5: "What is a pentagram? What is its history? (etc.)"
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This article is from the magicK kreEePing oOze FAQ, by tyagi nagasiva tyagI@houseofAos.abyss.coM with numerous contributions by others.
5: "What is a pentagram? What is its history? (etc.)"
- The earliest recorded use of the pentagram as a mystical symbol was by
the Gnostics, who called it the Blazing Star. It was also considered by
Christians during the middle ages to be a symbol of the Five Wounds of
Christ, and used as a protective glyph, generally as a variation on the
Seal of Solomon (a Star of David within a circle).
- The association of the pentagram with non-Christian belief, and its
modern "elemental" analysis, were evidently introduced during the
revival of occultism in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Masons and
similar groups such as the OTO took it up--for example, A.E. Waite is
the person who introduced the symbol into the Tarot deck, replacing
the traditional suit of Coins.
- The use of the "inverted" pentagram to denote evil is a quite recent
usage, and first appears in the works of Eliphas Levi. He is also the
source of the "goat's head" glyph. Before this, neither orientation
had evil connotations per se.
- The modern pagan movement picked up the pentagram as part of a general
borrowing from earlier "occult" usage, and Wicca in particular has
taken it up as an explicit denotational symbol, similar to the
cross, the Thor's hammer, and so on.
Amanda Walker
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According to my own research so far:
The categorization of the "inverted" (one-point-down) pentagram as
"evil" vs. the "upright" (one-point-up) pentagram as "good"
originates in the writings of Eliphas Levi in the 19th Century, most
notably the works "The History of Magic" and "Doctrine and Ritual of
Transcendental Magic." He is also the originator of the now-infamous
goat's head glyph. Eliphas Levi (actually the pen name of Alphonse
Louis Constant, a French Catholic deacon) was one of a number of
writers who constituted a reaction against 18th century rationalism.
His works have had a lasting effect on French magical traditions, and
were instrumental in the development of the Tarot as a serious tool of
Hermetic magic, despite its humble beginnings in Gypsy fortune-telling.
Levi was the first Hermetic writer to assign an elemental (or perhaps
more accurately, alchemical) meaning to the pentagram, which before
him had been used principally as a protective glyph denoting the five
wounds of Christ (and as such, occurs in both orientations in Gothic
cathedrals and cloisters all across Europe)).
Now, I would be more than interested to hear about evidence that
contradicts the derivation I give above; however, I have yet to come
across any "evil" connotations of the pentagram, or the orientation
thereof, that predate Eliphas Levi (who lived from 1810-1875).
This is not to say that his analysis is nonsense--far otherwise, in
fact. If you apply his elemental attributions to the points of the
figure, the orientation does indeed profoundly affect the resulting
connotations. However, it is a mistake to believe that this
interpretation is any more "traditional" than 150 or so years, or for
that matter particularly pagan. It has, however, been picked up by
modern paganism, and has been (comparitively speaking) neglected by
modern hermeticism, which has focused primarily on the Tarot and the
Kabbalah.
Amanda Walker
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Amanda Walker (amanda@intercon.com) writes:
|Eliphas Levi is the earliest source I have yet found in European
|esotericism which gives the points of the star an elemental attribution
This was probably derived from Tycho Brahe's "Calendarium Naturale
Magicum Perpetuum...", the ancestor of "Liber 777" and many other works
of that sort. Although the Calendarium does not show a pentagram
marked with the elements, the row "Quinarius denari ..." shows all
the details: a pentagram with human body imposed, Hebrew for YHSVH,
and the elements associated. That's 1582 e.v. Other, later sources
also have the material. Looking to either the "Picatrix" or the
writings of Petro de Abano might turn up earlier European usage.
