The Athame is a knife, which represents Fire and the south, but is never used to cut anything physical. It is used when casting the magick circle, calling "quarters" or elements and is part of many an opening ritual, handfasting or initiation rite. In some traditions, it is customary to have your blade given to you as a gift, and some witches or ceremonial workers give their magickal tools a name.
Pronounced "a-thAM-ay," "ATH-a-may" or “a-THAW-may,” the Athame is used by many modern witches in their rituals. In the Scottish traditions, the knife is called a "yag-dirk," and in Sax Wicca it is known as a "seax" (see-ax). Not all witches use a boline, pronounced “bow-LEEN.” It is more optional even than the Athame. It is also sometimes called a burin. It is a white-hafted, sometimes curved blade, used for harvesting herbs. It is possible that the boline came into existence for the express purpose of non-ritual use. Almost all sources state that magickal tools should not be used for any other purpose than that for which they are designated. Often the blade of the Athame is left "dull" or unsharpened because of this.
As with all ritual tools, the athame is a very personal magickal item, one which you will want to take some care in obtaining. It should fit well and comfortably in your hand. Modern witchcraft books almost always state that the athame is a "black handled double edged iron blade," however many kitchen witches have opted to use the packaged black (athame) and white (boline) paring knives sold together in most grocery stores.
Many Witches make their own blades or "personalize" purchased ones with runes, carvings and other symbols; all of which serve to blend the energy of the tool with their own magickal intentions. Many practitioners now use athames made from stainless steel, copper, silver and various other metals, or even carved stone. Some have family heirlooms, such as letter openers.
Some Witches never use a blade at all. Some use a wand (more on that in a few weeks), while others use their finger to direct their energies. This is part of the reason that you should never point at something. The tradition lies in the belief that pointing at something draws the attention of the gods to that thing.
With the "Celtic Revival," the sword has become a popular magickal tool. It is sometimes used in place of, or in addition to, the athame. Most groups who hold rituals indoors limit the use of the sword to just one for the Priest/Priestess. At festivals and outdoor rituals, some witches will bring their own swords to mark the boundaries or quarter points of the circle.
Below are two crafts for your ritual blade. The first is by far the easiest. You simply buy a knife in a store and personalize it. Making your own Athame or Boline is much more difficult, but you can try your hand at it in the second craft.
Personalize your Store Bought Blade
a knife
paraffin or beeswax
hydrochloric acid
a pin and nail (make sure they are free of rust)Some traditions call for etching something on the athame, either on the blade or the handle, but you may choose to do this simply to make it your own. The etching might be a set of specific symbols. These could include:
coven names or symbols
your magickal name in a certain alphabet
the name you have chosen for the blade
symbols of warding or intent
eye dropperWhen you are ready to use the hydrochloric acid, be very careful. It is very dangerous. Wear gloves and eye protection and work in a well-ventilated area with running water. Read the label and follow the safety precautions.
Be sure to put down some wax paper, newspaper, or foil, before you begin as wax is hard to clean up and it will drip. Start by melting down the paraffin in a double boiler or by simply dripping it onto the blade as it melts. You can actually use any wax for this, but paraffin melts at the lowest temperature. Beeswax also works.
Cover the entire blade with wax plus a little extra where you will be making the etching. (If you have a commercially bought blade, you will first want to use the nail to scratch the blade itself to break up the finish.) A layer at least one centimeter thick is a good start. Use the pin to carefully place your words, letters, symbols, etc in the wax. Then use the nail to carve down to the surface of the blade through the wax. Carefully use an eyedropper to put the hydrochloric acid in the etching. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or so (sometimes less). Rinse thoroughly with cold water to stop the etching process until you are sure that all of the acid is gone. Dispose of or store any extra acid as the bottle indicates. When the acid is all taken care of, remove the wax from your athame with HOT water and some elbow grease (though be careful not to cut yourself). When you are done you will have a permanently etched blade.
Make your own Athame or Boline
adapted from Chapter 5 of The Crafting and Use of Ritual Tools
by Eleanor and Phillip Harris; ISBN 1567183468
The book contains diagrams which may be useful.This is a difficult craft really only suitable for those with wood working experience. If you have not worked with wood before, but still want to try this craft, it might be a good idea to get more wood than your need or some scrap pieces of wood first and practice on them before moving on to something like this.
