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I'm not sure where this came from. I don't write. But one of my role-playing characters (a modern-day wizard, similar to Harry Dresden) started bitching in my head about pentagrams, and this was the result. Warning: has not been beta'd, etc.
Pentacles. Pentagrams. Pentalphas.
Call them what you will, I've never been fond of them.
You've got a perfectly lovely star set within a circle. As the symbol is used within the magical community these days, the five points of the star represent Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void (or Spirit, depending on who you ask), and the circle usually is taken to represent the Will of the practitioner, containing, controlling, and directing all of these.
I know that each practitioner needs to use methods and symbols that they believe in, but that one just never resonated with me. Personally, I think they're not paying enough attention to details, and that sort of thing can get you killed (or worse) when you're dealing with magic.
Symbols have meaning, they carry information, and they're everywhere that you find humans. From the earliest drawings on the cave walls to these letters you’re reading right now, they're all symbols. Let's take a look at what that particular symbol says.
For starters, let's look at the circle, their Will.
A practitioner's Will is the expression of their desire to make something happen, and their belief that it both should and will happen. This Will is then brought to bear on the subject of their spell through their ability to concentrate and focus. It's a lot like one of those flashlights that you can twist to change the beam of light. The narrower you make that beam, the further you can send a useful amount of light.
Most people don't concentrate very much. Their focus is like that flashlight on the widest setting, spreading a relatively small amount of light over a relatively wide area. That's fine for illuminating things close to you, but it's not going to have much of an effect beyond a few yards.
Then there are people who have honed their ability to concentrate. Craftsmen, artists, writers, musicians, dancers, martial artists, and folks who meditate on a regular basis tend to be able to concentrate and focus to a significantly higher degree. Their light is more like the flashlight with the beam made tighter, and it ends up reaching further. Am I the only one who thinks it's no coincidence that most of these people are creating things?
Then there are practitioners, like me.
One of the first things practitioners learn is how to concentrate, to FOCUS. In light of the analogy we've been using -- get it? In light of?
...
Wow, tough room.
Okay, where was I? Oh, yes.
In light of the analogy we've been using, a skilled practitioner's focus is like taking that flashlight beam and turning it into a laser. The beam isn't any more powerful than it was before, but even one of those little hand-held laser-pointer thingies can be seen from over ten miles away.
Most people think that sounds pretty cool, and something they'd like to do, right up until it comes time to actually go through the necessary steps to develop that level of concentration.
Can anyone do it? Yes, I believe that any normal, healthy human being can learn to, but most will not even start the learning process. Of those who start, only a small fraction will actually stick with it long enough to attain any real skill. Even if you don't know any practitioners, I'll bet you know one of those craftsmen I mentioned earlier. Just ask them, they'll tell you the same thing about people in their field.
Okay, now what about those things that this circle is supposed to contain?
The five points of the star represent the five Platonian Archetypes of the basic building blocks of the universe. Not just fire, for example, but FIRE, in its most perfect and powerful form. Now add in each of the other four points and their elements.
And they think that a mortal human Will can encompass and control even one of those? Not even the most powerful people I've ever HEARD of can manage that on their best day!
And last but certainly not least is this idea that if you turn the symbol upside down, you raise Evil power with it.
Really? Can you name me even one other type of power generation that does this? If I turn a battery upside-down, do I suddenly get AC instead of DC? If I put my kindling on top of my firewood instead of below, are the resulting flames cold and wet? No, of course not. It just doesn't work that way.
I'm not going to get bogged down in trying to define Good and Evil. That's one of those, "I know it when I see it" things. What I will do is to point out that power is like a carpenter's hammer. The hammer itself is neither Good nor Evil. To me, those are questions of intent, and since a hammer is not sentient (as least as far as I know), it has no intent of its own. That intent, and the resulting Good or Evil, comes from the person using the hammer.
So what IS magic? And the first person who says, "sufficiently advanced technology" might get a not-so-metaphysical knuckle sandwich.
I don’t have much truck with the likes of Aleister Crowley, but he did have a reasonable point when he described magic as Will over Matter – through non-physical means, the practitioner uses his Will to cause an effect on the world of Matter.
