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A Note on the "Inverse" Pentagram

By Don Webb

The pentagram first appeared in Egypt, although it was never a popular of frequently used sign. The first pentagram was a pottery marking, a five pointed star in a circle. William Arnett's The Predynastic Origin of Egyptian Hieroglyphs (1982) shows the pentagram existed side by side with the five-line star, which became the standard in Egyptian art. Five pointed stars were found in Gerza and Tarkhan, all Upper of Middle Egyptian protodynastic sites (Set was the ruler of Upper Egypt). One of the Tarkhan pentagrams has a five-pointed star attached to a boat -- considered one of the first signs of the soul's journey through the celestial Tuat. The current Setian Pentagram, symbolizing the soul's separate journeying through the universe, has the same symbolism.

 The pentagram was used a Mason's mark in the late nineteenth and early twentieth dynasties. It is found on the roof of the Ramesseum, for example. It seems to be associated with the game "pentagram" still played in the Mediterranean. To play pentagram, sketch a pentagram and gather nine pebbles. Put them at the base point of the star. Your job is to place all nine pebbles on vertices of the star, leaving the base point clear. You move the pebbles into the star by moving up the vertex and then making a sharply angled turn. You can move as far as you want along a line of the pentagram, but you have two constraints to your movement. One, you must make one turn, no more no less (except for the last pebble). Two, you cannot cross over any pebbles already placed. Like many such puzzles, there is one and only one solution. Playing the game is an example of Initiation. After many false starts you suddenly get it.

That the game was played among the mainly Setian tomb craftsmen of Set Maat, is an interesting phenomena. If you're interested in Set Maat (which doesn't have to do with "Set" the god, but the word "Set" meaning a place), read:

 Romer, John. Ancient Lives: Daily Life in Egypt of the Pharaohs. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984.

 If you want to know more about the game of pentagram, read:

 Pennick, Nigel. Secret Games of the Gods: Ancient Ritual Systems in Board Games. London: Kegan Paul, 1989. Reprinted York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1989.

 The pentagram journeyed to Greece with Pythagoras. Inscriptions show this use of it to mainly have had the two points upright -- as in the current Setian symbol or the sign of the second degree of Wicca. Pythagoras used the symbol as a representation of the philosophical movement of bridging the gap between human and the divine. This movement was later developed by Plato in his break with Delphic spirituality and the proposal that humans could, after breaking with the confining nature of popular belief, actually aspire to divine status by way of hard work.

Plato's ideas in this matter can be best seen in his Symposium. For a through analysis of Plato's ideas on the divine and need to break with popular religion, see:  Morgan, Michael. Platonic Piety. New Haven and London: Yale University Press 1990.

If you are interested in Aliester Crowley's idea on the inverse (or as he would say averse) pentagram, you should read:  Duquette, Don Milo. The Magick of Thelema. York Beach Weiser, 1993.

 The pentagram's power lies in the exactitude and purity of its form. It has been used throughout European magical practice festooned with Roman and Hebrew letters and sigils of various sorts. Oswald Wirth adopted a simpler version -- the pentagram, connoting the head of a goat, contained in a double circle with the word "Leviathan" (LVYThN) written in Hebrew counter-clockwise around the inside of the circle.

Maurice Bessy chose Wirth's design for the cover of his book, Histoire en 1000 images de la magie (published in English in 1964). Anton Szandor La Vey traced the illustration from Bessy's book in 1969 to become the symbol of the Church of Satan. It has since become very popular for album covers, T-Shirts, horror movies, and other aspects of youth culture. If you would like to make a tracing of the symbol, see:  Bessy, Maurice. A Pictorial History of Magic and the Supernatural. Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing Group 1964.

 In the Santa Barbara Working of June 21, 1975, Set instructed Michael Aquino to remove the letters and goat image. This restored the pentagram to its pristine form with two points elevated. If you are interested in the Santa Barbara Working see: Aquino, Michael. Book of Coming Forth by Night in The Ruby Tablet of Set. San Francisco: The Temple of Set, 1975.

This five-thousand-year-old symbol continues to remind us of the wonder of the soul making his or her way through the universe inspired by its challenges and his or her own Beauty. This symbol of Struggle and Beauty reminds each Setian of his or her need for Precision and Passion.

The Order of the Trapezoid and the Order of Setne Khamuast have special magical techniques using the pentagram for practical attainment, and it remains an ongoing field of study in these Orders.

IR SHTI SHTA-TU!

Temple of Set Australia
P.O. Box 144, Mount Gravatt Qld 4122 Australia.

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Updated January 31, 2004 .