The design of your personal knife is entirely a matter of choice. The knife blade is usually made of steel, although many functioning and attractive knives have been crafted of bronze, copper, and flint blades. The knife handle can be fashioned from wood, stone, horn, deer’s foot, and an assortment of materials. This craft is for a wooden handled steel blade.
You will need:
1-2 pieces of wood (natural or commercial) of a length and thickness that you require
a knife blade
a nut or pommel that fits the screw threads of the knife’s tang
a vise
C-clamps
chisel or carving tools
wood plane or rasp or wood file
Elmer’s wood glue
sand paperMeasure the length of the blade’s tang. Cut or obtain two pieces of wood that are at least long enough to cover the tang. If the tang does not have screw threads, these pieces of wood may be as long as you wish. If it does have screw threads*, the length of the wood should be the same as the distance between the base of the blade and the beginning of the screw threads. The wood should be at least one inch thick and one inch wider than the widest part of the tang. You can always shape the handle once it is secured onto the blade tang.
Lay the tang centered onto each piece of wood and draw around it. If your blade has screw tangs, be sure that they extend from the rear of the wood blocks. The outline of the blade tang will be your guide for hollowing out the wood block. Also make an outline of the tang on a piece of tracing paper. It may be useful later.
Use a chisel or carving tool to dig out the inside of the outlined sections, and be careful not to chisel too deeply or outside of the outline. Once you’ve dug out the grove, lay the tang onto one piece of wood and lay the other on top. Do both pieces of wood fit around the tang securely and evenly? Is on piece of wood chiseled out too much? Not enough? Slowly make adjustments. Now, if the pieces of wood are slightly misaligned, that is okay. They can be glued together and reshaped with a wood plane or file later.
Take the two pieces of wood and slightly roughen the area on the same side as the outlines. You can do this by nicking the wood surface with a sharp object all around the outline area. Then spread either Elmer’s wood glue or epoxy resin glue generously over the entire surface of each wood piece. Apply glue in the grove where the tang rests, as well.
Place the two pieces of wood together with the tang of the knife between them. Remember to leave the knife’s blade screw threads visible and outside the wooden end of your handle. You will need to place the nut upon the screw threads after drying to secure the knife blade so that it will not slide out of the handle.
Once you’ve applied the glue, use a vise or C-clamp to tightly hold the two pieces together. The wooden handle must be allowed to dry thoroughly in place for three to five days. If you use a vise to secure the wood for gluing be sure to point the blade of the knife facing away from you.
Before attempting to shape the handle, use a ruler and pencil to carefully measure an outline to cut or file around. This way you will know exactly how much of the wood piece needs to be removed. This is where the tracing paper may come in handy. You don’t want to make a design that’s going to cut too deeply into the wood for fear of colliding with the tang. So make a design on the tracing paper around the traced tang, then transfer it to the wood.
Before attempting to shape the handle, cover the blade completely by wrapping it several times in a sturdy fabric or canvas. Then secure the blade in the vise on your worktable. This will prevent the knife from slipping and causing you injury while you shape the handle. Make certain that the knife is securely fastened in the vise with the blade pointed away from you before you begin work on the handle.
You may be able to use a small saw to cut away the excess wood in the shape of your design, or you may use a wood file or plane to more slowly shape the handle to your liking. It’s important to take your time and remove wood slowly. Once the points of your design are established, you only have to shape the handle in any other manner you desire, and file the handle to a circular or squared off shape. **
Sand the handle to a smooth finish if you like. From there you can paint the handle entirely, or stain it if you wish. Afterwards, you can apply your symbols and decorations.
The last step, after paint, stain, and application of your symbols, is to spray or brush on a thin layer of protective clear coat or sealant, such as varnish. Your handling of the knife could in time wear away the paint on the handle. Stain does not require the application of varnish since it actually penetrates the wood pores.
*Note: Some knife blades, although of excellent quality, have screw threads at the hand end (tang) that are metric. Unfortunately, these blades do not arrive with fasteners, usually called nuts. Finding nuts in the United states to use with them is tricky. You can take the blade to a hardware store so that the attendant there can match the threads up to a correct nut. If this doesn’t work, try an auto parts store. You may also try a pommel to screw onto the screw threads.
** If you selected a knife blade with screw threads at the end of the tang, screw a nut or pommel over the end of the exposed screw threads. If you don’t like the appearance of the nut or pommel projecting from the back of your ritual knife, hardware and lumber stores sell wooden caps that you can fit over the bolt or pommel and glue into place.