Witches Athame

What Is A Witches Athame?

To the novice witch, an athame, pronounced either uh-THAW-mee or ATH-uh-may is one of those things that makes you go “Huh? What on Earth is a witches athame?”.   A witches athame is just one of the tools that can be used to enrich ceremony, ritual or spellwork.  It is basically a ritual knife or dagger traditionally, with a black or dark handle and a double edged blade.  It does not need to be sharp as it is not used for cutting nor is it ever used to cause physical harm.  An athame can be made from metal or could be a more natural material such as knapped flint or a carved selenite sword.  

Your First Witches Athame

Acquiring your first witches athame can be a great little adventure.  You can go to local markets, search garage sales, visit antique and second hand dealers or your can obviously buy one online (we have a great selection at our online store https://thesacredwillow.com.au/. No matter what, wait until the right witches athame speaks to you and you know you must have it.

Cleansing Your Witches Athame

It is a good idea to cleanse your athame (and any other tools) after acquiring them as you don’t know what energies have been in contact with them. There are many ways of cleansing your new witches athame but the most important aspect of cleansing is the intent to cleanse.

Simply wrapping it in a cloth and burying it in the Earth overnight is the easiest method of cleansing however there are many other methods of cleansing such as casting a circle and writing your own invocation to cleanse.  You could also place it on a bed of salt overnight or cleanse using smoke such as sage, rosemary or lavender.  

Using Your Witches Athame

Your witches athame is used to direct energy during rites and spells. It is a commanding tool for manipulation so you do not use it to raise deities. It’s believed that when used in rituals your witches athame absorbs tiny amounts of power into the handle which you can use later in that ritual or at another time.

As with any of your tools your witches athame becomes powerful through touch and continual use so therefore it is not necessary to engrave or mark your tools, this is entirely a personal choice in my opinion.

I hope you have found this post interesting and now know what a witches athame is and how you can use it to enhance your magickal work.  

Blessed Be

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