COVEN 1658 WITCHES TOOLS LIST

As stated in prior posts, Bessie Dunlop was given a wand, and a besom (broomstick) by the Fairies for her initiation. 

In your initiation you were asked to acquire a wand, and two AMULETS -a triskele, and the numerals '1658' on a necklace, which were charged at your initiation. 

You were also asked to use common household objects in your initiation - a mirror, a goblet of apple juice, a plate of circle-shaped, white cookies, a mirror. 

But do witches have any official tools?  Indeed they do!  Because Wicca (the religion) is a very popular topic right now, many, many Witches Tools are currently being factory created in CHINA.  These tools are beautiful, well designed products that you can find in many metaphysical book stores. but they lack two things - THEY ARE NOT TRADITIONAL and they are not HAND CRAFTED.

Traditional witches tools are 'traditionally' hand crafted.  Factory-created tools are a lot of fun and everyone purchases such things, but this is not necessary; and further, these things may not work very well at attracting energy.  This is because natural objects contain energy, but man-made objects have to acquire it from the person who owns it, thus a new, factory-created object may not have very much energy in it, if any.  It will acquire energy over the months and years and when it is finally handed down to someone else, it will have a lot of energy in it.  But natural objects, antique, or used objects have natural energy in them, and this energy works as a 'magnet' to draw in more energy.

If you are wondering what kinds of things a Traditional Witch owns, here is a list of Traditional Witches Tools and how to make or acquire them:

ESCRITOIRE - an 'Escritoire' is an old French term for writing desk.  It is the 'main' work table of a Witch.  In the Elizabethan era, witches did not have 'altars' because witchcraft was not about 'worship'.  Certainly pagan peoples had religions and religious altars, and this is not disputed - but ones religious beliefs had little to do with practicing witchcraft in the Elizabethan Era;  instead, Witchcraft was about herbal knowledge for healing, but also 'leaked' into using herbs to create circumstantial change, such as drawing in romance, money, or other needs, as well as divination practices like finding lost objects for clients.  Court documents of the day show that witchcraft was not about religion, and lists many people who were accused of and confessed to practicing witchcraft who also adhered to the mainstream religion of their community.  Witchcraft was about using energy as an art form, exploring it as a metaphysical science, it was about helping others with it as a vocation, and it was about participating with others as a community and culture...today, Traditional Witchcraft still is about these values.

When you go to the mall, you are with many people - all of them are different religions, but they have the same 'quest', and it is not a religious quest.  Even though they are in the same place, going through the same 'ritual', and appear to be ding the same thing at the mall with the same goal - shopping, they may be doing it for different reasons.  At a Traditional Witches Coven, the same sentiment exists - it is not a religion, just like a mall is not a church.  People come to a traditional coven to learn about energy, in the same way students attend art class to learn about painting and making sculpture.  And they pursue this quest for various reasons.  'Some' people pursue this interest for religious reasons, but many do not.  Magic is an ART FORM.  Not a religion.  Therefore, Traditional Witches do not have 'altars' dedicated to witchcraft, although they may have altars dedicated to their religion of choice.  But Traditional Witches do have an ESCRITOIRE, a work table upon which to perform their work of crafting and casting spells;  they do use tools and divination devices, and lot casting practices to help others.  Witchcraft is a JOB, a vocation.  Witchcraft requires imagination and special skills that must be practiced every day.  These thing are done at the ESCRITOIRE - the witches work area.  It is important that you set up an ESCRITOIRE exclusively for your Witchcraft practices.  You may have a desk to pay bills at, or a coffee table to set up decore objects.  You may have an entry way table where you toss your keys into a bowl, or where you position a flower vase to greet guests, and you may have a kitchen table where you serve meals at, and sometimes sew at, do homework at or write letters at.  Likewise, you may have an altar upon which you place religious objects, memorial objects and special reminders.  But you may not have an ESCRITOIRE.  If you do not have one, you can not do your work required in the vocation of Witchcraft, which can be at times a messy business, and also a space-taking endeavor.  Thus one of the first tools you will need is your ESCRITOIRE.  It need not be fancy.  It can be a folding table.  It can be purchased at the thrift store or from a garage sale.  But it must be exclusively used for your vocation of witchcraft and it must be blessed as one of your witches tools with your wand - the wand you charged at your initiation and then re-empowered at the next and subsequent Esbats.  Every month, you must re-empower your wand when you re-empower yourself, and then hold your charged wand over all your Witches tools and re-charge them after you get back from your re-empowerment rite at the Esbat/Full Moon.  This is a simple task - just wave your wand over the tools you have and say, 'charge'.  This includes your Escritoire.  Never use the Escritoire for any other purpose except Witchcraft, no exceptions.  And no, do not display statuary, religious articles, millions of candles and so on at this table.  It is to be kept clean so you can work on it, making your Witches tools, spell kits, a place where you cast divination tools out such as Tarot Cards and Rune Stones, and a place where you craft and cast spells.  If your Escritoire is cluttered up, you will not have a place to do your duties as a Witch.  the French word 'Escritoire' was used to describe a witches work table, just as the term 'Esbat' is a French word meaning 'diversion'.  In fact a lot of old French terms are used in witchcraft, because they were imported into England during the Elizabethan era.  At that time, French was a very 'happening' language.  If your Escritoire is a folding table, you may put it away when you are not using it, just don't use it for any other purpose than your Witchcraft. 

