The Pentagram
The pentagram that is the symbol of Wicca is a five-pointed star formed by five straight lines, with one point uppermost, enclosed within a circle. As the pentagram consists of a continuous line that runs from point to point, it has been referred to as an "endless knot." As a very old symbol that has gradually gathered meaning unto itself, it has taken thousands of years for the pentagram to evolve into this modern symbol. Pythagoras referred to the pentagram as the "penthalpha," since it represents the letter alpha (the letter A) in five different positions. The ancient Greeks used it as a talisman and preservative from danger. One was often inscribed on the threshold of a doorway. The Babylonians inscribed it on pots as a preservative amulet.
There is an ancient belief that a spirit needs some sort of "gate" to gain access to you. The fact that a pentagram can be drawn in one unbroken line, leaving no unbroken lines or "gates", was one of the reasons that it was believed to afford protection against spirits. Five-pointed starts are found in ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman art, and also in that of the Christian art of the early Middle Ages. But there seems to have been no single tradition concerning their meaning and use, and in many contexts they seem simply to have been decorative.
It was in the twelfth-century Renaissance period that philosopher and theologian Honorius of Autun, and the Mystic and author Hildegard of Bingen, asserted taht the human body was constructed upon the basis of the number five and related it to a pentagram. They pointed out that the human body had five members, five senses, and five fingers.
This belief that the pentagram was a symbol of the microcosm developed into a belief tthat it was a magical symbol. William of Auvergne, appointed Bishop of Paris in 1228, wrote that the pentagram was mentioned in the Liber Sacer, which was alleged to have been written by Honorius, Master of Thebes. Between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, three books describe the "Seal of the Living God" as a pentagram, and two hexagrams surrounded by angelic names. These texts assert that this "seal" has power over spirits. This is the source of the confusion surrounding both the pentagram and hexagram being referred to in various texts and grimoires as "Solomons Seal."
The pentagram next appears in the sixteenth century in Conelius Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia. In this book, the magician is instructed to draw pentagrams for protection at the cardinal points of the magical circle.
Lazarus Meysonnier, a Hermetic philosopher living in Lyon, France, wrote Pentagonum Philosphico_Medicum in 1659, a book describing the pentagram. Meysonnier wrote that the pentagram was a symbol of the firmament, the planets, and the elements.
In the middle of the seventeenth centruy one of the fathers of modern freemasonry, Sir Robert Moray, adopted the pentagram as a Masonic symbol of love and charity. By the nineteenth century the Freemasons had adopted the pentagram as a symbol of the most sacred principles.
It was also in the nineteenth century that Eliphas Levi reinforced the idea that the pentagram represented the microcosms of the universe. It was Levi who first introduced the idea that the pentagram could be used for invoking. Previous to this, the pentagram was primarily associated with banishing negative influences. Today, followers of many traditions of both Wicca and ceremonial magic, trace the symbol of the pentagram in the air during rituals for both banishing and invoking. As a general rule, one commences by tracing toward the angle of the pentagram representing the element being invoked, and away from that angle while banishing.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn associated the pentagram with Mars, and with the Hebrew letter Heh. The Golden Dawn called it the "flaming pentagram" or "the star of the great light." Dr. Israel Regardie, in his book The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic, referred to it as the "signet star of microcom," representing the operation of the spirit and the four elements under the presidency of the Pentagrammaton ( literally "five-letter word." i.e., the name YHSVH.
Inverted, with to points uppermost instead of one, the pentagram has been used as a symbol of several different things. Within some traditions of Wicca, an inverted pentagram has been used as a symbol of the second degree initiation. An inverted penntagram is a symbol of the Masonic women's organization, the Order of The Eastern Star. The higherst decoration for valor in the United States is the Medal of Honor, which is an inverted pentagram. Aleister Crowley used the inverted pentagram to symbolize the descent of spirit into matter.
It was Eliphas Levi, in the nineteenth centruy, who started the idea that the inverted pentagram was symbol of Satan. Levi interpreted the four points of the elements over the point of spirits as representing the domination of matter over reason which Levi believed to be a characteristic of Satanism. Coincidentally, an inverted pentagram also resembles a goat's head, though this is probably a very recent interpretation. Barbara G. Walker has reported that the inverted pentagram represented the Horned God to European Pagans.
In the 1960's, Anto LaVEy capitalized on Levi's interpretation by using a inverted pentagram on a circular field with a goat's head superimposed over it as a symbol of the Church of Satan that he founded. LaVEy referred to this logo as teh Sigil of Baphomet. Doutbtless this was inspired by the image of "the sabbatic goat" on Levi's book Transcendental Magic. The Temple of Set, a group that broke away from LaVey's Church of Satan, has also adopted the inverted pentagram against a circular field as their oficial symbol
To the modern Wiccan, each of the five points of the pentagram represents one of the five traditional elements. Spirit is represented by the top point, followe by (in clockwise order) air, fire, water, and earth. As the topmost point represents spirit, the pentagram is said to represent teh dominion of spirit over the other four elements, and the supremacy of reason over matter. As the pentagram represents both the five elements and, as pointed out, the human form, it reminds us of how we are all linked to the universe around us.
Teh circle that encloses the pentagram symbolizes many things. As the circle ahs no beginning and no end. It is a symbol of eternity. It is a symbol of totality, and of self. As it encloses the pentagram within, the circle serves as another reminder that all of the five elements are linked to one another. It represents the consecrated circle within, which the Wiccan practives in his or her craft.
Whatever else the pentagram may have represented to others over the ages, the pentagram is a perfect symbol of the Wiccan faith. Unlike some religions that hold that divinity is separate from the everyday world, Wicca is a religion of monism. The divine and the mundane are inseprably linked. Thus, the pentagram symbolizes for us the means by which we may take control of our lives. We are already linked to the elements around us. We only need to recognize that link and make use of it.
