Scavenging Magic

I love it when I can go to Unique looking for magical tools and come home with a bag full.  A set of four triangular wooden plates that fit together to form a circle.  Four ceramic jars (formerly containing wispride cold pack cheese foods, judging by the label that remains on one of them) with locking lids and a fairly airtight seal.  A medium brass cauldron.  A pot, handmade in greece, with what I believe is a reproduction of minoan art: bulls & warriors on horses.  A plate with a tree in the center, topped by a heart and surrounded by a slightly offkilter five-pointed star.  On the rim of the plate, a vine and the words "Friends", "Family", and "Faith".  And a small jar labelled "Top Secret Secrets".

The four wooden plates I'll be using as offering plates.  They're one of the things I was most interested in getting from Unique when I went there.  The four ceramic jars I'll probably use as spirit vessels or, alternately, to hold some alchemical work when I get started on that in a month or two.  The greek & top secret jars probably for liquid offerings (water, alcohol, blood, etc).  The plate with the tree I'll probably use to hold a votive candle.  And the cauldron I'll primarily use for fire-related rituals (possibly even some forms of alchemy, if the brass content won't be a problem).

All in all, not bad for an hour's worth of time and 16 dollars.  Scavenging thrift shops is always fun. :)

Magical Geekery

I'm doing a bit of comparative study right now, of concepts that appear throughout different magical traditions across the world. The two main ones I'm interested in at present are items which attract and house spirits ("yoshiro" in shinto tradition, of which kamidana and magatama are examples) and items which serve as a magical link for spellwork such as photographs, something they owned, hair, blood, and other examples ("witnesses" in radionic tradition, "personal concerns" in hoodoo).

Does anyone know of other terms for or examples of these things, from other traditions?

I'd also be interested in knowing any specialized terms used in various magical systems for physical offerings made to spirits/deities (food, water, liquor, etc). As of yet, I'm not familiar with any specific terms for this practice other than "offering", "libation", "sacrifice" and other english-language synonyms.

Knowing additional terms for all of these things will assist me in researching these concepts in other traditions with which I am less familiar. After all, it is said that the beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.