RELIQUARY.  A RELIQUARY is a cabinet where your witches tools are kept - out of sight from curious eyes.  Any genuine, hereditary witch who has received his or her witchcraft from past lineage will 'not' be displaying his or her tools and religious articles out for the public to look at - this is because we have learned what it means to be accused of practicing witchcraft and are not that willing to share this visual privilege with those we do not trust.  Once you trust someone, you can show them your collection of tools.  But your things must be kept out of sight, as is a traditional practice, since the BURNING TIMES.  Often times, an armoire is used as a proper Witches Cabinet.  But armoirs are expensive.  You may not have the money for one.  In this case a linen closet, trunk, dresser cleared empty for the purpose of storing your witches tools, or other cabinet is a great place to use as your Reliquary.  Store your tools neatly so you can access them easily.  A lot of metaphysical shops sell 'witches cabinets' that are actually very small, and almost remind me of the larger jewelry boxes that have several drawers and are about the size of a night table, but a little taller.  This is a good start for your tools as well, however, be warned...you can collect enough tools to fill up a room.  If you don't keep you things together, they can get lost all over the house, making them difficult to use when you need them.  It's so easy to get out your Tarot Cards to give a friend a reading and leave them lying on the coffee table, only to have someone else move them when they dust the coffee table...and then you loose track of things.  You should always use your Witches tools and then return them to your Reliquary immediately, attempting to keep it organized.  This can be a hard task - sometimes you collect lots of stuff and it gets... yes!  MESSY!!!!!  You have to keep your witches tools maintained, and neat.  The term 'reliquary' indicates a place to store relics - antique items of great importance.  It is used as a term to describe a storage place for Withes Tools because many tools witches use originated in antiquity and are 'relics' of the past, even if the specific item you own is actually a brand new item.  Other items are true antiques, either given to you by a dear old aunt, or purchased as a good used product or antique item.  Determine where your Reliquary will be and get in the habit of placing your Witches Tools in it at all times.  Then commit to keeping the doors closed so wandering eyes do not suspect the contents of your Reliquary.

CAULDRON.  Many web sights sell 'tiny' cauldrons to burn incense in.  These are very expensive incense burners.  Real witches use real camping cauldrons, which are called 'dutch ovens'.  They can usually be purchased at camping stores, and are cast iron, have 3 legs, a very heavy metal lid and a heavy wire handle to hang them over a camp fire.  Indeed, they are actually used to hang over a fire when you go camping.  The reason it is important to get a large cauldron is because you may use it for many reasons.  you may cook in it - prepareing soups, teas, herbal remedies, or brews.  All these things really are prepared by Witches, who love to cook as well as make healing remedies for everyone.  Further, a large cauldron can hold a large amount of liquid - it can be filled with black coffee for scrying.  It can be filled with water for water spells.  It can also be used to burn spell parchments in, and is big enough to contain a fire safely (please have a fire extinguisher near by and never set a fire that is burning in it near fabric draperies!)  A cauldron can also be used to light fire works in (but only outdoors) - sometimes fireworks are an ingredient to spells - colored smoke bombs, sparklers...such things add to spells and their visual power.  A large cauldron can also be used to store things in such as tarot cards, candles and other witches tools.  It is heavy and will not blow away outdoors.  It can also be used decoratively.  There are many uses for cauldrons.  If you can not afford to buy, or cannot find a 'dutch oven' type 3-legged, cast iron camping cauldron that is big enough to hold a large pork or beef roast, you may have better luck with a glass punch bowl, or large glass serving bowl.  You can use it for many of the same purposes as the cast iron cauldron, however glass has the potential to break easily.  If you are practicing Traditional White Witchcraft, you will need a large cauldron to work with, not a teensy-weensy little incense burner that costs a fortune.  While these are very nice, they are often to small to do the job.

