19c Athame Kris Flamberge German Damascus Hammesfahr Melusine Hermes Mercurius

Jim McDougall · 24th February 2023, 11:26 PM

Joe, you have a way of finding remarkably esoteric items, and while not weapons in the conventional sense, they serve key votive functions in occult functions. I think placement here is correct, and there is frankly as much attention here as other forums for guys who are looking into these kinds items.

As noted, these serve in religious, occult manner much as with the metaphysically oriented 'weapons' such as the PHURBU dagger of Tibet.

The undulating blade on this recalls those seen on the keris daggers of Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines and interestingly also the intriguing figure Gerald Gardner (1884-1964) who was a key proponent of Wicca.
He was a British civil authority who was well traveled and deeply studied the traditional and magical aspects of the keris, and his book "Keris and Other Malay Weapons" (1936) became a landmark work on the subject.

Hopefully, there will be other entries. I would note that the 'ouroboros' was an important allegorical figure in various aspects of occult, including alchemy.

24th February 2023, 11:26 PM	#10
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,194	Joe, you have a way of finding remarkably esoteric items, and while not weapons in the conventional sense, they serve key votive functions in occult functions. I think placement here is correct, and there is frankly as much attention here as other forums for guys who are looking into these kinds items. As noted, these serve in religious, occult manner much as with the metaphysically oriented 'weapons' such as the PHURBU dagger of Tibet. The undulating blade on this recalls those seen on the keris daggers of Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines and interestingly also the intriguing figure Gerald Gardner (1884-1964) who was a key proponent of Wicca. He was a British civil authority who was well traveled and deeply studied the traditional and magical aspects of the keris, and his book "Keris and Other Malay Weapons" (1936) became a landmark work on the subject. Hopefully, there will be other entries. I would note that the 'ouroboros' was an important allegorical figure in various aspects of occult, including alchemy.