Some do this through the use of spiritual entities, whether divine or diabolical, which they’re able to persuade to carry out their wishes. Some do it through creating linkages between the thing they want to affect and a model of that thing, such as the well-known Voodoo doll. Still others use complex processes to try to alter the physical nature of a thing, such as trying to turn lead into gold. These are just a few of the types of magic out there, but pretty much any type can be categorized as a way to exert one’s Will over the world of Matter. The only exception I can think of is pure Ectomancy, the ability to summon or communicate with the dead. I suppose that this might be exerting one’s Will over the world of Spirit instead of Matter, but you get the idea.
Different practitioners use different means to obtain their results. Some practitioners use rituals, some use specific materials or ingredients, some say special words or make certain gestures. Some do all of these things and more, while others might do none of them.
But have you noticed that in all of these widely diverse things, there is always one constant? That’s right: the practitioner.
So what does all of this have to do with why I don’t like pentagrams, and what do I think is a better symbol?
I’m glad you asked.
I like to think that magic is something intrinsic to us, not something separate and outside of us. We make it, we shape it, we wield it. As far as I know there is no other creature on earth that uses magic. There are magical creatures, yes, but I don't know of any creatures walking the earth today who are also practitioners of magic. It is a human endeavor, and I prefer a symbol that encompasses the essence of that humanity.
I'm partial to a four-pointed star inside a circle, like a compass rose that only shows the four cardinal points.
These four points represent the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the practitioner.
I'm not sure why, but most of the compass roses I've seen have each of the points split into two sharply contrasting colors, and I like that for use as a magical symbol as well. To me, it shows that each of those four things has both a light and a dark side, a Good and Evil aspect, if you like.
The circle? That represents the practitioner's Will. But I have a lot easier time believing that a person's Will can encompass those four aspects of themselves.
Besides, everybody from New Age folks to rebellious teenagers has a pentacle, and the uber-conservative religious folks have been known to occasionally get a little enthusiastic about that whole, "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" thing.
If a pentacle is what works for you, then by all means use it. My symbol works for me, and it's a lot less likely to cause trouble.
Besides, it's a great way to start a conversation with another good-looking practitioner.
Pentacles. Pentagrams. Pentalphas.
Call them what you will, I've never been fond of them.
You've got a perfectly lovely star set within a circle. As the symbol is used within the magical community these days, the five points of the star represent Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void (or Spirit, depending on who you ask), and the circle usually is taken to represent the Will of the practitioner, containing, controlling, and directing all of these.
I know that each practitioner needs to use methods and symbols that they believe in, but that one just never resonated with me. Personally, I think they're not paying enough attention to details, and that sort of thing can get you killed (or worse) when you're dealing with magic.
Symbols have meaning, they carry information, and they're everywhere that you find humans. From the earliest drawings on the cave walls to these letters you’re reading right now, they're all symbols. Let's take a look at what that particular symbol says.
For starters, let's look at the circle, their Will.
A practitioner's Will is the expression of their desire to make something happen, and their belief that it both should and will happen. This Will is then brought to bear on the subject of their spell through their ability to concentrate and focus. It's a lot like one of those flashlights that you can twist to change the beam of light. The narrower you make that beam, the further you can send a useful amount of light.
Most people don't concentrate very much. Their focus is like that flashlight on the widest setting, spreading a relatively small amount of light over a relatively wide area. That's fine for illuminating things close to you, but it's not going to have much of an effect beyond a few yards.
Then there are people who have honed their ability to concentrate. Craftsmen, artists, writers, musicians, dancers, martial artists, and folks who meditate on a regular basis tend to be able to concentrate and focus to a significantly higher degree. Their light is more like the flashlight with the beam made tighter, and it ends up reaching further. Am I the only one who thinks it's no coincidence that most of these people are creating things?
Then there are practitioners, like me.
One of the first things practitioners learn is how to concentrate, to FOCUS. In light of the analogy we've been using -- get it? In light of?
...
Wow, tough room.
Okay, where was I? Oh, yes.