BESOM - if you wish to acquire a witches broomstick, please MAKE ONE.  you will need a tree branch that has a lovely shape to it about 4-5 feet tall and no larger in diameter than 2 inches.  You will also need dried field straw or fine twigs, and any kind will work fine.  Traditionally, besoms are made of birch wood - both the handle as well as the broom-skirt.  However these were sold to be used for yard work in past eras, and still are hand-crafted in certain parts of England for this type of work.  Thus a true besom represents WORK...'hard' work;  hard work with nature, as the human being forced nature to comply with culture on a physical level.  This is why Witches Besoms are important - they represent the will of a human being to change nature.  They are not just symbols of cleansing out 'negative' energy, but represent real work with natural energy, and the difficult task of unlocking this energy and combining it with your will to create circumstantial change in your life situation.  Broomsticks may be the 'clichet' flying transportation device of a witch, but they really represent our work in totality, as human will and natural forces come together to create the ideal of good and beauty, as that which is undesirable is removed.  You need to take a pair of scissors out into the wild and cut long grasses, or shrubberies of your liking.  Please be aware of wildlife, such as snakes or other animals that can bite you and bring you harm, and never go into a remote area alone.  This can endanger your life.  Instead go to a nearby field inside your community, or offer to help groom up a neighbors shrubs, or take their shrubbery clippings off their hands, to use to make your besom.  If you do not live near a field, visit a department store that carries dried flowers and see if you can use any of the dried floral types for your broom's bottom.  Because a besom is now a ceremonial object for witches, its 'skirt' can be made from beautiful dried flowers of many kinds, and you can even add to it over the years so that it becomes layered with flowers and herbs of great meaning and beauty.  The natural energy the besom will radiate will only grow stronger over time, especially if you add to it.  Some people have been known to purchase a normal grocery store broom, and cut off the straw from it to use on their home-made besom/broom.  but if you are going to spend money on a store bought broom, keep it in tact and decorate it instead - why waste money?  In this case, spray paint the broom's handle in a color you like, and then when it is dry, glue things to the handle such as faux gem stones, or even letters spelling out something important to you. Wrap the handle in ribbon, and create a big beautiful ribbon for the broom-skirt, and hang it up for display.  If you are making your own broom rom scratch, you can prepare the broom handle by stripping the bark off of it,  and sanding it, or by leaving it natural.  You can finish the wood any way you like, and use wood-finishing lacquer on the handle.  If you want to add a 'touch' of 'magic' to the broom handle, you can add some fine-ground, silver glitter to the lacquer before applying it to the broom handle.  You can carve your name or other important symbols into the handle as well.  When you are finished decorating and finishing the broom's handle, attach the floral and herbal or grassy broom-skirt using cotton string, or some kind of sturdy twine:  hold the grass at the broom bottom and begin winding the cord around it, winding the grass in place.  Do this until all the broom grass is attached, and then tie it off.  you can always add more grass, flowers, or herbs to it as you go along.  In fact, you can add different kinds of grass and dried flowers to this until you have a very special and beautiful besom.  Then wind ribbons around the handle and tie dried flowers on the broom part.  You can use it to clean out negative energy from a space, step over it to symbolically move from one place in your life to another place in your life, or you can use it to indicate when a stranger will visit (it will fall over when strangers are due to arrive, 'if' it is charged with the energy put into your wand your wand). Old English besoms were made with scruffy twigs and were used to rake leaves up in the yard.  But witches broom sticks are used to cleanse negative energy away and therefore the 'skirt' of the broomstick is heavily graced with dried flowers, and grasses you have cut from local wild areas and fields.  Make your besom to reflect 'you', and make it as beautiful as you can.  Just like your magic, your besom is always a work in progress.  Once you finish a besom to your liking, start another one.  Having a collection of besoms hanging on your wall, or having one in every room is beautiful.  Giving a besom to a friend also makes a very nice gift. 

