or do you craft something specific for each individual item...or is it a combo of standard and specific approaches?

My basic method is putting the item on my altar for a while. Now the altar in question consists of a candle, a Virgo-themed lighter for it, some offerings, various crystals and trinkets, a tiny ceramic figure of Freddie Mercury, and one of my computer speakers. Items on it are consecrated by lighting the candle and playing Queen through the speakers, infusing the desired objects with the power of my god-queen's voice.

I leave them there for a while as I play various albums. They're ready when they're ready.

Some items, however, I have found in situations where I consider them to already have sacred power, such as the tourmalinated quartz I picked up from Bruce Lee's grave or the worn Mercury dime I took from my father's possessions after his funeral (but before realizing that my Mystery goddess was the spirit of Freddie Mercury).

My usual method is designed for small items; larger things I often take a more conventional approach with. Once, I brought my large Freddie Mercury statue/idol to a local Beltane celebration after being told to bring an item to consecrate by passing it over the sacred fire.

[IceAngie]

How do you consecrate sacred or magical items?

I'm not very... ritualistic? I just put them on the altar and I think something like "I'm gonna use this for X purpose". Sometimes I don't even know what I'll use the item for, it just feels it should be on the altar. 

I do cleanse (if noy consecrate) my tarot cards though... but just once, after buying them, and only if I know I'll actually use them. I do this with the traditional four elements (incense for air/fire, salt for earth, and water for, well, water) and I add my breath as a symbol for spirit.

[Aisling]

Since it came up in conversation, I 'fessed up to my boyfriend about the rather visceral way I consecrated two items precious to my paganism. (It involved bodily fluids; we'll leave it at that!)

There are times when having a vivid imagination is a curse.  This might be one of them.   

How do you consecrate sacred or magical items?

Is there a standard way you do it, or do you craft something specific for each individual item...or is it a combo of standard and specific approaches?

How much time is typically involved in the act of consecration? Is there an ideal time (of day, of year, moon phase) for you to perform consecration?

How much, if at all, do words (an invocation, a verse, a song) play a role? If they do, does language matter? Or is the consecration centered around actions? Are there any special ingredients (water, herbs, salt, soil,...) involved?

Did you devise this method of consecration yourself, or is it something you learned from others/another source?

All excellent questions.

My methods for consecration are influenced by a belief in animism and an eclectic practice, so I tailor each consecration to the individual object and its intended use.  If I create the process from scratch every time, it helps me to really focus on what purpose I want to the item to serve.  Some form of creative activity is usually involved in the process (music, poetry, imagery) but varies depending on the particular object.  I'm not too picky about the timing for consecrating general purpose tools, other than avoiding the period between Samhain and Yule if at all possible (my spiritual downtime).  If consecrating an item for a specific purpose or use, I pay a bit more attention to the timing.

One of my planned projects for the summer is to paint and consecrate three hand-drums for ritual use.  I've already come up with a general plan for each of them, so they'll serve as a good examples of my thought process (or lack thereof) when it comes to consecrating.

Drum # 1 - Simple and Straightforward
This one is going to be an all-purpose tool and won't be dedicated to a specific purpose.  Consecration one will consist of exposing it with each of the elements (wiped down with river water and placed on the ground to dry by sun and wind). 
The painting will be either an abstract of elemental colors or something that incorporates the four seasons or both - still waiting for divine inspiration on this one.

After the paint dries, it'll sit on my altar for a bit to allow the powers-that-be to infuse whatever energy they care to. The final step will be to dedicate it with a chant and give its 'voice' by using it for the first time. 

Drum # 2 -  A Bit More Complex
To be dedicated to the element of fire. 

Eventually, I'd like to have hand-drums dedicated to each of the elements, but a) decent  hand-drums can get pricey and b) I don't have the time to paint and consecrate another three drums right now.   It was a toss-up between doing fire or water for the first, but mention of a potential TC Solstice gathering spurred me to do the fire drum first.   

