44 Days Of Witchery - Days 3/4/5 and 6

Because I have missed a few days of this due to being busy with work ect... I'm going to do them now all in one. I have done days 1 and 2 already so below is DAY 3:

The Athame

The origins of the word Athame have been lost to history. Some speculate that it may have come from the Clavicle of Solomon (published in 1572), which refers to the knife as the Arthana (athame may be a subverted form of this term). Another theory proposes that athame comes from the Arabic word al-dhamme (blood-letter), a sacred knife in the Moorish tradition. In either case, magickal manuscripts dating back to the 1200s imply the use of ritual knives in magick (and special knives were certainly used in ancient offerings).
This ritual dagger is usually a double-edged knife about 4 to 6 inches long. Wiccans, however, sometime prefer crescent-shaped athames that represent the moon. The athame's main purpose is to channel energy and to cut through unwanted energies from a space used in spellworking. It can also be utilized to slice through obstacles, again symbolically. It is also used for casting a circle in place of a wand.


DAY 4

Water Element

This is a picture I took of The River Tone which runs through the town I live. I always manage to find little spots like this when I visit the river, I find the sound of the water soothing and although I don't like swimming or being in water I do find that just being near it and taking my pictures calms and clears my mind and chases away negativities, for a while at least.

DAY 5

A Favourite Goddess

Earlier for the Mythology day I chose one of patron goddesses The Morrigan. This time I am choosing Hecate, althouh much isn't known about Hecate it is thought that she was adopted into the greek pantheon from what is now modern day Turkey.
Hecate was origionally thought to be an agricultural goddess giving her dominion over life and death, the greeks gifted her with dominion over witchcraft, cross roads and the night.
Hecate's favoured animal form is a black dog or owl. 

DAY 6

A Favourite God

I don't work gods very much prefering to work with goddesses but one of my favourite gods is the Norse God of Thunder, that's right The Mighty Thor. Here is what I know about him.
Thor is the Norse god of thunder. He is a son of Odin and Jord, and one of the most powerful gods. He is married to Sif, a fertility goddess. His mistress is the giantess Jarnsaxa ("iron cutlass"), and their sons are Magni and Modi and his daughter is Thrud. Thor is helped by Thialfi, his servant and the messenger of the gods.
Thor was usually portrayed as a large, powerful man with a red beard and eyes of lightning. Despite his ferocious appearance, he was very popular as the protector of both gods and humans against the forces of evil. He even surpassed his father Odin in popularity because, contrary to Odin, he did not require human sacrifices. In his temple at Uppsala he was shown standing with Odin at his right side. This temple was replaced by a Christian church in 1080.
The Norse believed that during a thunderstorm, Thor rode through the heavens on his chariot pulled by the goats Tanngrisni ("gap-tooth") and Tanngnost ("tooth grinder"). Lightning flashed whenever he threw his hammer Mjollnir. Thor wears the belt Megingjard which doubles his already considerable strength. His hall is Bilskirnir, which is located in the region Thrudheim ("place of might"). His greatest enemy is Jormungand the Midgard Serpent. On the day of Ragnarok Thor will kill this serpent but will die from its poison. His sons will inherit his hammer after his death.
Donar is his Teutonic equivalent, while the Romans see in him their god Jupiter Thursday is named after him.