Pentagrams
2006-10-05 16:11![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexibeastOf late i've been meditating on what is usually called the "inverted pentagram" - the pentagram with two points up and one point down, the pentagram that is often associated with 'Satan' (for some definition of 'Satan' and 'Satanic') and Evil1. Personally, i prefer to call it the "horned pentagram", because to me, calling it 'inverted' implies that the "one point up, two points down" orientation is the 'right' orientation. In fact, i've started to feel that the two orientations are necessary complements of each other, in a similar way to the representations of yin and yang in the taijitu. If we consider the pentagram as a physical object, it becomes apparent that the pentagram is far more likely to stay upright when we try to orient it with one point upright rather than two points upright - it's more likely to remain 'stable'. On the other hand, in that position, change of orientation is not necessarily that easy. But on the gripping hand, the horned pentagram requires a constant application of effort to keep it properly balanced. And i wonder if that effort isn't similar to the notion of 'Will' in Thelema?
In any event, the two pentagrams taken together to me represent the balance between activity and passivity, between making things happen and letting them happen; a balance which i'm constantly trying to strive towards.
i only had a nominally Christian upbringing - we only went to church for weddings and funerals, and i only rarely recall discussions about being a 'good' or 'bad' Christian - but the horned pentagram has a lot of power for me, whereas the 'upright' pentagram has very little. The latter may perhaps be a result of too many encounters with that symbol in fashion and/or 'fluffy' magick contexts. Nevertheless, it still maintains its symbolic importance for me - so that even as i work with the horned pentagram, i feel it important to keep the imagine of the 'upright' pentagram in mind.
1. i'm not actually a fan of the concept of 'evil'. i tend to believe that while there are certainly energies that can have slight to huge negative effects on humans, labelling those energies 'evil' effectively avoids one having to consider how those energies are created and sustained (because they simply 'are' and don't need to explained any further). For example: calling Stalin and his actions 'evil' does much to absolve people of responsibility for letting him come to power and to act in the horrific way he did.
In any event, the two pentagrams taken together to me represent the balance between activity and passivity, between making things happen and letting them happen; a balance which i'm constantly trying to strive towards.
i only had a nominally Christian upbringing - we only went to church for weddings and funerals, and i only rarely recall discussions about being a 'good' or 'bad' Christian - but the horned pentagram has a lot of power for me, whereas the 'upright' pentagram has very little. The latter may perhaps be a result of too many encounters with that symbol in fashion and/or 'fluffy' magick contexts. Nevertheless, it still maintains its symbolic importance for me - so that even as i work with the horned pentagram, i feel it important to keep the imagine of the 'upright' pentagram in mind.
1. i'm not actually a fan of the concept of 'evil'. i tend to believe that while there are certainly energies that can have slight to huge negative effects on humans, labelling those energies 'evil' effectively avoids one having to consider how those energies are created and sustained (because they simply 'are' and don't need to explained any further). For example: calling Stalin and his actions 'evil' does much to absolve people of responsibility for letting him come to power and to act in the horrific way he did.
