Athame

The Athame is the Black Handled Knife use to cut the necessary things for the circle such as the pentagrams in the quarters and the circle. It should be mentioned herein that the Athame need not be a black handled knife. It is the opinion of the authors that it suit the person who uses it. It is also used to invoke and banish things that are unwanted or needed in the circle. It is considered to be an extension of the users "self". This includes will, spirit, thought, emotion and manifestation as well. It should be mentioned here that the Athame is never used for cutting things like meat, thread, plants or anything else considered a solid object on this plane. (Use of this blade for self defense will make it null and void for any magickal use again.)

The Athame is nothing like it used to be . It is the considered opinion that the Athame is of the Center and of the other four quarters as well, not just the South. It is the controlling factor and extension of Self in magick that leads us to that conclusion. We consider the Athame to be a tool of center, of self, of evocation and banishing. The Athame is the tool wielded of one's own will, thoughts, emotions, and intuition, over all of the Elements and over ALL. We use it to command, even, the spirits that we evoke, invoke, and banish. The moment one strikes a relationship with the blade is the beginning of it's consecration. The
purpose of consecration is to embedd in one's own mind and in the very metal of the blade, the focus of it's purpose. Cleansing a clearing is the symbolic refinement of the blade. Binding makes the blade truly one's own, and extension of self in the center of the Universe. Charging is the energy from within the self projected through the blade and outward in the direction of ones intent.