Athame

(Pronounced ATH-ah-may or Aa-Thame) A witches personal knife, often crafted with a double edge. This is a ritual piece and is not intended to cut or harm and because of this often athames are not very sharp. Some traditions dictate the color of the handle as well such as black or white.

Most of the blades are normally made from stainless steel or some other metal. Some witches build their own athame from wood. Any type of material whereby someone can make sharp end point. An historic terms many materials were used such as bone and also stone. In our modern world many people are matching these plastic. There is also a ritual that comes in connection with the athame. It is to charge it so it has magical powers. The most important element of this work was choosing to you have a connection with. We will now briefly look at the different material and how they are used.

Stone Athames

Stone has been with us from the cavemen age. Historically, many witches used an athame from rock. There should be deep investigation with the connection with where the rock regulated and th.

When a witch makes a stone knife they create this by a process known as “knapping.” This is basically a term of one hitting one piece of stone with another. This can be rather labor intensive. It can take many weeks for witches to create a life from stone. Knapping was popular in the Stone Age and this form of creating a point for a knife with a stone is still popular in magical circles. 

Some stone that is natural in texture and relatively soft is often used to make an athame. A stone athame is normally popular if one is to undertake a ritual in a public place.

An athame can be associated with the various characteristics of earth. This can vary on the type of stone used. A stone such as Obsidian is used from active volcanic stone. This is associated with fire and therefore may be used in fire rituals. Most stones hold a protective energy for occult work. For those that are looking for protection may use jade. We will now move forward and look at the different stones and how these are used to make the athames.

• Obsidian: this stone is associated with protection. The color of this stone is black, the colours are mixed with a swirl, that consist of a range of other colours. Witches use this stone to scry and look into the future, thus, it is normally a preferred stone used for thames. These knives can still be purchased today.
• Hematite: the hematite contains power. It has hidden energy. This has become a rather popular stone over the last few decades. Most of the hematites in occult workings are used to heal. This stone has also been linked to ensuring that energy is stable. The stone contains a large amount of iron, therefore is protected in power.
• Quartz crystal: this crystal is one of the most common magical stones. It is increasingly used for building an athame. It is well known for its secret abilities to magnify magical energy.  The blade itself can include many qualities for protective magic work. Most of these crystals are used to create a circle in order to conduct ritual work. This crystal has been used in many rituals and ceremonies from ancient times.
• Flint: this stone is normally considered the best material to cast a circle. It is usually associated with the element of fire. 
• Chert: very similar to Flint this stone is easy to work with. Many chert stones containing fossils are used in order to create the knife. This is an important stone because it will signify historic magical properties.
• Marble: we all understand that marble is used on floors and also surfaces. Marble is a popular stone found around the house. The Romans used marble to build many buildings and is a common stone. Marble is also used as a healing stone. 
• Jade: is often selected as a stone used for protection. This stone is often associated with rituals that are protective in nature.

Another material that is selected to create the knife is known as petrified wood. This is neither a stone nor wood itself. What is interesting about this material is that it is supposed to live in two world’s. This has powerful energy, due to the connection in the past. Whatever material you choose to create the athame with should be personal to you!