Why is the pentagram linked to Wicca? And what does it mean?

Question

Just curious, not saying I favor anything over the other.

Answer 1

The Wiccan meaning of the Pentagram comes from Pythagoras, who first associated it with the elements (earth, air, fire, water and spirit).

Much later, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, and other alchemists adapted it, along with the elements, for ceremonial magic, and also adopted the notion that pointing up it represents "good" and pointing down it represents "evil".

Gerald Gardner, a British Civil Servant used many of these ancient conventions of alchemy and Ceremonial Magic when he first described the practice of what came to be known as Wicca. Specifically, Gardner probably adopted its use from the rites of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an 18th Century spiritual movement focused on ceremonial magic and the occult.

Incidentally, almost all of our modern music is also built off the Pythagoras' ideas about the Pentagram as a kind of sacred geometry. Later this evolved into the "circle of fifths" used to create Chord progressions in just about all Western music.

Answer 2

The pentagram can mean a variety of things. The most common meaning in Wicca is the union of the five elements: fire water, air, earth and spirit. But is can also be used to specify someone of 2nd degree elevation. The five points are sometimes said to represent the horned god (two points) and the triple goddess (three points). The pentagram is viewed by many (Wiccan and non Wiccan) as a sign of protection. A point up pentagram may signify spirit over matter while a point-down pentagram may be spirit descending into matter. These two divisions, found in ceremonial magic, are in large part why Wiccans generally use point up pentagrams and Satanists generally use point down, as both groups borrowed from the same older source.

Answer 3

First, the term pentagram is correct for a drawing (...gram, meaning drawn symbol) pentacle refers to a 3-D representation thereof, such as a pentagram inscribed on a wax or clay disk.

The five points of the pentagram are used for a mnemonic for a number of things, the Four elements plus Will or Spirit, The five obligations, the five sets of gods, the five types of humans.

Each of these concepts is going to vary by tradition, and not all trads have them.

Answer 4

The pentagram is generally taken to mean the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. With one point up it generally symbolizes Spirit transcending Matter and with one point down it is generally held to mean Spirit entering into Matter.

The Pentagram is linked to modern Wicca as these elements play a powerful symbolic role in the religion, just as the symbol of the Cross has a powerful meaning for Christians......

Answer 5

Because an inscribed pentagram is the Wiccan religious symbol- much like the cross is the Christianity. In the Wiccan religion, it represents the five "elements" : the spirit (top point), air and water (middle points) and fire and earth(bottom points).

Answer 6

The Pentagram symbolizes us, and the elements... The top part of the star is our head, the two outstretched ones our arms, and bottom ones our legs. Also it symbolizes us (the top one) mastering the 4 elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

Answer 7

For Wicca, it's called a pentacle. It is linked to Wicca as a symbol that represents the four elements and the "spirit."

Answer 8

It's a good question, and I wish I had more time and space to answer you. In seeking knowledge on this matter, consider that there are "official histories" and "vernacular understandings." The official histories link it to various things, such as the goddess Venus and the pagans of Classical Greece and Babylonia. Vernacular understandings tend to emphasize its status as a symbol that stands outside the Abrahamic faiths.