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Bebi
The Management
Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 824
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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 Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 3:10 pm Post subject: Misconceptions of the pentagram |
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Throughout history the pentagram has been a much feared and misunderstood symbol. The earliest recorded use of the pentagram was approximately 3000 - 3500 BC in Ancient Mesopotamia. Since then it has been used by many different peoples to mean very different things. For example, the Medieval Christians attributed it to the five wounds of Christ, something that is not commonly known even by Christians today. Many other groups have also utilized this symbol, including Hebrews, Gnostics, Ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Druids, Pagans, Freemasons,and many others.
The most common misconception is that the pentagram was designed for use by Satanists. Yes, they do use a form of the pentagram, but it pre-dates Satanism by thousands of years; Satanists only adopted the inverted pentagram in the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Another misconception is that Satanism equates evil, but that’s a whole other topic which I’m thinking of discussing at a later date.
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Point up, or Point Down?
A "point down" pentacle is nothing new- nor is it necessarily Satanic when it appears as such. Historical depictions of the pentagram were as likely to be points down as point up- a distinction between one or the other was rarely made by the ancients. Even today, one must not assume a point down pentagram is Satanic, as it is just likely to be Masonic, Wiccan, or simply upside-down. Some inexperienced Wiccans will occasionally claim that a point down pentacle is Satanic, but such a symbol has at times represented the Wiccan horned God, and is still today an emblem of the Second Degree initiation in Gardnerian Wicca.
http://altreligion.about.com/library/weekly/aa100102a.htm
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Another way of looking at the inverted pentagram is to use the Medieval view. The pentagram with one point up symbolized Summer and two points upright (inverted) Winter.
The pentagram became affiliated with evil during the Nineteenth Century. During the Inquisition it was noticed that the inverted pentagram represented a goat’s head, and was associated with the Pagan horned gods, which the Christians equated with the Devil.
There is so much information out there regarding this subject that it would create an extremely long post, so I have covered a few brief points and I invite you to follow the links (and also feel free to search for your own) and discuss the points that you feel relevant separately.
If you use a source link that I haven’t included, please note it for others.
Links:
http://www.spiritual.com.au/articles/witchcraft/pentagram_history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagram
http://altreligion.about.com/library/weekly/aa100102a.htm
http://reviews.ebay.com/Wicca-101...tagram_W0QQugidZ10000000000077973
http://www.new-life.net/faq802.htm An interesting Q&A page showing a typical misconception. I must admit I’m a little alarmed that this person answering doesn’t appear to have researched that well, as from reading the article you’d be forgiven for thinking the inverted pentagram is still classed as evil. I’ve included this solely to illustrate that some people still believe this, as shown in the question and partially from the answer.
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It is those who are perfectly sane who are driven the maddest by an insane world...
There is method behind my madness |
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