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The Pentagram Source Unknown Many religions, even those involving a variety of symbols, hold one above all others to represent the religion. For Jews it is the star of David. For Christians it is the cross, although they employ dozens of variations of the basic design. For Wiccans, it is the pentagram. The pentagram has existed for thousands of years through a variety of cultures. It has been ascribed numerous meanings, but mostly it has been a symbol of protection and invocation. As a symbol of our religion, the pentagram is always depicted point-up, and many Wiccans will rabidly insist it is only used in this orientation, thus further distancing ourselves from Satanists, who identify themselves was a point-down pentagram. However, there are in fact some Wiccans, who use pentagrams oriented in both directions. Point-up represents the Goddess, point-down represents the God as a "horned pentagram". While I find nothing wrong in an inverted pentagram (it's still just a symbol. It's not going to suck in your soul, I promise), using one in a non-Wiccan setting is just asking for unnecessary trouble. Modern Symbolism The pentagram symbolizes the union of the five basic elements. Spirit is ascribed to the uppermost point, with the implication that Spirit surmounts the physical elements. When the pentagram is inverted, the physical world supplants the Spirit as supreme, hence its association with Satanism. Personally, it seems to me a certain point is lost when you focus on the position of any one element among a unity. Others ascribe the upper three points as relating to the Maid, Mother, and Crone aspects of the Goddess, and the lower two points to the God of Light and God of Darkness. However, the Light God and Dark God are generally only mentioned in connection with the Wheel of the Year, so this association becomes a little forced. "The Satanists stole our emblem!" Actually, we both largely borrowed the pentagram from ceremonial magic, where it has existed for centuries before the advent of Satanism or Wicca, which are both fairly new movements. "The Christians perverted our emblem!" See above. This claim presumes the pentagram was first associated with Satanism due to claims of the Christian church, during its persecution of pagans. But no mention of the pentagram oriented in either direction can be found in witch-hunt documents. But the symbol was not unknown in those times. Arthurian legends describe Sir Gawain as bearing a pentagram quite benignly upon his shield. More importantly though is the fact that Christianity at one time used the pentagram to represent the five wounds of Christ. Wherever they got it from, it wasn't from "us". Understanding the Pentacle Unknown Source Quite some time ago I got a present from a friend. Upon opening the parcel I found a silver medallion, representing a pentacle within it engraved the design of Leonardo Da Vinci's well-known "Man". I was swept of my feet by the beauty and deeper meaning of the pentacle, and the symbolism behind it, surrounding the figure in the middle! I thought that I had a good grasp of what the artist who made that piece of jewelry wanted to say and express, but the more I thought about it the harder it was to get completely into it; at that point I realized that I could not wear it in good conscience; I had no right to wear it as long as I did not fully understand what it stood for! I wear a pentacle every single day of my life, it is a part of me, and I will never leave the house without it; and still...had I ever really thought through WHY I always wear it? No, as it turns out only now, after a week of contemplation on it I seem to BEGIN to understand. The trip I had to make was not easy, but it was pleasant, because it allowed me to discover without pressure and all by myself what, for me, the meaning is of the pentacle and the elements so closely related to it! Fire (South) has always been the easiest element for me. Although being a Taurus (actually an Earth-sign) I feel a very close affinity with fire; to me fire has always been passion and aggression, light, heat and sun. I discovered a few other things I never knew before: the cleansing aspect and ability of the fire-element; its power to purify and regenerate, being the carrier of all the enthusiasm I am able to feel, all these feelings and thoughts for the element were new to me.As I was sitting in the South-quarter of the circle I drew at the end of each day, I realized that although I had seen myself (and had been seen by a great many people) as a "fiery" person, I was and am so much more! I have always been very sure that said "light" had to be "fire," but I was wrong! The "light" that shines in each and every one of us is not just one element; it is the combination of all of them! But I am running before I can walk again! The next day I was to be carried through the day by "Water." As I thought just the opposite of fire and therefore an element I felt not as Comfortable with! I couldn't have been more wrong! The day was a revelation and so were my thoughts and findings on it: whereas water was for me closely related to the Moon, I never had experienced it as a cleansing and healing power; never thought