Athame, Bolline,
Dagger, and Sword

(Better known as the sharp, pointy stuff.) Pottery from ancient Rome (about 200 b.c.) shows two people drawing down the moon, one holding a wand and another a short sword, telling us that the use of tools in ritual practices flows from ancient civilizations.5 In today’s Craft, an athame is a type of double-edged dagger, usually constructed with a steel blade and a black handle, used only for non-cutting ritual purposes (meaning the blade doesn’t cut anything physical, and if it does, the metal is considered tainted). Most Craft traditions use the athame as a symbol of either air (the whistling sound it makes when one makes hand motions calling the east quarter) or fire (because the blade was forged in fire).6 Although some Witches claim that an iron blade is best, others draw back in horror, believing that iron will destroy one’s magickal intent. And if you plan on working with faery energy, iron is definitely a no-no—they hate it.

Ritual knives can be used to cast a circle, open and close circle quarters, cleanse and empower items, or command astral energies (to name a few examples). In many traditions, specific symbols are carved into the handle that tie the magickal intentions of the blade to the practitioner, the elements, and to the group mind. These sigils can also be used together or separately in other types of magick, such as candle spells, petition magick, and general ritual. (check the Sigils, Symbols, and Magickal Alphabets section in part4 for complete information about symbols and sigils.)

Some Witches empower the athame by rubbing a magnet, crystal, or lodestone over the steel blade several times to magnify its power. It was believed that the sharp point of the athame could direct energy to repel negativity, where the wand was used to guide magickal current for other matters. The logic, as I understand it, matched the point of the blade with incisive current, where the blunt end of the wand and its construction of wood was considered not as effective for magickal defense activity. However, in ancient Egyptian magick, rods (made of wood or other natural materials) were used in defense of the lady of the household. These rods were used to turn negative energy into positive current.7

Where the word “athame” comes from and how the ritual knife appeared on the Wiccan altar is historically debatable. Some feel that the word “athame” comes from the Arabic adh-dhame, meaning “blood-letter” in symbolic form;8 however, this definition leaves many modern Wiccans running for PR cover as our knives are never used to draw blood. In the Craft, the athame represents the will, not the physical association with weaponry intended to hurt an animal or individual. Many feel that Gerald Gardner (father of modern Wicca) took the athame straight from Mathers’ The Key of Solomon, a ceremonial text used in the magickal lodges of his time (and still available today); however, as Ronald Hutton explains in The Triumph of the Moon:

. . . there are seven different versions of this text in the British Museum and the number and functions of the ritual weapons varies significantly between these, and only one of them gives the black-handled knife a name of arclavo or arclavum. The closest to Gardener’s version is arthame, which appears in Paris (France) . . . Some historians feel that the word is not of Arabic derivation, but French (attame), which means to cut.9

Given the other ceremonial associations in the Craft contributed by Gardner from these same organizations, and his limited association with Crowley, it is highly possible that he added the blade from ceremonial, not Craft-related, sources. However, we do know from Celtic history that, for a time, their weaponry through the use of iron was far superior than their contemporaries, and that they were feared because of it. We also know that such folklore practices as hanging a knife above a door to cut any negativity that might enter the home (which means the knives were not used to physically cut, but to defend on the astral plane) were highly popular in that culture. It is possible that Gardner simply melded the local tribal/folklore history (wherein the knife is used to banish malevolent faeries and other unwelcome astral nasties) with the more modern ceremonial practices as his reasoning for placing the blade on the Wiccan altar. The Scottish Highlander’s skean-dhu, which means “black knife,” has a hilt of this color, and may give us another hint of part of the athame’s origin in Wiccan lore.10

Of all the Craft tools, the athame, bolline (small, white-handled knife used for cutting herbs), and sword (basically those things with sharp, pointy ends) have fallen out of favor in some Wiccan traditions (notice I say “some”) due to the possibility of accidents and society’s current view on things that can hurt you. Although most ritual blades are dull, if you stumble you can still hurt yourself (or someone else) in ritual circle. In some cases your environment will dictate whether or not you can own a blade. You can’t take an athame to school, carry it on a plane, or (depending upon the rules) have a blade in your dorm room. Likewise, if you are the parent of curious, rambunctious children, leaving a sword lying around the house would be a bad idea. Transporting blades in a car is also tricky—some states have laws on the length of a blade that you can have on your person or in your vehicle. To the police, a blade is a weapon—they will not view it as a sacred tool and will confiscate it. Where athames continue to be relatively popular, the sword is normally found in ceremonial groups rather than shamanic ones.