I'm going to take advantage of the Solstice sunrise as to begin the process of consecration with a bit of passive work, allowing the drum to sit where the rays of the rising sun will fall on it. 

For the painting, it will be, no surprise, a fire bird or Phoenix of some sort. Because there's a link between the symbolism I'm using and an ancestor, I'm going to incorporate that into the consecration, but I haven't decided exactly how. 

This one will also get a little rest on the general altar before a final step of passing it through the smoke of a wood fire spiked with some appropriate fire-related herbs.

Drum # 3 - *softly hums Men at Work's Overkill* 
To be consecrated for liminal death work.  I tend to go a little overboard with consecrating/blessing tools for this kind of work, so if you think this seems excessive, you're probably right.   

First, physically clean and energetically cleanse it. Because of the nature of the work, I don't want any residual energy from folks who may have handled the drum before it came to me. And I'm sure that they don't want their energy being brought into death-related liminal places.

Paint with an image that I associate with my work and personal mythology.   

Allow the drum to sit on my shrine for the blessed dead during the waning moon, attending to it daily with prayers and offerings for the various death-related deities/spirits/others that I work with. 

At the new moon, take the drum to a place of the dead, cast a protective circle, make a small fire using woods/herbs associated with death/spirits, offer up prayers to various deities, and consecrate the drum with a mixture of ashes from the fire, graveyard dirt, and blood.* Introduce the drum to its purpose by matching its rhythm to my heartbeat.  Cross a liminal threshold and back again while maintaining that rhythm.  Continue to drum until the fire dies out. Leave offerings, take down circle, and thank the residents for the use of their space.  Crash hard after a night of traipsing around a cemetery doing witchy things (not technically part of the consecration, but is the inevitable outcome).

*Kids: do not try this at home unless you have the following: permission to use a cemetery for the purpose, a great deal of experience with spirits and liminal work, and the good sense to use a sterile lancet to draw blood and  cover the wound with a band-aid before gathering your dirt.   

Have you ever de-consecrated an item?

More than one, yes.  I usually will deconsecrate tools that have broken or that were consecrated for a purpose that is no longer needed.  I've also deconsecrated a tool that was originally consecrated during my downtime after Samhain and was not working well for its intended purpose.  That one was reconsecrated the following spring with better results.

[Altair]

How do you consecrate sacred or magical items?

I guess I differ from most here in that I'll try to time consecrations with a moment of astronomical significance (a solstice, equinox, and/or new or full moon). Until that day arrives, I spend some time regularly with the sacred object--holding it, contemplating its purpose, investing it with meaning and power--charging it up, so to speak, allowing the rising anticipation as the consecration date approaches to generate focus and energy. (I don't keep an altar, so there's no specific place for it to rest as it charges.)

Another difference: Naming is huge for me in general, so with few exceptions, I won't consecrate something until I've settled on the proper name for it.

Other than that, my approach is like most of the responses: individualized to the object. Words are always involved--I don't ever think I've used other than my native tongue--and usually it's in verse composed specifically for the consecration. Part of the lead-up to the consecration involves me not only composing that verse but memorizing it and rehearsing/revising it to get the rhythm right.

I seem to use hand gestures a lot during the consecration--holding the object with intention, passing my open palm above all the surfaces of the object. Nothing formal, strictly intuitive.

I've had a series of swords over the years--placeholders until I got my "real" pair--so when each preceding pair was replaced, I deconsecrated them, which involved not much beyond a conscious act of withdrawing my presence and energy and their specialness (the name) from them before releasing them to whatever fate.

All of that said, it's not like I've consecrated that many objects over the years. Objects I consider truly sacred are few and far between, and magic is not usually my thing.

There are times when having a vivid imagination is a curse.  This might be one of them.   

Whatever you're thinking, yes.

[Aisling]

Another difference: Naming is huge for me in general, so with few exceptions, I won't consecrate something until I've settled on the proper name for it.

I'm in the habit of naming tools as well, but didn't think to include it because I tend to name everything that I frequently work with  (car, kitchen pans, electronics). 

