A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha or pentangle or a star pentagon) is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight

strokes. In medieval Christian tradition, the pentagram could represent the five wounds of Jesus. In the Renaissance it came to be associated withmagic and occultism, and is also found as a magic symbol in the folklore of early modern Germany (Drudenfuss). In modern use, it is sometimes used as representing the Seal of Solomon, and it has religious significance in various new religious movements (including certain forms of Neopaganism) as well as in occultism. The word pentagram comes from the Greek word (pentagrammon), from (pente), [2] "five" + (gramm), "line". The word "pentacle" is sometimes used synonymously with [3] "pentagram" The word pentalpha is a learned modern (17th-century) revival of a post-classical Greek [4] name of the shape.
Contents
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[1]

1 Cultural significance

o o o o o

1.1 Early history 1.2 Western symbolism 1.3 East Asian symbolism 1.4 Use in modern occultism 1.5 Use in new religious movements

1.5.1 Bah' 1.5.2 Latter Day Saint Movement 1.5.3 Wicca

1.6 Other modern use

2 Geometry

o o o o o

2.1 Construction 2.2 Golden ratio 2.3 Trigonometric values 2.4 Three-dimensional figures 2.5 Higher dimensions

3 See also 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 External links

Cultural significance[edit]

Early history[edit]
In early (Ur I) monumental Sumerian script, a pentagram glyph served as a logogram for the word ub, meaning "corner, angle, nook; a small room, cavity, hole; pitfall" (this later gave rise to the cuneiform sign UB , composed of five wedges, further reduced to four in Assyrian cuneiform ). The word Pentemychos ( lit. "five corners" or "five recesses") was the title of [6] the cosmogony of Pherecydes of Syros. Here, the "five corners" are where the seeds of Chronos are [7] placed within the Earth in order for the cosmos to appear.
[5]

A Pythagorean "Hugieia Pentagram"[8]

In Neoplatonism, the pentagram was said to have been used as a symbol or sign of recognition by [9] the Pythagoreans, who called the pentagram hugieia "health"

Western symbolism[edit]
The pentagram was used in ancient times as a Christian symbol for the five senses. or of the five wounds of Christ. A Christian use of the pentangle occurs in the 14th-century English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which the symbol decorates the shield of the hero,Gawain. The unnamed poet credits the symbol's origin to King Solomon, and says the symbol is key to understanding the work. The poet explains that each of the five interconnected points represents a virtue tied to a group of five. Gawain is keen in his five senses, dextrous in his five fingers, faithful to the salvation provided through the Five Wounds of Christ, takes courage from the five joys that Mary had of Jesus, and exemplifies the [11] five virtues of knighthood. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and others perpetuated the popularity of the pentagram as a magic symbol, attributing the five neoplatonic elements to the five points, in typical Renaissance fashion. By the mid-19th century a further distinction had developed amongst occultists regarding the pentagram's orientation. With a single point upwards it depicted spirit presiding over the four elements of matter, and was essentially "good". However, the influential writer Eliphas Levi called it evil whenever the symbol appeared the other way up. "A reversed pentagram, with two points projecting upwards, is a symbol of evil and attracts sinister forces because it overturns the proper order of things and demonstrates the triumph of matter over [12] spirit. It is the goat of lust attacking the heavens with its horns, a sign execrated by initiates."
[10]

"The flaming star, which, when turned upside down, is the hierolgyphic [sic] sign of the goat of Black Magic, whose head may be drawn in the star, the two horns at the top, the ears to the right and left, the beard at the bottom. It is the sign of antagonism and fatality. It is the goat of lust attacking the [13] heavens with its horns." "Let us keep the figure of the Five-pointed Star always upright, with the topmost triangle pointing to heaven, for it is the seat of wisdom, and if the figure is reversed, perversion and evil will be the [14] result."

Man inscribed in a pentagram, from Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's De occulta philosophia libri tres. The five signs at the pentagram's vertices areastrological.

Another pentagram from Agrippa's book. This one has the Pythagorean letters inscribed around the circle.

The occultist and magicianEliphas Levi's pentagram, which he considered to be a symbol of themicrocosm, or human.

