What's the difference between the Star of David and a pentagram?
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What's the difference between the Star of David and a pentagram?

Q: I wear a golden Star of David around my neck, and my husband is convinced that rather than a symbol of my firm belief in God, it is a pentagram, or symbol of sorcery and the Devil. Could you by any chance define the difference between the two and settle the long standing disagreement, and possibly show me any visible difference between the two?

A: There is a simple answer and a more detailed history to your question. The simple answer was given to me by Max Mitchell, a believer and a Messianic Jew who has had contact with a number of Satanists over the years: Occult symbols usually have a circle around them. If it's a six pointed star with a circle around it, then it's a hexagram. If it's a six pointed star without a circle around it, then it's a star of David. If it's a five pointed star with a circle around it, then it's a pentagram. If it's a five pointed star without a circle, then it's just a five pointed star.

In occult thinking the circle represents a boundary or an attempt to control the power of the symbol. Other occult symbols enclosed in circles are:

Those are Max's comments about the meaning that Satanists attach to these symbols, but please understand that none of this is absolute. Symbols have different meaning from one group to another and the meaning can change over time even in the same group. This is only a generalization.

Here is a little bit of history on the Star of David (six points) and the pentagram (five points).

The Star of David (also called the Magen David, shield of David) is the symbol most commonly associated with Judaism today. The standard name for the geometric shape is a hexagram or six pointed star, usually composed of two interlocking equilateral triangles. Unlike the menora, the Lion of Judah, the shofar (ram's horn) or the lulav (palm frond), the Star of David is a relatively new Jewish symbol.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the symbol historically was not limited to use by Jews. It originated in antiquity, when, side by side with the five-pointed star, it served as a magical sign or as a decoration. In the Middle Ages the Star of David appeared with greater frequency among Jews but did not assume any special Jewish religious significance; it is found as well on some Christian medieval cathedrals. The term Magen David, which in Jewish liturgy signifies God as the shield (protector) of David, gained currency among medieval Jewish mystics, who attached magical powers to King David's shield just as earlier (non-Jewish) magical traditions had referred to the five-pointed star as the "seal of Solomon."

Kabbalists, a Jewish mystical occult group, popularized the use of the symbol as a protection against evil spirits. The Jewish community of Prague was the first to use the Star of David as its official symbol, and from the 17th century on the six-pointed star became the official seal of many Jewish communities and a general sign of Judaism, though it has no biblical or Talmudic authority.

The Star of David gained popularity as a symbol of Judaism when it was adopted as the emblem of the Zionist movement in 1897, but the symbol continued to be controversial for many years afterward. When the modern state of Israel was founded, there was much debate over whether this symbol should be used on the flag. It now appears on synagogues, Jewish tombstones, and the flag of the State of Israel. [For more information see G. Sholem, "The Curious History of the Six Pointed Star; How the 'Magen David' Became the Jewish Symbol", Commentary, 8 (1949) pp. 243-351.]

If you are wearing a six pointed star not enclosed in a circle, you are displaying the typical Jewish symbol called the Star of David and most people would recognize it as a completely Jewish symbol.

Concerning the pentagram. The pentagram at left is the traditional pentagram with the five points of the star, one up, two down enclosed inside a circle. This style of pentagram has existed for countless thousands of years, first dating back to around 3500 B.C. At this time it was used by Mesopotamian rulers as a symbol indicating that their power encompassed the four corners of the known world.

To the Hebrews the five points of the pentagram were tied to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the bible) and represented as a whole the concept of truth.

Perhaps most curious is the pentagram as it relates to early Christianity. Constantine the Roman Emperor who converted to Christianity chose to use the pentagram on his seal and amulet. Up until medieval times, the five points of the pentagram represented the five wounds of Christ on the Cross. During these times the pentagram carried no evil implications at all and in fact, in a lesser way than the cross, was symbolic of the Savior.

In the nineteenth century. Eliphas Lévi, an Occultist, was the first to adapt the inverted pentagram as symbolic of evil. The illustration to the right shows Lévi's two sketches of the pentagram. The first, his "good" orientation, featured the five points of a man within the points of the Pentagram. This is called the microcosmic man and represents the four elements, earth, wind, fire and water represented as the man's limbs with his head representing the spirit.

Next to the Microcosmic Man, he drew the inverted pentagram as the goat's head or Baphomet. In so doing, he formed for the first time, a differentiation between good and evil symbolized by the pentagram.

The Baphomet sigil or simply Baphomet has become the official symbol of The Church Of Satan, which was started by Anton Szandor La Vey in 1966. Satanists and pseudo-Satanists have used this sigil all over the world.