The Sacred Dagger of the pre-Christian European Religion is called the Atheme. It is believed to slice open the barriers between the worlds. Derived from the Arabic word “Adhdheme,” which means ‘the blood letter,’ it is said to spill the blood of consciousness, so that inner powers are made visible just as an ordinary knife makes blood visible. The Atheme is chiefly used to invoke the four directions. Its cutting action (as it is moved five times to scribe the pentacle in the air) is intended to anoint one's sacred circle with the power of each direction. These are not violent cuts. These are cuts in our energy or consciousness, and they do not flow red, but rather with multicolored, rainbow essences of love, wisdom, compassion and life. The face of the ancient sorcerer symbolizes the wisdom needed to use the Atheme, or any other power object, cleanly, for the healing of others. It is double-edged, showing that wounds to others also hurt ourselves, and that to heal another is to heal ourselves.