An alternative approach to the inverted pentagram?!?

[dannYves]

This is an interesting topic I came across while organizing my own personal practice. Curious to hear how others view this subject…

I always thought it odd how in paganism the pentagram tends to be used as a type of Hermetic LBRP and in the LHP the inverted pentagram is mainly for aesthetics or as a sigil. Its more traditional history through Eliphas Levi and similar occultists of the day never fulfilled me, so for a while I was digging around and found out that the inverted pentagram was actually used before LaVeyan Satanism and Setianism by an offshoot esoteric society called “The Order of the Eastern Star”. Apparently, they reinterpreted the inverted pentagram as the feminine version of the traditional pentagram which was viewed as masculine – and that’s when I finally hit an epiphanic moment and I then knew all that research hadn’t been in vein. Granted some pagan practitioners have interpreted the traditional pentagram as feminine and the inverted pentagram as masculine. But after coming across this information, I personally now interpret the inverted pentagram as feminine (as the dark feminine more precisely) mainly because of the inverted triangle at the bottom representing the womb, but that’s just me.

Within the Order of the Eastern Star, rather than each point representing an element, each point represented a reputable female figure from the bible: Adah, Ruth, Esther, Marta and Electa. And thus to a virtuous quality that a practitioner attempted to embody through initiation.

With that being said, the inverted pentagram was used in a similar manner to how the Qabalah was used in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, complete with grades, colors, and symbols.

I have seen a few posts regarding questions about LHP versions of the LBRP and circle casting and utilizing this method catered to your own practice is one of many examples.

What are your thoughts? Do you use the inverted pentagram in a unique way?

 

[Van Horne]

@dannYves
That's an interesting point! To differentiate between a "male" and a "female" pentagram in one's work makes sense to me.
As far as I understand the OES uses it as their symbol, but not as ritual tool, right?

I believe the original Golden Dawn was warning of the use of the inverted one as tool to draw "evil". However, I read somewhere, Crowley said the inverted one could be used for evocation, and that's one way I like to use it, as an inverted invoking pentagram (of the Golden Dawn tradition) , in the sense of:

to evoke "from within" --> one point down
to invoke "from without" --> one point up

To me it makes sense from the view that the traditional pentagram symbolizes "man" (gender neutral) with the head or spirit at top, while the inverted one symbolizes the more "animalistic" side, the primal (horned?) beast within.

The use of the LBRP came very intuitively to me. As a kid my grandmother taught me how to draw the Drudenfuß (I'm of German descent) as a folkloristic protective sign. So, at first, it was a only a banishing tool for me and to me, it made perfectly sense to draw it into the air before me as a protective ritual.

From this perspective one can also differentiate between:
one point down --> to invite
one point up --> to disinvite/to expel

From this perspective the warning of the GD makes sense. Just let the good ones in, I guess. But that's another topic.

 

[dannYves]

@dannYves
That's an interesting point! To differentiate between a "male" and a "female" pentagram in one's work makes sense to me.
As far as I understand the OES uses it as their symbol, but not as ritual tool, right?

I believe the original Golden Dawn was warning of the use of the inverted one as tool to draw "evil". However, I read somewhere, Crowley said the inverted one could be used for evocation, and that's one way I like to use it, as an inverted invoking pentagram (of the Golden Dawn tradition) , in the sense of:

to evoke "from within" --> one point down
to invoke "from without" --> one point up

To me it makes sense from the view that the traditional pentagram symbolizes "man" (gender neutral) with the head or spirit at top, while the inverted one symbolizes the more "animalistic" side, the primal (horned?) beast within.

The use of the LBRP came very intuitively to me. As a kid my grandmother taught me how to draw the Drudenfuß (I'm of German descent) as a folkloristic protective sign. So, at first, it was a only a banishing tool for me and to me, it made perfectly sense to draw it into the air before me as a protective ritual.

From this perspective one can also differentiate between:
one point down --> to invite
one point up --> to disinvite/to expel

From this perspective the warning of the GD makes sense. Just let the good ones in, I guess. But that's another topic.

I never thought of it as invocation and evocation but it makes perfect sense as well!! The GD was quite fluid in the way they approached somethings and not so in others lol.

The flow and ease of how you described your experience with the LBRP is so vivid I can imagine it in my mind!! When I first came across it I was totally lost I think it was because I never saw it in person or on video (at the time) and I’m a visual person, so it never set in my head until one of my best friends showed it to me in ritual one day!!

I’m not in the order of the eastern Star but it seems to me they used the inverted Star as a living part of their order not different that the Kabbalah tree of the GD.

I didn’t add too much of my own practice in the above post but I draw the inverted pentagram on my wrists with oils, that’s one thing to add that you reminded me of and I totally forgot to mention