Ritual Tools
Alright. I've decided to rewrite this section because new experience has taught me some things.
Rule One: Rule One applies to everything in Witchcraft. And that Rule is : If it dosen't work for you, throw it out and ignore it. This means that if you don't want to put your altar in the East, put it where you like. Forget using a besom. Who needs an athame? The only thing I would exempt from this rule is the use of the God. It is my fond belief that life cannot function without male and female principles, Witchcraft being no exeption. If this view offends you, please see Rule One.
Rule Two: If anything confuses you, see Rule One.
Rule Three: Have fun in all you do.
That out of the way, I will proceed with the tools. Please know that none of these are required, you can work with as many or as few tools as you wish, and I am not attempting to assert my will over others. Personally, I love using all sorts of new ritual tools and am constantly making new ones, because of one reason: it's fun! It feels very magical making a wand for a specific magical purpose, it's fun adding more things to my staff, it's fun to carve new purification sigils on the handle of my besom. Consequently I have more tools than your Average Living At Home Witch, none of which have been noticed sufficiently for anyone to ask if I am a Witch, but oh well.
Always remember that the use of tools is just to focus the will and mind, to tell yourself that this is not an everyday, mundane thing. With time you may stop using tools altogether, or you may decide you want more. All is up to you.
Remember, there will be more magical power in a tool that you have made yourself, no matter how ornate it is. If you pick up a stick off the ground, trim it to the appropriate size, and use it as a wand, it will have more power than the most jewel-encrusted wand for sale at the Witchware shop. Obviously this is not feasible for all tools, such as an athame (Buckland, in Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft has instructions for making an athame that seem needlessly complicated. Making a knife all by yourself seems dangerous with the amount of heat involved.) BUT you can buy that simple athame (you know, the one that has a dark wood handle and a leather sheath, the one that every Witchware shop seems to have) and carve personal symbols on the handle or blade. When possible, modify purchased ritual tools, even a little. For example, after I bought my pentacle, a simple affair that is a grey pentagram filled in with black on a plain wooden disc, I used a black pen to make it an interwoven pentagram. Granted, it may be hard to modify some tools, like metal chalices, so in cases like that, don't.
Always remember that the rule for tools is the same as the rule for robes: the cost of the item is directly proportionate to the cost of cleaning it, and the greater the chances of it getting messed up. SO the more expensive a tool is, the more it will cost to have it repaired, and the harder it will be to clean it. Imagine, if you will, a beautiful carved wooden pentacle with lots of elaborate Celtic knotwork. You drop a lit candle on the pentacle, and wax gets in all the little grooves. That's going to be a bugger to clean, ain't it?
The Altar- The altar is where you do all your magical stuff and store your tools. It's where you honor the Gods. It can be on a shelf, on the floor, the top of a dresser, or have a table all to itself. Obviously a table that's specifically an altar in a room that's specifically a Temple is the best way to go but that's not everyone's case. Some will say that the altar must be set at the East, some say the North (I feel North is best because that's Earth, and that is where we live). If you have it at the center of your Circle then you can walk around it to face certain directions. But always have the altar where it will fit. My altar is in the North because I have a dresser the right height that makes a perfect altar. You might have to keep the space you use as an altar in the South, or the North-West. That's just fine.
Air- Athame, Sword, Incense, Burin, Feathers.
The athame is supposed to have a double-sided blade made of iron, the length of your power hand from the wrist to the tip of your middle finger, with a black handle. specific sigils are supposed to be engraved on the handle which may vary according to tradition. There is debate on how the word athame is pronounced. I used to say it "Ah-THAYm" but now say "ATHamay" and there are still more pronunciations. Its Elemetal significance is debatable. Some say Fire because of its nature: A metal object requires great heat to make. Yet others say Air because of its associations with the Tarot (Swords is Air) and because the athame represents the cutting edge of the intellect, even as it is a symbol of will. So it would seem that the athame is a multi-Elemental tool, like incense. Your athame can be any sort of knife. My coven uses a one-bladed kitchen knife with a white plastic handle, which is a bolline and athame, because we use it to clean out candleholders, to etch candles, but also for Initiations and other ritual uses. My old athame is a letter-opener my father gave me. I now have a nice knife that's actually quite sharp, but alas has a plastic handle. You could use an ordinary pocket-knife and paint the handle black, or you could go to the housewares store and get an ordinary kitchen knife. Some of them even have black handles.
