Occult symbols explained: the Pentagram

There are very few symbols as easily recognised and misunderstood as the pentagram. When most see it they immediately conjure up goat heads, sacrificial blades, black candles, fire and brimstone, and bad rockers in worse get ups. The pentagram is easily recognized by the interconnected five point star as an endless knot. It is also recognized as a pentacle, the interconnected star within a circle. The star has a sister symbol, the Baphomat star which is the pentagram upside down. Although this symbol is also easily recognized, it has a very different meaning.

The pentagram has been a protection talisman painted and hung above doors, a symbol of the Goddess, of life, the elements, and even as a Christian symbol. The oldest known use of the symbol dates back to Urok of Chaldees where it was found on potsherds and on temple walls in Mesopotamia to show royalty and dominion over the four corners of the world. Later the symbol was used by Hebrews to ascribe Truth as found in the Pentateuch. In ancient Greece, the Pythagoreans considered it a symbol of perfection and it can be seen inscribed in many temple remains.

Early Christians used the symbol to ward away evil and as an emblem of protection, associating it with the five wounds of Christ. Later, this explanation was used to convert Pagans to Christianity. Christian soldiers used this symbol on their shields during the Crusades to ward harm and to ensure victory. During the Inquisition, despite the many metaphysical attributes, the Inquisitioners used this symbol to attribute Truth (in reference to Hebrew studies). In Arthurian legend, Gawain uses the pentagram to denote knightly virtues: generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry, and piety.

During the extended period of the Inquisition, the pentagram eventually was seen as an association with the Templars and the god Baphomat. Baphomat is an ancient deity of wisdom and benign in nature, although it is reminescent of Pan (another benign vilified Pagan deity). It could be that some association between Baphomat and Pan, both benign, and Pookhas (goat headed fairies said to carry off children and wither crops, not benign in the least) was made or that the Inquisition was beginning to lose steam and needed another target. In any event, the two were associated with the Pentagram and history was made. It was at this time that the Christian concept of the Devil came into play and thusly associated with the Pentagram (when turned upside down was coined the star of Baphomat) as a symbol of evil. The Inquisitioners also referred to this symbol as the witches' foot, coming from the fact that most country hedgewitches and midwives were very poor, could not afford decent shoes and were often found with deformed feet due to constriction.

The symbol was then seen as a way to identify witches. Prior to this, many forms of folk art carried this symbol as a amulet of protection. It was seen as a holy symbol and powerful enough to ward away evil spirits from the home. Many who had this painted or carved above their doors were carried away as wiches and persecuted.

Post Inquisition the symbol became associated with such orders as the Freemasons and Hermetic orders as a symbol of macrocosmic interconnectiveness. The feminine branch of Freemasonry uses the pentapha with two points up. Each point symbolizes a heroine in Biblical history.

The symbol then took another turn at the advent of the 19th century with the re-emergence in an interest in the Qabalah and the Gematria. With this came the rise of the Golden Dawn. Throughout the late 1880's, writings of many Hermetic adepts have influenced the foundation of one of the most easily recognized religions in the world, Wicca.

In 1940, Gerald Gardner used the symbol with his brand of Neo-Paganism and modern witchcraft. It was used upright to show a witch had completed her or his studies and with two points up to show a second degree (someone who has mastered the foundations but not yet an adept). This movement which began in the late 1800's moved through to the early 1960's with a serious interest in the occult and Neo-Paganism. With this came yet another manifestation of the Baphomat star.

Anton Szandar LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, used the symbol two points up to show the importance of physical pleasures and worldly things over spiritual interests, thus the freeing of boundaries and limtations placed upon by organized religion. At this point the occult community split. The pentagram became a noted symbol of LaVeyan Satanism which in turn became synonymous with devil worship.

Possibly one of the biggest misconceptions of the pentacle/pentagram is the meanings of the symbol. A general definition would be the four elements in connection with the ruling element of Spirit, the circle of the pentacle indicating all things being connected by Spirit. Without the circle, the meaning is the same. It is simply seen as a form of knot in which the element of eternal life in thrown into the mix.

Even upside down with two points up, the pentagram is not a malicious symbol. Rather in terms of modern witchcraft, especially in Gardnerian traditions, it simply means the witch is learning to master his or her craft. Upright, it has a variety of uses and meanings. It may be used as either a talisman or as a symbol of thousands of years of Goddess worship and metaphysical science. It is simply yet another aspect of sacred geometry.