Pentagram Sign
Many people share the misconception that the pentagram is a symbol of all evil, of black masses and sacrifices. However, the original and correct meaning of this symbol is entirely different.
Dictionaries are quite uniform in their approach to the pentagram, indicating that it is “a five-pointed star drawn using a continuous line […]” (Compact Oxford English Dictionary), or “a figure of a 5-pointed star usually made with alternate points connected by a continuous line” (Merriam-Webster). Other characteristics include the use of the pentagram as a mystic and magical symbol, an amulet which protects against witchery and evil powers (sometimes inscribed in a circle); the pentagram was also a symbol of the Pythagoreans, signified the five senses, etc. So, what is the full story behind this unique figure?
PENTAGRAM : The Beginnings
The five-pointed star was probably in use as early as the Neolithic Age, where it served as a symbol of the mother goddess Kore. As a legacy of the earliest, most primitive civilizations, it was preserved until the ancient times first as the Star of Ishtar, and then as the Star of Isis. During that time, the figure inspired the interest of the Greek Pythagoreans, who began to make the first geometrical and mystical conjectures about the pentagram as a symbol of perfection, health and life. This is most likely how the pentagram penetrated into other religions, in particular Judaism, where it was referred to as the “Seal of Solomon”, the Signum Salomonis, and to Christianity, where it was the shape of the Star of Bethlehem, and where it symbolized the five wounds of Christ and later the five knightly virtues. Hence, it is easy to explain the reasons for the pentagram’s prominence in the Gnostic sects (characterized by religious syncretism) and Kabbalah (the secret learning which stemmed from Judaism and grew rapidly over the centuries, providing a source and inspiration for many contemporary movements) (see http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_pent.htm). Therefore, one could argue that the symbolism of the pentagram at that time was related primarily to its geometry (the attributes of perfection and harmony associated with the equal side lengths, multiple axes of symmetry, etc., as well as similarity to the human form), and secondly, due to the number of angles which is inscribed in the Greek name itself, where “penta” stands for “five.” It is clear, therefore, that regardless of the source of inspiration, all cultures ascribed a clearly positive meaning to the pentagram: the meaning of divine power, perfection, protection against evil powers (especially a pentagram in a circle) and harmony.
PENTAGRAM : Inverted
With time, however, a new figure emerged: the inverted pentagram (i.e. a pentagram with one point facing downwards), an antithesis of the original, positive symbolism. For unknown reasons, it is becoming increasingly widespread nowadays. Its origins are traditionally traced back to the Templar order, who descended into heresy and were alleged to worship a goat’s head (other sources mention the head of a bearded, red-haired man), the symbol of which is indeed the inverted pentagram. Leaving the legend aside, it has to be acknowledged that Rennes-le-Château in France, one of the largest structures erected by the Order, has the shape of a huge pentagram formed by the five adjacent hills. It was at that time, with the condemnation and dissolution of the Order by Clemens V, that the pentagram began to acquire its negative associations as a symbol of the devil (with some sources pointing to the name of Baphomet) and evil in general. As a result, the regular pentangle, originally a symbol of the sacrum and harmony, became a figure of the profanum, of evil, and the association with the human form was superseded by that of the goat’s head. Unsurprisingly, once attached, the label and the associated cognitive pattern have remained, and the odium of the inverted pentagram also affected the ancient symbol of the pentangle supported on its two points.
PENTAGRAM : The Good and The Evil
Thus, one is faced with what may be considered historically (and in Hegelian terms) a thesis and an antithesis. A peculiar synthesis was achieved in the 19th century by the renegade priest Eliphas Levi, who established a dual typology with the distinction between the White Pentagram (the symbol of the Good, with its point facing upwards) and the Black Pentagram (the symbol of the Evil, inverted). However, despite his efforts, the five-pointed star has not been incorporated again in the symbolism of any institutionalized religion. This should come as no surprise, though, since Levi was a spiritualist who experimented with magic, which in common understanding did not and does not make him popular. Thus, the pentagram has remained a matter of neo-pagan movements (such as the Wiccans, New Age, Falun Gong, etc.) and satanic movements (the American Church of Satan), as well as their many denominations.
Still, one has to remember that this interpretation of the pentagram is an aberration of its original meaning, and is a relatively new phenomenon (compared with the history of the symbol which traces back more than five thousand years). Perfection, harmony and the sacrum are the authentic, ‘uninverted’ meanings of the regular pentangle, a meaning which is rooted in and coexists in most of the world’s civilizations.
PENTAGRAM: Inspiration for the Brand
The pentagram is a symbol of perfection and harmony, of flawless proportions and brilliant simplicity. The figure is a sacred, protective symbol, and at the same time, a profoundly complicated one in terms of meanings, with a very rich history. It is a symbol of the Good, but also, importantly, an untamed, rebellious sign. All these characteristic and values combine to form one of the most interesting and fascinating graphic symbols in the world. And it is these features that provided inspiration to the creators of the PENTAGRAM brand.