The Witches Pentacle

The Witches Pentacle
The Pentacle, the symbol of Witchcraft, is a bold and fascinating statement about our place in the Universe. The pentagram represents an ancient concept that can be found in philosophical thought in both East and West. Although over 8,000 years old, the image of the pentagram is applicable in our modern world. The pentagram tells us that we have the ability to bring Spirit to Earth; this applies to every area of practical day-to-day living, as well as spiritual thought. The ability of bringing Spirit to Earth is what makes us whole.

Imagine the perfect apple, ripe and bursting with life. Sliced in half, it reveals a beautiful five-point symmetry-a star formed by the seeds inside. In fact, each of these five seeds may be seen to contain a symbolism of its own mirroring the spiritual aspects of this universal symbol: idea, sustenance, life, secret knowledge and the hidden mysteries within the earth. Why has this beautiful and potent emblem, the five-pointed star or pentagram, become such a misunderstood and stigmatized symbol in these times of re-emerging enlightenment?

In the tale of Adam and Eve, the apple signified hidden knowledge which was forbidden to human kind. Other early cultures encouraged holy and learned persons in their search for divine wisdom. For example, the Vedas state that the universe and ourselves are One, and that by realizing this and tapping into that Universal energy and state, we achieve wholeness and bliss. These concepts were known to many ancient civilizations. For most of the western culture, sacred knowledge was designated as the right of the One Deity only., It was considered heretical to study the Divine workings of the Universe. The apple signified that which we should not attempt to know, and many attempts over the centuries to obtain knowledge of the Universe (and therefore, ourselves) were suppressed. The pentagram in its modern guise as the pentacle was also a target of this subjugation.

For modern-day Pagans, the Pentacle contains many wonderful layers of symbolism. The five points symbolize the four directions with the fifth point as the sanctity of Spirit, within and without. The circle around the star symbolizes unity and wholeness. It represents the quest for Divine Knowledge, a concept which is ancient in origin and universal in scope from the earliest written ritual texts in Babylonia, to the Celts, to the Native American traditions. Similar to other figures which are made of a single unbroken line, this symbol is used to mark off magical enclosures or ritual areas, especially when used for invocation of deities or spirit.

The pentagram is one of the most powerful and popular symbols used by many Neo-Pagans, including those involved in Wicca and Ceremonial Magic. In working magic, Pagans may draw the shape of the pentagram in the air with the athame, or sacred blade, sometimes in the four directions as part of the ritual. A physical pentacle in the form of a flat disc is often the a main feature of the altar and is a widely used ritual tool. The symbol is used to decorate magickal tools or items such as a chalice, cauldron, or the handle of the athame itself. For some it represents feminine energy relating to the Goddess and may be used to bind elemental spirits of the earth as well as to hold consecrated objects such as herbs, amulets and crystals. The spoken or chanted text of a spell or invocation may be repeated five times to help insure its effectiveness. (3, 5, 7, 9 and 13 being some of the most commonly used repetitions in this context). The pentacle is worn both ornamentally and symbolically by many Pagans for protection and to signify that they are involved in the world of magick and divine wisdom.

It is interesting to note that five-fold symmetries are rarely found in non-organic life forms but are uniquely inherent to life, as in the form of the human hand, a starfish, flowers, plants and many other living things. This pattern of five exists even down to a molecular level. Five, therefore, embodies the form and formation of life, the very essence of life.

The pentagram is a very widespread sacred symbol used since ancient times in many areas including Egypt, India, Persia and Greece. Almost all cultures had a five-fold symbol, which was very important to their religious and spiritual life. The sacred nature of five, the important nature of "five-ness" is amply attested to in Celtic tradition from which much of modern Paganism is derived. Five appears in numerous Celtic contexts: 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.

In the ancient Irish tale, "Cormac's Cup of Gold", the hero "saw a royal fortress with four houses in it, and a bright well with nine ancient hazels growing over it. In the well, were five salmon who ate the nuts that dropped from the purple hazels, and sent the husks floating down the five streams that flowed therefrom. The sound of the streams was the sweetest music...The spring was the Well of Knowledge, and the five streams the five senses through which knowledge is obtained. No one will have knowledge who drinks not a draught out of the well itself or out of the streams. Those who are skilled in many arts drink from both the well and the streams."

