Inherited from Middle English stang, stong, from Old Norse stǫng, from Proto-Germanic *stangiz, *stangō (“bar, rod”), from Proto-Indo-European *stengʰ-, *stegʰ- (“to stick, sting, prick, be stiff”).
Meanings
A forked ritual staff.
These stangs can be used as natural altars in outdoor rituals or simply as walking staffs. 2014 January 8, Ann Moura, Green Witchcraft: Folk Magic, Fairy Lore & Herb Craft, →ISBN, page 7:
In more common (and private) Wiccan circles, the stang is replaced by the athame (black handled knife) and the cauldron replaced with the chalice but its^([sic]) pretty much /whatever works for you/. 2009 June 22, Yowie, “Sikh Quaker?”, in soc.religion.quaker:
The stang represents the horned god and the masculine force of nature. Much like the wand or athame, the stang is used for raising or directing power[…] 2006 January 7, Lady Sabrina, Exploring Wicca, Updated Edition, →ISBN, page 87:
(archaic, obsolete) A long bar; a pole; a shaft; a stake.
Gripping the stang, she peered / At ghostly trees. Bus stopped. Bus disappeared. 1962, Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire:
(historical, obsolete) In land measure, a pole, rod, or perch.
These fields were intermingled with woods of half a stang,*... (with the corresponding footnote: "An old word for a perch, sixteen feet and a half. These small woods were therefore eight feet and a quarter.") 1880, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels into several Remote Nations of the World - Part I, Chapter II (page 15)