The sword is essentially a really big athame, with a few more ritual uses. At handfastings it's used to cut the wedding cake (according to the Farrars, but to be honest I can't see that happening and will probably use my or my bride-to-be's athame at my Handfasting, whenever that may be), and it's preferable to use one to cast the Circle for a coven, as it is representative if the collective will of the coven as opposed to a single Witch's will as symbolized by an athame. When a female covener puts on a sword, she assumes the role of a man. I don't suggest that in-the-broom-closet Witches use a sword unless they're a collector of 'cutlery'. It can be hard to explain, you know?
Incense is very easy to get, but it is probable that the easiest to get stick incense will be the cheapest, and therefore lowest in quality. If you can get it, hand-made incense is best, because it lasts a long time, produces very little ash, and lots of highly fragrant smoke. However, it can be expensive. Dollar-store incense usually sucks, and it will be badly labelled, showing bromeliads on packets of 'passionflower'. Unless it's Spiritual Sky, I doubt it will be of good quality. So far, aside from handmade, the best sticks I have come across are Nag Champa (I don't think there are any Witches out there that do not like this scent) and Gonesh. Gonesh is amazing! The incense is amazingly powerful and smells divine. No. 8, 'Perfumes from a Spring Mist' smells very fresh and clean, and No. 6, 'Perfumes from an Ancient Past' reminds me of Egypt, smelling of sandalwood, frankincense, and myrrh. Their Jasmine is the best jasmine stick incense out there that I have encountered. Wal-Mart has Gonesh, usually in the candle section.
Cone incense that dosen't suck is pretty hard to get. The best I have come across are 'Airs Aroma Pillars' which are amazingly powerful. One cone will scent a room for at least two days. However, they are rather expensive.
Powder is something I'm not that experienced with although I do have charcoals and a burner. There is self-combusting (it dosen't need a charcoal) powder incense made by Anna Riva, which is very good, but it's kind of hard to get started.
I used to associate the bolline with Air because it is a knife, but I now say Earth. The white-handled knife, however, is something I now view as different from the bolline. The bolline, to me, is for harvesting and working with herbs and plants, whereas the white-handled knife would be put to the traditional use that the Farrars give for it, which is making magical tools and such, and never outside of a Circle.
For a white-handled knife (possibly you could call this a curfane after a blade that is mentioned in Book of Shadows by Phyllis Curott - a rather dumb book for those who know thier history) I use a 'skean-dhu' that was given to me by my father. A skean-dhu is a Scottish knife that is placed in the top of the stockings in traditional Highland dress, for reasons that escape me. Mine has a slightly curved one-sided blade and a white antler handle.
A burin is something pointy used to etch things, like candles. I use a long thorn from a tree near my HPs' house, but a nail will do just as well.
Feathers, especially yellow ones, would be great to decorate the East side of the altar. Look for some when walking, or buy some from a craft store. However, some companies kill the birds to get the feathers, and you may object to that.
Fire- Wand, Staff, Candles
The wand is supposed to be a cubit in length, that is, from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger, although any length that is convenient for you is fine. 
Apparently, "Its use is to call up and control certain angels and genii to whom it would not be meet to use the Magic Sword" To be honest I have no idea when you would do such a thing. However, it can be used as a tool of Fire, as a tool of will. Some use it to cast the Circle. Certain rituals call for the wand to be used, and there is the immediate association with Witchcraft- Witches have magic wands. Arguments as to its Elemental associations are abundant, some saying it is Air, and other Fire. Air because it is a gentle-seeming tool, when the athame is martial and commanding. However, Air being the intellect, and Air beging the Element of Swords, I put the Wand in with Fire. How do we fuel Fire? With wood, with which the vast majority of wands are made. I think it is no coincidence that the wands of Fairy Godmothers have sparks coming out the tip. As for its manufacture, it is supposed to be cut from a virgin hazel or nut tree (that is, a nut-bearing tree that has not yet borne nuts) with a single stroke (that might be difficult) in the Hour of Mercury on the Day of Mercury (Wednesday). Or, from a branch of the aforementioned tree that has not borne friut - so, a tree that has borne fruit is OK, but the branch itself must be virgin. Almost everyone disregards this - the idea is from The Key of Solomon. Most wands have a quartz crystal or point at the tip, which is the 'projecting end' and on some the other end has an amethyst. Others are carved with a phallus (penis) on one end and a notch or cleft (vagina) at the other (as is my willow Moon wand), so that power flows through it and is projected from the end. Carvings and decorations are up to you but don't overdo it!
Some people who use the Wand-Air Athame-Fire associations claim it's because of some Golden Dawn 'double blind' thing (See 'A Witches' Bible' by the Farrars, the section on tools) but to be honest, that makes no sense to me and I really don't understand it.
