Pentagram: Meaning and History17:00 Jun 01 2006
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The word pentagram comes from the Greek: "Pente means 5 (as in Pentagon). Gamma means a letter. Thus, pentagram refers to a five pointed star, or "any figure of five lines." It is most often used to refer to a symmetrical, five pointed star, with equal sides, drawn either with a single line or with two closely spaced parallel lines. Their overall shape is like the decoration on the top of many Christmas trees.An upright pentagram is a 5 pointed star with one point aligned upwards. An inverted pentagram is a 5 pointed star with one point aligned downwards as we will cover. An upright pentacle is generally defined as an upright pentagram surrounded by a circle, as is shown in the following icon. A pentacle is without the circle as shown below. Expressing the saying Every man and every woman is a star, we can juxtapose Man on a pentagram with head and four limbs at the points and the genitalia exactly central. This is Man in microcosm, symbolising our place in the Macrocosm or universe and the Hermetic / Tantric philosophy of associativity as above, so below. Other names for the pentagram include: The Devil's Star, The Witches Foot, and The Goblins Cross. The star within a circle is also the most widely used military symbol because it came from the sign for the planet Venus the Morning star and the goddess of war and hunting.
THE UPRIGHT PENTACLE/PENTAGRAM
Upright pentacles and pentagrams are among the most widely used religious symbols. They have been used in many eras and by many cultures and religions of the world: by ancient Pagans, ancient Israelites, Professing Christians, magicians, Wiccans and others.
This symbol apparently originated as the symbol of a Goddess who was worshiped over an area, which extends from present-day England to Egypt and beyond. Her name was Kore (a.k.a. Car, Cara, Carnac, Ceres, Core, Kar, Karnak, Kaur, Kauri, Ker, Kerma, Kher, Kore, Q're, etc.). As Carmenta she was said to have invented the Roman alphabet. From her alternate Roman name Ceres have evolved many English words: cardiac, carnal, cereal, core, corn, and kernel. The port of Caraalis, (now Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia), was named after her. Kore's sacred fruit is the apple, and when an apple is cut through its equator, both halves will reveal a near-perfect pentagram shape at the core, with each point on the star containing a seed. Many Wiccans, other Neopagans and Roma (Gypsies) continue to cut apples in this way. The Roma refer to the core as the Star of Knowledge.
Pythagoras (582?-500? BC), Greek philosopher and mathematician, whose doctrines strongly influenced Plato. Born on the island of Sámos, Pythagoras was instructed in the teachings of the early Ionian philosophers Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes. Pythagoras is said to have been driven from Sámos by his disgust for the tyranny of Polycrates. About 530 BC Pythagoras settled in Crotona, a Greek colony in southern Italy, where he founded a movement with religious, political, and philosophical aims, known as Pythagoreanism. The philosophy of Pythagoras is known only through the work of his disciples. Basic Doctrines The Pythagoreans adhered to certain mysteries, similar in many respects to the Orphic mysteries (see Mysteries; Orphism). Obedience and silence, abstinence from food, simplicity in dress and possessions, and the habit of frequent self-examination were prescribed. The Pythagoreans believed in immortality and in the transmigration of souls. Pythagoras himself was said to have claimed that he had been Euphorbus, a warrior in the Trojan War, and that he had been permitted to bring into his earthly life the memory of all his previous existences. "Pythagoras," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 97 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
It is said that after the Pythagoreans were driven underground, his followers used the pentagram as a secret sign to identify themselves to each other. The Masonic Order has traditionally traced its origins back 2,500 years to the Pythagoreans. During the times of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), the pentacle was the first and most important of the Seven Seals - an amulet whose seals represented the seven secret names of God. It was inscribed on King Solomon's ring, which is often called Solomon's Seal in error as the real seal of Solomon in what is called the Star of David. Each point of the pentagram was also interpreted as referring to the five books of the Pentateuch - the first five books in the Hebrew Scriptures; the Torah.
