Out of all my ritual tools and all of the "witchy" supplies I have amassed over my years of practicing Wicca, my most cherished tool is my athame. When I first began studying Wicca at the age of nineteen, it was the first tool I purchased. Granted, my athame is rather unorthodox in appearance. It does not have a black handle, nor special inscriptions in the blade. In fact, by all surface appearances, my athame may be considered foppish or tacky. Even still, I love my athame and even if I could make my own and give it my own personal touch with various runes or symbols hand etched into the handle or blade, I could never part with my original one.

Depending upon which tradition you follow, the athame is either attributed to air or fire. I attribute mine to the fire element and have since the day I purchased it. My athame has been used to draw down the Moon, consecrate and charge every one of my ritual tools, to aide in spellcraft, and to cast the Sacred Circle. It has been used to symbolize the sexual union between the Lady and Lord. There is not one single ritual or rite that I have ever observed in which my athame was not a part of.

My athame and I have a special sort of bond. I can feel the energy radiating from it whenever I grab ahold of the non-traditional handle. I feel that energy well up inside of me when I carefully separate the sheath from the blade. In the Sacred Circle, we are one.