Magicke Symbols & Tools Explained  The Pentagram figures prominently in paganism and has many symbolic meanings. Let me say now, unequivocally, that a reversed pentagram DOES NOT and I repeat DOES NOT mean SATAN. A discussion of this topic will follow in the body of this paper. The Pentagram, or five pointed star, surrounded by a circle symbolizes the five elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. The circle which surrounds it means infinity; the Great Mystery, sacred space, the wheel of the year, and interconnectedness to all being. It also symbolizes the feminine aspect of creative energies; Goddess or a woman standing within sacred universal space. To wear a Pentagram brings an awareness of being constantly surrounded by the protection of the elementals. As well it reminds us that wherever we go and whatever we do we are always in the presence of the Lord and Lady and that we stand in the sacred space of the circle. It also reminds us that we bear a Divine spark. It has been called "the Druid's foot", for legend has it that the druids had this symbol carved or impressed into the bottoms of their shoes so that their footprints created a trail of pentagrams. (reference source unknown) Thus the footprints conferred a blessing. A Pentacle, on the otherhand, is a silver disc inscribed with the pentagram symbol. It serves as a sacred paten, or altar dish and is used by Wiccans and some other neo-pagan traditions. There is no historical evidence that druids used such a tool. "It is a symbol that Solomon once devised to betoken truth as can be seen from the description; for it is a figure having five points and each line overlapping and locks in another, and everywhere it is endless. The English always term it, as I hear, the Endless Knot".... It represents the five virtues of magicke: Truth, Humility, Courage, Spirit, and Charity." (source unknown, 14th century, CE) As stated, the upright Pentagram represents the Goddess aspect of creation; the feminine creative principle. The reversed pentagram then symbolizes the God, or masculine creative principle. Specifically Cernunnos the Great Horned One, Lord of the Animals as he is represented on the famous Gundestrupp Cauldron wearing the antlers of a stag. (Grimassi) This symbol has never meant "the devil" or Satan for those who follow the Druidic or Wiccan traditions. In our belief system there is no entity known as the Devil. This spirit is purely a Christian, Islamic, and Judaic myth. It very likely has its beginnings in the ancient Judaic religion, adopted by the Jewish people after their exile from Babylonia. The Babylonian belief system was structured on the earlier beliefs and myths of the Sumerians who are known to have myths of "beings of light". It is also from ancient Sumeria that the Judaic faith borrows its ideas of angels, demons, and a devil. The word "Devil" (meaning specifically Satan) in the Hebrew language means "one who challenges, or adversary" (Dr. Elaine Pagels) When one culture seeks to dominate another, it must do two things. First it must take away the economic base, and second it must destroy the means of the culture to propagate and disseminate intellectual philosophies, morals, and values. In essence, if the ideas of what a culture believes about itself can be destroyed and made to be seen as less than good, then that culture can be dominated successfully. (Hester and Elgin, 1991) This is done by dominating the intellectual classes of a culture. Thus in order to force pagans to adopt Christianity the symbol of the pentagram, of the Lord and Lady, was made to symbolize something evil with the reversed pentagram becoming the most evil symbol of all. During the middle-ages the pentagram reversed came to mean "anti-Christ"; not in the sense of the Devil but in protest of the religious persecutions between Catholic and Protestant that were occuring at that time in history. In particular these people were protesting the power of the Catholic Church; more specifically the sale of indulgences and the act of confession. The term "anti-Christ" then meant loosely "against hierarchal and patriarchal organized religion" - not devil worshipper. Over time the meaning of "anti-Christ" came to mean Satan and the rites of Satanists. (Pagels) It should be noted here as well that the word "sin" comes from an archaic archery term which means "to miss the mark" (John F. Wright), which to the Celtic or Gaelic mind is understood to mean less than excellent. Thus the concept of sin as understood in Christian terms has no place in our tradition. Sinfulness in the sense of defying cosmic and natural laws is not possible without immediate consequences; sin in the sense of missing the mark or failing to do what needs to be done can be rectified by the individual taking right action. This concept of right action applies equally well to those things we should have done and to those things we didnt do as well as we could have. (Duncan) "Evil" is doing intentional harm to oneself or others; including all life-forms whether animal, plant, human or otherwise. Such intention is violence against the Life-force itself. We are each responsible for our own actions and the subsequent consequences of those actions sooner or later. You shall reap as you have sown is the very nature of life itself. (Duncan) Likewise Druids do not believe in Karma. The justice of the Gods is swift and immediate. They did, however, believe in the transmigration of the soul in which the soul returns to this plane and may inhabit the bodies of different life-forms not necessarily human. "The spirituality of the Celt is the living of life with the head in the heart. It is a spirituality handed down from genertion to generation quite independent (of any church) Celtic spirituality approaches everything in personal terms. Consider the total person in stride. Deny nothing. Shy away from nothing. Consecrate everything. Remember your manners and keep a respectful distance from those things that are not your concern - but without denying them." (Duncan) The Pentagram then symbolizes and reminds us of all of these and that we are a part of the chain of existence. Sources Duncan, Antony. The Elements of Celtic Christianity. Rackport, MA. Element Books. Matthews, Caitllin. The Celtic Tradition. Rockport, MA. Element Books. Pagels, Elaine H. The Origin of Satan .New York, NY. Random House. Wright, John F. A Compilation of Triads (volume I): Publisher not listed. copyright 1995
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