Athame or Bolline?

[spirit wind]

Just a small question to everyone...


When inscribing candles for magickal purposes

what do you use?

An Athame or a Boline???

:)

[Aidron]

Typically, neither is used for inscribing candles. The boline is most often used for harvesting herbs and the athame as a ritual blade only, never to be physically used.

With that said, I'm sure there are many people out there who do use one or the other for inscribing candles. I myself find it silly to never use the athame as anything other than a ritual blade, for it is a blade and I feel most people perpetuate the idea of it being a ritual blade only do so in order to lessen the intensity or shock of a blade being used in ritual.

For my own personal use I prefer to use my working knife, and I have one not due to the fact that I feel the athame should be a ritual blade only, but I do not want it to become damaged over the years through mundane use. I'd prefer to keep it in as good a condition as I can for long as possible. It also just 'happens' to be a white-handled knife, and I say that because I did not actively look for a white-handled knife, just as my athame is not black (though for more important reasons).

By the way, it is spelled Boline. ;)

[spirit wind]

By the way, it is spelled Boline. ;)
:bigredblu Oops :bigredblu

And thank you for your thoughts

Brightest of Blessings to you
Spirit Wind

[Haruka2077]

I use a long thin stick I had a bunch of in the kitchen- I think they're supposed to be for "kebobing" things. :lol: Does that make me a kitchen witch?
Anyhow, I find it awkward to inscribe candles, or wax in general, with a knife. I needed something more like a really sharp pencil, and that fit the bill.

[RavenMoonshadow]

Usually I use a dagger, not an Athame, just a dagger.

[mucgwyrt]

I personally think its a tad silly to have an expensive ornate athame which you never use, and I doubt traditional witches did either (they'll just have used their kitchen knives surely!) and I feel it smacks of stone-cutter type ceremonialism... but thats just me.

I have a multi-purpose penknife, decorated to make it personal, which I carry everywhere and use for everything. Including marking candles :D

[Flaire-FireStar]

I use a long thin stick I had a bunch of in the kitchen- I think they're supposed to be for "kebobing" things. :lol: Does that make me a kitchen witch?
Anyhow, I find it awkward to inscribe candles, or wax in general, with a knife. I needed something more like a really sharp pencil, and that fit the bill.

I know how that feels. :T

:2G: I have a nail. Yes. A nail. And it works fine. :)
In fact, I have heard of people using toothpicks before, so..... whatever sharp object works is fine by me!

[Ben Trismegistus]

Typically, neither is used for inscribing candles. The boline is most often used for harvesting herbs and the athame as a ritual blade only, never to be physically used.
Actually, the boline would be appropriate. It's generally called the "working knife", which means it can be used for anything but actual energy work, which is what the athame is for.

[Aidron]

A few tricks to make inscribing with a knife easier:


Heat the knife by the flame of another candle (I use the red candle I have on my altar to represent elemental fire), as it will inscribe things into the candle more easily if heated.

Do not necessarily hold it by the 'handle'. I don't. I hold it like a pencil and I can carve some rather intricate sigils/symbols into things.

[blueiris]

I use a tack - that is only used for that - as a knife is not available to me.

[Shanti]

A very small Athame that is only for my candle magick.

[Fideal]

I just use a needle, though I actually don't do that much inscribing.

[Haruka2077]

:2G: I have a nail. Yes. A nail. And it works fine. :)
In fact, I have heard of people using toothpicks before, so..... whatever sharp object works is fine by me!

Yeah, what I use is kind of like a long toothpick.
mmm... sharp objects... :drool:

[Aidron]

Actually, the boline would be appropriate. It's generally called the "working knife", which means it can be used for anything but actual energy work, which is what the athame is for.



I want to see you inscribe a candle with a boline then. ;) I've tried before, just for the hell of it and the design of the actual boline made it out to be the most difficult tool I've tried yet for this.

However, in all my long years I have always seen a differentiation between the boline and the working knife.

[spirit wind]

Raven Windsong - I have actually seen the word Boline spelt two different ways. Scott Cunningham spells it Bolline as well as a few other books i have on hand. There is one or two web sites that spell it Boline. So i guess you could spell it ether way. And thankyou for the tip on using the knife to inscribe. That would sure make it easier. :)

And thank you to everyone that has replied. I am doing a course on Candle Magick and that is where i was told to use an Athame. But as i have always been taught that the Athame should never cut anything in the mundane world i queried it. I have since heard back from the teacher and she is going to add it to her course notes that you could use either/or.

Brightest Blessings to all of you
Spirit Wind

[blugirrl1]

my athame is for everything, my ritual blade, inscribing candles. where i don't have a boline yet. i want one for my herbs.

[Aidron]

Raven Windsong - I have actually seen the word Boline spelt two different ways. Scott Cunningham spells it Bolline as well as a few other books i have on hand. There is one or two web sites that spell it Boline. So i guess you could spell it ether way. And thankyou for the tip on using the knife to inscribe. That would sure make it easier. :)



Not to discredit those websites or their authors, but websites rarely have good grammar. For one, people simply lack a great deal in that are (myself included), and for another, a website does not go through the error-proofing channels a book does. ;)

[marigold]

I don't have boline yet either...but for inscribing candles I use a plain kitchen knife usually, nothing special. ;)

[Kaylara]

I use my boline to inscribe candles.