In light of the analogy we've been using, a skilled practitioner's focus is like taking that flashlight beam and turning it into a laser. The beam isn't any more powerful than it was before, but even one of those little hand-held laser-pointer thingies can be seen from over ten miles away.
Most people think that sounds pretty cool, and something they'd like to do, right up until it comes time to actually go through the necessary steps to develop that level of concentration.
Can anyone do it? Yes, I believe that any normal, healthy human being can learn to, but most will not even start the learning process. Of those who start, only a small fraction will actually stick with it long enough to attain any real skill. Even if you don't know any practitioners, I'll bet you know one of those craftsmen I mentioned earlier. Just ask them, they'll tell you the same thing about people in their field.
Okay, now what about those things that this circle is supposed to contain?
The five points of the star represent the five Platonian Archetypes of the basic building blocks of the universe. Not just fire, for example, but FIRE, in its most perfect and powerful form. Now add in each of the other four points and their elements.
And they think that a mortal human Will can encompass and control even one of those? Not even the most powerful people I've ever HEARD of can manage that on their best day!
And last but certainly not least is this idea that if you turn the symbol upside down, you raise Evil power with it.
Really? Can you name me even one other type of power generation that does this? If I turn a battery upside-down, do I suddenly get AC instead of DC? If I put my kindling on top of my firewood instead of below, are the resulting flames cold and wet? No, of course not. It just doesn't work that way.
I'm not going to get bogged down in trying to define Good and Evil. That's one of those, "I know it when I see it" things. What I will do is to point out that power is like a carpenter's hammer. The hammer itself is neither Good nor Evil. To me, those are questions of intent, and since a hammer is not sentient (as least as far as I know), it has no intent of its own. That intent, and the resulting Good or Evil, comes from the person using the hammer.
So what IS magic? And the first person who says, "sufficiently advanced technology" might get a not-so-metaphysical knuckle sandwich.
I don’t have much truck with the likes of Aleister Crowley, but he did have a reasonable point when he described magic as Will over Matter – through non-physical means, the practitioner uses his Will to cause an effect on the world of Matter.
Some do this through the use of spiritual entities, whether divine or diabolical, which they’re able to persuade to carry out their wishes. Some do it through creating linkages between the thing they want to affect and a model of that thing, such as the well-known Voodoo doll. Still others use complex processes to try to alter the physical nature of a thing, such as trying to turn lead into gold. These are just a few of the types of magic out there, but pretty much any type can be categorized as a way to exert one’s Will over the world of Matter. The only exception I can think of is pure Ectomancy, the ability to summon or communicate with the dead. I suppose that this might be exerting one’s Will over the world of Spirit instead of Matter, but you get the idea.
Different practitioners use different means to obtain their results. Some practitioners use rituals, some use specific materials or ingredients, some say special words or make certain gestures. Some do all of these things and more, while others might do none of them.
But have you noticed that in all of these widely diverse things, there is always one constant? That’s right: the practitioner.
So what does all of this have to do with why I don’t like pentagrams, and what do I think is a better symbol?
I’m glad you asked.
I like to think that magic is something intrinsic to us, not something separate and outside of us. We make it, we shape it, we wield it. As far as I know there is no other creature on earth that uses magic. There are magical creatures, yes, but I don't know of any creatures walking the earth today who are also practitioners of magic. It is a human endeavor, and I prefer a symbol that encompasses the essence of that humanity.
I'm partial to a four-pointed star inside a circle, like a compass rose that only shows the four cardinal points.
These four points represent the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the practitioner.
I'm not sure why, but most of the compass roses I've seen have each of the points split into two sharply contrasting colors, and I like that for use as a magical symbol as well. To me, it shows that each of those four things has both a light and a dark side, a Good and Evil aspect, if you like.
The circle? That represents the practitioner's Will. But I have a lot easier time believing that a person's Will can encompass those four aspects of themselves.
Besides, everybody from New Age folks to rebellious teenagers has a pentacle, and the uber-conservative religious folks have been known to occasionally get a little enthusiastic about that whole, "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" thing.
If a pentacle is what works for you, then by all means use it. My symbol works for me, and it's a lot less likely to cause trouble.
Besides, it's a great way to start a conversation with another good-looking practitioner.
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