# Pentagram

A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) Regular pentagon. Drawing a circle around the five points creates a similar symbol referred to as the pentacle, which is used widely by Wiccans and in paganism, or as a sign of life and connections. The word "pentagram" refers only to the five-pointed star, not the surrounding circle of a pentacle.
Pentagrams were used symbolically in ancient Greece and Babylonia. The word pentagram comes from the Greek word πεντάγραμμον (pentagrammon), from πέντε (pente), "five" + γραμμή (grammē), "line". The word pentagram refers to just the star and the word pentacle refers to the star within a circle, although there is some overlap in usage. The word pentalpha is a 17th-century revival of a post-classical Greek name of the shape.

## Quotes

* According to one theory, the six-pointed 'shield of David' which adorns the modern Israeli flag, started to become a national symbol with David al-Roy's crusade. 'Ever since,' writes Baron, 'it has been suggested, the six-cornered "shield of David", theretofore mainly a decorative motif or a magical emblem, began its career toward becoming the chief national-religious symbol of Judaism. Long used interchangeably with the pentagram or the "Seal of Solomon", it was attributed to David in mystic and ethical German writings from the thirteenth century on, and appeared on the Jewish flag in Prague in 1527.’
** Arthur Koestler about the Star of David, The Thirteenth Tribe, page 137, Random House publishing, (first American edition), 1976.
* Armageddon has already begun—the end of 1931 saw the start of the Great Battle, and I did not conceal it from you. So the Battle cannot end now, but must reach a victorious conclusion. Of course, when the flaming pentagram must be uplifted as a shield, all the sensations of the Battle affect the heart. You should not be surprised that events are piling up, for the earthly battle is following the heavenly. A great deal has been said about the Heavenly Host, about Michael the Archistrategus, the Supreme General, about the manifestation of the affirmed Leader, and about all the perturbations. That is why I say, “Caution!”
** Morya, Heart 176, Agni Yoga, (1932).
* Yes, one time I did walk in on Dick Cheney down in the basement of the White House, and he was being fucked by a giant goat-devil in a room full of pentagrams. And he looked up at me with solid silver glowing orb-like eyes, and his breath had a strong ammonia scent to it, and he told me in a language that I knew in my heart had not been spoken in over a thousand years, "Parrav go lahlah!" And I just ran, I just got the hell out of there.
** You're Welcome America, George W. Bush, Alone with Dick Cheney.
** The star-shaped pentagram was used as a symbol of recognition by the Pythagoreans, and was called by them Health.
** Florian Cajori, A History of Mathematics, p. 22.
* In Western Culture, starting from Phidias and the Parthenon, the Golden Section and the Golden Number are present, consciously or unconsciously, in very famous works. In the Renaissance, after the rediscovery of Fibonacci, it was a symbol of aesthetic perfection to be used in architecture and art with, among others, Leonardo da Vinci (1542-1519) and Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). The Golden Number is in many geometric figures making them Golden. We have it among other things in the octagonal architecture of Castel del Monte. The Golden Ratio enters the pentagon which is Golden because the side of the star and the side of the pentagon are in the ratio of 38% and 62%, as required by the Golden Number.
** Antonino Zichichi. As quoted in “Art and mathematics at the Bioparco, The Golden Number in animals”, edited by Antonino Zichichi and Victoria Noel-Johnson (April 22, 2024)

## References

* ↑ Gene Brown (n.d.). Difference Between Pentagram and Pentacle. Difference Between.
* ↑ πεντάγραμμον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus; a noun form of adjectival πεντάγραμμος (pentagrammos) or πεντέγραμμος (pentegrammos), a word meaning roughly "five-lined" or "five lines"
* ↑ πέντε, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus; Satan all 3 names mentioned before daylight full γραμμή, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
* ↑ this usage is borne out by the Oxford English Dictionary, although that work specifies that a circumscription makes the form of a five-pointed star and its etymon post-classical Latin pentaculum [...] 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)."
* ↑ πένταλφα, "five Alphas", interpreting the shape as five Α shapes overlapping at 72-degree angles.

## See also

* Star of David
* Demonic possession

## External links

* Authority control: WorldCat search