Trick Tracts Facts: The Pentagram

In the Chick Tracts Bewitched [tract][review], Dark Dungeons [tract][review], & The Nervous Witch [tract][review], pentagrams are shown in a negative light and referred to as Satanic and "evil". It is a concept that has been pushed on the public for many years - the pentagram as a symbol of evil. So what is this mysterious symbol? Where does it come from and is it, as so many believe, actually evil?

The pentagram and pentacle are ancient symbols that have been used by many for centuries. But is the symbol rooted in evil? No. The truth is, even though the symbol(s) are used for Hollywood-type effects in movies and pictures as depicting "evil" and "Satanic" things, these are not inherently evil symbols.

Yes, some Satanists do use the inverted pentagram as an object of worship or as their religious icon. Yet, so do some Satanists use an inverted Christian cross. Does this make the cross evil? Hardly.

Modern Wiccans use an upright pentagram as a symbol for the five elements (Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit) encircled by the never-ending circle of the world/the Goddess. Hardly evil.

Yet use and the history of this symbol, and the non-encircled pentacle, goes much, much farther back. The Pythagoreans believe the pentacle to be mathematical perfection, calling it Hygieia (meaning "health"). Agrippa also saw the symbol as representing the elements. Even medieval Christians used the pentacle to represent the five wounds of Jesus Christ.

To learn more about this symbol, and it's very un-evil history, I urge you to look through the links provided below.


More Info on Pentagrams/Pentacles

The Pentagram on wikipedia.org:
Pentagrams were used symbolically in ancient Greece and Babylonia. The Pentagram has magickal associations, and many people who practice pagan faiths wear them. Christians once commonly used the pentagram to represent the five wounds of Jesus, but nowadays some Christians associate the symbol with Satanism. However, most who use it are not Satanists...read more

Tim Boucher investigates the history of the Pentagram and its evil tag on Tim Boucher: Occult Investigator:

Excerpt:
I'll tell you what though, Christian fundamentalists have some fucking crazy ideas about this and other symbols. I love how, instead of doing thoughtful research into symbols and their complex use and origins, they just immediately label EVERYTHING as a sign of the devil...read more.

Overview of Pentacles & Pentagrams from Religious Tolerance:

Excerpt:
Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world, being exceeded in numbers only by Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It was founded in Northern India by the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. He was born circa 563 BCE in Lumbini which is in modern-day Nepal. At the age of 29, he left his wife, children and political involvements in order to seek truth. It was an accepted practice at the time for some men to leave their family and lead the life of an ascetic. He studied Brahmanism, but ultimately rejected it. In 535 BCE, he attained enlightenment and assumed the title Buddha (one who has awakened)...read more.

The history of the symbol from symbols.com:

Excerpt:
The pentagram or pentacle belongs to the group of some 20 basic gestalts in Western ideography. Despite the fact that consists of five straight lines it is still a single entity, a holistic design. It is quite unlikely that this design was discovered by chance...read more.

Detailed history of the Pentagram from about.com:

Excerpt:
The pentagram is one of the most potent, powerful, and persistent symbols in human history. It has been important to almost every ancient culture, from the Mayans of Latin America, to India, China, and Egypt. It has been found scratched on the walls of Neolithic caves, and in Babylonian drawings, where it marks the pattern the planet Venus makes on its travels- a secret symbol of the Goddess Ishtar. Scriptures, especially Hebrew, are abundant with references to pentagrams. So, why does the pentagram have such a sinister reputation?...read more.

Interesting facts about the Pentagram from Byzant Symbols:

Excerpt:
The pentagram is often considered as representing the microcosm and internal energies, while the hexagram symbolizes the macrocosm and external energies. Pentagrams are often found in nature, in flowers and crystalline forms, for example, and their shape can be used to draw a human figure in correct proportion. This was famously shown by master artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) in his drawings made around 1492...read more.

A look at the Pythagorean theory of the pentacle from The Pythagorean Pentacle:

Excerpt:
The pentagram and hexagram were both used for protection in ancient Greece (V cent. BCE). In Babylon, five-, six- and seven-rayed stars were all used. The pentagram appears in the earliest writing of Mesopotamia (precuneiform pictographic writing), c. 3000 BCE, as the Sumerian sign UB. Its meaning in the cuneiform period (by 2600 BCE) seems to be a Heavenly Quarter and also the four directions (forward, backward, left, right); the fifth direction was "above." The four directions corresponded to the planets Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn, with Venus the Queen of Heaven (Schekina) above. These are the "Smaller Planets" (omitting Sun and Moon). Ishtar (Venus) was represented by the Eight-rayed Star (Elam). See De Vogel (App. A) and Black & Green (s.v. Star)...read more.


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