DIVINATION TOOLS.  There are so many divination tools around.  The 'main' Divination tools a Traditional Witch may own are Tarot Cards (which must be store purchased), Rune Stones (which can be hand made), and a scrying pendulum (which can be hand made), and a crystal ball, which must be purchased.  I strongly suggest the 'Rider-Wait' Tarot deck.  Its the 'standard' and is the easiest to learn how to use.  Once you learn how to use the Tarot Deck (and I will explain all about this later), then you can purchase many other beautiful Tarot Decks.  You can never have to many Tarot Decks, but be cautioned, each Tarot Deck you purchase must be studied carefully, because the symbolism in each deck may yield different shades of meaning to a reading.  I myself, use the Druid Craft Tarot Deck for myself alone.  I never let anyone else use it and I never use it to discern anything for anyone else except my own concerns.  I also have a Rider Wait deck, and several others, such as a 'Wizard's' deck which is very beautiful, and an Italian type deck, and a few other less spectacular but very nice decks.  To make Rune stones, you need a bag of smooth stones about 2 inches in diameter.  Of course they will not be even all the way around, because they are natural objects.  You can get such stones at places like Walmart, and I even saw some at Petsmart, in the fish section, recently, for only $4.00 USA.  You will need craft paint in a 'paint pen' or 'sqeeze bottle' type product.  Black is the color that shows up the best, but any color is fine.  Look up the Runic letters and just paint them on to the rock surfaces, and then let them dry fully (72 hours, so the paint is not sticky).  You  may want to practice writing the Runic letters before painting them on your stones, so you don't mess them up, but if you do, just wash off the rock and start over.  When the pant is dry, you can spray paint them with clear, high gloss paint.  Give them a couple of coats and let them dry again.  It is the drying that takes time.  When they are fully dry, keep them in a little bag, which you can make rom fabric, or purchase.  If you don't have a bag to keep them in, a pretty little dish works well.  to make a pendulum, use floral wire or a metal 'twisty-tie' from a bread bag, to tie a large nail to a jewelry chain, so it is secure.  If you do not like a nail, you can use any other object that has weight and will swing well.  I have found interesting pendulums at hardware stores in the lighting section:  the weights that are used on the bottom of ceiling-fan chains work very nicely.  they come in a variety of shapes and are just heavy enough to swing well, and usually come on a chain.  they aren't very expensive either, ranging between $5-$15.00 USA.  Of course you can always buy a natural pendulum from a metaphysical store, made from stone or crystal, and these are also very beautiful.  The pendulum only works after you charge it, so it really doesn't matter where you get it;  once its charged it will work, and before its charged it wont work very well.  Obtaining a crystal ball can be an investment.  They can cost $50.00 USA, or more.  Save up for one, and until you do, use your cauldron to perform the same type of scrying, by pouring black coffee into it.  This works very effectively and is not that expensive.  If you haven't purchased a cauldron, you can always use a black or dark colored coffee cup to hold the coffee.  Scry first and then enjoy the coffee later!

AMULETS AND TALISMANS.  An talisman is a man-made object, while an amulet is a natural object or collection of several small objects.  A talisman is usually charged with power to give you a special skill or power that is very specific;  meanwhile an amulet is a collection of small stones, herbs and even personal objects designed to ward off evil and harm.  These type things are the real origin to jewelry worn today.  The fact is, any jewelry item can be either a talisman (charged to give you special power), or an amulet (charged to ward off certain harms).  If you own any jewelry, purchase very small jewelry zip-lock baggies to keep each jewelry item in, and charge that jewelry item with a task to either give you a certain power, or to protect you from a certain harm.  Write down this information on a small slip of paper, and enclose this information in the zip-lock baggie with the jewelry item.  Keeping your jewelry this way also keeps it from getting scratched or damaged.  You can also make amulets and talismans that have specific tasks, but you must write down what they do, or you will forget.  By placing herbs and special crystals and stones in a small square of fabric, you can tie them into the fabric with basic sewing thread, and then hang them around the house, or wear them.  They can be created to keep away evil, illness, or to attract love, harmony, or friendship.  they can also be created to give you courage, strength, or patience.  Because of the nature of an amulet or talisman, pretty much 'any' object can be charged with a task.  Even large objects.  Thus, you can charge your Witches Besom with Fairy Magic, which must be re-empowered every month at the full moon, but you can also charge it to warn you of a stranger's visit, by falling over when impending company will visit, and it will do its task.  You can charge a goblet with the emotion of joy, or a particular blessing such that when someone drinks from it, they will receive that blessing.

