|
| |
|
Answers From The Ask-A-Mage Desk
|
|
|
Wiccans tend to be (in my experience) very pragmatic people. With that in mind, WHY is the athame (never used for cutting) made of iron or steel, and the boline (used for cutting herbs/branches) made of copper? I've done some experimenting out of curiosity, and I have a great deal of respect for anyone who can cut anything besides whipped cream with a copper blade. Is there a technique used for hardening the copper so it will 'take an edge'? There was a short-lived 'copper age' in prehistory, but when bronze was discovered, it replaced copper for all edged tools, except, it seems, the boline. I know this seems like a silly question, but the sheer illogic (in the physical realm) of it makes me crazy.
We seem to have entered the wild and wooly world of tradition. In most paths, the athame is a double bladed, black handled knife, while the boline is a white handled knife. Most paths I've looked into don't go into more detail than that, however your tradition, or the traditions you've come across, may. My particular path uses a sickle rather than a boline. Lets start with the athame. For me, the most important part of its symbolism is the fact that it is double-bladed. Thus it functions to remind us that the truth cuts both ways. Black is the color of negation, of grounding, of dissolution. The athame (or its giant cousin the sword) is generally used to cut the circle. As such, it determines what IS part of sacred space and what is not. The black color can help to negate energies that are not desired in circle. As to being of steel, one of the things a former teacher suggested was that it was always wise to keep a little bit of iron in circle. Not so much that the faeries would be scared to enter (traditionally faeries do not like iron/steel), but enough that one could defend oneself (negate unwanted energies). The athame is generally not used for practical purposes because of a desire to keep its energies pure for magickal use. When we use particular items for ritual only, it tends to make us FEEL more magickal when we use them. Just as we might have special robes that we wouldn't wear for mowing the lawn or going shopping, we try not to "contaminate" ritual items with everyday energies. This way when you use them, your mind triggers to the fact that you are performing a magickal act. On to the boline. A boline's function is to carve runes, cut herbs for ritual use, and in general perform any knife-ly tasks that are still magickal in nature, but for which one wouldn't use the athame. When cutting herbs, etc. you don't usually want to negate the energies within. Thus a white handle both purifies and includes the energies of the item being cut. A majority of bolines I've seen are single bladed and tend to be slightly curved. A single blade seems much more practical - and SAFE - for cutting useage, to me. I believe they may originate from the sickle which was traditionally used by the druids to cut mistletoe (and other herbs). Lore tells us that the druids used a golden sickle for cutting mistletoe at high noon on Midsummer and a silver sickle at midnight on Yule (gold and silver being symbolic of the Sun and Moon). Gold is an even softer metal than copper, and I theorize that they were in reality using bronze, which is golden in color. Although I've not heard of making the boline from copper, I suppose it would be possible. Copper is a feminine metal, sacred to Venus and the element of Earth. It is also a strong conductor of magickal energy. I suppose if it were extremely thick copper, and with a correctly shaped (wedge shaped) blade it might be possible to utilize it in cutting, however the constant need to re-sharpen it would send me looking for another knife in no short order. I suppose it might be possible to create an alloy of copper and bronze or something, that looked coppery, but held a better edge. (Actually, bronze is made of copper and tin (or other metals). I am not sure what would happen if you increased the copper content, but its worth experimenting with.) Most likely however, what you have is a case of Pot Roast. This is my term for cases when we do something because its "traditional." It is possible that whoever taught you this bit of lore got it from someone who got it from someone who did it because that's what they had available or because it held some particular meaning to them. Lets suppose that Lady Twotrees is a priestess of Aphrodite. She happens to be in a curio shop one day and happens upon an ornamental copper letter opener. As copper is Aphrodite's metal, she must have it, and therafter uses it to cut ritual herbs. Her student sees her copper knife, and either likes it or thinks it's "supposed" to be that way. Several generations of students later, it has gone from a personal quirk to a requirement. My personal feeling is that the most important thing in magick is to use something that feels right to you. My personal athame is neither black nor steel, nor double edged. Its a 6 inch lazer-wand quartz crystal. However its energy is a fine, surgical beam, and to me, the facets symbolize that there are many facets of Truth. Some teachers are very strict about what works and what doesn't. My own theory is that the intuitions of the person involved should be honored. If your tradition calls for something, meditate on it, try it for a while, see if it works for you, and then if it doesn't, go with something that does. |
Main
Page
|
|||
|
|
 |
 |
|
Graphics and articles © Lionrhod 1997-2003 PHP magic made possible by OakRaven.com
|
|||
|
|||
