Athames and Bolines

[Anonymous]

The way I see it, an Athame is used to channel and/or direct energy, and is never used for cutting (i.e. herbs, string, etc.).  However, I've also read that some people do use them for cutting.  I have also heard that the Boline is used for cutting, not the Athame.  

Isn't the blade of an Athame made dull, and for that reason, a Boline should be used anyway?

I would like do hear how everyone uses their Athames and whether they agree with my statements.  Am I missing something?

BB,
-Sev

[Anonymous]

Perhaps I'm too practical and not ceremonial enough to be much help.  I have a genetic predisposition for self-inflicted and sports injuries, so I try not to keep too many sharp objects around the house.  I use a staff where most would use an athame.  If I need to cut something, I use scissors.

[Sebbi]

The way I see it with all magickal tools, if they help you channel your mind then by all means do what you feel is right with them.

I wouldn't worry about whether you should cut with an athame or not, unless of course it is something that genuinely makes a difference to you. If it doesn't, don't bother starting.

Blessings

Sebbi

[Anonymous]

Perhaps I'm too practical and not ceremonial enough to be much help.  I have a genetic predisposition for self-inflicted and sports injuries, so I try not to keep too many sharp objects around the house.  I use a staff where most would use an athame.  If I need to cut something, I use scissors.

Haha....that does seem to be alot more practical.  I've just heard alot of different views and am interested in what the people on this forum have to say.  I myself find it to be more practical to use an envelope opener (since its what I have lying around) rather than a "double edged knife with a black handle".  It looks just like it, but made of plastic.  However, I think that Athames, bolines, wands, etc. are just so beautiful, and the materials they are made of can aid in whatever it is you're doing.

BB,
-Sev

[Anonymous]

I also have a letter opener to channel energy. I find it much more practical and they actually won't throw me out of the dorms for having it. If I need to cut something I keep a normal kitchen knife set aside for only magical purposes. I figured that would be most practical.

[Anonymous]

My Athame is a throwing knife I've had since I was old enough to buy that sort of thing.  It is actually very sharp.  It's about 8 inches long and tear drop shaped with black electrical tape around the handle.  I use it solely for ritual.  I generally use it to cast circle, stir mixtures during ritual such as salt and water, and as a representation of the god.  When I am not using it I have it wrapped in white cloth and is stored away.  
My boline is a curved blade about 7 inches long with a sharp, razor edge on the outside and a serrated cutting blade on the inside.  It works really well for everything I've needed it for.  I only use it for mundane things such as carving runes in candles, slicing  herbs, and cutting string/cord.  I also keep it wrapped and stored when I am not using it.

Personally, I think that you should use what feels right to you.  This is what feels right to me, so there ya go.

[Shadow]

I don't usually use an athame'.  I do have an interesting one, made of bamboo of all things, that presented itself to me, but I usually just channel the energy I want to use and am done with it.

When I am working in a large group, twenty or more, I use my 48" bastard sword.  Not that it channels energy any better than my finger, or just directing it with my mind, but having a really big guy standing in the middle of the circle with a great big sword in hand does tend to hold people's attention so things do run more smoothly.

For those who have argued with me in the past about why I don't work with groups I will add this little disclaimer at this point, I only work in groups, especially large groups, when specifically asked by someone who is important enough in my life for me to acquiesce, otherwise I work alone.

As for whether or not you should use your athame' for cutting, I personally think a knife is a knife.  We talk much about "how things were done way back when", and whether or not those who practiced some form of witchcraft did this or that.  Well, there is little in the way of actual proof that "they" did anything.  However, I seriously doubt that people who lived more simply had the means to own a special set of tools.  A knife in such a household would certainly have to serve as a general cutting tool for everyday use as well as being pressed into service for magical workings.   Also, in such a household, the magical cauldron was most likely the large cooking pot that was used slow cook the stew over the fire, and so on.

Also, I look at it this way.  If you separate out your religious tools from your everyday life, are you also separating your religion from your everyday life as well?

I had noticed that orthodox Jewish men are required by there religious laws to spend a lot of time in prayer, either in temple or not, while it isn't felt that this is necessary for women.  I asked a friend of mine, who is a Rabbi, why this is so.  He told me that the womans day was one long religious observance.  The act of keeping a house kosher keeps her mindful of her religious obligations.  Even the act of shopping, visiting the kosher deli, keeping the groceries separate so that certain products don't touch other products, and so on, is a religious observance.

So, ask yourself this question.  If I keep all of my religious working tools safely tucked away when not being used for ceremony, am I then keeping my spirituality tucked away, and need to spend more time in specific religious observance to make up for it?

[Anonymous]

Wow, Shadow, that outlook on continual religious observance is fascinating.  I've seen it pop up before in regard to other religions, but it still makes a fantastic point.

Me, I don't do magical workings because I don't feel I'm ready.  I do rituals for specific gods (either as part of the calendar or to ask them for advice/help for others/etc.).  I keep a switchblade in my drawer of ritual stuff just in case I may need it for something.  So I guess my situation doesn't apply to the discussion.

Still, in my mind, if I were to ever get into spellwork, I know what I would want to use to channel energy.  When I was in Spain a few years back, I visited a sword factory and got... well... it's either a really big knife or a really short sword.  The blade's about nine inches long.  It doesn't have the traditional black handle, but I'm still fascinated by the thing, and since it was handmade, it feels more personal to me.