Craft tradition on blades in circle may also extend to the medieval belief that only a free person could carry a double-edged dagger, and therefore since all in the ritual circle are free, he or she has the right to show this symbol of freedom. If the sword is used in circle, only one sword is present, usually wielded by the master of the circle (high priest), though the high priestess can also “strap on the sword,” meaning she can use the implement to cast the circle and call the quarters. Again, we look to medieval times, when owning a sword meant you were a cut above normal society (class distinction). In the hierarchy of a coven, the high priest and high priestess are considered the leaders, and therefore, as leaders, have the right to work with the sword in a magickal environment. The two-edged sword or athame symbolizes the dual powers and opposite currents in manifestation (positive and negative; male and female; as above, so below; creation and destruction; life and death), invoking opposites that compliment each other.11

In the Craft today, teens of Craft parents are not given a blade until that parent or guardian feels that he or she can handle the responsibility and understand the ritual significance of the tool. Traditional ages differ—presenting the blade at the age of sixteen, eighteen, or twenty-one—in honor of the teen’s rite of passage into adulthood.

Now, some of you are saying, “I want to be a real Witch, and so if real Witches have blades, then I want one.” Not so fast. First, if you are a teen, let’s think about your parents. You know, those people that love you? Unless the knife is in the kitchen cutting vegetables, most parents would take a dim view of Witchcraft if you trotted around the house brandishing a blade while muttering unintelligible words. I can see my Baptist mother now—“And what do you think you are doing?” Nope. Not worth it. Church camp for you, kid. Secondly, you don’t need any tools to be a Witch. Just your own, true self will do.

If you feel you must have a ritual blade, then my advice would be to discuss this with your parents. For some of you who are old enough to own a blade, it probably won’t be that big of an issue, but for those of you in the younger crew, your parents’ permission is a necessity. If your parents say no, then that’s the answer. Use your ingenuity instead. There are lots of other representations for air or fire in the magick circle, and one can always cast a circle with one’s finger or hand rather than a blade (I still do). My own children were not permitted to own a ritual blade until the age of fifteen, and then the knife was kept locked in a cabinet and only taken out for ritual. A few of the younger teens I’ve known have used a butter knife with the handle wrapped in black electrical tape until they were permitted to own a regular blade, where others chose not to work with a blade at all. My first blade was actually a carved wooden one made by my father when I was thirteen.

This entire discussion on blades leads us into a very important realm of Craft training: The object isn’t the power of change, you are. Granted, any item you use in magick will collect some of your energy and be attached to your desires, however the tool itself isn’t going to get up and dance around, cast the circle, call the quarters, and do a little jig without you. It all goes back to that As above, so below maxim; since Dion Fortune seems to have said it best, I’m going to paraphrase her:

For whatever reason, beginning magickal students often attach great importance to the number, color, sound, and form of a given object, thinking that the spiritual associations of that object will somehow make one’s desire manifest. It is true that all these correspondences provide a link and are important in the learning process, but the link is only a trigger for your mind. The uninitiated, writes Fortune, believe that the force invoked comes through the object, where the initiated know that the material object isn’t used to make the energy come down, but to help the mind of the magickal person go up along a particular line of thought. It is only through yourself (not the object) that the desired change occurs. The value, then, lies within you, not within the object.12

So! If the powers that be at home say no blades for you, don’t sweat it. It’s only a tool (not the magick), after all.

Awakening the Tool

Many magickal people believe that once the tool has been cleansed, consecrated (dedicated to Spirit), and blessed (asking Spirit to fill the object with positive energy), the tool should also be “awakened” before each use. This activation process is often governed by the group that the Witch belongs to, meaning one coven may have a special chant, while another group may “alert” the tool by tapping it one to three times on the altar, or they may simply pass hands over the tools, and say: “Waken ye unto life.”13 No matter how it is achieved, this process serves as a trigger to the mind that the time for magick has begun.