At first, when I was a teen,  I used to toss the limbs to the side of the snowmobile and dirt-bike trails. The area was thick with Pines, Maples, and Cherry trees, and after a windstorm, you could count on having to clear the miles of trails in the woods.

Now, once a month, I take meditative hikes on these trails, to bring peace and quiet back to my mind, after a stressful week at school!  And I also bring back any special wood pieces that I am drawn to; I find this helps to reactivate the peaceful journey when I can use some relaxation at home.

To find your own, special stick, or staff, you also should look off the beaten-path. I have found many great cherry pieces hanging loosely from a branch, so not to have touched the ground and become water-laden.  They dry out very nicely suspended in mid-air. Yes, some times a bit of climbing is involved (so take a tree saw!).  Look for the branches with the bark already, or mostly, fallen off. 

Trees that may have been hit by lightening, do not necessarily have "bad energy", actually quite the contrary. They have been touched by mother nature directly from the heavens, and this could produce a special stick, indeed!

When you find sticks that seem to have a nice wooden weight, size, and twist, that speaks to your, or catches your eye, they mostly likely are diamonds-in-the-rough. Rarely have I found a "perfect" piece, size, shape, length, smoothness, and all.  So you may have to do some preliminary cutting whilst in the woods, else you tire yourself out quite quickly carrying such a load for any distance back to your vehicle!

Rarely, will I use a stick that has been buried in the ground, or lying atop the ground to where rot has begun; unless you may cut that piece from the overall stick/staff.   For instance, I found a nice maple stick where it was supported up against the trunk of its mother.  So I cut the bottom 12 inches off till I found the non-soft portion above.  Yes, they will dry in the sun, however, the wood that was wet for prolonged periods will have lost its strength and flexibility to the point it will not support weight.

Always rough-cut your sticks a good 6 inches longer than you'll need.