Making An Athame

An athame is traditionally a double-bladed knife with a black handle. Very few people make their own, although it is possible to do so. Most people obtain one and personalize it in some way. This is most commonly done by inscribing symbols or runes on it. In some traditions specific symbols are required and have been handed down through their lineage. In others and among eclectic Wicca groups, these can be personal.

How do you do this? You cover the blade with Paraffin. (WAX) Then you let it cool. Next you take a LONG sharp NAIL and inscribe the symbols in the wax. Then you use dilute Hydrochloric acid - careful, this stuff is dangerous, and drop by drop place on the blade where it shows through due to your inscriptions. When the acid has worked - usually fairly quickly - you rinse the blade under running water THOROUGHLY and then you use VERY hot water and a lot of elbow grease to remove the wax.

If ANY ACID FALLS ON THE SKIN RINSE THOROUGHLY UNDER COLD WATER IMMEDIATELY and if there is a burn of any type, seek immediate medical help. IF it gets in the eyes, again rinse immediately and completely and CALL THE EMT/PARAMEDIC UNITS. It is best when doing this if you wear either some type of glasses or goggles and rubber gloves.

DO NOT INGEST THE ACID OR LEAVE IT WHERE IT COULD BE INGESTED BY A CHILD OR ANIMAL. Also be careful of how you dispose of the rest of it - do so in an environmentally SAFE way.

This sounded like a little too much for me, so I tried another method. Koren made a beautiful athame for me and I personalized it by putting herbs of my choice in the handle and sealing this with a favorite crystal of mine - again with his help.

Oh, if you absolutely can't get a double-bladed knife - in Massachusetts, for example, possession of such a weapon is a CRIME - get a single-bladed knife and grind down the other edge as much as you can.

As I said, the Athame is USUALLY black-handled, but there are exceptions - I saw one Lady use a knife with a deer's hoof for the handle. She was oriented toward her Native American heritage as much as her Craft, so it had deep significance for her. I also saw - in fact a friend of mine was selling it - a BEAUTIFUL homemade athame with copper tubing forming a cross hilt and crystals in each of the three tips for the handle. (this was almost a small sword) AS ALWAYS USE WHAT SPEAKS TO YOUR OWN SOUL!!!!!

The athame is usually NOT used in circle for anything other than ritual and ceremonial purposed. If you need to inscribe a candle for Magick or slice the bread for the cakes and wine part of the rite, you usually use a BOLINE or white - handled knife, often a small dagger or even a pen-knife, set aside for these purposes.

Books in PDF format to read:

Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - Feeding The Flame
Max Heindel - Teachings Of An Initiate

Labels: hermes multiple translations  august lugnasadh  weather growth  witchcraft signs  area pagan 2008  confessio fraternitatis  pagan rituals  

Nocturnicon Calling Dark Forces And Powers

Book: Nocturnicon Calling Dark Forces And Powers by Konstantinos

New York-based occult author Konstantinos (and yes, that is his real name) is a famous name within the darker aspects of the occult. Over the years he's published a total of six books with Llewellyn - books that are all aimed at and written for Nightkind; that is, creatures of the night, people with a somewhat darker (but not necessary evil) view of magickal workings and who prefer the darkness of the night to the light of the day. He's also written numerous articles and appeared on many different TV-shows. In other words, he knows what he's talking about.

And in Nocturnicon he talks about magick being done at night. As with other books of the same category (not necessarily about darker aspects of the occult, but definitely about magick), this is not a book written in an attempt to convince skeptics that magick does indeed work. And it's not some sort of summary about the history of magick and the occult, even though historical references does pop up from time to time. No, this is instead a manual for the believer, a tool that you can use to summon the Dark Forces that are hidden somewhere in the dark and the infinite universe that surrounds this planet of ours.

Take a thrilling walk on the dark side with Konstantinos! The author of Nocturnal Witchcraft presents a collection of magickal techniques for working with dark forces. Developed and tested by Konstantinos, these rites and rituals have proven to be quite powerful in harnessing nocturnal energies-even helping the author overcome a serious medical condition in a miraculous recovery that shocked doctors!

Many books about magick contain rituals that are very difficult to do, demands years and years of practice, and include accessories that aren't always very easy to find. Nocturnicon is, however, nothing like that. The rituals and exercises described here are easy to do, don't require any bizarre and impossible demands of preparation, and if you do them correct you'll see the results in no time. Konstantinos is an honest author. He discusses how the use of absinthe (not the legal stuff but rather the old, traditional version) can affect the imagination in great ways, he doesn't deny that illegal substances that help in opening up new aspects of your consciousness, and sex magick isn't too taboo to write about.

Drawn from diverse sources-ceremonial magick, folk magick, Ancient Greek ritual, and divination-these techniques enable magicians and novices to conjure and control primal energies, thoughtforms, Lovecraftian entities, egregores, sigils, and other forces. Those attracted to the dark mysteries will relish Konstantinos' bold Exploration of sex magick, death magick, altered states, dream grimoires, and forbidden tomes.

Still, please note that it's NOT a "pro-drugs book" or kinky anthology about sleazy sex. Far from it.

If you're a diehard skeptic who doesn't believe in anything that has to do with the occult and magick, then Nocturnicon is probably one of the worst books you'll ever buy. However, if you're open to new possibilities and perhaps even feel instinctively that the darkness of the night affects you in a very special way, then there's really no reason for why you shouldn't run as fast as you can to your nearest bookstore and get a copy of Konstantino's latest work.

He actually succeeds in being amusing, thorough, controversial, funny, and serious, all at the same time, and if you add the fact that the book itself if extremely pleasing to the eye you'll realize that Nocturnicon - Calling Dark Forces and Powers is a book you cannot afford to miss.

Note to the reader of this review: I usually don't give 5 stars to a book, since most books have at least a few flaws that lowers the grade, but occasionally it does happen.

Buy Konstantinos's book: Nocturnicon Calling Dark Forces And Powers

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

George Gifford - A Dialogue Concerning Witches And Witchcraftes
Douglas Colligan - Strange Energies Hidden Powers
Michael Jordan - Dictionary Of Gods And Goddesses