Athame-the witches knife. Its use is purely ritual, (for which purposes it is interchangeable with the Sword) It is never used for cutting except for the happy occassion of a handfasting cake. It is always a personal tool, belonging to one witch. Traditionally the handle is black, certain xymbols inscribed on it, with a double edged blade. But Rule #1 when getting your own athame is to get what feels right to you. I had one that was entirely of steel...Priest of Darkness made his own, and his blade is one sided. This is what you will be using as a witch, it has been called the 'true witches weapon' It should be what suits you. The athame is a masculine symbol and is attributed to the element of fire.
Sword-the sword is completel interchangeable with the athame. They are attributed to the same element of fire and are both masculine. There is a major difference though. A sword is used by a coven, where as an athame is used as a personal tool for one witch. To illustrate the difference, the sword is used to cast a covens circle, where you would use your athame to cast a personal circle. A High Priestess would use the sword to call attention to major discussions in a coven etc.
Wand-the wand is a masculine tool also, but it is attributed to the element of air. It is a quieseter tool than the athame, used to evoke instead of command in circle. To invite an entity instead of demand. The Book of Shadows says "Its use is to call up and control certain angels and genii to whom it would not be meet to use the Magick Sword" Now this obviously has a ceremonial connotation to it...but the underlying purpose is the same. When the wand is held in the Osiris position (which we have a pic of and hope it will post) with the scourge, the scourge represents Severity and the wand represents Mercy. The wand can be made several ways...a simple tree branch of hazel or nut is traditional...tipped with a crystal or not...it can also be made with a copper pipe wrapped in suede tipped with crystals...the main thing is it should be the length of your arm from the bend inside to the tip of your middle finger...or close to it.
Chalice-the chalice represents the element of Water and is feminine...probably the most feminine symbol there is. Its main use in Circle is to hold the wine, in which is consecrated and passed round. It is also used to represent the woman in the symbolic Great Rite. They chalice is the smaller version of the cauldron...which the Charge of the Goddess says "I am the cup of the wine of life, which is the cauldron of Cerridwen which is the holy grail of immortaility" The cauldron is the symbol of the womb of the Goddess, and so is the cup in the smaller form.
Pentacle-the pentacle is the primary symbol of earth. Its gender would be described as feminine, since it is the element of earth. It is the centerpiece of the altar, on which objects are consecrated and things like the salt and the water bowl are placed to be blessed. It is inscribed with symbols and can be made of wood, metal, wax or glass.
Scourge-the scourge has 2 uses. One is purely symbolic and the other is used for gentle monotonous semi hypnotic application to affec the blood circulation as an aid to 'gaining the Sight'. Use #2 is NOt TO BE USED without the supervision of a trained practitioner, PERIOD. Use #1 is used in rituals to serve as a reminder to use that we have taken vows in our initiations, and is also used to show the severity of the High Priestess as necessity sometimes calls for us to be.
The broom or besom (pronounced bay-shom) is a symbol of both masculine and feminine qualities and is used to cleansing the circle area before ritual.
These are the main tools that we use in ritual...there are a few others like jewelery, but these are obvious and need no explaining I think.