I have said that little is generally known about the pentacle. Here is some evidence: Ruskin defines it to be “a five-pointed star, or a double-triangle ornament, the symbol of the trinity”[535]—a wrong definition, but not quite as bad as that given in Mollett’s handsome work, to wit: “A figure formed of two triangles, intersected so as to form a six-pointed star.”[536] The opinion is expressed by Bayard Taylor that the magical powers attributed to it could be explained by the fact that, being made up of three triangles, it was a “triple symbol of the trinity.”[537] This may be true, but it was regarded as possessing mysterious powers long before Christianity originated.
A common mistake—the one evidently made by Mollett—of even learned writers (as, for example, Oliver[538] and Fairholt[539]) is to confound the pentacle with the seal of Solomon (called also the shield of David), which consists of two equilateral triangles so arranged as to form a six-pointed star.
By the German writers on magic and kindred subjects, the pentacle is often called Drudenfuss,—that is, wizard’s foot,—a term which Mackey[540] takes to be a corruption of the word for Druid’s foot, by which people it was in use, being often worn, as a symbol of deity, on their sandals. As Bayard Taylor, however, says: “Drud, from the same root as Druid, was the old German word for wizard.” In Mr. Blake’s interesting book,[541] a representation of a very old coin is given, on which the mystic figure appears.
The pentacle has been observed on a figure of Anubis, in Egypt. It is stated[542] that it was used on coins of Antiochus Epiphanes, and also[543] of Lysimachus. I have seen it stated somewhere that it is one of the old sect marks of the Hindus; but this is an error, I believe. By referring to Coleman’s[544] or Birdwood’s[545] work, it will be found that it is Solomon’s seal which has been so used. It was one of the totems of the American Indians. Dawson[546] gives a picture of it as seen sculptured on the Roches Percées, a remarkable solitary mass of sandstone on the plains west of Manitoba.
I have said that the pentacle has been observed on a figure of Anubis. It would appear to have been well known and highly prized by the early Egyptians, or rather, perhaps, I should say Egypto-Chaldeans, if a recent writer, Mr. Robert Ballard, is to be believed. He declares that “it is the geometric emblem of extreme and mean ratio, and the symbol of the Egyptian pyramid, Cheops.”[547] Let a pentacle be formed within a circle. Around the interior pentagon of it describe a circle. Around this circle form a square. “Then will the square represent the base of Cheops.” Again, draw two diameters to the outer circle, intersecting at right angles, and each parallel to a side of the square. “Then will the parts of those diameters, between the square and the outer circle, represent the four apothems of the four slant-sides of the pyramid.” Still again, connect by lines the angles of the square with the outer circle at the four points indicated by the ends of the diameters. Then “the star of the pyramid is formed, which, when closed as a solid, will be a correct model of Cheops.”
Mr. Ballard, it is to be feared, like Mr. Piazzi Smyth, has not the power to perceive coincidences and after-thoughts. His book, however, is decidedly original and interesting.
Fig. 28.—The Pentacle and the Great Pyramid.