Bringing olden ways to modern days,
For Wiccans,
Witches,
Pagans,
And all who honor a nature-based path.
This is Desert Magic,
With Crow Moon.
Merry Meet,
And welcome back once again to another episode of Desert Magic,
Coming to you from the beautiful and magical desert of southern Arizona.
My name is Crow Moon,
And I'm your host.
The pentacle is one of the most unique religious symbols in existence.
It is off-putting to some,
Divisive,
A symbol that brings a copious amount of comfort to some while at the same time almost terrorizing others.
But wherever you stand on this landscape,
It's likely that you will at the very least recognize a pentacle upon seeing one.
How you react to it is an entirely different matter.
The pentacle,
A five-pointed star,
Is the most commonly recognized symbol of the Wiccan religion.
It is a five-pointed star within a circle.
A pentagram is essentially the same five-pointed star only without the circle surrounding it.
The points of the star represent the elements,
Earth,
Air,
Fire,
Water,
And spirit.
The circle signifies that these five elements are interrelated,
And it further represents the unending cycle of birth,
Life,
Death,
And rebirth.
The symbol as a whole is used to represent the element of earth,
And therefore grounding and protection.
In Wicca,
The pentacle is also seen as a portal,
A spirit portal,
But not in the sense that it is used to conjure demons.
The notion that Wicca has anything to do with the devil or any demonic forces is completely false,
But this untruth has been perpetuated enough that the stigma began to eventually stick.
When used as a portal,
The pentacle becomes for us a bridge to the otherworldly and deity.
The symbol is as sacred to us as the Star of David is to followers of Judaism,
As the cross is to Christians.
So why is it that the pentacle gets such a bad rap?
There are many things that are doing anything but helping this situation,
Such as heavy metal bands putting it on their album covers,
The appearance of pentacles on just about every horror movie poster,
And online videos of paranormal investigators asserting that they've found a definite hotbed of evil because they've stumbled across a place where they assume that rituals took place.
In the mid-19th century,
Inverted pentacles emerged as a symbol of disorder,
Chaos,
Or upheaval.
This is because the point in the traditional top position,
Which represents spirit,
Was inverted to symbolize it having no prominence over the other elements.
The inverted symbol was later adopted by the Church of Satan.
Interestingly enough,
The five-pointed star was actually used by early Christians to represent the five wounds of Christ,
As well as the Star of Bethlehem.
And even to this day,
It is a five-pointed star that sits atop many Christmas trees.
To the ancient Greeks,
The symbol represented mathematical perfection.
So the negative connotations of this symbol are a perspective that is quite modern.
In fact,
The five-pointed star has been used as a symbol throughout various spiritualities since as far back as 3000 BCE.
Still,
Because of much misinformation,
The pentacle remains a symbol that causes many to shudder.
For this reason,
While I wear my pentacle necklace every day without fail,
I will often do so inconspicuously whenever I go out in public.
Each time I either forget or choose to wear it untucked,
The reactions are always a mixed bag.
Upon seeing it,
People either smile at me excessively or avoid me altogether.
The reasoning behind these reactions is unknown to me,
But I do have a few guesses.
I am not in any way an activist for Wiccan and pagan rights.
I believe that we're entitled to them,
Of course,
But I don't go around demanding equality.
However,
I do find it extremely troubling that the symbols of other religions draw very little ire compared to the pentacle.
I have one pentacle on my ancestor shrine that's quite large and fashioned much like a wreath.
It stays indoors at all times.
If I were to choose to place it on my front door during the month of October,
Anyone passing by would think it was a cute Halloween decoration.
If I did so at any other time of the year,
I don't even want to think about what some of the reactions might be.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions.
As Wiccans,
It is not our duty to change these opinions,
And it's really none of our business.
Opinions can and do change,
But they seldom do so because of any effort we put into that.
I am a prime example of such.
Many years ago,
Long before I discovered Wicca,
I stumbled into a small store in search of a box of incense.
Upon seeing Ouija boards and pentacles all around me on the walls and shelves,
I immediately felt a sense of panic.
This is a witch shop,
I said to myself.
I need to get out of here.
I was a bit fearful.
Not on the level of fearing for my life,
But let's just say I felt as though it was in my best interest to conduct my business and leave without angering anyone.
I was even more shocked when one of the store owners came out to assist me because she was very nice.
It turns out they didn't have what I was looking for,
But she kindly directed me to a store that did carry the item.
So I left,
Found what I was looking for exactly where she told me it would be,
And thought very little of the encounter until years later.
Years later,
When I made the discovery that Wicca was the path for me.
Shortly thereafter,
I purposefully returned to that store for the sole purpose of purchasing a pentacle.
This was intentional,
And it was of personal importance to me to,
Through this small act,
Demonstrate to myself that I'd come full circle.
The same store owner sold me a pentacle.
I never told her anything about my journey or the reason why it meant something to me to have a pentacle from that shop.
I had no message for her at all,
Really,
And certainly not,
Yeah,
You were right all along.
I did,
However,
Have a message for myself,
Which was,
Against great odds,
I've finally found what works for me.
There was nothing in that shop,
During my initial visit many years prior,
No items,
No interactions,
That compelled me to change my mind about my view of the pentacle or to even become Wiccan.
I came to Wicca on my own,
And I think that,
In large part,
This is how the most meaningful and lasting change occurs.
Our contentment does not rest upon anyone else sharing our opinions or our spiritual practice.
It's simply not constructive to expect such.
I've had people refuse to do business with me solely because they found out I'm Wiccan.
Yeah,
That one always stings a little.
So what do we do in situations like that?
We continue to love these people and go on with ourselves.
Those people have the same right to think the way they do as the rest of us.
As long as there is no persecution involved,
There's really no need to become combative on any level.
So let us always bear this in mind when we also encounter those who are different from us.
Let us not modify the way we treat someone solely because what they believe or embrace doesn't jive with our personal truth.
Beyond this,
Let us run as fast as we can from thinking that harmony can only exist in a realm of absolute like-mindedness.
Be that personal,
Political,
Or spiritual beliefs.
In many ways,
A large number of people,
Often unknowingly,
Feel a great sense of validation when others completely agree with them.
And when they don't,
That gives way to unrest,
Maybe even turmoil.
Perhaps the underlying cause of the inability to accept others is one's own lack of self-acceptance.
Be proud of yourself,
Who you are and what you are,
And in doing so,
You might well find it easier to be more accepting of others.
Don't let anything cloud your ability to see the greatness in those around you.
And,
May the sun shine ever so brightly on your perception of your greatness.
Until next time,
The crow flies from me to thee,
To send the message,
Blessed Be.
