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Pentagram is formally linked to four traditions in this atlas: Wicca, Hermeticism, Thelema and Modern Satanism. All four of its own links carry no note explaining the connection. Read against what the atlas records elsewhere about the same emblem, the four traditions are not repeating one meaning. They are using the identical five-pointed figure for four different purposes, one of which is built specifically to invert another.

An Elemental Emblem, and a Banishing Rite Built From It

Pentagram's own description names it the principal emblem of Wicca and modern witchcraft, drawn point uppermost and, enclosed in a circle as the pentacle, read as the four classical elements crowned by spirit. Hermeticism's use is a different kind of object entirely. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, its own text and rubric already on record here, has the magician trace a banishing pentagram toward each of the four quarters while calling the four archangels, clearing the working space before other magical work begins. It is the first practical working given to a Golden Dawn Neophyte and the foundation the order's later pentagram and hexagram rituals are built on.

One Inheritance, and One Deliberate Inversion

Thelema's connection runs through that same rite: Aleister Crowley printed the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram in The Equinox in 1909 and made its regular practice part of the discipline required of a Probationer, an inheritance from the Golden Dawn rather than a Thelemic invention. Modern Satanism's use is the only one built to disagree with the others. The Church of Satan takes the same five-pointed figure and turns it downward around a goat's head, deliberately inverting the point-uppermost figure of Wicca and ceremonial magic, its own stated philosophy making that inversion the whole of its argument in one sign.

Where To Read More

• PentagramPolygramPentagram; one figure, four traditions, four different reasons to draw it
• WiccaModern PaganWicca; point uppermost, enclosed in a circle as the pentacle, the four elements crowned by spirit
• Lesser Banishing Ritual of the PentagramMagical RitualsLesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram; the rite that carries both Hermeticism's and Thelema's connection to the figure
• HermeticismEsoteric / OccultHermeticism; the Golden Dawn's first practical working, a banishing rite rather than an elemental badge
• ThelemaEsoteric / OccultThelema; Crowley's 1909 printing of the same rite in The Equinox, an inheritance rather than an invention
• Modern SatanismLeft-Hand PathModern Satanism; the only one of the four built to invert another
• Church of SatanModern SatanismChurch of Satan; turns the figure downward around a goat's head, its whole argument in one deliberate inversion