Hand carved from wood. Total length 29 cm

An athame is a ceremonial knife used in Traditional Witchcraft and other pagan beliefs for various rituals. A black-handled knife called an arthame appears in the Key of Solomon. The athame is an important ritual tool but is not used for physical cutting.

The athame's primary use is for ritual and magical purposes only, to direct energy; if things such as herbs or cords need to be cut, another knife called a boline - a white-handled knife - is used. An exception is the "kitchen witchcraft" philosophy, which encourages the everyday use of magical tools to increase the witch's familiarity with them.

Gender: Masculine
Direction: East
Element: Fire/Air
Uses: Mixing solutions and potions, charging and consecrating amulets and talismans. Opening and closing magic circles.
Additional Information: Also known as the right handed knife. Athames must be consecrated or purified before use.

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The Moon has been the subject of many works of art and literature and the inspiration for countless others. It is a motif in the visual arts, the performing arts, poetry, prose and music. In many prehistoric and ancient cultures, the Moon was thought to be a deity or other supernatural phenomenon, and astrological views of the Moon continue to be propagated today. In Aristotle's description of the universe, the Moon marked the boundary between the spheres of the mutable elements (earth, water, air and fire), and the imperishable stars of aether.

The monthly cycle of the moon has been implicitly linked to women's menstrual cycles by many cultures. Many of the most well-known pantheons feature female lunar deities, such as the Greek goddesses Selene and Phoebe and their Olympian successor Artemis, their Roman equivalents Luna and Diana, or the Thracian Bendis. Male lunar gods are also frequent, such as Nanna or Sin of the Mesopotamians, Mani of the Germanic tribes, Thoth of the Egyptians, the Japanese god Tsukuyomi, Rahko of Finns and Tecciztecatl of the Aztecs.

The Moon represents your emotional self, your inner self, your instincts, habits, and automatic reactions. The sign it occupies in the Zodiac at any given time will color your reactions, feelings and "personal responses" according to the issues and characteristics represented by the sign involved.