Beginner Foundations · Touch of Magick Book of Shadows
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A five-pointed star can invite a good question: what does this symbol mean here? A pendant, a medieval story, and an altar tool may share a shape without sharing one explanation. Let’s begin with the differences, then make a simple study page of your own.
Pentagram, pentangle, or pentacle?
A pentagram / pentagrama is a five-pointed star formed by intersecting lines; pentangle is another name you will meet in historical writing. In the modern Wiccan example discussed below, a pentacle / pentáculo is an altar object bearing the star within a circle. The familiar “star versus circled star” distinction is useful shorthand, but these words are not used with perfect consistency: Inner Circle Sanctuary also calls its circled jewelry design a pentagram.[1][4]
Start by naming what you can see: five points, crossing lines, an enclosing circle, or a disk. Then ask whose interpretation you are reading. Shape alone does not tell you someone’s entire religion, intentions, or character.
A medieval example and a modern tradition
In the fourteenth-century English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain’s shield bears a gold pentangle on red. The narrator links its continuous form with truthfulness and five groups of qualities, including Christ’s wounds, Mary’s joys, and knightly virtues. The narrator attributes the sign to Solomon; that is a claim within the poem, not archaeological proof of its invention. Jessie L. Weston’s 1898 prose rendering makes this passage accessible.[2]
Scholar Devani Singh examines how the poem connects bodily integrity and spiritual wholeness. Gawain’s emblem belongs to a Christian and chivalric literary setting; reading it as a ready-made modern elemental diagram would erase that context.[3]
By contrast, Lady Anwyn’s 2023 account of Inner Circle Sanctuary’s Wiccan altar identifies the pentacle with earth and describes the star through four elements balanced under spirit. This is a practitioner’s explanation of religious symbolism, not a scientific account of matter or energy. The group explicitly notes that its design conventions may differ from those of other Wiccans.[1][4]
Correspondences with their sources attached
| System or context | Meaning in that setting |
|---|---|
| Gawain’s pentangle | Interconnected truthfulness and virtues within a medieval Christian romance—not a universal five-element chart.[2][3] |
| Inner Circle Sanctuary | Altar pentacle: earth. Star: elemental balance under spirit. Enclosing circle: unity, in the group’s own teaching.[1][4] |
| Our original study practice | Five points as five chosen commitments; this is our reflection exercise, not an inherited correspondence. |
| Optional shop color | Purple ink for thoughtful study, or any accessible color. This suggestion is ours, not an ancient rule. |
A five-point study page
Original Touch of Magick Shop practice—not a historical rite or initiation. You need only paper and a pencil. A purchased pentacle is not necessary; a plain written list works equally well.
- Observe. Sketch a simple five-point star, or write “five commitments” at the top of your page. Add a circle only if you want one. Drawing accuracy does not determine your worth or spiritual ability.
- Keep a source note. Write one author or community from this guide and one meaning they attach to the symbol. Mark it “documented interpretation,” separate from your own ideas.
- Choose your five words. Under “my practice,” try honesty, patience, consent, care, and follow-through. These are our suggested commitments, not translations of Gawain’s five virtues or replacements for a tradition’s teachings.
- Make one practical promise. Choose a word and a small action within your control: asking before borrowing, correcting an error, or giving yourself time before answering. Do not make a promise on someone else’s behalf.
- Review gently. Date the page. Return after trying the action, record what happened, and adjust the commitment if needed. The page is a reminder, not a guarantee of protection or a prediction.
Keep this practice dry and unlit. If studying an existing object, place it securely and check for sharp edges or loose pieces; keep small pendants and cords away from children and pets. Do not apply oils, heat, or cleaning chemicals to unfamiliar materials. No object replaces ordinary safety precautions.
Journal prompt
Which meaning came from a named source, which did I choose myself, and how can I express my chosen value through an ordinary action?
Sources & further reading
- Lady Anwyn, “Our Wiccan Altar: The Pentacle” (2023)Primary practitioner account of one Wiccan community’s altar symbolism; cited as religious belief, not scientific evidence.
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, prose rendering by Jessie L. Weston (1898), Part IIMedieval primary narrative in a later prose rendering. See “Wherefore Sir Gawain bare the pentangle,” pp. 24–25; not a ritual manual.
- Devani Singh, “Recovering the Body and Saving the Soul in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” The Luminary, issue 2Scholarly literary analysis hosted by Lancaster University, discussing the pentangle and the poem’s Christian symbolism.
- Inner Circle Sanctuary, “The Pentagram for Inner Circle Sanctuary” (2017)Primary statement of the group’s own design conventions, explicitly distinguished from other groups’ practices.