athame

thumb|265px|An athame, used in Wiccan ritual practices An athame or athamé (, , , or ) is a ceremonial blade, generally with a black handle. It is the main ritual implement or magical tool among several used in ceremonial magic traditions, and by other neopagans, witchcraft, as well as satanic traditions. A black-handled knife called an arthame appears in certain versions of the Key of Solomon, a grimoire dating to the Renaissance.

The athame stands as one of the four elemental tools in modern occultism, traditionally representing fire for witches, and air for ceremonial magicians. It is mentioned in the writings of Gerald Gardner in the 1950s, who claimed to have been initiated into a surviving tradition of witchcraft, the New Forest Coven. The athame was their most important ritual tool, with many uses, but was not to be used for actual physical cutting. The other three elemental tools are the wand, the pentacle (the element of earth), and the cup or chalice (the element of water). These four magical tools correspond to four significant "weapons" or talismans in Celtic myth: The sword, the spear, the shield, and the cauldron (and/or 'grail').