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THE
PENTAGRAM
First
off let’s get the bad press out of the way. The pentagram is a very
ancient device and was used as an important religious symbol by the
Babylonians and by the Pythagoreans in ancient Greece. It is therefore
not a symbol of the Christian Devil or any kind of black satanic
worship, no matter what various Hollywood movies or any fanciful TV
series might like to proclaim. In Wicca it is used as a symbol of faith
and during ritual, just as the cross is in the Christian faith.
Interestingly, at one time, Christians commonly used the pentagram to
represent the five wounds of Jesus before the cross became the universal
Christian representation. The
pentagram is by far the best known symbol used in Wicca, although there
are others that represent The Goddess and the moon or the Horned God and
the sun, and even the Hexagram that represents the universe, which to
most people is perhaps more readily identified with the Jewish faith and
appears on the national flag of Israel as the Star of David. In
the Wiccan belief system the five points of the pentagram represent the
five elements, Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit, which is always the
topmost point of the pentagram. They also represent the five senses that
we experience, namely, hearing, smell, sight, taste and touch. Along
with this the pentagram represents the five limbs, those being, legs,
arms and head. Additionally there is representation of the five fingers
on a hand or the five toes on a foot. It represents balance and the
perfection of the self. In
Wiccan ritual the pentagram is used as protection and as a doorway for
the Guardians of the Watchtowers, by which they may enter and exit the
circle. Containing five points, the pentagram is a prime number, the sum
of 2 and 3, as well as of 1 and 4, and is often seen as mystical because
of this. Wiccans
do not believe in the Devil or Hell, so there cannot be by definition,
any Devil worship associated with Wicca. The concepts of God and the
Devil, Heaven and Hell are beliefs associated with the Christian faith
and Islam. They have no place in a nature based religion that seeks a
balance in all things and believes in an afterlife in the Summerland,
and then reincarnation on Earth. We
should also clear up a misunderstanding as to what is and what is not a
pentagram. A pentagram is the symbol of a five pointed star, any five
pointed star, although in Wicca it is usually presented as the
‘endless knot’ with no beginning and no end. A
pentacle is a circle used as a tool for consecrations. In Wiccan ritual
a protective circle is drawn in which the ritual will be performed,
inside of that may be drawn a pentagram. Most Wiccans will wear about
their necks as a piece of jewellery, a silver pentagram within a
protective circle. It is here that we most often see the confusion
between a pentagram and a pentacle, and the terms are often
interchanged, especially by those not of the Craft. ©Copyright - James of Glencarr |