The staff is essentially a large wand, but with more symbolism - it shows that you are in command of magical power. The specific material to make it of is something I don't know, but wood is always a safe bet. Ash is, apparently, popular (haha! Ash - poplar? Heehee. How silly). It can be used to cast the Circle (I cast my Circle with a staff) and if you're doing that in a carpeted room, you can actually draw out the Circle, which makes it easier not to cross (because you can see it on the floor). It presents a much larger canvas than the wand and hence almost every staff has lots of interesting carvings, bits of shell, bone, fur and leather, crystals and stones, and maybe some charm bags. Many have a crystal at the tip, which looks interesting and, in my opinion, makes the staff into a kind of lightning rod of magical energy- like a TV antenna, sort of. Some say the ideal height is to your shoulder, others say your head, but a good in-betwen length is eye or nose height.
Candles are easy! Go to the dollar store. They usually have packages of six or eight tapers for a dollar, so stock up. Get a variety of colors! Pillar candles are good for fire safety because they're hard to tip over and don't usually spill wax all over the place.
Water- Chalice, Cauldron, Water Dish
A chalice is used to hold water or wine. It can be glass or ceramic or metal. The most popular metal is silver, with its ties to the Moon. An ordinary drinking glass is just fine. Or, go to the dollar store, which will have cheap, attractive, functional stemware. Garage sales and thrift shops often have metal chalices, although you should be careful. Brass and pewter, when mixed with wine, form toxic substances. So, if your chalice is brass or pewter, make sure it is lined with silver. If it's metal and you don't know what metal, be safe and use it for water. Unfortunately, some of the nicest chalices to be found at thrift shops have the dates and names of someone's wedding engraved on them. Perhaps the best way to get one of these would be to make your own chalice out of clay. Take a class on throwing pottery and make a cup! It's easy!
The cauldron symbolizes the Crone and Cerridwen's 
Cauldron of Rebirth. It's supposed to have three legs and be made of cast iron. It's used for scrying (fill a cast-iron cauldron with water and it looks like a bottomless pit), small fires (outdoors only! Indoors put a candle in it), a receptacle for things that are to be burned, and, perhaps, cooking! However, it's only with a pretty big cauldron that you could cook anything. It is famous in this use because of Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act IV, Scene I):
A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder. Enter the three Witches.
First Witch: Thrice the brindled cat hath mewed.
Second Witch: Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Third Witch: Harpier cries "`Tis time, `tis time."
First Witch: Round about the cauldron go;
In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights hath thirty-one
Sweltered venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i`th` charmed pot.
All: Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Second Witch: Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble;
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
All: Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Third Witch: Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravined salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digged i`th` dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat and slips of yew
Slivered in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-delivered by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab;
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For th`ingerdients of our cauldron.
All: Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Second Witch: Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
Cauldrons are hard to find. An ordinary bowl will do fine for most uses, and a cooking-pot for others. Should you find even a small altar-top cauldron I suggest you grab it and don't let go until you've paid for it and set it on the altar. I got mine at a thrift shop (run by Christians none the less!) for nine dollars and fifty cents and has all the required features. But it need not be of iron, and dosen't have to have three legs. If you're in a big coven, you could have two: One for the altar and a large one for cooking at festivals and outdoor Sabbat parties. At classes and open sabbats, a 'prosperity cauldron' could be passed around like the dish-thing at churches to help compensate for time and materials.
The dish of water is for holy water. Consecrate it and add consecrated salt, maybe a bit of incense ash, and voila! Holy water! Use it to annoint things.
Earth- Pentacle, Salt, Stones and Crystals, Bolline
The pentacle goes at the center of the altar. Things are set on it for consecrations, if they are small enough (like wands and athames and chalices. Not staffs or swords!). It's a focal point. The term 'pentacle' refers to a pentagram on a disc, or in a circle. Sometimes the pentacle is called a 'paten', but 'paten' applies to any central altar symbols, so it might be an ankh, a Star of David, a Sigil of Baphomet, whatever your religion decrees. Make one by drawing the symbol on a bit of card. Or paint one on a circle of wood. Pentacles are simple.
Salt is life. It purifies and protects, and is representative of the Element of Earth. Consecrate it and add it to consecrated water to make holy water.
Stones and crystals are attractive and you can lay them on the altar for various magical or ritual purposes. They can be found at nature stores, and you can sometimes find rough stones while walking around, especially quartz, although it will be opaque. Very precious stones like ruby, sapphire, diamond, and emerald, you can get at Witchware shops in very rough forms which aren't expensive. In some cases color of stone is more important than the exact kind of stone, in that you could use ruby but garnet or any other transparent red stone would do perfectly well. Very important stones that should be in your collection are: Amythest, Clear Quartz, Tigereye, Moonstone, Pyrite or Fool's Gold, Rose Quartz, Bloodstone, Hematite, Aventurine, and Onyx or Obsidian. Well, all those are my personal opinions based on magical and color associations.