In another part of the world, around 500 B.C.E.(Before Current Era) lived Pythagoras, an unparalleled scholar, teacher and leader renowned for his knowledge of arithmetic, music, government and sacred geometry. He tapped into the divine mysteries, and, like the ancient Celts, (and many Neo-Pagans) learned from and existed comfortably between both worlds.

Pythagoras set up a school where he taught many people, both male and female, who flocked to him in pursuit of divine knowledge. Unfortunately, the school was suppressed in a brutal fashion for political reasons. After this, his followers and the knowledge itself were forced underground, Pythagoreans considered the five-pointed star to be a symbol of life and of the divine human. Therefore, it became the secret sign of the pythagorean followers, "so that they may know each other,"

The Pythagorean schools continued on in secret and from this line of descent came the Gnostic and Hermetic Mystery Schools (which contained both men and women and were Christian to varying degrees), as well as the Masonic Guilds, expert stone-masons initiated into Mystery Schools learning which included sacred geometry. Even though the Church considered the Masons to be quite heretical, they hired them to build the most sacred structures in Europe- the great cathedrals-many of which contained pentagonal or five-fold symmetries. Parallel with Masonic culture were the alchemists of medieval Europe, scientists, philosophers and magicians, both male and female, who studied the mysteries of the Universe. These societies held onto this five-fold symbol which kept its positive, ancient attributes and signified hidden, luminous knowledge.

This ancient wisdom lived on underground through the mystery schools and other sources and continued throughout the Middle Ages up until modern times. However, because this Divine knowledge threatened the authority and power of the Church, those who pursued it and the symbols they used were severely persecuted.

The star of life, which had been a symbol of divine illumination, became stigmatized as a sign of heretical thought and eventually as something evil. These negative attributes were further reinforced by the use of the upside down pentagram by some satanic cults who are probably more "Anti-Christians" than "Pagans". as their beliefs are not those of most Neo-Pagan groups. Modern media continues to distort the meaning of the pentagram by showing it in both its upright and inverted position, yet portraying all who use it as evil.

In spite of this difficulty history, the symbol has survived, and continues to be used by those who uphold the search for divine knowledge. The sacred pentagram maintains its many wonderful and magickal ancient attributes and is still the symbol of life it has always been.

Sharynne NicMacha is a Pagan of Celtic descent and teaches workshops in beginning and Celtic paganism and music. She sings with the Moors, a pagan rock duo.

Note: Special thanks to Scott Dakota for his input and assistance in areas oif his expertise, including Pythagoras, sacred geometry, music of the spheres and Ancient Sumeria. Beannachdan!



THE ELEMENTAL PENTACLE


The Pentacle, the most famous symbol of Witchcraft is a bold and fascinating statement about our place in the Universe. When the pentacle is drawn or written, the image created is called a pentagram. The pentagram represents an ancient concept that can be found in philosophical thought in both East and West. Although over 8,000 years old, the image of the pentagram is applicable in our modern world. The pentagram tells us that we have the ability to bring Spirit to Earth; this applies to every area of practical day-to-day living, as well as spiritual thought. The ability of bringing Spirit to Earth is what makes us whole.

In Craft rituals, the pentacle is a round disk inscribed with a pentagram and placed upon on the altar. The disk can be made of many different materials.

In more dangerous times, the pentacle was crafted from disposable materials such as clay or dough. To be caught in possession of a pentacle in those days could very well endanger your life.

Nowadays, pentacles are crafted in metals such as copper, brass, silver or gold. Many Witches make their own from stained glass or by etching stones or wood. The pentacle can also be personalized by adding appropriate astrological symbols, runes and other sigils (magical symbols) that have special meaning to the practitioner.

