Talk:Wand

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Contents 1 Magician's wand / Magic wand 2 Tarot 3 Is Gandalf actually using a 'wand' in The Hobbit? 4 Metrology 5 Alex De Vault

[edit] Magician's wand / Magic wand

Could someone provide a history of this specific implement? It's certainly something I expected to find in this article. Eyeresist 06:24, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

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Added Zoroastrian Barsom. Plus I changed "used in Wicca and modern day witchcraft" as it is redundant and incomplete. Khirad^talk

[edit] Tarot

What's the source for the wand suit corresponding to fire? Everything I've ever seen (as well as tarot's relationship to other esoteric fields which would agree with this) the Wands correspond to air, just as the ritual wand used in esoteric magic and Wicca do. I'd change it, but if there's a reputable source out there that disagrees, I have no problem leaving it alone.

Actually, everything I've ever seen has wands corresponding to fire and swords to air. Sometimes there's a reversal, but it's not as popular. In the majority of decks, wands are fire, following the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition. See http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6197 for a discussion on this. ~ 24.168.57.47 06:24, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is Gandalf actually using a 'wand' in The Hobbit?

My assumption is that Tolkien is simply relaxed about the terms, not wishing to distinguish between the terms 'wand' and 'staff', and that Gandalf is actually, throughout all the stories (very much including The Hobbit) is using a magical implement of a size such that we today would all agree that the proper term is 'a staff' and not 'a wand'.--Peter Knutsen 22:48, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Metrology

The Old English in pre-norman era were in the process of converting to the decimal system, and certianly did not use the units here. For example, the chain was devised by Edmund Gunter in the 17 century, as an attempt to decimalise the previous cadastral system.

An old foot of about 13.22 BI inches is indeed known, and represented in Ronald Zupko's "British Weights and Measures: A History from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century". The Modern English system derives of this foot and a Roman cadasteral division (ie 4800 feet to the mile), rather than this decimal system. --Wendy.krieger 07:11, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

This is truly one of the more noteworthy revelations I've found in Wikipedia. It would appear that just as all the imaginary magic of the rune emerges from the real magic of the letter, so the extraordinary feats of the wand represent the real feats of the measuring stick. But do remember to add references for your sources! Wnt (talk) 19:19, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Alex De Vault

Alex typically can be seen across the FGCU campus. He is considered an expert in witchcraft history with a focus in wands. Please for further information on witchcraft contact him on Facebook. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lonedeltaforce (talk • contribs) 17:40, 20 March 2008 (UTC)