The cores of magic wands always contain a part of a magical creature, either a magical being or magical beast. Here are descriptions of one of each taken from the book Magical Wands - A Cornucopia of Wand Lore. This book describes in detail six magical beings and ten magical beasts that are commonly used in the crafting of magic wands. It also briefly discusses less common creatures as well as daemonic wands containing parts of daemons.

• Banshees
• Basilisks

Banshees

A banshee wand has a banshee hair in its core.

Illustration: Banshee in the Guise of an Old Hag

Many thousands of years ago, there lived a beautiful fairy queen who had a lovely young handmaiden whose name Anshee meant beautiful flower in the fairy language. As the years passed by and the queen’s appearance grew more refined and regal with age, Anshee instead grew exceedingly beautiful. More and more the queen’s subjects marveled at Anshee’s comeliness, while complements of the queen’s beauty grew ever rarer and more dutiful than genuine. Sadly, the fairy king was not immune to Anshee’s charms. He began to ignore his queen, who attempted to preserve her dignity by resolutely remaining stoically silent while the king lavished his attention and numerous small gifts on Anshee. Though the queen had originally loved her handmaiden, the queen’s pride was fatally wounded late one night when she found the king and Anshee alone in the handmaiden’s private chambers. A terrible fight ensued between the queen and king, and in her anger and grief, the queen drew her blade and killed her unfaithful husband. She then banished her handmaiden from Faerie, cursing Anshee and all of her female descendants to forever wander our mundane world and never return to the fairy kingdom. Over the years, the queen’s cry “Banish Anshee” has been corrupted into Banshee, the name we give to the Anshee, her daughters, her granddaughters, and further descendants down to the present day. Banished to our world through the River Shannon portal in Ireland, banshees (or Spiritus lamentatio to give them their formal name) have since spread across the whole of Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales.

The queen’s curse was as evil as it was powerful. Banshees were cursed to be creatures of the night, forever forced to remain hidden during the day and only able to be briefly glimpsed between dusk to dawn. Although amazingly beautiful when no one is looking, banshees can only be seen as such by men who are ill-fated to die within a fortnight. The curse makes any such doomed man irresistibly attracted to the banshees’ beauty, but this attraction is doomed. Once they have lain together and the banshee is with child, she appears to him as she does to all others, as a terrifying and repulsive old hag. It is then that the banshee wails, lamenting the loss of her beauty, the loss of her brief love affair, and the imminent loss of the life of her lover. Nine months later, the banshee gives birth to a beautiful daughter – never a son – and the whole sad cycle starts anew.

Like the original Anshee to the king, banshees are drawn to the rich and powerful. When a great and noble personage is near death, more than one banshee may come to lament the loss. Typically, banshees are only heard and not seen by anyone other than those whose doom they foretell. But when they are seen, they often appear dressed all in white or gray and may sometimes be seen combing their long pale hair. If the death was violent, they may occasionally be seen trying in vain to wash the blood of the fairy king from their clothes. Sometimes, banshee hairs can be found on the ground where one has been heard to weep, and it is these hairs the wand makers place in the cores of banshee wands.

Sadly, there is no known way to truly prevent the death heralded by a banshee. And it is important to remember that the banshees only foretell death, they do not cause it. As the true victims of the queen’s curse, banshees should be pitied, not blamed and feared.

Magical Properties

The makers of banshee wands have only one choice for the core: one or more banshee hairs, which have the following elemental, phase, and gender:

Banshee hair is quite expensive and thus only rarely used in the crafting of magic wands. The reasons for this are simple and have to do with the defining characteristics of the banshee. First of all, banshees are only present immediately prior to the death of a noble personage, and this thankfully is quite rare. Secondly, banshees are most often heard and only very rarely seen. Thus, one can neither request nor forcibly take a hair but rather must find a hair that has been naturally shed. This is made most difficult because no one knows exactly where the banshee was when she wailed. However once a banshee has been heard, wand makers and their apprentices will come and carefully search the ground and bushes, looking in the general area from where people heard the banshee wail. Occasionally, they will get lucky and find a long thin hair as pale as death itself. They can then insert it into a test wand and determine if it especially excels at strengthening the following types of spells.

