Perhaps the most notorious symbol or practice of Witchcraft among some conservative Christians is the pentagram, a five pointed star within a circle. I am sure the logo for the Christian Witchery Page which includes a Celtic Cross with a pentagram at the crux of the cross is horrifying to some people. For them a pentagram is Satanic. For me it is the symbol of Witchcraft and my Celtic Cross with a pentagram within it is symbolic of me as a Christian Witch inside my squared circle in communion with my sovereign Sophia Jesus. It has nothing to do with Satan. Sometimes the pentagram is called "The Witches' Star". Stars, of any number of points, have always been popular symbols. The six pointed star of two equalateral triangles, known as the "Star of David" or "Mogen David", is the symbol of Judaism. Islam uses a star in its symbol. The Star of Bethlehem is usually pictured as an eight pointed star, sometimes as a four pointed one. Seven pointed stars are sometimes used in some symbolic systems, as are the more obscure twelve sided stars. However, the most common symbolic star has always been and remains the five pointed star. It is extremely easy to draw a five pointed star, an exercise we all learned as children. Many of us loved to draw these little designs when we were young, marveling in the simple Magick of creating a powerful and recognizable symbol so quickly and easily. Even those of us who couldn't draw a circle that ever looked like a circle could still make a star! Many nations, including the USA, use five pointed stars in their flags. Our flag is so filled with them we call it the "star spangled banner". The five pointed star also somehow became the symbol of the sheriff or marshall in the Old West. It represented order, peace, courage, trust and often sacrifice. Five pointed stars have often been placed in circles. The points of the star seem to form a circle even if one isn't drawn through them. Those who have trouble drawing a free hand circle often find it easy to create an adequate circle if they first draw a five pointed star and then inscribe the circle around it. Whatever the reason, five pointed stars in circles, called pentagrams, are extremely ancient in usage. When one goes a step further and turns the pentagram into an actual coin it is known as a pentacle, which is one of the suits of the Tarot. For Witches the pentagram is symbolic of the very practice of Witchcraft. The circle contains all the symbolism we spoke of above when we spoke of circles. A pentagram is the circle a Witch casts, or is the symbol of that circle. However, instead of this circle having the four corners which the ritual circle has when cast, the symbol of the circle has five points. The difference is that the pentagram represents the four elements of earth, air, fire and water which are invoked in the calling of the four corners and a fifth element, the element of Spirit. In ritual a Witch doesn't invoke this separately. This is so because the element of Spirit enters the circle within the Witch herself! The element of Spirit is the actual energy of the Witch as she does her psychic ritualizing. In other words all you have is symbols and tools until you add the energy of the Witch, her power, her will, her belief, her spiritual connection, to the equation. Then you have the Magick. Thus the pentagram is symbolic of the dynamic reality that is the Craft, furthermore it is thus symbolic of the actual Witch herself engaging in the Craft. In some spellwork some Witches might inscribe a large pentagram with candles at the five points within which they might do their rituals instead of using a squared circle. The more common usage of pentagrams, though, is as a simple small symbol one wears or uses to identify as a Witch. It is also used often for meditative purposes, as a focusing tool. Finally, some might use actual pentacles as one of the symbols for the four corners in squaring a circle. However it is used, though, its purpose is to symbolize the dynamism of Witchcraft, the inter-connectedness between the element of Spirit and the other four elements in the practice of the Craft. Now why in the world would anyone think such a symbol is a sign of Satan? Actually the idea of Spirit working in, through and with the material world is a very Christian idea, in Christian language we'd more likely say "the Holy Spirit" instead of just Spirit. From a Christian perspective all Magick is nothing more than the Holy Spirit working in and through the world around us as we seek to further our connection with the Holy Spirit in our prayer life by making our prayers concrete experiences instead of just being words. How did a symbol for this become confused with being a symbol of the Devil? What is going on is that people are confusing the pentagram with an upside down version of the pentagram. Just as sometimes an upside down Roman cross has been considered a Satanic mockery of Christian symbology, so also an upside down pentagram has been associated with a Satanic "reversal" of the positive energy of Witchcraft into a negative energy. This is reflected in the Tarot deck. The fifth trump, now called "The Hierophant" was originally called "The Pope". Being the fifth trump it was natural that the pentagram would appear on the card. Thus at first the pentagram was associated with the established structure of organized Christian faith, at a time when the Pope was still universally accepted by all Christians as the earthly head of the Church. However, the fifteenth trump is "The Devil", which doesn't always symbolize the actual Devil anymore than "Death" always symbolizes literally dying. But in many minds "The Devil" card is about the Devil. In the Tarot this card is often seen as the reverse card of the fifth trump, they are the only two trumps with "five" in the number and the Devil did seem to be an opposite of the Pope. Thus it was that on that card appeared an upside down pentagram, a reversal of the symbolism of the fifth trump. Perhaps this explains the beginnings of associating an upside down pentagram with the Devil? Somewhere along the line the idea developed that the upside down pentagram looks like a horned and bearded goat, which is a Western way of perceiving of the Devil ever since the horned Gods of Paganism, especially Pan, were demonized. Thus the popularity of the upside down pentagram as a symbol for the Devil increased. Today many Satanists, especially the pseudo-Satanists involved in some Heavy Metal music, own the upside down pentagram as the symbol of the Devil. But this should have no more negative impact upon our usage of the pentagram proper than the fact that some Satanists' usage of upside down Roman crosses doesn't negate the Christian usage of right side up Roman crosses, an almost universal Christian symbol! Even if some of us believe a literal Devil exists and he has claimed the upside down pentagram as his personal symbol, we shouldn't shy away from claiming the pentagram as a positive symbol of the Holy Spirit working in the material world. In fact maybe we should be even more adamant that this symbol doesn't belong to the Devil and we want it back!