Having been raised in a very strict Seventh – day Adventist home, when I began my Pagan Path, I had a lot of reprogramming to do.
Most of the shedding and letting go of old agreements felt very natural and organic as I grew in my studies. However, the one aspect I had a hard time embracing was the five-star pentagram as this was a symbol I had been reared to understand as “evil.”
In all honesty, I struggled with embracing this symbol and could not seem to get past the way in which others may also perceive the pentagram. I feared judgement.
Struggling with this, I awoke one morning knowing in my heart I had been visited by one of my Spirit Guides. The message she gave me has forever altered how I viewed the context of this sacred symbol.
Still feeling between worlds but not wanting to lose any of the wisdom and knowledge she bestowed upon me, upon waking, I immediately wrote this:
“When you wake, startled, from artificial noise announcing through an impossible alarm and still remember the effects of a dream and the way it touched your heart and soul – when you know your Guide came to you to give you answers and connect your subconscious and conscious mind – well, it’s certainly a divine lesson you’re not likely to forget.
This is what I can recall:
I was in a great forest, green as far as the eyes could see. There was an old crone with me and she was wise. You could see in her heart a once beautiful maiden rendered crippled by the wears of life.
She came to tell me how there are actually five levels of consciousness – not three as Freud had once suggested. Five like the five points in a pentagram…”
She went on to give me a plethora of information regarding the number five and what the pentagram actually represents. As I could only recall fragments of the conversation, I went on to study further from the notes I had written down.
To my amazement, I came across an article that literally seemed to outline everything my guide had explained:
“Always with five points (one pointing upward), each has its own meaning. The upward point of the star is representative of spirit. The other four points all represent an element: earth, air, fire, and water. All these things contribute to life and are a part of each of us.
To wear a pentagram necklace or other form of jewelry or markings, is to say you feel the connection with the elements and respect the earth…
The number 5 has always been regarded as mystical and magical, yet essentially ‘human’. We have five fingers/toes on each limb extremity. We commonly note five senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. We perceive five stages or initiations in our lives – eg. birth, adolescence, coitus, parenthood and death. (There are other numbers / initiations / stages / attributions).
The number 5 is associated with Mars. It signifies severity, conflict and harmony through conflict. In Christianity, five were the wounds of Christ on the cross. There are five pillars of the Muslim faith and five daily times of prayer…
The number 5 is prime. The simplest star – the pentagram – requires five lines to draw and it is unicursal; it is a continuous loop…” ~ Rob Purvis
My mind immediately went to Leonardo da Vinci’s 1940 drawing of the Vitruvian Man. I also began to further research the number five and came across a Biblical site which states,
“The number 5 symbolizes God’s grace, goodness and favor toward humans and is mentioned 318 times in Scripture. Five is the number of grace, and multiplied by itself, which is 25, is ‘grace upon grace’ (John 1:16). The Ten Commandments contains two sets of 5 commandments. The first five commandments are related to our treatment and relationship with God, and the last five concern our relationship with others humans.
There are five primary types of offerings God commanded Israel to bring to him. They are the Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1; 8:18 – 21; 16:24), Sin (Leviticus 4; 16:3 – 22), Trespass (Leviticus 5:14 – 19; 6:1 – 7; 7:1 – 6), Grain (Leviticus 2) and Peace Offering (Leviticus 3; 7:11- 34).
The Book of Psalms is divided into five major sections. Section 1 (Psalm 1 to 41) refers to the Passover, Israel’s beginning, and the start of the God’s plan of salvation that centers around Christ. Section 2 (42 to 72) sings about a unified Israel in the land and pictures the creation of the New Testament Church. Section 3 (73 to 89) bemoans the destruction of both God’s Temple and Jerusalem. This section also hints at prophecies regarding the End Time Great Tribulation. Section 4 (90 to 106) rejoices over the 1,000 reign of Jesus and shows Israel gathered again. Section 5 (107 to 150) pictures a time when Judah (representing all Israel) shall again be delivered.
There are five books of God’s Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) commonly referred to as the Pentateuch (‘Penta’ means five).”
Another article broke down the history of the pentagram stating, “The Pentagram is much older than people realize – 3500 BC, as a matter of fact! In the current day its use is mainly as a sign of earth based faiths, showing the four elements topped with the realm of spirit.”
The article went on to state how this sacred symbol never used to be considered evil. In fact, royalty used to use this symbol to show their power spread to the four corners of the world and it was used as a sign of protection against evil. During Medieval times, it was called the “endless knot” and represented a symbol of truth. Knights used to have this emblem engraved on their shields to represent the five virtues: generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry, and piety.
The author went on to discuss how it was once used as a symbol in Christianity, Freemasonry, and the Rosicrucian faith – it was representative of humanity reborn to study the faith and the inner mysteries and how it still shows up today in other religions:
“In Egypt, the five pointed star represented the underground womb. From which all
are reborn. The Celts used it for the same reason…
The five-petaled Lotus appears on the hands of the Buddha in many depictions
representing man’s quest for perfect enlightenment…
Shiva is called the ‘Panchanana’ or five faced and the Pentagram is still used today to represent it…”
For me – all of this knowledge dispelled any old agreements I carried about the pentagram being considered a representation of evil. We often fear that which we do not understand. The only advice I can give is to not take my word about what I have shared, but rather study it for yourself.
Knowledge is power.
Mary Rogers currently resides in Nevada County (Grass Valley, CA) and is a non-fiction writer, Intuitive Life Coach, speaker, soul alchemist, and a trusted voice in self-growth and empowerment. A dreamer and high achiever, she finds inspiration in nature, karmic reciprocity, and self-reflection. She may be an old soul: cheeky and brass, but she is also sugar and spice and everything nice. Passionate in all that she does, her favorite past time is getting naked on paper.
Mary Can be reached via FaceBook Or her web-site: http://lotusgypsysoul.com/