Tools and Supplies (pt 2) : The Athame

A fade up from black: a circle of hooded cultists approach a stone altar, upon which a helpless virgin in white is bound and gagged. They chant and ominous music reaches a crescendo as their leader raises a gleaming dagger, and -

Wait, what? No, no no. Human sacrifices, drawing blood with a dagger - this isn’t Wicca!

"I summon the Dark Lord."
"You must roll a 15 or higher to succeed."

The use of the ritual dagger is one aspect where mainstream religions and media have blurred the lines regarding who does what.



This is that whole confusion-of-symbolism issue again. Because Satanists use a ritual dagger this way, the tool’s image sticks out as something made solely for killing - and non-violent pagan use bears the brunt of misunderstanding. The knife you see in comics, movies, and dime-store romances is vastly different from the Neopagan athame.

Taken from Google Definitions:

“* An athame or athamé is a ceremonial double-edged dagger, one of several magical tools used in neopagan religions and various Witchcraft traditions. It is variously pronounced /ˈæ.θə.meɪ/, /ə.ˈθeɪ.miː/, etc. ...
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athame

* black handled, double edged dagger. Principally used to cast and dissolve the circle, for which purposes it is interchangeable with the magic sword. A tool of the "Element" of Fire in the Georgian Tradition and some others.
www.msu.edu/~rohdemar/earth/gloss.html

* a short ceremonial knife, sometimes with a double edged blade. It is used to direct energy during the Wiccan rituals.
www.carm.org/religious-movements/wicca/wicca-terms

* a double-bladed knife used for ritual magick, it is never used to cut anything in the physical plane
www.angelfire.com/ia/LiliWicca/Direct.html

* a knife, sword or dagger.
www.fabrisia.com/glossary1.htm

* (pronounced ath-am-ay) - A blunt ceremonial knife used in ritual cut energy rather than physical items.
www.shadowsofoz.net/extras/glossary.html”

As I’ve come to understand it, the Athame (I say ‘ah-thuh-may’) is meant to invoke, direct, and banish energies during rituals. The books and internet resources I’ve come across vary in opinion regarding exact purposes, but generally it IS a sword or dagger - a double edged knife - with a black blade or handle which is used for ritual purposes, but it's never to cut physical things. However, even this depends on what tradition is being followed. I’ve come across people online who hunt ritually as part of their traditions, and use the athame not only to make the kill, but to skin and dress prey. A good number of others say that if an athame ever draws blood, it must be destroyed.

Witches/Wiccans/Pagans who need to cut material objects during a ritual typically seem to have a second (white handled) knife for the purpose - used for cutting cords, carving wax, clay or wood, chopping plant matter, etc. The color of the handle may be symbolic, but typically it’s just white to make it easy to distinguish from the athame. This secondary knife is called a Boline, boleen, or many other variations of spelling - a knife matching this purpose is mentioned in Phyllis Curott’s Book of Shadows, under the title of “curfane,” - though some choose to just ritually clean scissors of shears for this sort of thing.

Despite the fact that this knife is used to cut physical objects, its tasks are mostly menial. In fact, many bolines are scythe shaped, reflecting both their use for harvesting herbs and as a connection to the ’Goddess,’ often symbolized by the moon.

Aside from the aforementioned traditions where hunting is involved, neither the athame or the boline are used to draw blood (in the event that blood - usually a few drops, and coming from the person doing the spell anyhow - is used, a medical lancet is employed. Sanitation is a must.)

The words ‘ritual use’ and ‘directing energy’ come up again and again. So what exactly do you use an athame for? The problem with trying to figure that out is that it’s already directly stated. If you don’t understand the idea of directing energy in a ritual, then you’re not going to understand how to use an athame.

The athame is sort of like a combination psychic laser/flashlight/light-saber/vacuum, powered by your own energies and whatever energies you invoke. You use it to cast a protective circle around you for rituals (imagine a laser burning into the ground and creating a wall of fire in an orb around you), calling energies to you (shining a flashlight in the dark to call for help). You brandish it to cut doors in barriers and banish negative energies (light saber!) and then you use it to suck all that energy back in when you’re done (vacuum).

"Begone, foul demon!"

And still, that’s not the end of its uses.

As with most of the tools of the pagan trade, it’s about customization, and personal taste. Searching online, I’ve come across athames made from wood, metal, bone, antler and stone: I’ve seen both dull and razor sharp, handmade and machine cast. Some were labors of love, taking months to design, create and consecrate: others started life as cutlery, and underwent a simple purifying. The athame I’m working on started out existence as a cheese knife - but now that it’s been ritually cleansed and consecrated, decorated and remade, I have to admit - it looks pretty at home with the other tools I’ve accumulated.


Mine is dull edged - it is a knife in symbolism only, and that’s true of most athames, sharp or not. In the end, it comes down to the person wielding the tool who determines how it used, despite what it’s meant for. A knife is a knife, but an athame has a very specific, spiritual purpose.

What I’m getting at is that while some practices do sometimes employ ritual (animal) offerings, if you’re associating this tool with bloodshed, stabbings, and virgin sacrifices - that’s all Hollywood and devil worship, not wicca.