The Pentagram, one of the most misunderstood five pointed stars in modern day society, and yet its an ancient Pagan symbol with historic records dating back as far as 3500 B.C. The word Pentagram comes from the Greek words "Pente" meaning five and "Gamma" meaning "letter". If its within a circle its called a Pentacle. As hard as it is to believe, the Pentagram was used by early Christians pre-dating the time of the inquisition. Its points were considered the "Five Wounds of Christ".

The five points of the upright Pentagram are: The top point, which represents the element of Spiritus and God/Goddess or the ethereal. The top left point of the Pentagram represents Mother Earth and is the grounding element. The top right point of the Pentagram represents Air which is the reasoning element. The bottom left point in the Pentagram represents Fire which is the feeling, passionate elemental. The bottom right point represents the element of Water and it represents emotion within reason.

Another description of the Pentagram layout is it is the "points of wo/man". This means the five points represent the human form with feet apart and arms outstretched. The top point would represent the head. The next two lower points would represent the outstretched arms extended. The lower two points would represent the legs standing apart.



When worn in the upright position as you see here the Pentagram represents spirit reigning over all other elements. Many in the craft recognize this as the material (physical) self serving the spirit, thus taking the positive path to doing no negative act or deed. As the Wiccans would say: "And Ye Harm None".

If the Pentagram is worn inverted the opposite meaning is served. Spirit is subservient to all other elements, thus negativity may rule in certain aspects. I refuse to label this form of usage of the Pentagram as a "Satanistic" Pentagram because not all churches of Satan worship evil. There is a church of Satan that has absolutely nothing to do with the Devil...they worship intellect and seek a higher path just as any other aspect of the craft does. Being a person that abhores being labelled, I sought this church out to discover exactly what they believed in and found them to be more positive than the masses allow. No, I don't belong...I just seek knowledge wherever I can find it. I am not saying there aren't factions who use the inverted Pentgram as a representation and excuse to do evil and harm, I'm simply stating don't group everyone into one neat little packaged ideal as you would not want to be grouped. Some wear the Pentagram inverted during a period in which they are doing a deep self examination. An upside down cross would be more of an indication of negativity in my humble opinion.

The Pentagram can be used to "bring" or "send away" depending on how it is approached. If you will look under Banishing in our spells section of the Cauldron it explains the direction used in "sending away".