Altar & Ritual Tools & Purification Rituals

The Atame: The athame, a witch's ceremonial knife, if the most important Witchcraft tool.
Some Witches believe that the athame corresponds to the element fire. Some Witches believe the athame corresponds with the element air (and the direction east). The athame is considered to be a phallic tool and therefore of masculine element and male energy. In many Witchcraft traditions the athame must have a black handle (white handled knives being reserved for cutting). Many Witches personalize their athame handle with magick symbols, magick writing, and other decorations. Some Witches keep the athame handle plain so that non-Witches won't realize there is anything special about it.

You change an ordinary knife into an athame through a consecration ritual. This can be a newly purchased knife or a keepsake you've had for years. You might find great knives or daggers to use as an athame at swap meets, flea markets, antique stores, New Age festivals, or Renaissance Faires.

Purification Of An Athame
If you purchase a used knife you will want to purify the knife of any bad karma or negative vibrations from previous unknown owners. One easy method is to expose the knife to direct sunlight for at least one hour a day for the full cycle of the moon, usually starting at Full Moon or New Moon. This can be by placing the knife inside a window (to prevent possible theft). Other purification methods include water, alchohol, salt, crystals, and herbal smudgings. Some Witches believe that an athame should never be purchased, that either you must make your own tools or receive them as gifts.
A gift athame is considered a great honor. The athame will have all the energy of years of use by the previous owner. That energy can help guide and empower your own magick, merging your magickal energy with the magickal energy of the Witch who gave the gift. Obviously you don't cleanse out the previous energy from a gift athame (in this case, you want that energy to stay in the athame). Once the knife has been purified, you may have a consecration ceremony.

Consecration Of A Sword
When you finish choosing or making an athame, you will want to dedicate it to magickal work. You may create your own little ceremony that dedicates the knife for sacred use and transforms it from an ordinary knife into an athame. The ritual should be short and simple: place the tool on the altar, cast a circle, and perform a short ritual to consecrate the tool.
A brief ceremonial purification and cleansing of previous mundane uses migh involve mixing a small amount of salt and water in a chalice or bowl and then sprinkling the tool. This is just ceremonial purification. If the tool needs a complete purification, then this should be done before the consecration ritual. You will probably also want to recite a short poem about the knife being transformed into an athame. One, two, three, or four lines are plenty. It doesn't have to rhyme unless you want it to. Some Witches directly speak to the new athame.
If you have a permanent altar, you might leave your athame on your altar for 24 hours after your ceremony before making use of your new athame. Any of the Sabbats or New Moon or Full Moon are particularly appropriate times to dedicate a new athame.

Naming Athames
In some traditions (especially Nordic, Teutonic, or Germanic) the athame is given a ceremonial name. Sometimes this ceremonial name is carved into the handle in runes or magick writing system. There are many examples of European knives and daggers inscribed with runic names by shamans of Odin. You may optionally invoke the name of Odin or any male deity to empower the consecration.

Some Witches believe that the athame should only be used inside a circle, while other Witches believe that the athame can be used as an ordinary knife outside the circle. During the Burning Times, Witches had to hide their Witchcraft tools in plain sight (which is why every Witchcraft tool other than a sword looks like an ordinary kitchen utensil).

Magickal tools are sensitive and will absorb the energy of anyone who touches them. Some Witches don't let anyone else touch their athame. Some Witches will allow member of their coven, their family, and close friends to touch their athame. If someone touches your athame, you can smudge it with sage. Light a sage leaf on fire, then gently blow out the flame, leaving a bright red burning ember. Wave your athame through the sage smoke. This will cleanse out the energy from the unwanted touching without driving out all of the positive magickal energy you've built up in your athame (a complete purification would get rid of your magickal energy as well). You can also sprinkle a small amount of salt and water, as described in the consecration ritual above.

A knife that has been used as a weapon shouldn't be used as an athame. If a knife has ever drawn blood, it must be purified before it can be consecrated as an athame. If you ever accidently cut yourself with your athame, you will want to smudge with sage, sprinkle with salt water, or otherwise symbollically purify it.

