The Pentagram

The pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star. The word pentagram is a Greek word that means “five lined” or “five lines”.

The Pentagram is an ancient symbol, symbolically used in ancient Greece and Babylonia. It is considered a magical symbol that has been used in many religions, including Christianity, Paganism and Freemasonry (if that could be considered a religion).

The pentagram is also associated with the plant Venus.

The Pythagoreans called the pentagram Health and saw mathematical perfection in it. the five vertices are also represent the five classical elements:

• ύδωρ, Hydor, water
• Γαια, Gaia earth
• ίδέα, Idea or ίερόν, Hieron "a divine thing"
• έιλή, Heile, heat (fire)
• άήρ, Aer, air

Heinrich Cornelis Agrippa also used the pentagram as a magical symbol. By the mid 19^th century however the pentagram developed a further association when turned upside down (with two points upwards) to signify evil.

"A reversed pentagram, with two points projecting upwards, is a symbol of evil and attracts sinister forces because it overturns the proper order of things and demonstrates the triumph of matter over spirit. It is the goat of lust attacking the heavens with its horns, a sign execrated by initiates."

"Let us keep the figure of the Five-pointed Star always upright, with the topmost triangle pointing to heaven, for it is the seat of wisdom, and if the figure is reversed, perversion and evil will be the result."

Christians used the pentagram for the five senses and if the letters S, A, L, V and S are added to the points it is taken as a symbol of health.

Midieval Christians also thought that it symbolised the five wounds of Christ. It was seen as protection against demons and witches.

I was probably as a misinterpretation of symbols used for ceremonial magic that it later became associated with Satanism.

The pentagram also satisfies the golden ration of φ = (1+√5)/2 ≈ 1.618.

Numerology also plays a part in the pentagram as it has 5 points, which is a mystical number. It’s a prime number and the sum of 2 and 3, as well as of 1 and 4. Christ has five wounds (not including those caused by the crown of thorns) and He distributed five loaves of bread to five thousand people. We also have five fingers, five toes and five senses.

To Wiccans the five points of the pentagram represent the five elements, Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. They however usually place it in a circle, which represents the endless or eternity.

The ancient Chinese believed there were five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water, five planets, five senses, five seasons and five basic colours, sounds and tastes.

The pentagram has traditionally been worn as a talisman to protect against evil or to focus magical powers.