The Pentacle (sometimes called a Pentagram) is a five-pointed star made by drawing a single line as interlocked triangles. Before the cross, it was a preferred emblem to adorn the jewelry and amulets of early Christians (followed by an 'x' or a phoenix). The pentacle was associated with the five wounds of Christ, and because it could be drawn in one continuous movement of the pen, the Alpha and the Omega as one. It is first found in ancient Greece and the Near East as a decorative pattern on coins and buildings, and was a symbol of the perfect universe (four elements plus spirit) among Gnostics in the early centuries AD. It reached medieval Europe via Jewish and Arab culture, and was reinterpreted in Christian terms as an emblem of the Five Wounds of Jesus, guaranteed to put demons to flight. The pentacle represents not only the Five Wounds, but also the five senses, five virtues, and the Five Joys of Mary. Since the late 19th century occultists have regarded a pentagram with two points upwards as sinister, even Satanic, though this distinction does not appear in older writings. Christian Kabbalists of the renaissance were especially enamored of the pentagram, which they viewed as a mystical proof of the divinity of Christ. To them, it symbolized Christ as the Holy Spirit manifest in the flesh. Using numerology & the Hebrew alephbet, by adding the Hebrew letter Shin (symbolizing fire and the holy spirit of pentecost) to the Biblical four letter name of God (YHVH) we get the name of YHShVH Yeshua, or Jesus. The pentacle as a symbol of the feminine principle was was embodied by the rose. The small, five petalled roses found in many gothic cathedral ornamentation are not-so-secret pentacles. When you see someone wearing a pentacle, don't assume that person is a witch or Satanist. Many religions & traditions recognize the beauty & perfection of the pentagram. |
| Pentacle Page |
| notice the pentacle on the steeple |
| christian grave marker |
| Galway Cathedral (Ireland) |
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