Hello all, I've created a list of cheap household items you could use for magickal items of you don't have money to buy supplies or just want something cheap.
For the Athame, you could use a butter knife, a kitchen knife, a plastic knife, etc. anything that has a cutting edge. (Doesn't have to be sharp either).
For the Wand, you can be like me an use an ornate chopstick, a branch from a tree, a ruler, a pencil, a pen, your finger, or a wooden dowel. Anything that is long and thin will work.
For the Chalice, you could use a glass, a wine glass, a champagne flute, a plastic cup even, Just anything that can hold liquid.
For a pendulum, you can use a necklace/pendant with a gem or crystal on it.
Now remember to only use those items for your workings, and NOTHING else. It's all about the symbolism folks.
-Whisper.
For some, the difference of appearance in the Boline and the Athame is that the former is single-edged (for cutting herbs, carving candles, anything that is physically cut, etc)and the latter is double edged (showing energy cuts both ways, often times only cuts energy).
The sickle (curved blade used for plant harvest) is sometimes grouped in with the boline.
When skilled enough in energy manipulation, you can create an athame of pure energy, or charge an item with the energy for that purpose. I no longer have a physical athame, but I have used a manipulated energy athame for my craft and it still works. Basically, you condense the energy and shape it into a blade to use for your rituals.
Truthfully, the part that counts in any Magickal tool is the subtle energy you are using, so it's less about the degree of skill and more about what works best for your energy flow. In other terms, it's all preferential.
What I personally like about physical tools is that no matter how many times you cleanse the energy from it, there is always a residual etheric energy the resonates from it. When charged with my energy, it shows a bond between the two. We have a physical life for a reason (whatever it may be) and I like to honor this physical realm by including objects from it in my practices. It is really no different then gathering, say leaves in the Autumn to honor that season of nature.