heidrick@well.sf.ca.us (Bill Heidrick)
--------------------------------------
In the book Symbols of t Prehistoric Mesopotamia by Beatrice Laura Goff , the
pentagram is shown and related to the Uruk (Biblical)Eriech)peeriod of
Mesopotamian civilization (3500 B.C>.E.). This singn is located on potsherds
in the location of Uruk (near the mouth of the Gulf), and is in the company of
signs relating to the beginning of written lagnguage. In the book Symbols of
the Gods o in Mesopotamian Art by E.Douglas Van Buren, we find the Pentagram
belonging to the archaic period UrukIV, and more frequently on Jemdet
Nasr(3100-2900B.C>.E.) and Proto-Elamite tablets (3000-2500B.C.E.). The title
suggested for the sign is revealing, UB , 'explained as "the very sign used in
the royal inscriptions to designate, in a somewhat obscuretitle, a power
extending to the 'four corners of the world''. These points are the four
crorners of the compass.
v306zj7w@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Frater ABZU)
-------------------------------------------
To say "the pentagram was considered an evil symbol by the Christians" is
a little ... well, general.
I haven't searched the whole corpus of Christian literature, and tallied
up all the mentions of pentagrams-good and pentagrams-bad, but I would
like to point out that (a) the pentagram occurs in "Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight," and not as an evil symbol; (b) the pentagram was often regarded
as emblematic of the Five Wounds of Christ; and (c) the pentagram was
not an evil symbol for Pythagoreans, and there was a strong current
of admiration, in Christian tradition (though not a unanimous one), for
"noble pagans" -- Pythagoras, Plato, various Stoics, Plotinus, and so
on. A good example of the ambivalence in Christian tradition toward
writers and thinkers is Dante's treatment of Virgil.
Can anyone come up with a specific text originating from the first
thousand years of Christianity denouncing the pentagram as an innately
evil symbol? I wouldn't be surprised, myself, if the first occurrence
of such texts was some time within the past two centuries. Or five
centuries.
--LeGrand
---------
The pentagram was used early on by the Xian church (particularly in the
East). Their use was, of course, point-up.
The inverted cross was also used by the Xians. It is known in
traditional mythology as St. Peter's cross. Peter did not believe he was
worthy enough to die in the same way that Jesus had, so he begged to
crucified upside-down. (Or so the legend goes.)
vondraco@telerama.lm.com (VonDraco)
-----------------------------------
There is, of course, the "standard" pagan reply: the five points
represent the five elements. It is "positive" if it is point-up because
it represents the mastery of mind/spirit over mere matter. It is
"negative" if worn point down because spirit is immersed in or ruled by
the physical rather than mental plane. (CUE: End of standard reply.)
Now for some other possibilities that are somewhat less standard. The
five stages of humanity (or the five stages of life, if you prefer) are
represented. Speaking purely in terms of age, there are: Babyhood,
Adolescence, Adulthood, Middle Age, and Old Age. In terms of life
occurrences, there are: Birth, Initiation, Love, Repose, and Death.
In Egypt the five-pointed star represented the underground womb. To the
pagan Celts, the pentagram was particularly associated with Morrigan, the
underground goddess.
To Hermetic magicians (and many others now), the five-pointed star
represented Man in the Microcosm, with his head at the top, hands out to
the sides, and legs below. His genitalia were in the center of the
pentagram.
To Christians (yes, they managed to get ahold of this symbol, too) the
pentagram represented the five wounds of Christ at the crucifixion.
In ancient Greece, the Pythagoreans called this symbol the Pentalpha,
since it is five capital 'A' figures interlaced.
As for the point-down pentagram being "evil", there are a couple of
different answers to that. Yes, modern culture has led to the popular
notion that this is an evil symbol. However, It is also a representative
of the Horned God. Yes, it looks like a goat's head. The Horned God's
most common five forms are represented by the points: human, goat, ram,
stag and bull.
Given the Christian propensity to turn the Horned God into the Devil, is
it any wonder that this seems to be associated with the Christian
Devil?
I understand that this symbol also has some Qabalistic significance, but
I am pitifully ignorant of the ways of the Qabala. Perhaps someone
else could enlighten you about that part of it.
Another important thing to remember is that the pentagram is a
unicursal figure. That is, it can be drawn without lifting pen/cil from
paper. It also means that each of the five (or more) things that are
represented are *irrevocably* connected to one another, unless the line
is broken. No one thing is any stronger or better than the other - they
are all dependent upon one another.
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