Post by theoccultchrist on Jul 13, 2006 22:37:42 GMT -5
I don't know if this would be considered activism or not but its a little spiel I put together for my blogs and put it on Myspace Religion & Philosophy Forum so that non- Pagans may think twice before saying that the Pentacle or Pentagram are "Satanic" symbols.
You know I still don't understand why people...mostly "Born-Agains" or Fundamentalist misunderstand the Pentacle/Pentagram...no matter how many times you say its not of any "evil" meanings....it is a symbol...a symbol of faith for some people..and maybe a way of life for another...
Yes some Satanist use the Pentacle/Pentagram for their own personal use and symbology..but thats just one group....You don't see people saying the cross means something evil or bad or mallace just because the Ku Klux Klan uses it at some of their rallys do you???
The Pentacle/Pentagram in a Neo-Pagan Context Represents the elements; Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and sometimes A fifth element the Divine Spirit --also it can be a symbol for the divine feminine...and when the five point star is incased in a circle ..it can mean humanity ( being represented by the star) being Protected by the Divine Spirit ( as Represented by the circle)
The Oxford English Dictionary Describes the Pentagram and Pentacle as the following:
pentagram, n.
1. A five-pointed star that is formed by drawing a closed, continuous figure of five straight intersecting lines, often used as a mystic or magical symbol.
The same figure can be formed by extending the sides of a pentagon both ways to their points of intersection; however, many mystical and occult systems ascribe particular efficacy to pentagrams drawn with a continuous line. The pentagram was formerly credited with the power to ward off evil spirits, and is now used as a symbol of Wicca and other neo-pagan movements, the five points sometimes being taken to represent earth, water, air, fire, and spirit.
The word pentagram is of relatively recent origin in English, but cf. earlier PENTACLE n., PENTAGONON n., PENTALPHA n., and PENTANGLE n.
pentacle, n
A pentagram, esp. one enclosed in a circle; a talisman or magical symbol in the shape of or inscribed with a pentagram. Also, in extended use: any similar magical symbol (freq. applied to a hexagram formed by two intersecting or interlaced equilateral triangles).
pentacle of Solomon = pentangle of Solomon s.v. PENTANGLE n. 1.
I also believe that the Pentacle has been used in some denominations of Christianity/Catholocism..as representing the 5 wounds of Christ.
Here is a WitchVoxArticle about this exact issue: www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usmd&c=words&id=10957
The Pentacle, Misunderstood
Author: Alcina in Wonderbreadland
Posted: July 9th. 2006
Times Viewed: 578
At the moment, I have one foot out of the broom closet. My closer friends know my beliefs, but many acquaintances of mine do not. Often, they dont realize things they have said or done may be hurtful. I usually dont let this show to them. I have a thicker skin, having accidentally revealed myself in middle school among much ridicule and persecution. Then, as I do now, I counted on close friends to keep me company, help me through, and be my guiding light. Having said that, maybe it can be more understood why I reacted so strongly to a pretty simple thing.
I have this friend who is at times annoying, he is still quite immature, and doesnt have a whole lot of sense. He is however, a nice kid, and I am one of the few people that will keep him as a friend. He would often come to our lunch table, out of breath, spilling about some exciting thing that just happened. When he came up one day and told us that he had just gotten a kid in trouble, we were actually interested. Any kind of disturbance was interesting.
He said that he had been at a table with this kid, and he noticed these devil markings all over his hands. He said that he told a teacher, and the kid got lead away. He also mentioned how relieved he was that this evil kid was being punished. I was still caught at the devil markings part of the conversation. Knowing my friends background of Christianity, I asked him what he meant by devil markings. He said some sort of mumbled nonsense involving a star or something. I knew what it was, and the lump was rising in my throat. But I had to be sure. Thrusting a napkin and pen at him with almost enough force to knock him out of his seat, I made him draw it. Of course, it was a pentacle. (From what I could discern, anyway, since he gave up trying to draw it after three tries and described it instead.)
What happened next was a blur. I basically overreacted, but at the time it was justified. I yelled at him that they were not devil markings, took a drink out of my bottle so hard I almost choked, and stormed off to throw my trash away. I didnt even finish my cake. I was fuming. How could he think that? Why were people so convinced that Paganism is Devil worship? Why do they always connect the pentacle and Satan?
The answer with this particular friend would be that he was brought up to be that way. Unfortunately, he was never given a chance to have an open mind, he was born and raised to believe one thing and not be changed. He will probably remain this closed-minded for the rest of his life.