A bolline is, traditionally, a knife with a sharp crescent-shaped blade, and a white handle. It's used in the preparation of herbs and for carving things, and is supposed to not leave the Circle, although I disregard this because I use my bolline for 
cutting herbs from the plant. Why not use a magical knife to harvest magical plants? An ordinary pocket-knife will be perfect for this. Or, a pair of scissors, but I think that a knife is better - at least for harvesting plants. Scissors work by crushing, but a knife works by slicing - would you rather have your arm crushed off or sliced off?. A kind of knife that would make a great bolline is a carpet-ripper. The blade is very sharp, it's the right shape, and all you would need to do is paint the handle white. The word bolline I pronounce "bow (archery bow) -LEAN", and I have no idea how others say it. I now associate the bolline with Earth, as it looks somehwat like a sickle or scythe and they're used for harvesting herbs and such. The bolline, I feel, is different from the white-handled knife, but this is of course my association and might not make any sense to others. Bah.
Altar Furniture- Altar cloths, Statues, Flowers, Candles
Altar cloths in various colors help with different magical goals. For example, if you were doing a love spell, you could have Aphrodite imagery, pink candles, roses on the altar, and a pink altar cloth. If you can only have a few, I would suggest black and white, black from Lammas to Imbolc, white from Imbolc to Lammas. If you have only one, choose the color you like best and find most versatile. You can make these easily and customize them even more easily. Try embroidering the edges with runes, astrological sigils, and pentacles.
Silk is always nice for altar cloths, and, provided your altar isn't really big, you can get silk hankies or even old silk shirts at second-hand clothes stores. Just cut up the shirt and hem it, and voila, silken altar cloth! Use the leftover bits and pieces for saches and poppets.
Natural fibre is considered best. Silk is supposed to protect from negative energies.
Statues of your favorite deities help to 
visualize them in rituals, and for spells you could have a specific deity on the altar, like a statue of Sekhmet for revenge. These can be found in curio shops, museums, and even garage sales. Subsitiutions are allowable. For the Goddess, icons of Mary are perfect. I have one and it looks wonderful.
Statues may also be used in order to show who is worshipped at your altar. This is presumably the same reason that Catholics have big plaques of the Crucifixion above the altar in churches, and simple crosses for most other sects. They don't worship the icon of the Cricifixion or that cross - it's like religious marking of territory. This would probably be a good one to use if someone accuses you of worshipping idols - to which I say "So what?" but others may think differently.
Flowers may be used as offerings to the Gods and to help with magical purposes. Try putting tulips on the altar for protection spells, or crocuses, daffodils, and irises for an Ostara ritual, or sunflowers, daisies, and black-eyed Susans for a Litha ritual.
Candles set the mood and are used in magic. Quarter candles on the altar are nice but not neccessary, and difficult in some cases make getting things on the altar dangerous, like if you had a Fire candle on the South of your North-facing altar.
Besom
The besom is another tool associated with Witches. Admittedly, we can't fly on them (but if we could!). Some say that this idea came from the practice of sitting astride a broomstick and leaping into the air at fertility festivals to show the crops how high to grow. Another theory is that Witches would smear the broomsticks with flying ointments made of various toxic and hallucinogenic substances and then perform the above ritual nude, in which case the ointments would be appliied to the delicate vaginal tissue (ever seen a male Witch on a broomstick?). Undoubtedly the memory of such practices were what fuelled the accusations during the witch hunts that the Witch would grab hold of straws, sticks, or reeds, and shout "Horse and hattock, in the Devil's name!" or "Horse and hattock, horse and go, horse and pellatis, ho ho ho!". The straws would then lift the Witch into the air and fly them to the Sabbat.
Traditionally, a besom should have a staff of ash, brush of birch, and willow bindings. In some cases, the staff was to be carved with a phallus at the end that went into the brush, which symbolized sex. Some people say that the broom was a way to disguise a staff.
The besom is used to purify the ritual space. Some people lay it across a door in the Circle if they have to leave it, to prevent negativity from entering the Circle. At handfastings, the newly wedded couple jumps over a besom.
The brush is to be of birch because birch has purifying properties, but Rule One may be invoked here and available materials may be used. Personally I have no idea of what an ash tree looks like. My besom has a maple staff, willow brush, and leather bindings.
Modern fluff-bunnies and assorted idiots claim that the flying ointments caused the witches to astrally project, but in light of the fact that scientists have tested flying ointments and had results along the lines of the standard Witches' Sabbath, I'd say that this, along with most other forms of fluffy idiocy, can be safely disregarded.
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