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Magick and Meaning: The History of the Pentagram

The pentagram, or five-pointed star, has a long and layered history.  Mathematics and mysticism went hand in hand in the ancient world, and five-pointed stars appeared in the art of the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.  The Pythagoreans, students of the sacred geometry taught by the renowned scholar Pythagoras (ca. 500 BCE), adopted the pentagram as their secret sign through which to recognize each other, much as early Christians centuries later adopted the sign of the fish as a secret symbol.  The symbol of the pentagram also appears in early Christian art.

In the fusion of scholarship and scripture of the 12-century Renaissance, scholars (Honorius of Autun, Hildegard of Bingen) identified the number five with the human body -- five senses, five members -- making the five-pointed star the symbol of the microcosm, the earthly reflection of the divine.  And as the sum of the first female and male numbers (2 and 3, respectively), the number five represents the union of male and female.  The pentagram was also associated with the Biblical Solomon and said to have power to banish spirits. 

The Christian poet who authored the celebrated 14-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight placed this powerful sign on Gawain's shield and explained its symbolism, including its associations with Solomon, the human form, and the Divine, and further identified the five-pointed star as a Christian symbol representing the five wounds of Christ.  As such, the poet commented, it had a particular power to repel evil.  This symbol continues to be associated with Christianity, particularly with the star said to announce the birth of Christ, and is frequently seen topping Christmas trees during Yuletide.

As in the ancient world, philosophy, religion, medicine, alchemy, magic and science blended together in the scholarship of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  In European books of learned magic like Cornelius Agrippa's celebrated De Occulta Philosophia (ca. 16th-century), the protective powers of the pentagram were again extolled, especially in conjunction with the magic circle.  Modern pagans often wear the pentacle, a pentagram enclosed in a circle (signifying eternity, protection, and the cycles of nature), as a sign of our faith. 

The sign of the pentagram was adopted by Freemasonry, and continues to be employed in ceremonial magic, Masonry and its sister organization the Eastern Star, which identifies each point of the star with a heroine of biblical lore.  The five-pointed star also continues to be used for the badges of law enforcement officers, signifying their protective role in society.  

Interest in magic waned among intellectuals during the Age of Reason, but in the 19th century, a French cleric by the name of Alphonse Louis Constant sparked a revival of interest in scholarly magic, for which he coined the term "occultism," implying the revelation of long-hidden knowledge. 

Writing under the pen name of Eliphas Levi, Constant produced a synthesis of alchemy, magic, and philosophy forming a system of magical practice.  In this he employed the pentagram, restating its association with the microcosm and the Divine and its legendary power to ward off spirits.  He added a new interpretation, however -- that while the pentagram symbolized God, the inverted pentagram (upside down with 2 points up) could be used to represent the opposite of God -- the Devil.  Inverted crosses have also been identified with Satanism for the same reason, but the association of the inverted pentagram with Satanism has been particularly strong in recent memory.  This has unfortunately led to confusion with the Wiccan pentagram.  In truth, the pentagram is no more a Satanic symbol than is the cross.

In Wicca, the pentagram is often enclosed in a circle to represent unity and wholeness.  The five points traditionally symbolize the elements of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit.  And, as a geometrical pattern inherent in organic forms (in apple seeds and the human hand), the pentagram is also a symbol of life.  The five points also represent the five senses through which we gain knowledge of the world around us, and so the pentacle becomes a symbol of our quest for wisdom, understanding and truth. 

Notes

The texts of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Cornelius Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia are available online.

For further reading on the history of Wicca:

Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of The Moon; A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2000.

Written by Lycia for the Eclectic Coven of Red Mountain  ~ All rights reserved.  To request permission to duplicate contact The Eclectic Coven of Red Mountain, P.O. Box 131, Shannon, AL 35142 or eclecticcoven@hotmail.com.