The Athame: The athame is a ritual knife used to symbolically cut a sacred space. It is preferred to be double-edged, but doesn't have to be. However, the cutting is never done in the physical plane... the athame must NEVER cut anything except air. It is also used to trace pentacles, salute the deities, and direct energies. Your athame doesn't even have to be fancy . Yours could be a pocket knife or an old, dull kitchen knife. Whatever your athame is, it will still work just as well as long as it feels right to you.<END>