Pentacle

Tweet

Based on the symbol of the Goddess Kore in the apple core, the pentacle or pentagram was worshipped by Pythagorean mystics who called it Pentalpha: the birth-letter interlaced five times. Its meaning was given as "life" or "health." Some called it the star of Ishtar or of Isis, or of Isis's underworld twin, Nephthys. In Egypt the five-pointed star represented the underground womb. Use of the pentacle as an amulet of protection of healing was common in Babylon, where it was often drawn on pots to preserve their contents. The amulet known as The Seven Seals shows a pentacle as the first of its holy signs. According to Judeo-Christian tradition, the Seals were supposed to represent the secret names of God, and the pentacle was the chief of them, inscribed on King Solomon's magic ring. Thus it was sometimes erroneously called Solomon's Seal. It was more closely connected with pagan Gods than the Jewish one. The pentacle with one point down represents the Horned God, called Pentamorph, "He of the Five Shapes," human as well as the four horned animals, bull, ram, goat, and stag. Magic charms using the Pentacle are still used today. Gypsies still cut the apple to reveal the Kore, the Pentacle of the Virgin, which they call Star of Knowledge.