Magicians also use the pentagram as a part of the Solomon Lamen (Seal of Solomon), which is composed of three sigils: the Pentagram, the Hexagram and the Secret Seal (a Mercurial symbol). In this lamen, worn as a necklace by the magician when invoking spirits, the pentagram is used to open a doorway to spiritual forces. The words on the seal have the following meaning: Abdia - I conjure thee in secret, O Spirit! Ballaton - Come forth from thy abode and speak clearly in my speech. Bellony - Put forth thy might and discover unto me the knowledge and power in thy keep. Halliy - Answer in the inward silence all of my questions without fail. Halliza - Assume and show forth unto me thy form of divine perfection. Soluzen - Open unto me thy secret door and fulfill me of my purpose!
As noted above, the pentagram was used by the Hebrews, and was sometimes called the seal of Solomon. More specifically, the pentagram was used as the seal of the City of Jerusalem. The image opposite shows a fragment of a 4th Century BC jar handle with a seal impression of a pentagram with the hebrew letters YRSLM (Jerusalem). It is interesting to speculate on whether the Templars, with their intimate connection with the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, adopted the pentagram as a core symbol of their order. Roman Emperor Constantine I, after his defeat of Maxentius and the issuance of the Edict of Milan in 312CE, ascribed his success to his conversion to Christianity and incorporated the pentagram, one point down, into his seal and amulet as you can see from the picture on the extream right above.
THE CELTS:
Our earliest archaeological evidence of the Celts originates from what is now France and western Germany. It dates back to the Bronze age, around 1200 BC. They probably began to settle in the British Isles during the Iron Age (8th century to 6th century BC), while between the 5th and 1st centuries BC, their influence extended from what is now Spain and the shores of the Black Sea. In the 4th century BC, the Celts invaded the lands of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and were able to conquer northern Italy, Macedonia and Thessalia.
The supreme god of the Celts was Lug, who gave his name to this city of Lyons ("Lugundum" in Latin). Taranis, or Dagada as he was known in Ireland, was the god of the spiritual world. Ogomis, the god of warriors and kingship, was said to have a face which smiled to the right but glowered on the left. Fertility gods and goddesses were abound in Celtic tradition, including Cernunos the Antlered, who was also the god of the untamed forces of nature, and Bridget, the patroness of fire. He was often depicted as being surrounded by deer, serpents and other woodland creatures. A number of animals were seen as sacred by the Celts, including the wild boar. In Gaul, the hunting and killing of the boar stood for the mortal running the spiritual to ground. The Celts believed that the pentacle was the sign of the Goddess of the Underground, who they called Morgan (a.k.a. Morrigan). The concept of five points seems to have permeated at least one of the Celtic lands. "Ireland had five great roads, five provinces and five paths of the law. The fairy folk counted by fives, and the mythological figures wore five fold cloaks.
PENTAGRAMS AND WHAT THEY MEAN TO WICCAN'S:
Wiccans have attempted to reconstruct a Pagan religion similar to that of the ancient Celts. They have adopted the upright pentacle/pentagram, since it was the symbol of Morgan, an ancient Celtic goddess. Many wear it as jewelry and use it on their altars. The symbol is frequently traced by hand using an athame (a ritual knife) during Wiccan rituals. It is used to cast and banish their healing circles. Some Wiccans interpret the five points as representing earth, air, fire, water, and spirit -- the five factors needed to sustain life. Others relate the points to the four directions and spirit. Some Wiccans and other Neopagans bless themselves and others with the sign of the pentagram. Their hand passes from their forehead to one hip, up to the opposite shoulder, across to the other shoulder, down to the opposite hip and back to the forehead. Some of the more highly structured Wiccan traditions have used an inverted pentagram to represent a second or third degree status. Many of these groups have since substituted a triangle form for the same degrees because they are trying to disassociate themselves with the inverted form of the pentacle with Satanism and black magic
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