The Pentagram was known in ancient China and is still used today by Taoists, to whom it symbolizes the five elements of wood, fire, wind, water and metal. In the Chinese concept, these are five processes by which energy transforms itself through constant creation and destruction. They represent both the outer processes of the universe and the inner processes of the self. The Chinese elements correspond to the later Western elements of spirit, fire, air, water and earth. Wise men in China sometimes wear a pentagram to symbolize their awareness of and mastery over the process of change.
In India, the pentagram represents the elements of the five lower chakras of kundalini yoga. These elements are symbolized by the square, circle, triangle, oval and a wisp in the shape of an elongated letter 's.' The elements correspond with the five levels of consciousness in the manifest universe below the Abyss. Indian mystics believe the fifth element is a reflection of three additional elements, combined as one, which are above the Abyss and therefore above man's conscious awareness.
The symbol of the pentagram came West with the Sumerians. It is found in the oldest Sumerian pictographs, before the introduction of cuneiform writing. It was represented as the sign of the plough, called 'ar' or 'ub.' They used it to symbolize the four heavenly quarters with the spirit in the center, and the four divisions of the year into the solstices and equinoxes, plus the ritual of regeneration. The later Assyrians used the pentagram in religious and magickal evocations of spirits. As with many Indian concepts, the pentagram also migrated to ancient Persia, where it was a symbol of the fire-worshipping Persian Magi (wise men). The Babylonian and Chaldean Magi later called the pentagram the Star of the Magi.
At Tarkhan, where Set was worshipped in pre-dynastic Upper Egypt, the inhabitants left hieroglyphs of an upright pentagram attached to a boat. Scholars believe this represents an early representation of the journey of the soul across the dark sea of spirit in the heavens. The Jews used the pentagram to symbolize the Torah, their five books of Truth. In Jewish mysticism, it was the symbol of the Angel guarding the way to the first of the seven heavens. The Jewish Testament of Solomon, believed written between 100 and 300 AD but containing a core of older material, tells of king Solomon receiving from an angel a ring with a pentagram on it as a symbol of his power to control demons. To the Christians, the pentagram symbolized the five wounds of Christ and it was in general use among Christians during the first thousand years of the Church. The Gnostics called the pentagram the "Blazing Star" and linked it to the crescent moon as a symbol of spiritual energy.
Among the Greeks, the pentagram was the symbol of the goddess Kore, who resumed in her mythos the descent and ascent of the human of soul from the Underworld. Her sacred symbol, the apple, shows a five-pointed star when sliced horizontally through the center. The Pythagorians, who based much of their philosophy on numbers, used the pentagram as an amulet for health and spiritual well-being. They wore the pentagram both upright and reversed and when hiding from persecution, they used the pentagram as a secret sign of recognition. The pentagram passed into general use among the various Illuminati cults in Europe, and in Britain the Celts adopted the pentagram from the Picts, using it as a symbol of the Underworld gods and goddesses who linked man to the heavens. Celtic Christians and other Christian mystics used the pentagram to symbolize the five virtues of the seeker of the Holy Grail.
By the Middle Ages, the pentagram had become a general symbol of spiritual wisdom and truth, and it was marked on doorways and windows to keep evil out of the house. There is evidence that the old village witches made use of the pentagram, which they called the Witches' Foot, the Druid's Foot or the Goblin's Cross. The Church decided it was no longer proper for Christians to use the symbol after the Christian Inquisition began burning village wise women and identifying them by the sign of pentagram. After the invention of the printing press and subsequent publication of Agrippa's Occult Philosophy and numerous magickal grimoires, the pentagram became a popular symbol of occult knowledge.
Agrippa
One of the last major developments in the use of the pentagram came when the French occultist Alphonse Constant (Eliphas Levi) introduced the upright and inverted use of the pentagram. Levi used the upright pentagram to represent the race of man created by God, while he used the inverted pentagram to represent the demonic race created by the Angel Samael and Lilith.