[Anonymous]

Would you be able to channel your energy "more effectively" If you were to make the athame (or whatever it is you'd want to use to channel energy) yourself?  Like, maybe out of wood or something, because you'd have more of a connection to it since it was made by your hands?  Or will consecrating it be the same?


BB,
-Sev

[Anonymous]

The way I see it, an Athame is used to channel and/or direct energy, and is never used for cutting (i.e. herbs, string, etc.).  However, I've also read that some people do use them for cutting.  I have also heard that the Boline is used for cutting, not the Athame.

Well, there is much symbology tied into mine... cutting with it would have more implications than I've found anything to fit.  I know others who believe in making it part of as many actions as possible to impower the blade and bond it better to its wielder.  I also know some who believe that by only using it under certain conditions it isn't diluted by inappropriate use.

Isn't the blade of an Athame made dull, and for that reason, a Boline should be used anyway?

Some dull the blade, some don't.  Some people like their will to be sharp.  Some don't think it should be so sharp as to cut unintentionally.

[Anonymous]

You are absolutely right Shadow.  There are actually multiple reasons I keep my tools put away when not using them for ritual.  
The first and biggest reason being that if I didn't keep them tucked away they would probably get lost.  I'm not the most tidy person it seems.
The second reason is that they are both pretty sharp and I wouldn't keep them out even if they were not ritual tools.  It just seems dangerous....especially with that blasted ferret running amuck in this place. :wink:
The third and last reason, I don't want anyone else mucking with them and possibly putting their negative energy in them.

As far as the question of spirituality being tucked away along with tools I would have to say, a person could come and steal all of my tools from me but I would still have my spirituality.  I think that the religion makes the tools, the tools don't make the religion.  if that makes any sense.  Indeed your views are fascinating.

[Anonymous]

The way I see it, an Athame is used to channel and/or direct energy, and is never used for cutting (i.e. herbs, string, etc.).  However, I've also read that some people do use them for cutting.  I have also heard that the Boline is used for cutting, not the Athame.  

Isn't the blade of an Athame made dull, and for that reason, a Boline should be used anyway?

Traditionally a boline is used for cutting (ie..herbs) and an athame is used for energy directing. As I said, that is what the traditional use is for these tools, but it does not mean that is what YOU must do..

I practice ritual magic (I don' really want to use the term of ceremonial magic since I don't really work in a group) and although I DO have an athame, I rarely use it. I prefer to use my finger, only because I don't feel that having a knife at the end of my hand directs the energy any better then my finger does. As a matter of fact, I would like that logically, the energy dissipates somewhat by going through a tool, then having it directed right through myself.

But then, that's just me and how I see how the energy flows though me and how I want it directed. How you decide to use your tools is up to you,,,and as long as it works for your intended purpose that is all that really matters.

I have this big pot that I use when I make sauce. It's a great pot, but it doesn't have a lid. So when I use it, I cover the pot with a cookie sheet. Someone is perfectly capable of coming into my kitchen and telling me that is not what cookie sheets are used for, but *shrugs* it seems to work for what I need it for...

[Anonymous]

Would you be able to channel your energy "more effectively" If you were to make the athame (or whatever it is you'd want to use to channel energy) yourself?  Like, maybe out of wood or something, because you'd have more of a connection to it since it was made by your hands?  Or will consecrating it be the same?


BB,
-Sev

I think if you can put your energy into any tool and use it with much success, but actually creating the tool yourself would make it more personal and you might have more of a connection to it.

[Anonymous]

My athame is sharp. But I have two basically. One is the old one and I've used it to cut off a few vampiric channels that a person was doing against me basically. It worked really really well. The funny thing was that the idea to use it for that appeared in a dream, so I don't think it could be so very wrong to do that. But maybe others will disagree.

I would never use it to cut herbs though, I hate kitchenknives for that.

[Fillionous]

A full on ritual tool is nice if you have the money to buy or the skill to make or the desire to have something of this nature for your ritual / spells.

For a long time I have practiced solitary and in places where being pagan is not understood at best. Having things marked out as pagan would not be a smart move. So a lot of the time I used my finger. I also have an athame, which is purely in the power of my mind. I fashioned it long before I knew what it was I was creating (as in called an athame) and is so real that I can feel the horn of it's handle, catch the light on the two edged blade and know it is a real thing, yet it is totally a figment of my mind.
When I needed a real solid knife I would use one from my re-enactment collection or the kitchen, superinpose the mind athame into / over it and commit it to use for this moment in time. All the power was still in my mind athame and the bit of metal was just a way of making it pysical enough to do jobs like cut cord or scribe a rune.
I have never made a distinction between athame and boline, a tool is a tool and its strenght is in its use.

Over time though I have found that I prefure certian knives out of the kitchen / re-enactment collection. Most are special or unique in some way but none conform to the traditional view of an athame and all are sharp.
Like the old short kitchen knife with a homemade wooden handle, which comes from a set of identical blades bought and handled by my grandfather and now spread one each across the family. Or the flint knapped blade mounted on a coyote jaw handle. Or the pattern-wielded medieval eating knife that I take with me on all re-enactments.

Just my 2 cents worth... just to prove anything is possible with mind and will.

Be bright, be bold
Fillionous