Elemental

Banshees have the elemental Earth, being creatures of the land and having nothing to do with Air, Fire, or Water. Banshee wands work best when strengthening earth spells from the following spell set:

• Enter – Banshees cannot be stopped by normal barriers. This is why banshee wands excel at casting spells that unlock doors or enables their targets to pass through locked doors, walls, and other barrier.

Phases

Banshees have the phase Darkness, possibly because banshees typically only come out in the middle of the night or at twilight. Banshee wands work best when strengthening dark spells from the following spell sets:

• Be Afraid – Because banshees strike fear in the hearts of those unfortunate enough to hear their wailing, banshee wands excel at casting spells from this spell set.
• Be Dark – Although they are seen in the shadows of twilight, banshee wands excel at casting spells that make it darker or blind their targets because banshees typically come out only during the dark of night.
• Be Hopeless – Because there is no hope of stopping death once a banshee begins to wail, banshee wands excel at casting spells that cause their targets to lose hope.
• Be Sad – Because banshees weep for those who are about to die, banshee wands excel at casting spells that make their targets sad and cry.
• Summon Evil – Just as banshees are summoned by imminent death, banshee wands excel at casting spells that summon evil beings, daemons, spirits, or beasts.

Banshees also excel at strengthening twilight spells from the following spell set:

• Change Visibility – Because banshees are typically heard but only very rarely seen, banshee wands excel at casting spells that make their targets visible or invisible.

Gender

Banshees have the gender Feminine, which is why banshee wands strengthen witch’s spells more than wizard’s spells. This is most likely because all banshees are female. Some dark witches highly prize banshee wands, but dark wizards rarely choose them.

Additional Characteristics

A banshee wand is most powerful at night, somewhat weaker at dawn and dusk, and weakest during midday. Banshee wands have been known to faintly cry when used to cast dark spells in the hour of midnight. Phoenix and unicorn wands are best at casting protective spells against spells cast with banshee wands.

Famous Wand

The following famous witch used a banshee wand:

• Miriam Hebraea (345–290 BCE) – banshee hair

Additional Uses

In addition to its use in wands, banshee hair is also used in the crafting of:

• Potions – Banshee hair is used in the brewing of some blindness, invisibility, and fear potions.
• Talismans and Staffs – Banshee hair talismans and staffs have the same magical properties as banshee wands.

On the other hand, banshee hair is rarely if ever used in the crafting of:

• Amulets – Because banshee hair has the phase Darkness and thus excels at strengthening dark magic, it is useless for the crafting of protective amulets.
• Charms – Similarly, banshee hair is inappropriate for use in lucky charms because it is much more likely to bring bad luck than good.

Other magical beings described in the book include:

• Fairies
• Harpies
• Incubi and Succubi
• Mermaids and Mermen
• Werewolves

Basilisks

A basilisk wand is any wand that has a shard of basilisk fang, a sliver of basilisk scale, or a tiny slice of shed basilisk skin in its core.

Illustration: Basilisk

Basilisks (Basiliscus vipera) are the largest and most deadly of snakes, growing up to 50 feet long and six feet thick. They are green with a crown of gold scales upon its heads. Looking into a basilisk’s eyes will cause instant death, while indirectly looking into the basilisk’s eyes (for example by using a mirror) will cause instant petrification. Basilisk venom is invariably fatal unless cured by phoenix tears, which is why phoenix wands are the most effective against basilisk wands. Strangely and for reasons not yet understood, the sound of ordinary cocks crowing is fatal to basilisks.

