Besancon. The secrets of the magic wand are revealed at the Enchanted Chalice

Le Chalice enchanté, medieval restaurant and café of esoteric knowledge, is one of the most unusual and welcoming places in Besançon. The managers, Eva Oberson and Michel Riedlé, not only know how to receive customers in an original setting, with Celtic-inspired musical background, but also treat the curious who wish to discover what their ancestors ate nearly 700 years ago.

No need to leave after lunch if you want to linger, because multiple activities and conferences are offered in the afternoon. The varied themes deal with magic, philosophies and practices close to the forces of nature. This Saturday, “good” witchcraft was out with a special guest, Quentin Béon, Besançon manufacturer of… magic wands!

The wand, a channel of energies

” I am independent. My workshop is at home. My family has always been ”in it”, first by shaping canes. We have always been interested in ancient religions, the size of wood and the particularities of the various species. Many are used for their properties related to energy balances. Men and women used the staff or the wand as a sign of social rank or mastery of such art. The scepter, for example, was carried by kings or pharaohs and symbolized their temporal and religious power. The caduceus represents caregivers. »

These objects gradually disappeared for a few centuries, because less and less well seen by the general opinion. Witchcraft and esotericism have taken more discreet forms, like the sticks now used by enlightened amateurs and some energy specialists. “The Harry Potter books and films have helped democratize magic wands. For some, they are like piles of energy. For others, they serve to direct energies to do good. »

One to two years to sculpt it

It takes one to two years for Quentin to cut a baguette. “I carve it with an athame, a knife used in the wicca ritual (religious movement based on the “ancient pagan religion” and redefined by Gerald Gardner. Wicca includes elements of beliefs such as shamanism, druidism, and Greco-Roman, Slavic, Celtic, and Norse mythologies. I must, at the same time, harmonize it with the one who ordered it and add two hearts, a mineral and a vegetable, in its central hollow, tuned to the essence that I use, so that it suits the personality of its future owner. »

The wand is therefore not transferable. It has enormous practical and/or spiritual utility. The audience, captivated, asks many questions. Here, at the Enchanted Chalice, dogmas and taboos have no place. Thoughts and words are free.