SPN Symbols: Pentagram pt2
*First part here*
In this next part I've selected three events in history that changed many people's beliefs around the pentagram. There will also be a third part that will give examples of the many original meanings, many which are still practiced and used today.
At the end of this part I've also provided some source links.
Thanks again for checking it out!
So what changed? How did this become a symbol of "evil"? It took three very different events in history, the first occurring in 1307 with the destruction of the Knights Templar by the combined betrayal of King Philip IV and Pope Clement V, the inquisition of the church moved into full swing starting with the Templar, who were accused of worshipping an idol called Baphomet.
The name Baphomet by the way, has no other history than showing up in a 12th century French poem as a version of Muhammad. The order was tortured into confessions and the church began to destroy all that opposed the rule of the church. Alleged heretics like Pagan witches all met with the same fate of conversion or death. It was at this time that the horned gods still worshipped by the peasants and folk peoples of Europe, such as Pan...
became the accepted imagery for the Devil by the Christian church. Therefore in the eyes of the church if the peasants worshipped false, evil gods, then the pentagram symbol, used by those people as a symbol of security, must therefore be evil as well.
Then in the late 1800’s, an ex-roman catholic seminary student named Eliphas Levi started publishing books on Transcendental Magic and became a very popular author.
He declared that the inverted pentagram was a symbol for a goat headed god (sound familiar?). He did so without ever really justifying that conclusion, except that if there is good magic there must be bad magic, and the bad magic just so happens to be the goat demon that Templars were accused of worshipping.
Spirituality was HUGE in the late 1800’s and people wanted to know what was beyond that illusive veil, making things like spirit photography and séances extremely popular. It also made someone like Levi a very large and influential presence. It gave the pentagram a boost to a negative conotation, unfortunately.
It’s only later in the 20th century that the inverted pentagram became a popular symbol for Satan with the creation of the American Church of Satan (1931) and proclaimed it theirs. This has sealed a lot of people's beliefs and associations between the pentagram and "evil" without really understanding the history and true meaning.
This is a very simplified look into history. There is so much more to learn than what can be covered here! So, here are some links to check out. Look at a variety of views to get an example of how universal this powerful symbol is!
ReligiousTolerance.org
TempleStudy.com
"The Truth About Pentagrams" by Donald Tyson
TemplarHistory.com
Cutting Edge Ministries
In this next part I've selected three events in history that changed many people's beliefs around the pentagram. There will also be a third part that will give examples of the many original meanings, many which are still practiced and used today.
At the end of this part I've also provided some source links.
Thanks again for checking it out!
So what changed? How did this become a symbol of "evil"? It took three very different events in history, the first occurring in 1307 with the destruction of the Knights Templar by the combined betrayal of King Philip IV and Pope Clement V, the inquisition of the church moved into full swing starting with the Templar, who were accused of worshipping an idol called Baphomet.
The name Baphomet by the way, has no other history than showing up in a 12th century French poem as a version of Muhammad. The order was tortured into confessions and the church began to destroy all that opposed the rule of the church. Alleged heretics like Pagan witches all met with the same fate of conversion or death. It was at this time that the horned gods still worshipped by the peasants and folk peoples of Europe, such as Pan...
became the accepted imagery for the Devil by the Christian church. Therefore in the eyes of the church if the peasants worshipped false, evil gods, then the pentagram symbol, used by those people as a symbol of security, must therefore be evil as well.
Then in the late 1800’s, an ex-roman catholic seminary student named Eliphas Levi started publishing books on Transcendental Magic and became a very popular author.
He declared that the inverted pentagram was a symbol for a goat headed god (sound familiar?). He did so without ever really justifying that conclusion, except that if there is good magic there must be bad magic, and the bad magic just so happens to be the goat demon that Templars were accused of worshipping.
Spirituality was HUGE in the late 1800’s and people wanted to know what was beyond that illusive veil, making things like spirit photography and séances extremely popular. It also made someone like Levi a very large and influential presence. It gave the pentagram a boost to a negative conotation, unfortunately.
It’s only later in the 20th century that the inverted pentagram became a popular symbol for Satan with the creation of the American Church of Satan (1931) and proclaimed it theirs. This has sealed a lot of people's beliefs and associations between the pentagram and "evil" without really understanding the history and true meaning.
This is a very simplified look into history. There is so much more to learn than what can be covered here! So, here are some links to check out. Look at a variety of views to get an example of how universal this powerful symbol is!
ReligiousTolerance.org
TempleStudy.com
"The Truth About Pentagrams" by Donald Tyson
TemplarHistory.com
Cutting Edge Ministries