Rose, I just recently becided to become a Wiccan, after having waited for several months, brooding. However, I am having a little trouble. I am a ‘closet Wiccan’ since I am afraid of how my parents would react to finding out I am soon to be a modern-day witch. They believe all Paganism is devil-worship (even though they aren’t really Christian) and I am not keen on sharing MY views with them. Because of this, I am having trouble getting my hands on some of the more ‘questionable’ tools of the trade. Namely, an incense burner and an athame. Most of the other items I know I can either buy and lie or create for myself. Do you have any idea of how I can get these items, or what I can substitute? Please reply. -Aidyn

Greetings Aidyn, You seem to be a very mature person. I am happy to learn that you have decided to become a practitioner of the Wiccan religion. Of course Wicca is a nature based religion and does not have anything to do with Devil worship. In fact, the Devil does not even exist in the Wiccan beliefs. Tools are used in spells and rituals to increase our belief and make our intentions stronger. The athame is used to cast the sacred circle and in certain other rituals. Our hands are very powerful sources of energy. If you point a finger at the ground, our hand becomes the Athame. So you can do anything with your arm + hand combination that you can do with an Athame, symbolically. You may also use one of those toy swords that boys play with. They are usually made of plastic and have colorful handles. Your mind is so much more powerful that all the tools combined. Use your mind to imagine a bright, shining Athame in your hand. Incense is used to enhance our meditative feeling. We can also use perfumes for this purpose. You can get oils of lavendar, rose, etc from any perfume store. You may just dab the oil on to your body or anoint a candle with the oil and carefully burn it while you meditate. You can also imagine that you have oils, visualize the smell of it and then pretend to anoint a candle. As I said before, you can do every thing wihout having anything! Hope you understand how magick works. Brightest Blessings!