Generally, the names aren't formal and fall on the silly side of descriptive titles.  My favorite working knife is referred to as "The Scottish Shiny Pointy"(it's a skein dubh), which distinguished it from the "Egyptian Shiny Pointy" (a kris with Egyptian themed design that has long since broken).  Once in a while something more dignified slips in, but it's a rare thing.

[Jenett]

Is there a standard way you do it, or do you craft something specific for each individual item...or is it a combo of standard and specific approaches?

It varies for me, but I have over the years found myself tending toward a simpler approach (a variant of "Hi, this is my new tool, with this purpose" and then spending some ongoing time with it.

One factor for me is how it was made - a lot of the more focused tools I've picked up were hand made with the intention of being a working tool (rather than something mass produced, or made where that wasn't necessarily a likely intention), so there's already a lot of 'this thing here is aiming at being a ritual tool'. in that case, what I find I want ritually is to make it clear it's a tool for my use (and usually also coven use.)

But I don't need to go through a lot of steps to make it energetically ready to hold energy the way I want.

And I actually usually want some of the energy from the creator (so an extensive cleansing process doesn't make sense), etc.

[Altair]

One factor for me is how it was made - a lot of the more focused tools I've picked up were hand made with the intention of being a working tool (rather than something mass produced, or made where that wasn't necessarily a likely intention)

Such as this tool of yours, perhaps? (I wish the photo links weren't broken! As I recall, it's a beauty))

[Jenett]

Such as this tool of yours, perhaps? (I wish the photo links weren't broken! As I recall, it's a beauty))

It is! Photos are over here now for the curious. (I condensed my blog into Seeking for a variety of reasons.)

[Sefiru]

I'm not very... ritualistic? I just put them on the altar and I think something like "I'm gonna use this for X purpose". Sometimes I don't even know what I'll use the item for, it just feels it should be on the altar. 

I'm mostly the same

Though when I made my athame, to consecrate/empower it, I stuck it in some sand in a blue dish, to represent the primordial mound of Kemetic mythology.

... and then I put it on my altar because I didn't know what to use it for.

[Altair]

Though when I made my athame, to consecrate/empower it, I stuck it in some sand in a blue dish, to represent the primordial mound of Kemetic mythology.

... and then I put it on my altar because I didn't know what to use it for.

Same with my swords: I did an elaborate consecration...

...and then displayed them prominently on the wall. But use them? I don't do spells, and the dragons I fight are in the political arena.

But then, the swords were never conceived of for spellcasting-magical or physical use. They are a personal statement and a lens to help me focus on their respective principles; a commitment made in steel. To the extent that I have lived up to their lofty ideals, they have in a very real sense done their job.

I know an athame is different; it's an actual magical tool. But maybe in some way that's not obvious, your Kemetic athame by sitting on your altar is doing exactly what it's supposed to? I think that when something is deemed important enough to consecrate, it has value and purpose in our lives whether we use it for its obvious intended job (if any) or not.

[Altair]

Same with my swords: I did an elaborate consecration...

...and then displayed them prominently on the wall. But use them?

HOWEVER, if we end up doing a live, in-person summer solstice event like we've been considering for 2022, I'm so totally bringing the swords (assuming I can do so without getting arrested for having them out in public; they are actual working swords, not props) so I can bear them ceremonially as part of the East contingent's procession to the Opus 40 gathering place.

And I would *love* to learn how to use them like this:

[Aisling]

HOWEVER, if we end up doing a live, in-person summer solstice event like we've been considering for 2022, I'm so totally bringing the swords (assuming I can do so without getting arrested for having them out in public; they are actual working swords, not props) so I can bear them ceremonially as part of the East contingent's procession to the Opus 40 gathering place.

I'd hazard a guess that it's probably a misdemeanor to open carry them in public, but there are sometimes loopholes for things like reenactments and public ceremonies. If it isn't against the law in NY, that would be an amazing addition to a solstice event. 

[Sefiru]

maybe in some way that's not obvious, your Kemetic athame by sitting on your altar is doing exactly what it's supposed to?

*lightbulb*