BLADES, such as those of swords, knives, axes, scythes, scissors, and saws, are instruments for cutting things apart. As hierophanies of divine power, blades manifest the instrumental function of intentional or purposeful cutting, dividing, separating, splitting, cleaving, or articulating.

The divine cutting power epiphanized by blades acts creatively or constructively when it differentiates a primordial entity; multiplies one into many by cutting something into parts; releases or receives some fructifying substance by cutting something open; orders a confused state by dividing it into parts; or purifies or brings something to its perfected form by cutting away a nonessential admixture. The same cutting power acts in a negating, limiting, or destructive way when it brings about a premature end by cutting off further development, by establishing an impassable boundary, or by destroying the necessary integrity or organic unity required for the continuance of something.

Blades are manmade instruments designed...