WITCH BALLS.  Hand blown, glass 'Witch Balls' can cost up to $100.00 USA.  They are beautiful and very special.  They are designed to hang up in the windows to attract good energy and at the same time push negative energy away.  But you may not be able to afford such things.  Instead, you can purchase a box of larger sized, clear glass Christmas ornaments.  Take off the 'hanger' and pure a bit of craft paint into them, one at a time, and swirling the paint around inside to make an interior design, create your witch ball.  Use several colors of paint if you like.   Let the paint dry fully, and then stuff herbs and hand-written incantations inside.  Replace the 'hanger' by gluing it on with super-glue, or a craft glue.  Then hang the witch balls in windows around the house.  Not only are they beautiful, they help attract positives, and deflect negatives.  They can be holders for long-term spells as well, such as money-attracting spells.  If you use glowing paint first, and then let it dry, and then go back and use other colors of paint in them, they will also glow at night.  If you can find clear, plastic ornaments, you can also hang them out side in your garden, from trees.  Put them up with healing spells and intentions to draw good fairies to your dwelling.  When you look outdoors, they will have a beautiful, ethereal glow to them that will last for a long time.  If you do use them outside, you will want to take care to make sure the 'hanger' blocks out any incoming water from weather.  If you want, you can also use plastic bottles for the same purpose outside.  Begin by removing the label of the plastic beverage bottle, such as a sports drink bottle.  Wash it out well and let it dry completely.  Pour glowing paint inside, one color at a time (glowing craft paint comes in several colors), and 'swirl it around so that it makes artistic 'streaks' all over the plastic bottle.  Once one color of glow paint is dry, use other colors.  Then for daytime beauty, use neon or pastel colors that you enjoy.  When all the paint is dry inside, fill the witch 'bottle' up with hand written incantations, herbs, small stones, dried flowers and anything you like.  Finally, wind some floral wire around the mouth of the bottle, in such a way that you can attack string or fishing wire through the floral wire and then glue the lid onto the bottle.  Hang it in trees around your yard.  By day, the bottles will make interesting visual decorations, but by night, the glow paint will create am ethereal, glowing display that everyone will enjoy.  This little craft will not only add magic to your yard, but will help the environment. 