Besom Brooms
Besom brooms are the brooms traditionally associated with witche,s and are traditionally made of twigs tied to a larger pole. As a result, the besom is rounded instead of flat. The bristles can be made of many materials including, but not limited to straw, herbs, or twigs. Supposedly, an upward pointed besom (bristles up), especially over or near a doorway, will help protect the house from evil spirits or negative energies. A traditional Wiccan besom is an ash stave handle with bristles made from birch twigs. These twigs are tied on using thin pieces of willow wood. It is used to cleanse the ritual area before circle casting.

A light sweeping not only cleans the physical space, it also clears out negative energies that may have accumulated in the area since the last cleaning. The broom is a purifier, so it is connected to the element of Water. To cleanse your ritual area, start in the centre and moving deosil (clockwise) sweep the circle from the centre to the outer edges, all the while envisioning and chanting that negativity is being swept out and the circle is being purified.

The besom is also an important part of Wiccan handfasting ceremonies in some traditions, as the couple jumps over the besom during the ceremony. The use of the besom as a tool in witchcraft might have begun when there was much fear and hatred toward witches. A broomstick was a common household item and therefore could not be used as evidence that a person was a witch. Today, Wiccans that are still "in the broom closet" might use a similar excuse to avoid suspicion.

Bells
Hundreds of years ago, rural folks knew that loud noise drove away evil spirits, and the bell is a prime example of a good noisemaker. The ringing of a bell causes vibrations which are the source of great power. Variations on the bell include the shaking of a sistrum, a ritual rattle, or the use of a "singing bowl". All of these can help bring harmony to a magical circle. In some forms of Wicca, the bell is rung to begin or end a rite, or to evoke the Goddess.

Book of Shadows (BOS)
Despite popular movies and television shows, there is no one single book of shadows. A book of shadows, or BOS, is a Wiccan's or Pagan's notebook of information. It usually contains spells, rituals, correspondence charts, information about the rules of magic, invocations, myths and legends of various pantheons, etc. Sometimes information in a BOS is passed along from one Wiccan to another (and in a coven setting, there may be a coven BOS as well as individual members' books), but most of them are individually created. A BOS is a very personal thing, and should contain the information you find most important.

Candles
No Wiccan ceremony really feels complete without the use of candles. In some traditions, a candle is used to represent the God and another used for the Goddess. In others, a candle is simply used to indicate the element of Fire. Candles are often a tool in sympathetic magic rites, and can be used to symbolize people, concepts, and emotions. A simple candle magic spell involves selecting a candle based upon color correspondences, then inscribing it with sigils and anointing it with the appropriate oil.

Cauldron
The cauldron is a symbol of the Goddess, and it's all about femininity. The cauldron is the womb in which life begins. Although it usually represents the element Water, the cauldron is an interesting tool because it can tie in to all four elements. You place it upon the Earth, heat it with Fire, fill it with Water, and send the steam up into the Air. In Celtic legend, the goddess Cerridwen possessed a cauldron of immortality and inspiration. In some traditions, a cup is used in place of a cauldron, and in others the cauldron and cup are used together. A cup is just a small cauldron, and can be made of any material.

Censer
In the Catholic church, it's not uncommon to see a priest swinging a censer full of incense during mass. In Wicca, the censer is used in a similar fashion. The censer is used to hold smoldering incense during a ritual or ceremony. It can either swing from a chain or sit on a table. The censer doesn't have to be fancy or high-tech or expensive. A bowl of sand, a seashell, a small plate, or a cup of salt will hold your incense just fine. In most Wiccan traditions, the incense represents Air, and can be burned in the form of sticks, cones, or raw materials placed upon a disc of charcoal.

Pentacle
Nearly every tradition of Wicca (and many Pagan paths) uses the pentacle as a symbol. The pentacle is a flat piece of wood, metal, clay, or wax inscribed with magical symbols. The most commonly seen symbol, however, is the pentagram itself, which is why the two terms are often confused. In ceremonial magic, the pentacle is used as a protective talisman. However, in most Wiccan traditions it is seen as representative of the element of Earth, and can be used on the altar as a place to hold items that are going to be ritually consecrated.

The Wand
Cliché as it may sound, the wand is one of the most popular magical tools in Wicca, as well as in some ceremonial magic traditions. It has a number of magical purposes. A wand is used for the directing of energy during a ritual, because it?' a phallic symbol it is used to represent male energy, power, and virility. Representative of the element of Air (although in a few traditions it symbolizes Fire), the wand can be used to consecrate a sacred space, or invoke deity.