Eliphas Levi
Much of Levi's legacy was passed to several Englishmen who helped to found the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. From this influential group developed the idea of the pentagram representing white magick with one point up and black magick with one point down; thus, one symbolized the good of the seeker of spirit (macrocosm), and the other symbolized the ordinary person mired in materialistic pursuits (microcosm). Levi's drawing of the pentagram on the forehead of the sabbatic goat has become one of the most famous representations of the pentagram.
Levi
The pentagram was used by the hereditary New Forest covens of England in the 1930's. The Witch Sybil Leek's mother, who ran one of the covens, called the Meets of her coven the Pentagram Club. The pentagram didn't become a general symbol of Witchcraft until the 1950's, when the modern religion of witchcraft called Wicca was created. The Wiccans adopted the pentagram as the symbol of their Craft and as a means of mutual recognition, and the success of the Wiccans led other Witches to adopt the symbol also. The pentagram is generally used by Witches with one point up, although in Wiccan initiations the first degree Witch uses an inverted triangle, the second degree Witch uses a inverted pentagram, and the third degree Witch uses an upright pentagram topped by an upright triangle. Here, the inverted pentagram represents the Horned God, symbol of prosperity and illumination, whose spirituality was approached through sensuality. Modern Satanists, on the other hand, have adopted the pentagram with two points up as their symbol of recognition. Some Satanists follow the older idea of being materialistic instead of spiritual, while others have adopted the inverted pentagram to symbolize evil or black magick. Witches and Satanists usually wear a sterling silver pentagram as a necklace or ring.
One important use of the pentagram among magicians is to perform the Lesser and Greater Banishing Rituals of the Pentagram. The purpose of these rituals is to diminish the projection of consciousness into consensus reality in order to 'rise on the planes,' to seek communion with spiritual forces. The rituals have been adopted and adapted by Witches to invoke and banish the Watchtowers at the four quarters of the magick circle.
Magicians also use the pentagram as a part of the Solomon Lamen (Seal of Solomon), which is composed of three sigils: the Pentagram, the Hexagram and the Secret Seal (a Mercurial symbol). In this lamen, worn as a necklace by the magician when invoking spirits, the pentagram is used to open a doorway to spiritual forces.
Pentagram from the Key of Solomon
The words on the seal have the following meaning:
Abdia - I conjure thee in secret, O Spirit!
Ballaton - Come forth from thy abode and speak clearly in my speech.
Bellony - Put forth thy might and discover unto me the knowledge and power in thy keep.
Halliy - Answer in the inward silence all of my questions without fail.
Halliza - Assume and show forth unto me thy form of divine perfection.
Soluzen - Open unto me thy secret door and fulfill me of my purpose!
Technically, a pentagram is a five-sided figure and a pentacle is a five-pointed star. The older word 'pentacle' has been replaced over time by the less precise 'pentagram.' Today, the pentacle refers to an engraved copper disk engraved with a pentagram used by Witches to represent the element earth in the magick circle; this follows Eliphas Levi's original illustration of the tarot suit of coins, which he called pentacles, as coins engraved with pentagrams. The pentacle should not be confused with the pantacle. The pantacle is a many-pointed star design created by a magician to summarize his or her magickal attainment, and is unique for each individual. The pantacle is also usually an engraved copper disk and is also used in the magick circle to represent the element of earth. Both the pentacle and the pantacle are used on the altar for consecrations, and at times may even replace the altar. Confusion between the pentacle and the pantacle has arisen because modern Witchcraft has borrowed heavily from ceremoial magick and proper distinctions have sometimes been lost in the process.
The mystic and most esoteric use of the pentagram involves its representation of the inner spiritual nature of man, an arc of energy composed of five selves. Each of these selves exists in its own reality, some on earths in other times and spaces. These aspects each strive to become the dominant aspect of the arc, and the one that does so is able to call upon the powers of the other selves. This is the source of the ancient idea that the pentagram represents the compete or perfect man. In this sense, the pentagram is the penultimate symbol of the wise.
