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.

Making a pentacle

Still being in the process of accumulating the tools for a proper altar, one of the things I decided to make myself was a clay pentacle. I made a dish for the purpose in my ceramics class, but as I was decorating it, I became self conscious of people seeing it.

Would they think it was a pentagram (satanic) and just assume instead of asking? Would they see it and just assume that I was a long practicing Wiccan? What sort of judgments would people make just looking at it - if any at all?

One guy in my class, noticing that I was using a compass to draw a pentacle, perked up and mentioned that he used to draw them for some friends all the time - and then asked if I was "Into wiccanism or that Odin stuff." I said no, that I was just looking into earth religions, and he nodded, returning to his work - a beer stein with a skull and vines on it.
"That's cool," he replied. "I have a lot of friends into wicca or whatever."
He was oddly immature - being in his early 30's, he dressed and talked a lot like a teenager. It made me question what associations I might attach to myself allowing my interests to be more visible. It also made me question myself.