Spirit-WWW: NewsGateway Article <news:alt.religion.wicca.69116>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From <gwydion@dave-world.net>:
Subject: PENTAGRAM'S HISTORY
All Follow-Up: Re: PENTAGRAM'S HISTORY
Newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca,
Date: 1 Nov 97 16:03:09 GMT
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK, as an alternative to all the bickering & bashing that has been going on here I thought I'd post something of some interest. This is an article I wrote last year about the history & meaning of the pentagram. It is in no way complete or all knowing. I don't really think we will ever know the exact origin of the pentagram, but this does contain a lot of info. It's a good thing to give to people who keep asking you what the pentagram means. Anyway, I'd like any feedback on the article. Post here or Email me.
Thanks......
It is commonly linked to everything from Wicca to Satanism & Cabalistic ritual, yet the pentagram itself is only a star devoid of any one true meaning. The names & meanings put on the pentagram are of importance & not the star in & of itself. Most people call it a pentagram but other names are "the witch's foot" & more interestingly, "the druid's foot". The 2 names imply that witchcraft & druidism were at one time connected, but just how isn't clear. Also, both these names have been applied to certain medicinal plants, so the connection may simply come from that. The pentagram has also been called the "seal of Solomon" by some Cabalistic students, but most students agree that the "seal of Solomon" is a 6 point star & not a 5 point star like the pentagram. Since Cabalism is an offshoot of the Jewish religion it would seem more likely that the seal of Solomon was the 6 pointed star of David. However, some Cabalists also use the pentagram for other ritual uses. Both Aleister Crowley & S.L. Mathers used it. H.P. Lovecraft called it "the Elder Sign" & claimed it was a symbol of magical protection. However, because Lovecraft wrote fiction most people assume he created this name himself. There are no other references to the pentagram as the Elder Sign outside of his writings.
Followers of the philosopher/mathematician Pythagoras supposedly called it the "pentalapha" & used it as a symbol of recognition within their cult. Although none of the works of Pythagoras survive we know he believed in the mystic power of certain numbers, letters & symbols. He is known to have believed the triangle to be of mystic power & also the letter A, both of these are in the pentagram five times. Pythagoras was Greek & lived c. 500 BC. In The Outline Of History H.G. Wells reproduces a Greek painting of C.550 BC that depicts a pentagram, proving it was at least in Greece at that time.
Modern Wiccans claim it is the symbol of pagan Europe & it has become especially connected to modern Wiccan practice. Wiccans claim it is the symbol of the power of "spirit" or "mana" over the lesser elements: fire, air, earth & water. Just what element is attributed to what point varies from tradition to tradition but all agree that the pentagram should be point up with the top point representing spirit. Some traditions use an inverted pentagram as a symbol of a witch's rank but most Wiccans agree that an inverted pentagram is symbolic of evil because it places the material world & its elements over the spiritual side of life. The pentagram has always been a part of Wicca & Gerald Gardner included it in his rituals, but he was known to borrow elements from Crowley. Most uneducated people will connect the pentagram with Satanism because of the media abuse of the occult & paganism. They point to Anton LaVey's Church of Satan, which uses the inverted pentagram as it's symbol. However, LaVey's interpretation & meaning of the inverted pentagram is actually based on an error made by Eliphas Levi in an earlier occult work.
Through his poor research Levi claimed that an inverted pentagram superimposed with a goat's head was the "Sigil of Baphomet" & stood for Satan. Baphomet was an earlier pagan deity with no links to the Christian Satan, but Levi's works are full of similar errors due to his own religious bias. Like most Judeo-Christians he believed all pagan deities to be Satan in disguise.
Nowhere in the Bible is the pentagram mentioned at all, in fact, stars in general are used as the symbols of Jesus in Revelations. (However, 5 pointed stars aren't especially mentioned.) Once the pentagram was used to represent the 5 wounds of Christ & also the 5 letters in the name Jesus.
This could also explain why the pentagram is sometimes shown with an outstretched man superimposed on it as if crucified. Thus, it became a protective sigil against evil. This is seen in Faust, when the demon Mephistopheles encounters it on Faust's threshold & has trouble getting around it. (Crowley used the same trick in his fictional Moonchild, obviously as a tribute to the original Faust.) More than one researcher has said that the "star in the East" was supposedly a pentagram & this makes us wonder if this passage is to be taken literally or if maybe it is symbolic of some deeper significance.
But where did the pentagram originate? What was it's history before being adopted by Wiccans & Crowley? Barrett uses the pentagram in a sigil of the Tetragrammaton in his Magus, so by then it is already linked to "good" or "white" magic. The pentagram appears in several hermetic manuscripts in British museums. The dates of the manuscripts range from 14th to 16th century & include some magical seals with pentagrams written in human blood & wax disks inscribed with pentagrams used by John Dee.
The pentagram is the standard symbol on the suit of "coins" in the modern tarot but earlier decks show that tarot symbolism hasn't been consistentthrough history. Thus, the pentagram may not have been originally found on the cards. While the pentagram has traditionally been linked to witchcraft, we have few (if any) references to it during the witch trials of the middle ages.
However, it was known in England by 1360 because it appears in Sir Gawain & the Green Knight which dates to 1360. Here it is called the seal of Solomon again & this may be the origin of this error. In the same work it is also called a "pentangle", "the endless knot" & "orknit" (meaning the golden knot). The text clearly says this is Gawain's personal symbol & not his family crest. The text says the pentagram stands for Gawain's perfection of the 5 senses, the skill of his 5 fingers, his reverence for the 5 wounds of Christ & various other 5 fold attributes. Some pagans claim that the pentagram has it's origins in the design of an apple when cut in half. A horizontal cut through an apple reveals a pentagram shape & apples were the sacred fruit of ancient Britain & the Celts. But to suggest that the druids used the pentagram in any way is almost laughable. While magic apples are common in Celtic myth, the pentagram aspect of them is never mentioned.
From a strictly mathematical standpoint the pentagram is interesting too. It's proportions indicate a certain ratio. The ratio is .618 to 1, & this derives from the so called "golden numbers" or Fibonacci sequence. This same sequence & ratio is found in many natural phenomenon such as the generations of rabbits & bees & in the pattern of leaves & petals on certain plants. It is found in the spirals of the sunflower & the divisions of the sneezewort plant. Even the divisions of the human body contain the .618 to 1 ratio & this could be another expatiation of why some occult manuscripts depict the body of a man imposed over a pentagram, to enforce the relationship. The pentagram is also found on the fossilized sea lily & as already mentioned, the apple.
The ratio of .618 to 1 occurs 200 times in the pentagram & this is evidence that it was originally probably used to express that ratio so common in nature & thus, to express the power of nature itself. By symbolizing the ratio that controls so many natural phenomenon the pentagram expressed the unity of nature. Now we see why Pythagoras, a philosopher & mathematician, chose the pentagram to express his beliefs. The ratio implies a certain binding force or logic behind nature & the pentagram symbolizes it. Because the pentagram symbolizes these "golden numbers" we can also see why it became known as Orknit, or the golden knot. By the same token, we now see why the spiral is almost a universal symbol of divinity in primitive cultures. It too contains the same ratio of golden numbers.
--
Wayfarers wondered & warriors were dismayed,
At renewal of conflicts that Gwydion made....
gwydion@dave-world.net
