Magic Series: Episode 29- Athames

Explicit

An athame or athamé (/əˈθɒm/, /əˈθɒmə/, /ˈæθəmeɪ/, or /ˈæθɪmɪ/) is a ceremonial blade, generally with a black handle. It is the main ritual implement or magical tool among several used in ceremonial magic traditions, and by other neopagans, witchcraft, as well as satanic traditions. A black-handled knife called an arthame appears in certain versions of the Key of Solomon, a grimoire dating to the Renaissance.

The contemporary use of it as a ceremonial tool was started by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, in the early 20th century, for the use of banishing rituals. The tool was later adopted by Wiccans, Thelemites, and Satanists.

The athame is also mentioned in the writings of Gerald Gardner in the 1950s, who claimed to have been initiated into a surviving tradition of Witchcraft, the New Forest Coven. The athame was their most im ...