Native to the Desolation Mountains of Faerie, basilisks are much too large to pass through the nearby portals into our world. It cannot therefore be ruled out that the egg of the first basilisk was smuggled into our world by a dark wizard or witch for the evilest of purposes. Thankfully, they remain quite rare and most wand makers obtain their basilisk fangs and scales from traders newly arrived from Faerie.

Magical Properties and Uses

The makers of basilisk wands have three choices for the core: a sliver of a basilisk’s fang, a sliver of a basilisk’s scale, and a small slice of shed basilisk skin. Because all three choices have the same magical characteristics, the wand maker typical bases his choice on availability and cost. This is usually basilisk skin because a very large amount of skin becomes available when a basilisk sheds his old skin so that it can grow ever larger. Occasionally, individual scales are broken and the resulting pieces are sometimes be found and sold to wand makers. Basilisk fangs are rarest of all because they typically become available only after a basilisk dies and this is rare indeed.

Elemental

Basilisks have the elemental Earth, living on or under the ground. Basilisk wands work best when strengthening earth spells from the following spell sets:

• Be Bound – Basilisks are giant constrictors that wrap very large prey – such as cattle, horses, deer, and people - in their coiled bodies. Thus, basilisk wands excel at casting spells that tie up their targets with vines.
• Control Caves – Because basilisks live in caves, basilisk wands excel at casting cave-related spells such as those that create caves or cause cave-ins.
• Enter – Basilisks are able to fit through any hole large enough to fit their heads, which is surprising given the great girth of their bodies. This is why basilisk wands excel at casting spells that unlock doors or enables their targets to pass through locked doors, walls, and other barriers.

Phases

Basilisks have the phase Darkness, for they are evil and deadly beasts. Basilisk wands work best when strengthening dark spells from the following spell sets:

• Attack – Basilisks will attack any person they see. This is why basilisk wands excel at casting spells that attack their targets in various ways and to various degrees.
• Be Afraid – Basilisks strike fear in the hearts of those unfortunate enough to come near them. Thus, basilisk wands excel at casting spells that frighten or terrify their targets.
• Petrify – Looking into a basilisk’s eyes causes instantaneous petrification, which is why basilisk wands excel at casting spells that petrify their targets.
• Poison – Because basilisks are extremely venomous, basilisk wands excel at casting spells that cause their targets to be poisoned or that create specific poisons or venoms. This is especially true with regard to shards of basilisk fangs which have typically been bathed in basilisk venom.

Basilisk wands also work best when strengthening twilight spells from the following spell sets:

• Be Stronger – Because basilisks are incredibly strong, basilisk wands excel at casting spells that increase strength.
• Change Size – Basilisks are the largest of all snakes. Consequently, basilisk wands excel at casting spells that change the size of their targets, especially those that increase their size. This is especially true of basilisk wands that have a sliver of basilisk skin in their cores because it was the shedding of skin that enables basilisks to grow.

Genders

Basilisk wands have the genders Feminine and Masculine because they work equally well for both witches and wizards.

Famous Wand

The following famous wizard used a basilisk wand:

• Tiresias of Thebes (ca.1200 – ca.1150 BCE) – basilisk scale

Additional Uses

In addition to their use in wands, basilisk fangs and scales are used in the making of:

• Amulets – Basilisk fangs and scales are used in the crafting of various protective amulets against other dark beasts.
• Potions – Basilisk fangs and scales are used in the brewing of some fear, petrification, size, and strength potions. Basilisk venom is used to produce very deadly poisonous potions.
• Talismans and Staffs – Basilisk talismans and staffs have the same magical properties as basilisk wands.

Conversely, basilisk is to be avoided when crafting:

• Charms – No parts of the basilisk are useful in the crafting of lucky charms because they bring bad luck rather than good.

Other magical beasts described in the book include:

• Dragons
• Gryphons
• Hippogryphs
• Hydra
• Kraken
• Pegusi
• Phoenixes
• Sea Serpents
• Unicorns