When I threw my trash away, I went to my safe haven, the auditorium. I grabbed my book bag and was furiously ranting away on a piece of paper when another friend of mine came in. This friend is more Christian than the first, and by that I mean that he is extremely active in his church. So much so that he was absent from school for two weeks because he went to Costa Rica on some sort of mission. His religion probably preaches that Wicca is Satanism; however, he is a lot more open minded. That didnt matter, though. He was a friend first and foremost, and he could see something was upsetting me. He stood by me until I convinced him that I would be alright, and when he asked if there was anything that he could do for me, without knowing what was causing my anguish, I asked him for one simple thing. To never stop being my friend. He agreed. I still have not come out to him, and since I am not fond of rocking the boat, I doubt I ever will. Im sure he would not cast me off, but I steer away from religious and political conversations as a general rule.
There are a lot of bumpy roads in life. Sometimes, things happen and you cant explain why you reacted the way you did. I was upset for, once again, being mistaken for a Devil-worshiping monster. A simple symbol is all it takes for many different emotions to be evoked. To me, it was a symbol for so much, it meant peace and tranquility and spirituality. In other eyes, it was evil, and would always be so. I could not understand this. A pentacle to me served as a reminder of what I believed, and gave me comfort and strength when I needed it. That day, I wish I had been wearing mine.
But I also discovered that day that friends are friends no matter what religion they are. My friends are all different, from Catholic to Atheist to Born-Again to Born Again and Again and Again. We all have our symbols that bring us comfort and reassurance, and they all mean equally as much to us. A little piece of metal around our necks tells so much. No one likes it when their symbol is misread, for instance if a Jew was thought to be Christian because the person got the cross and Star of David mixed up. Most people would find that comparison odd, because who could mix those up? But when people say my pentacle is a devil sign, I feel the same way.
I hope that one day in the future, I will send my child off to school, and their friends will know that the symbol they may wear around their neck is not evil. I hope that in the future, everyone can understand each others religions fully (or at least a basic idea) , and agree to just talk about other things. When friends care about each other, we dont care that we have different ideas on how the universe works. We agree to disagree, and talk about movies or schoolwork or music. Maybe everyone can learn a lesson from a bunch of teenagers that just happen to be friends with a Witch. Or maybe they will just have to learn these things on their own.
By The Way if you don't know what one is ...here you go:
And here is an Inverted Pentagram; Remember it could belong to a Satanist OR IT COULD BE A SYMBOL OF A THIRD DEGREE INIATE OF A GARDIANARIAN TRADITIONALIST WICCAN.[/
I know however; that no matter what I say..the Fundies will still say it has evil connotations...but I have to at least give it a try.
You know I still don't understand why people...mostly "Born-Agains" or Fundamentalist misunderstand the Pentacle/Pentagram...no matter how many times you say its not of any "evil" meanings....it is a symbol...a symbol of faith for some people..and maybe a way of life for another...
Yes some Satanist use the Pentacle/Pentagram for their own personal use and symbology..but thats just one group....You don't see people saying the cross means something evil or bad or mallace just because the Ku Klux Klan uses it at some of their rallys do you???
The Pentacle/Pentagram in a Neo-Pagan Context Represents the elements; Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and sometimes A fifth element the Divine Spirit --also it can be a symbol for the divine feminine...and when the five point star is incased in a circle ..it can mean humanity ( being represented by the star) being Protected by the Divine Spirit ( as Represented by the circle)
The Oxford English Dictionary Describes the Pentagram and Pentacle as the following:
pentagram, n.
1. A five-pointed star that is formed by drawing a closed, continuous figure of five straight intersecting lines, often used as a mystic or magical symbol.
The same figure can be formed by extending the sides of a pentagon both ways to their points of intersection; however, many mystical and occult systems ascribe particular efficacy to pentagrams drawn with a continuous line. The pentagram was formerly credited with the power to ward off evil spirits, and is now used as a symbol of Wicca and other neo-pagan movements, the five points sometimes being taken to represent earth, water, air, fire, and spirit.
The word pentagram is of relatively recent origin in English, but cf. earlier PENTACLE n., PENTAGONON n., PENTALPHA n., and PENTANGLE n.
pentacle, n
A pentagram, esp. one enclosed in a circle; a talisman or magical symbol in the shape of or inscribed with a pentagram. Also, in extended use: any similar magical symbol (freq. applied to a hexagram formed by two intersecting or interlaced equilateral triangles).
pentacle of Solomon = pentangle of Solomon s.v. PENTANGLE n. 1.
I also believe that the Pentacle has been used in some denominations of Christianity/Catholocism..as representing the 5 wounds of Christ.