about it as the element of emotion and freshness. As life in general and life before birth more specifically, but what really amazed me, was that water can be and is (at least to me now) the freedom to create, to think, to experience and to feel! I already looked very much forward to the next element, being "Air." From the experiences of the two earlier days, I knew being carried through the day by a specific element would open new insights on it. And that is exactly what happened: sitting in the East in my circle that night it did feel as if there were new views added to the element. Air, now, is the element of breathing, imagination, intelligence, but most of all of voice and speech. Voice and speech being the word, the ability of verbal _expression, but also of the more beautiful ways of outing ones inner life in song and poem! I have always admired the people able to write poetry, not what public opinion calls "Poetry"; but to me the "real poet" is the person who can express and put into words what the feelings and thoughts of his or her inner self are; not revealing what should stay private, but writing down what contributes to making them the people they are! The North, representing the element "Earth" was less of a revelation, and I see now why Taurus is supposed to be an earth-sign. Fertile ground upon which seeds fall; seeds that grow and with the proper nurturing become the plants and the trees of tomorrow, fertility is always been bound to earth, at least in my mind. The changing of the seasons and consequently the changing of people's ideas are best represented by this element: ideas in general and the concept of a well-thought plan, but also new ideas and innovation. At long last I began to see what "Spirit" the fifth element and the point of the pentacle REALLY meant! As I said earlier I have always known "spirit" to be the combination of the other elements, but there is more a deeper reflection of the "self." The good and the bad alike, "spirit" is the ability to rise above the bad, and enhance the good even further. Spirit is the power and the force to overcome the darkest and most difficult moments and parts of ourselves, and create the peace and the balance all of us need and long for. That is what I learned and discovered throughout this week of being carried by the five elements: a journey that brought me deeper within and closer towards myself, discovering within me what I knew not before! I now wear the pentacle with new pride and a new feeling of belonging. I hope the "light" inside has been given a new dimension, to me it most certainly feels like it! Message of the Pentacle Each of the pentacles points marks five Precessional Ages: Cancer (8800 BC to 6640 BC), Gemini (6640 BC to 4480 BC), Taurus (4480 BC to 2320 BC), Aries (2320 BC to 160 BC), Pisces (160 BC to 2000 AD). The Pentacles a symbol for Earth and protection and contains the precessional numbers 36, 72, 108, and 360. When a sphere is sectioned into two hemispheres of five sections each, following the pentacles pattern, you end up with each triangular section totaling 252° and each hemisphere totals 1260°. The number 1260 relates to the Bible, especially the book of Revelation. The pentacle also contains numerous phi ratios (1 to 1.1618). Mankind began its recovery from over 2000 years of cataclysmic upheaval in 8500 BC. This upheaval occurred primarily during the precessional age of Leo (10,960 BC to 8800 BC). The cataclysm was a mixture of cosmic disturbances and geological upheaval. The cosmic disturbances precipitated the geological upheaval, around 11,000 BC, when the Earth was bombarded, over the course of several decades, with comet fragments, up to a rate of 100 fragments per year. In 10,400 BC, the Earth completed its latest geomagnetic reversal. Around that same time, the earths crust displaced. This displacement caused earthquakes worldwide, and intense and widespread volcanic activity. Then in approximately 9,000 BC the Earth was bombarded again, and the Ice Age ended. There were other bombardments, causing episodes of chaos, disruption, and rapid climate change at around 7,000 BC, 5,000 BC, 4,000 BC, 2,500 BC, 1,000 BC, and 500 AD. Each case of bombardment lasted several decades or even a century. The next episode is expected to occur around 2020 AD and the next geomagnetic reversal in 2030 AD. The symbol warns us we have had five precessional ages of relative peace. With the dawning of the Precessional Age of Aquarius, a new process of cataclysmic upheaval is about to begin. 7 Pointed Star commonly found It is also called the heptogram or the Faerie or Elven Star. This entrances one to the Faerie Realm. It is the Gateway to the otherworld. Each Point is a pathway or the 7 rays of manifestation of the higher self as follows: 1st Power, personal will and determination 2nd Unconditional Love, wisdom and growth 3rd Knowledge and intelligence 4th Harmony and tranquility 5th The powers of mind and spirit 6th Devotion and Honesty 7th Magick You must first take the first pathway, then the second, etc. The points interblend with each other, nurturing and joining us as one with the universe, bestowing personal and spiritual transformation.  
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