Many Witches wear a pentacle pendant or ring as a sign of their religion or as an amulet or talisman. The pentacle crafted from silver represents Moon energy and psychic forces. The same symbol made in gold represents the Sun energies of power and strength. Many pentacles come with embedded stones which can represent birth months or a particular energy that the wearer wants to attract.

During magical operations, the pentagram can be drawn in the air by the athame or sword. When drawn a certain way, it is used to either invoke or banish energies. Used on the altar, it becomes a focal point to draw in and send out the intentions of the spell or working. The simplest spells of this kind are those involving candle magic. A candle of the appropriate color is charged and place on the pentacle.

Traditionally, each of the five angles has been attributed to the five metaphysical elements of the ancients:

EARTH: (lower left hand corner) represents stability and physical endurance. FIRE: (lower right hand corner) represents courage and daring. WATER: (upper right hand corner) represents emotions and intuition. AIR: (upper left hand corner) represents intelligence and the arts. SPIRIT: (at the topmost point) represents the All and the Divine.

The Circle around the star represents the God-Goddess; it refracts and reflects all light, bringing to the wearer total intelligence, universal wisdom and protection.

The origins of the pentagram go back to remotest historical antiquity. As far back as pre-Babylonian Sumer, it has been venerated by many civilizations. To the Jewish peoples, it symbolically designated the Pentateauch, the Five Books of Moses It has survived under a variety of titles, such as "The Druid's Root" and "The Witches Star".

To the followers of Pythagoras, it was called "The Pentalpha" being composed of five interlaced A's or Alphas. The Alpha being the first word of the alphabet, we can perhaps view it as showing forth unity in the midst of multiplicity. The individual as part of the Whole.

To ceremonial magicians, the points can represent various elemental energies, spirits or deities.

It is the ruling of the higher mind over the lower elements of our being. It signals the awakening of cosmic consciousness and the beginnings of our own human psyche moving beyond the realms of physical form and the perceptions limited to the five senses. It allows the infinite possibilities that exist within the Universe and frees us to explore and to grow.

This becomes a graphic portrayal of Spirit ruling over the five elements. When the pentagram is placed within a circle, it's energy is focused and directed. The pentagram upright, to those of spiritual perception, represents the redemption of Spirit from matter by ruling over it.

Used inverted, with the top point pointed downward, it represents a second or third degree status in some traditional groups. Many of these groups have since substituted a triangle form for the same degrees because of the association of the inverted form of the pentacle with Satanism and black magic.

The number five is attributed to the influence of Mars. Thus some Witches think of the five pointed star within the circle as force or power contained and controlled by divine wisdom.

The Positive Pentacle

There are a vast number of religions that are practiced in the world. Each religion has its own unique use of the myriad of symbols in existence. It is not surprising that members of any given religion often misunderstand the interpretations of other religions. Often symbols have multiple meanings, and this fact causes even members of the same religion not to fully understand its symbolism. In the most general terms, there are two interpretations of these symbols, the negative and the positive. Unfortunately, the positive interpretations are not nearly as widely know as the negative ones are for some symbols. The pentacle is a symbol that typifies this thought. Most people see the pentacle as a sign of evil, as they know only the negative interpretations. Though the worshipers of Satan use the pentacle as a sign of evil, they are not the only religion that uses that symbol, and many more people use it in a very positive way. Therefore, this symbol should not be looked upon as an evil one since it was originally used as a positive symbol, and still holds so many positive and constructive symbolisms.

The pentacle is actually two separate symbols combined together to create an even more meaningful symbol by allowing the symbolisms to build on each other. The first symbol is the circle. The second is the five-pointed star, which alone is referred to as a pentagram. Together their various individual interpretations create many different meanings for this symbol.

