ATHAME - THE WITCHES DAGGER

Athame - The Witches Dagger

On November 30, 2020, I started a new 4 part series in honour of the items you are most likely to find on a witches altar. There are 4 items that will be covered in depth over the coming Full and New Moons; the Athame (aka a witches knife or dagger), the Cauldron, the Chalice and the Wand.

For the 4 tools, 2 are recognized as holding feminine energy and 2 hold masculine energy. The chalice and the cauldron are feminine as they represent the womb. And the wand and athame are masculine as they represent the phallus.
I’d like to note here that everything has meaning including the pentagram or 5 pointed star that is probably the most iconic of symbols for the Wiccan community. The 5 points of the star represent either the human body; 2 arms, 2 legs and the head or the 5 elements; being earth, air, water, fire and spirit (or ether).

First up - The Athame

The pronunciation for this word is all over the place and range from AH-TA-Mee, to Ah-THAA-Me, to Ah-Tha-Mai. So why is there so much confusion about such an important implement? Because the origins of the Athame have been lost over the years.

Some believe that the origin may come from the Arabic word Al-dhamme, which translated is blood letter. Al-dhamme is a sacred knife in the Moorish traditions.

There are magical manuscripts dating back to the 1200’s indicating that knives were used in rituals and magick.

So what is the main purpose of the Athame? It is to transmute energy - to be used as an extension of your own energy. Some use their Athame’s to cast their circles but traditionally it is used in spells to slice through obstacles in ones life or to sever bonds or ties. It can also be used to clear negative energy from an area or working space.

Athame’s need not be sharp as they are not intended to cut. Most blades are 4-6 inches long and the most traditional of witches will only accept a black handled athame. Blades can be made from a variety of metals, glass, marble, crystal or other materials of the possessors choosing.

Depending upon your individual teachings, each implement or tool represents one of the elements. Traditionally the chalice for example represents water as it typically holds liquid, the cauldron is fire as it is heated by fire and some spells are cast by lighting fire within the cauldron, wands are representative of earth as traditionally wands were made of wood and that leaves the athame which represents air. Some covens teach that the athame is representative of fire due to it’s affinity to perform powerful spells.

Some ask; should I buy my own athame or does it need to be gifted to me. The answer is…an athame is a very personal item and thus it should be selected carefully by the intended user. What about antique knives? Should you choose to purchase an antique or vintage dagger, you should ensure that the knife has never before drawn blood.

So what of knives or daggers that have drawn blood in the distant and forgotten past? Well, being that daggers transmute energy, we, with our fickle human memories may have forgotten the past, the the energy in the knife or dagger has not. (Warning - going off on a tangent here: Here is a simplistic way to think about this; Think about energy this way - everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING is energy. Energy is a vibration…the more quickly it vibrates, the more malleable it is - we as humans vibrate higher, we are able to move etc. A rock for example is still vibrating but so slowly, it is unable to move (well to our naked eyes it doesn’t move). So now let’s explore longevity - the faster the vibration, the shorter the lifespan, the slower the vibration, the longer the lifespan (i.e. humans vs a rock). So take an antique or vintage dagger - it is a solid object, likely made of materials vibrating slowly, and thus being able to retain energy (longevity and energetic memory) much longer)

Tangent over - back to the original story; So what of a dagger or knife that’s drawn blood? It is believed that any blade that has drawn blood will no longer be able to function as a magickal accessory, it will not longer be able to transmute energy for the purposes of magick.

Plain and simple, Athame’s are NOT weapons. To do harm with your Athame is to remove it’s ability to perform magick forevermore!

In ancient times, (and perhaps in private today) some witches are reported to still “feed” their athame’s small amounts of blood. This practice is not openly accepted. However, it is not uncommon to use safely collected menstrual blood for some rituals and this may be the “safe” blood being used to “feed” the athame’s?

So on this note of not using an athame for harm, I will reiterate here the Witches Rede:

The words the Wiccan Rede fulfill

An’ ye harm none, do what ye will

What ye send forth, come back to thee

So evermind the Law of Three

Follow this with mind and heart

Merry ye meet and merry ye part

Charging your Athame: There are different ways to consecrate your Athame and make it yours. The most common is to hold the Athame in the smoke of sage or incense or other sacred burning, smouldering herb. You may also choose to anoint your Athame with essential oils that have already been consecrated or blessed. Many choose to decorate their Athame’s. And some recite incantations. The most important step is to command your Athame to do YOUR bidding and yours alone and then BREATHE your energy into the tool.

If you have any questions about Athame’s, please reach out to me via email and I’d be happy to chat with you.

In Love and Light

Marnie