The apotropaic use of the pentagram symbol in German folklore (called Drudenfuss in German) is referred to by Goethe in his Faust (1808), where a pentagram prevents Mephistophelesfrom leaving a room (but did not prevent him from entering by the same way, as the outward pointing corner of the diagram happened to be imperfectly drawn):

Mephistopheles: I must confess, my stepping o'er Thy threshold a slight hindrance doth impede; The wizard-foot [Drudenfuss] doth me retain. Faust: The pentagram thy peace doth mar? To me, thou son of hell, explain, How camest thou in, if this thine exit bar? Could such a spirit aught ensnare? Mephistopheles: Observe it well, it is not drawn with care, One of the angles, that which points without, Is, as thou seest, not quite closed.

East Asian symbolism[edit]

Wu Xing (Chinese: ; pinyin: W Xng) are the five phases, or five elements in Chinese tradition (medicine, acupuncture, feng shui, and Taoism) They are similar to the ancient Greek elements, with more emphasis on their cyclic transformation than on their material aspects. The five phases are: Fire ( hu), Earth ( t), Metal ( jn), Water ( [according to whom?] shu), and Wood ( m). They are sometimes represented as a diagram in the shape of a pentagram. In Japanese culture, the pentagram ( gobsei) is a symbol of magical power, associated with the onmyoji Abe no Seimei; it is a diagram of the "overcoming cycle" of the [citation needed] fiveChinese elements.

Use in modern occultism[edit]

A goat's head inscribed in a downward-pointing pentagram, from La Clef de la Magie Noire by Stanislas de Guaita (1897).

Based on Renaissance-era occultism, the pentagram found its way into the symbolism of modern occultists. Following Anton LaVey, and ultimately based on a drawing by French nobleman and occultist Stanislas de Guaita (La Clef de la Magie Noire, 1897), the so-called Sigil of Baphomet, a pentagram with two points up inscribed in a double circle with the head of a goat inside the pentagram is the copyrighted logo of the Church of Satan. Aleister Crowley made use of the pentagram in his Thelemic system of magick: an adverse or inverted pentagram represents the descent of spirit into matter, according to the [15] interpretation of Lon Milo DuQuette. Crowley contradicted his old comrades in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, who, following Levi, considered this orientation of the symbol evil and associated it with the triumph of matter over spirit.

Use in new religious movements[edit]

Bah'[edit]
Main article: Bah' symbols The five-pointed star is a symbol of the Bah' Faith. In the Bah' Faith, the star is known as the Haykal (Arabic: " em e"), and it was initiated and established by the Bb. The [18] Bb and Bah'u'llh wrote various works in the form of a pentagram.
[16][17]

An unidentified work of theBb.

An unidentified work of theBb.

Latter Day Saint Movement[edit]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began using both upright and inverted fivepointed stars in Temple architecture, dating from the Nauvoo Illinois Temple, which was [19] dedicated on 30 April 1846. Other temples decorated with five-pointed stars in both orientations include the Salt Lake Temple, and the Logan Utah Temple. These symbols come from the symbolism found in Revelation chapter 12, which says, "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and [20] upon her head a crown of twelve stars."

Wicca[edit]

A typical Neopagan pentagram (circumscribed).

Wiccan publications described ritual practices involving pentagrams since at least the [21] 1980s, and within traditional forms of Wicca, a pentagram (no circle) with two points up is [22] associated with the Second Degree Initiation. Wiccans began to use the pentagram as a symbol of their faith by the 1990s. Because of a perceived association with Satanism and occultism, many United States schools in the late 1990s have sought to prevent students from displaying the pentagram on clothing or [24] jewelry. In public schools, such actions by administrators have been determined to be in [25] violation of students' First Amendment right tofree exercise of religion in 2000. The encircled pentagram (referred to as a pentacle by the plaintiffs) was added to the list of 38 approved religious symbols to be placed on the tombstones of fallen service members at Arlington National Cemetery on 24 April 2007. The decision was made following ten applications from families of fallen soldiers who practiced Wicca. The government paid the [26][27] families USD 225,000 to settle their pending lawsuits.
[23]

Other modern use[edit]

The pentagram is featured on the national flags of Morocco (adopted 1915) and Ethiopia (adopted 1996), in both instances in reference to the Seal of Solomon.

Morocco's flag

Ethiopia's flag

The Order of the Eastern Star, an organization associated with Freemasonry (established 1850), used to have a point-down pentagram as its symbol, with the five isosceles trianglesof the points colored red, blue, yellow, white and [year needed] green (the logo has been changed slightly and is now a five-pointed mullet with an inscribed pentagon, but no longer a pentagram)