The circle is physically simple, yet endlessly complex in meaning. The positive symbolisms of the circle deal mainly with its never-ending nature. Many Wiccans refer to the Wheel of the Year, the endless cycle of the years and seasons. Even within the Wheel, there are the smaller cycles of the moon, which relate to the menstrual cycle, and even the continual turn of days. It can be taken a step further by looking at the clocks we use to tell time, for they are circular as well. Stepping back from the Wheel of the Year, the circle stands for the journey of reincarnation, the spirit's continual rebirth. Through out the process of reincarnation a force called Karma enforces what Wiccans call the Law of Three. The Law of Three says that whatever actions a person does will be returned to them three-fold, good or evil, which proves to be likewise cyclic. If the idea of the circle is turned outward from our Mother Earth, who is herself circular, we find the symbolism relating even more. The Sun, along with all the planets and their orbits are considered circular. It also touches other systems of symbols by showing the cycle of movement through the Zodiac. Moving to the purely metaphysical aspects of the symbolism, we find the concept of the Deity, endless and eternal in all ways.

The negative symbolisms used by the Satanists focus on the dividing aspects of the circle. By drawing the circle, space is contained as well as shutting out other space. These ideas are usually used with symbolisms of the pentagram to focus on the selfish, possessive nature of that religion.

An introverted look at this symbol shows the individual, with the star representing the human body with the head at the top, the two points below that making the "arms" and "legs" made by the last two points below. This placement of the head above the rest of the body shows the importance of thinking more than other physical matters. With the Wiccan use of the pentacle with one point up this means mind over matter, or matters of spirituality over matters of the flesh. Looking even closer than the body, the five points stand for the five senses. And it is through these senses that we examine the reality around us. Even more basically, "five-fold symmetries are rarely found in non-organic life forms but are uniquely inherent to life, as in the form of the human hand, a starfish, flowers, plants and many other living things. This pattern of five exists even down to a molecular level. [The] Five [points of the pentagram], therefore, embodies the form and formation of life, the very essence of life." (NicMacha)

An extroverted examination of the pentacle reveals yet another meaning in the five elements that make up all of reality. Starting at the top point and tracing the star clockwise, we are shown these elements in the order they appear around the compass directions in the same clockwise direction. The path is traced clockwise because it is generally accepted that clockwise is the direction of positive and constructive energies when used in the rituals of the Wiccan religion. The lower right point is Earth, which is placed at the north point of the compass. Earth represents stability and physical endurance. The upper left point is Air, which is one step clockwise on the compass, putting it in the east. Air represents intelligence and the arts. The upper right is Fire, another step ending in the south. Fire represents courage and daring. The lower left point is Water, placed at the last compass point west. Water represents emotions and intuition. Above them all is Spirit, from which all things emanate and all things must again return, as was done tracing the star. This too puts Spirit in its place as ruler over the other elements.

Also in this interpretation we find a separation of the physical and the mental aspects of reality. Courage and daring are easily related to the physical realm, as are stability and endurance. These are Fire and Earth, both of which are on the right hand side of the pentagram. Similarly, the arts and intelligence, and emotions and intuition are most easily related to the faculties of the mind. This relates back to the individual, showing the circular nature of this symbol, which is enhanced by placing it within the circle itself.

By inverting the star, Satanists put the base elements in a higher position than element of Spirit. Another effect of inverting the star is that it reverses the direction that is traced through the elements to counter-clockwise, which is the direction of negative intention in rituals. Using this interpretation one must ascend above Spirit to be in the material world, and in the end descend back to it in the end, again playing down the importance of the Spirit.

When all these interpretations are looked at together, you have a symbol that is rich with positivity, which regrettably has been overshadowed by a society's focus on the symbol's negative interpretations. It is likely that every symbol has been interpreted in both a positive and negative way, with the general population latching on to one or the other. Therefore, if a symbol is generally seen as one of evil, it is our responsibility to find the interpretations that promote constructive and positive ideas, rather than perpetuating the negativity.

-Chartan

The Pentagram

The pentagram has long been associated with mystery and magic. It has long been believed to be a potent protection against evil and demons, hence a symbol of safety. The potency and associations of the pentagram have evolved throughout history. Today it is an ubiquitous symbol of Neo-Pagans with much depth of magickal and symbolic meaning.

