Hi Fearn, one thing i am fairly sure of is that modern Wicca is NOT a debasement of Sufi tradition. Gardner took the ritual format he learned studying with the Golden Dawn and Crowley and combined it with the old Celtic pantheon and seasonal based cyclic holidays (Sabbats) with a strong emphasis of worship of the Goddess.
Graves may or may not be correct about the etymology of the word, but it is meaningless to the reality of the religion and certainly to the purpose of the athame in the context of ritual use. I think it is more likely that it was Graves who was being romantic in this case, not Gardner. As it has been said, the athame is used for more spiritual acts such as casting circles and tracing sigils in the air. Blood letting would NEVER be one of it's uses, even if such acts were performed in Wiccan ceremony, which i can assure you it is not. Wiccans DO NOT make animal sacrifices.
If anyone is interested, a very good book for understanding Gardnerian/Alexandrian Wicca and how these knives are used in their ritual sense, i would highly recommend "A Witches Bible Compleat" by Janet and Stewart Farrar, ISBN # 0-939708-09-4