BOOK OF SPELLS.  COVEN 1658 does not use the term 'Book of Shadows'.  This is because the term is of modern origin.  Gerald B. Gardner borrowed the term from a book title he found in the news paper.  It seemed a good term at the time.  But long before the 1950's Witches were using a Book of Spells.  And today there are many varieties, including on-line versions, and professionally made types, which you can, of course, purchase.  There are a few 'rules' to using a Book of Spells.  The first 'rule' is that you don't just write in it.  It's not a 'journal'.  You can have a journal of your personal experience, but your Book of Spells is not for journaling, it is for spells.  The second 'rule' is that you do not write a spell in your Book of Spells until you have worked the spell more than once, and there are no more 'kinks' in the spell.  You know this spell works, and works well.  Only then are you allowed to write it down in your Book of Spells.  If you hand write it, use your best hand writing.  Be sure to write down exactly how the spell is to be crafted, and what items can be substituted if the particular item you are using can not be acquired.  Include the incantation and the casting instructions, and other specifics.  It is perfectly find to print out a typed copy of the spell and glue it in your Book of Spells.  When you get through filling up one book of spells, make another one.  Now, some of these 'Books of Shadows' cost a fine penny.  Is there any way to get around this?  Yes... you can 'up-cycle' an old book.  You will need a larger book such as an out of date text book.  The first thing you will need to do is to glue the pages together, at their top and bottom edges only.  This will make two pages into one page with its own 'pocket' where you can store things that may pertain to the spell, or articles, and recipes you have found that go with it.  This 'gluing' process may take some time.  But that's ok, just glue away every day.  Eventually, you will have all the pages glued together such that two pages have become one page, with a 'pocket'.  You can also make three pages into one, and have a page with '2' pockets.  As long as the things you store in these pockets are fairly flat, the pockets make great places to store or even 'hide' things that are important to you.  Once this is accomplished.  Go back to the beginning of the book.  You can do a few things to the pages, depending on how you want the book to look.
1.  you can use acrylic craft paint or old house paint to paint over the pages.  Do one page at a time and let it fully dry over night, because acrylic paint sticks together.  Then, you will want to use 1/2 sheet of regular typing paper to glue in the center of each page.  To make the typing paper more 'interesting' you can finger-tear the paper around the edges so they are rough and have interest. spread the back of each 'torn' sheet of typing paper to a book page, and then using a wet paint brush, get the front of the typing paper wet as well - this will help it not bubble.  If you like you can use water where you have rinsed your brush off, and the typing paper will absorb the color, and not be plain white.  Take care not to paint the typing paper with full-strength acrylic paint or it will be the same color as the background of the book page.  Let this dry.  Then glue around the edges of the page things that are important to you, such as broken jewelry bits, faux gem stones,  and magazine pictures of things that represent that page.  You can also use tissue paper to give the background of the pages 'texture' before gluing on the half sheet of typing paper.  If you work on this every day, the text book will soon be a 'Book of Spells'.  Once it is complete you can hand-write spells in it to your liking.  To 'finish' the outside, close the book and the spray the exterior with black spray paint, giving it 2-3 coats.  Then go over it with another color, such as purple or green, orange or red spray paint.  Then if you can find it, you can use a kind of paint that gives a 'crackle' effect to the top coat of paint, and the bottom color will show through.  (Take care to read the directions to the crackle paint carefully before you use it, as each product works differently).  Once the exterior of your Book of Spells has been created, you can use Three-Dimensional fabric paint to write 'Book of Spells' on the exterior in an outstanding color, such as gold or silver.  You can glue faux gem stones on the cover as well, or a picture.  These books take a lot of time to make.  They are very special.  Further, they are a piece of history.  Make sure that when you finish making this 'Book of Spells', you sign your name in it as the artist who created it, because this book is not only a spell book, it itself is art.  From then on keep it in a cool, climate controlled place.

You can treat the text book in a different manner as well.  You can mix acrylic paint, the color of your choice, with water, and 'wash' over each page with this color, permitting them to dry, but allowing the words to shine through.  Then glue in your hand written spells, and any herbs, or other objects that pertain to the spell.  While the background is not 'blank', it adds interest.  As you glue in things that are important to you, the words of the text book will 'fade' into the background and become more 'design' than 'focus'. 

GARB.  COVEN 1658 instructs our female Witches to wear a plain black gown.  Male witches in our Coven wear business attire - dark slacks, a white business shirt and a tie.  It is important to wear your garb when you practice your craft as well as when you help others.  When you work in the capacity of Witch, especially representing Coven 1658, it is important that you look the part.  We selected the most recognizable attire for a Witch, so that your vocation is immediately recognizable.  This style gown is best seen on the character 'Morticia Addams' in the original American sit-com, 'The Addams Family", from the 1960's.  It's a classic look.  Of course you can have other styles of garb to represent you when you work your craft.  But this is the simplest, easiest to wear, easiest to acquire, least expensive means to acquiring your Witches Garb.  Along with your initiation amulets, you will look just fine!

OUIJA BOARD.  Coven 1658 does not recommend the use of a Ouija Board at any time.  It opens a portal for any type of entity to come in, and some of these are certainly harmful.  It is like leaving your front door open for anyone to enter in.  Ouija Boards are dangerous because of the vortex they open.  Do not use one.  Further, because Coven 1658 is dedicated to 'not' disturbing the deceased, and also never has to do with any form of spirit entity, this act actually is in violation of our Tradition.  We do not engage in necromancy at any time.  It is disrespectful to the deceased, and it can bring great harm to you.  Instead we work with earth energies that have been designed by the Divine for our use.  We have plenty of power from what we do use, and really do not need to work with such things as the Ouija Board.  Because we know using such can pose danger to those we instruct, we strongly forbid use of this tool.  It is not witchcraft that is performed by use of the Ouija board, but rather 'sorcery' (conjuring of the dead and of demonic spirits), and it is indeed dangerous.  Using one is like opening up Pandora's Box, and you do not know what will come through that vortex to bring you harm.  Don't.  Don't use one.   

There are many other Witches tools which you can purchase, or make.  As you research what you would like to use, your Reliquary will fill up fast.