The earliest known use of the pentagram dates back to around the Uruk period around 3500BC at Ur of the Chaldees in Ancient Mesopotamia, where it was found on potsherds together with other signs of the period associated with the earliest known developments of written language. In later periods of Mesopotamian art, the pentagram was used in royal inscriptions and was symbolic of imperial power extending out to the four corners of the world. Amongst the Hebrews, the symbol was ascribed to Truth and to the five books of the Pentateuch. It is sometimes, incorrectly, called the Seal of Solomon (see Hexagram) though its usage was in parallel with the hexagram. In Ancient Greece, it was called the Pentalpha, being geometrically composed of five A's. Unlike earlier civilizations, the Greeks did not generally attribute other symbolic meanings to the letters of their alphabet, but certain symbols became connected with Greek letter shapes or positions (e.g. Gammadion, Alpha-Omega). The geometry of the pentagram and its metaphysical associations were explored by the Pythagoreans (after Pythagoras 586-506BC) who considered it an emblem of perfection. Together with other discovered knowledge of geometric figures and proportion, it passed down into post-Hellenic art where the golden proportion may be seen in the designs of some temples.

Early Christians attributed the pentagram to the Five Wounds of Christ and from then until medieval times, it was a lesser-used Christian symbol. Prior to the time of the Inquisition, there were no evil associations to the pentagram. Rather its form implied Truth, Religious Mysticism and the work of The Creator. The Emperor Constantine I who, after gaining the help of the Christian church in his military and religious takeover of the Roman Empire in 312 AD, used the pentagram, together with the chi-rho symbol (a symbolic form of cross) in his seal and amulet.

However, it was the cross (a symbol of suffering) rather than the pentagram (a symbol of truth) that was used as a symbol by the Church which subsequently came to power and whose manifest destiny was to usurp the supreme power of the Roman Empire.

In Medieval times, the Endless Knot was a symbol of Truth and was a protection against demons. It was used as an amulet of personal protection and to guard windows and doors. During the long period of the Inquisition, there was much promulgation of lies and accusations in the interests of orthodoxy and elimination of heresy. The Church lapsed into a long period of the very diabolism it sought to oppose. The pentagram was seen to symbolize a Goats Head or the Devil in the form of Baphomet and it was Baphomet whom the Inquisition accused the Templars of worshipping. The Dominicans of the Inquisition moved their attention from the Christian heretics to the Pagan Witches, to those who only paid lip-service to Christianity but still followed an Old Religion and to the wise-ones amongst them. In the purge on Witches, other horned Gods such as Pan became equated with the Devil (a Christian concept) and the pentagram, the folk symbol of security, for the first time in history, was equated with evil and was called the Witches Foot.

The Old Religion and its symbols went underground, in fear of the Church's persecution, and there it stayed, gradually withering, for centuries.

In the foundation of Hermeticism, in hidden societies of craftsmen and scholarly men, away from the eyes of the Church and its paranoia, the proto-science of alchemy developed along with its occult philosophy and cryptical symbolism. Graphical and geometric symbolism became very important and the period of the Renaissance emerged.

The concept of the microcosmic world of Man as analogous to the macrocosm, the greater universe of spirit and elemental matter became a part of traditional western occult teaching, as it had long been in eastern philosophies, As Above, So Below. The pentagram, the Star of the Microcosm, symbolized Man within the microcosm, representing in analogy the Macrocosmic universe.

The upright pentagram bears some resemblance to the shape of man with his legs and arms outstretched. In Tycho Brahe's Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum (1582) occurs a pentagram with human body imposed and the Hebrew for YHSVH associated with the elements. An illustration attributed to Brae's contemporary Agrippa (Henry Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim) is of similar proportion and shows the five planets and the moon, at the center point, the genitalia. Other illustrations of the period by Robert Fludd and Leonardo da Vinci show geometric relationships of man to the universe.

Later, the pentagram came to be symbolic of the relationship of the head to the four limbs and hence of the pure concentrated essence of anything (or the spirit) to the four traditional elements of matter, earth, water, air and fire - spirit is The Quintessence.

