The Pentagram or Blazing Star is one of the most important symbols of Gnosticism and Masonry. You will often find it emblazoned 
in Freemasonry lodges and associated with the letter G which signifies Gnosis.
Éliphas Lévi had said, “The Pentagram, which in Gnostic schools is called the Blazing Star, is the sign of intellectual omnipotence and autocracy. It’s the Star of the Magi; it’s the sign of the Word made flesh; it’s the figure of the human body; and the Saviour’s advent was proclaimed to them by a star. This star was the magical Pentagram.”
In ancient Roman times and medieval Christian churches, the Pentagram was painted or carved on their doors to ward off evil spirits. This was also done by the Babylonians and many other ancient cultures throughout history. It is associated with the “Druid’s-foot,” 3 pentalpha, and the the fairy-cross. Amongst the Pythagoreans (signum Pythagoricum), in the time of and after Pythagoras, a signet ring bearing the pentagram was worn by members of the Pythagorean brotherhood.
In the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, it is written, “The Freemasons of the United States have, by tacit consent, referred to it (the pentagram) as a symbol of the Five Points of Fellowship. The outlines of the five pointed star are the same as those of the pentalpha or Pythagoras.” (Encyclopedia of Freemasonry: 358.)
33rd Degree Freemasonic philosopher, Manly P. Hall had written, “The pentagram is the figure of the microcosm—the magical formula 
of man. It is the one rising out of the four—the human soul rising from the bondage of the animal nature. It is the true light—the “Star of the Morning.” It marks the location of five mysterious centers of force, the awakening of which is the supreme secret of magic.”
The upright pentagram is the Morning Star, Christ or the spirit of Lucifer which is represented by spirit over matter such as the image above and the one below which shows the various elements of the five points represented in spirit, air, fire, water, and earth. It represents the power of the true divine spirit by bringing the four elements of creation into perfect balance and beautiful harmony.
Eliphas Levi had written in transcendental magic, “The Pentagram signifies the domination of the mind over the elements, and the demons of air, the spirits of fire, the phantoms of water and ghosts of earth are enchained by this sign. Equipped therewith, and suitably disposed, you may behold the infinite through the medium of that faculty which is like the soul’s eye, and you will be ministered unto by legions of angels and hosts of fiends.
Manly P. Hall explains the meaning of the inverted pentagram in black magic which is completely different than the upright pentagram and Blazing Star. Hall writes, “When used in black magic the pentagram is called the “sign of the cloven hoof,” or the footprint of the Devil. The star with two points upward is also called the “Goat of Mendes,” because the inverted star is the same shape as a goat’s head.” – By Moe the Gnostic Warrior
Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. He is a father, husband, author, martial arts black belt, and an expert in Gnosticism, the occult, and esotericism.