Here is a WitchVoxArticle about this exact issue: www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usmd&c=words&id=10957
The Pentacle, Misunderstood
Author: Alcina in Wonderbreadland
Posted: July 9th. 2006
Times Viewed: 578
At the moment, I have one foot out of the broom closet. My closer friends know my beliefs, but many acquaintances of mine do not. Often, they dont realize things they have said or done may be hurtful. I usually dont let this show to them. I have a thicker skin, having accidentally revealed myself in middle school among much ridicule and persecution. Then, as I do now, I counted on close friends to keep me company, help me through, and be my guiding light. Having said that, maybe it can be more understood why I reacted so strongly to a pretty simple thing.
I have this friend who is at times annoying, he is still quite immature, and doesnt have a whole lot of sense. He is however, a nice kid, and I am one of the few people that will keep him as a friend. He would often come to our lunch table, out of breath, spilling about some exciting thing that just happened. When he came up one day and told us that he had just gotten a kid in trouble, we were actually interested. Any kind of disturbance was interesting.
He said that he had been at a table with this kid, and he noticed these devil markings all over his hands. He said that he told a teacher, and the kid got lead away. He also mentioned how relieved he was that this evil kid was being punished. I was still caught at the devil markings part of the conversation. Knowing my friends background of Christianity, I asked him what he meant by devil markings. He said some sort of mumbled nonsense involving a star or something. I knew what it was, and the lump was rising in my throat. But I had to be sure. Thrusting a napkin and pen at him with almost enough force to knock him out of his seat, I made him draw it. Of course, it was a pentacle. (From what I could discern, anyway, since he gave up trying to draw it after three tries and described it instead.)
What happened next was a blur. I basically overreacted, but at the time it was justified. I yelled at him that they were not devil markings, took a drink out of my bottle so hard I almost choked, and stormed off to throw my trash away. I didnt even finish my cake. I was fuming. How could he think that? Why were people so convinced that Paganism is Devil worship? Why do they always connect the pentacle and Satan?
The answer with this particular friend would be that he was brought up to be that way. Unfortunately, he was never given a chance to have an open mind, he was born and raised to believe one thing and not be changed. He will probably remain this closed-minded for the rest of his life.
When I threw my trash away, I went to my safe haven, the auditorium. I grabbed my book bag and was furiously ranting away on a piece of paper when another friend of mine came in. This friend is more Christian than the first, and by that I mean that he is extremely active in his church. So much so that he was absent from school for two weeks because he went to Costa Rica on some sort of mission. His religion probably preaches that Wicca is Satanism; however, he is a lot more open minded. That didnt matter, though. He was a friend first and foremost, and he could see something was upsetting me. He stood by me until I convinced him that I would be alright, and when he asked if there was anything that he could do for me, without knowing what was causing my anguish, I asked him for one simple thing. To never stop being my friend. He agreed. I still have not come out to him, and since I am not fond of rocking the boat, I doubt I ever will. Im sure he would not cast me off, but I steer away from religious and political conversations as a general rule.
There are a lot of bumpy roads in life. Sometimes, things happen and you cant explain why you reacted the way you did. I was upset for, once again, being mistaken for a Devil-worshiping monster. A simple symbol is all it takes for many different emotions to be evoked. To me, it was a symbol for so much, it meant peace and tranquility and spirituality. In other eyes, it was evil, and would always be so. I could not understand this. A pentacle to me served as a reminder of what I believed, and gave me comfort and strength when I needed it. That day, I wish I had been wearing mine.
But I also discovered that day that friends are friends no matter what religion they are. My friends are all different, from Catholic to Atheist to Born-Again to Born Again and Again and Again. We all have our symbols that bring us comfort and reassurance, and they all mean equally as much to us. A little piece of metal around our necks tells so much. No one likes it when their symbol is misread, for instance if a Jew was thought to be Christian because the person got the cross and Star of David mixed up. Most people would find that comparison odd, because who could mix those up? But when people say my pentacle is a devil sign, I feel the same way.
I hope that one day in the future, I will send my child off to school, and their friends will know that the symbol they may wear around their neck is not evil. I hope that in the future, everyone can understand each others religions fully (or at least a basic idea) , and agree to just talk about other things. When friends care about each other, we dont care that we have different ideas on how the universe works. We agree to disagree, and talk about movies or schoolwork or music. Maybe everyone can learn a lesson from a bunch of teenagers that just happen to be friends with a Witch. Or maybe they will just have to learn these things on their own.
By The Way if you don't know what one is ...here you go:
And here is an Inverted Pentagram; Remember it could belong to a Satanist OR IT COULD BE A SYMBOL OF A THIRD DEGREE INIATE OF A GARDIANARIAN TRADITIONALIST WICCAN.[/
I know however; that no matter what I say..the Fundies will still say it has evil connotations...but I have to at least give it a try.