In Freemasonry, Man as Microprosopus was and is associated with the five-pointed Pentalpha. The symbol was used, interlaced and upright for the sitting Master of the Lodge. The geometric properties and structure of the Endless Knot were appreciated and symbolically incorporated into the 72 degree angle of the compasses, the Masonic emblem of virtue and duty. The origins of Freemasonry are lost in the depths of history, obscured by the traditional Craft secrecy of the order, but there are signs throughout history of the associations of craftsmanship and ritual and symbolism that have remained known only to a few, and the history of the pentagram has remained occluded in the same kind of mystery. The women's branch of Freemasonry uses the five pointed Eastern Star with two points up as its emblem. Each point commemorates a heroine of biblical lore.

No known graphical illustration associating the pentagram with evil appears until the nineteenth century. Eliphas Levi Zahed (actually the pen name of Alphonse Louis Constant, a defrocked French Catholic Abb) illustrates the upright pentagram of microcosmic man beside an inverted pentagram with the goats head of Baphomet. It is this illustration and juxtaposition that has led to the concept of different orientations of the pentagram being good and evil.

Against the rationalism of the 18th century came a reaction in the 19th century with the growth of a new mysticism owing much to the Holy Qabalah, the ancient oral tradition of Judaism relating the cosmogony of God and the universe and the moral and occult truths of their relationship to Man. It is not so much a religion as a system of understanding based upon symbolism and the numerical and alphabetical interrelationships of words and concepts, the Gematria.

The Golden Dawn did much to advance and disseminate the roots of modern Hermetic Qabalah around the world in its time of strength (from 1888 to around the start of the First World War), and through the writings and work of a number of its adepts and adherents have come some of the most important ideas of today's Qabalist philosophy and magick. In the 1940's Gerald Gardner adopted the pentagram with two points upward as the sigil of second degree initiation in the newly emergent, Neo-Pagan rituals of Witchcraft, later to become known as Wicca. The one-point upward pentagram, together with the upright triangle, symbolized third degree initiation. (A point downwards triangle is the symbol of First Degree Initiates).

It was not until the late 1960's that the pentagram again became an amuletic symbol to be worn. Co-incidentally, with the rise of popular interest in Witchcraft and Wicca and the publication of many books (including several novels) on the subject, there was a reaction by the Church.

In its extreme, one aspect of that reaction was in the establishment of the satanic cult - The Church of Satan - by Anton LaVay. For its emblem, this cult adopted the inverted pentagram after the Baphomet image of Eliphas Levi. The reaction of the Christian church was to condemn as evil all who took the pentalpha as a symbol and even to condemn the symbol itself, much as had been the post-war attitude to the swastika.

The distinction between the point-upwards and point-downwards pentagram forms became accentuated in the minds of Pagans and led to the concepts of white Witchcraft and black. Those who took on board the strong personal ethical code of Wicca, the Wiccan Rede of 'An it harm none, do what you will' did not wish to be tarred with the same brush as the Satanists whose philosophy is one of the domination of the spirit by the physical body - the priority of matter and physical existence.

Hence, despite the use and the different meaning of the inverted pentagram as a symbol of Gardnerian initiation, other Wiccans, notably in the USA where the fundamentalist Christians are particularly aggressive to those who do not share their beliefs, are against any usage of the symbol. It is sad to say that even the use of the upright pentagram gives rise to social discrimination against Pagans in some communities.

Otherwise, the pentagram or pentacle has become firmly established as a common Neo-Pagan and Wiccan symbol, acquiring many aspects of mystique and associations that are today often considered to be ancient folk-lore !

The antiquity of the pentagram is certain; its meanings and associations have evolved and richened throughout its history. Its use within modern Neo-Paganism as a group symbol is as important as the cross has been in the history of Christianity and it is in the ubiquity and the attributed meanings of the symbol that its potency lies rather than in its antiquity. From the Earth-aware attitudes and respect of life of modern Pagans has already come the movement towards protecting and conserving the ecology and resources of our planet. Perhaps they will see the dawn of a real new age of hope or perhaps just the end of an age of humanity.