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Pentagrams and Pentacles
The pentagram is one of the most widely used
religious symbols in the world and has been used by Wiccans, Pagans,
Israelites, Christians, magicians amongst others. But what is its origin?
A pentagram is a five-pointed star with one point aligned upwards (when
surrounded by a circle, it's known as a 'pentacle') and its name derives
from the Greek words "penta", meaning five and the word "gamma", meaning
letter.
The pentagram was originally a symbol of the goddess, Kore, who was
worshipped in many countries as widespread as England and Egypt thousands
of years ago, but under many different names (i.e. Cara, Ceres, Carnak,
Core, Car, Karnak, etc). Kore's sacred fruit was the apple. When cut
through its equator, the apple has a near perfect pentagram shape inside,
with each point containing a seed. Many Wiccans, Pagans and Roma (Gypsies)
still cut apples in this way and the Roma refer to apple cores as Stars of
Knowledge.
During the time of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), the pentacle was
the first and most important of the Seven Seals- an amulet whose seven
seals represented the seven secret names of God. And each point of the
pentagram represents the five books of the Pentateuch- the first books of
the Hebrew Scriptures.
The Celts believed the pentacle was the sign of the Goddess of the
Underground, Morgan (a.k.a Morrigan) and the concept of five points is
still symbolic in Ireland; "Ireland had five great roads, five provinces
and five paths of the law. The fairy folk count in fives and the
mythological creatures wear five fold cloaks."
The religion of Wicca is loosely based on that of the Celts and, even
today, the pentagram and pentacle are its main symbols. Wiccans use the
pentagram symbol to cast and banish their healing circles, to bless
themselves and others by tracing the shape on their bodies and often wear
the pentacle or pentagram on pieces of jewellery. Some Wiccans interpret
the five points as the five elements- earth, air, water, fire and spirit,
while others interpret them as the four directions and the spirit.
The Rosicrucian movement consists of a group of Christian mystics who use
a cup, wand and pentagram during rituals. For them, the pentagram
represents earth, matter and stability.
Christians traditionally interpreted the pentagram as the five crucifixion
wounds of Christ (two on the hands, two on the feet and one on the side)
and it was used to represent the star that led the Three Wise Men to baby
Jesus. However, in later Christianity, this folk symbol of security became
associated with evil for the first time. Christians believed the pentagram
represented a goat's head or the devil and called it "Witch's foot."
Inverted pentagrams
In later years, Satanists inverted the pentagram and used it as their
religious symbol, but it more frequently appears with a goat's head inside
it, which forms the symbol of Baphomet.
The Order of the Eastern Star is a humanitarian organisation made of up
Christian women who are the wives of Masons. They use an inverted
pentagram as their symbol.
Written by Victoria Crouch
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