Shears

From Traditional Witchcraft Wiki Project

Shears are akin to scissors, but of a larger size. Like scissors they are used to cut through various materials, and as such they are identified with the Fates. Of the Moirae, the shears are the emblem of Atropos, who is the Fate who cuts the thread of life; her Roman equivalent is Morta (Death). Some witches likewise wield the shears so as to have influence over life and death, cutting those things hanging by a thread, and Cecil Williamson relates that one such witch was Tibble Brewer of Great Torrington.

Shears are also used in the old divination practice of the sieve and shears.