Common “Satanic” Symbols that are actually not Satanic at all
While watching American Horror Story season 6 with my roommate, we watched the antichrist uses their own blood to very sensually draw a pentagram on their body and the floor to communicate with Satan. This made us laugh hysterically since the antichrist was actually drawing a symbol to invoke positive energy, similar to how some Christians cross themselves.
Paganism is a complex religion to define in a single sentence, as it is more 300 religions in a trench coat pretending to be one religion. Most modern pagans borrow Gods and Goddesses to worship from a plethora of ancient pantheons, but one of the only common threads is the symbols still used to invoke positivity and banish negative energies. To make a long explanation short, paganism borrows from many ancient religions and has a loose nature-based focus. The few common threads pagans do share, such as trinity mood goddess and symbols, are deeply misunderstood.
The pentagram (star within a circle) is just one of many Pagan symbols that were warped by medieval Christian leaders to represent the devil. When Christianity was trying to mass convert (aka crusades, conquering the new world), they were a guilt-based, strict, sexually repressive, religion trying to convert “barbaric” people from their current cultural religions, many of which were a lot more open to sex and partying.
One of the medium-cruel strategies western Christian leaders used to get Pagans to convert and scare their own followers, was to spread untrue rumors about Pagan beliefs. They told their followers that since pagans were not Christians, they were hanging out with the devil. Using or trusting the Pagan religions would be the Devil trying to take your soul away from God. This strategy worked VERY well and has lasting effects on present-day Western beliefs and media, as seen in my example with American Horror Story.
I want to explain the historical and current meaning behind the most popular symbols used by Hollywood and pop culture to represent Satanism: upside-down cross, pentagram, and the upside-down pentagram.
The pentagram, a star within a circle, is a very old pagan symbol, certainly older than the crosses used in Christianity. The star was once a common symbol to represent the five wounds Jesus suffered on the cross, but as the pentagram gained an “evil” association, the symbolism for star=Jesus’s wounds also lost popularity. In its current use, Wiccans (type of pagans) use it to represent the five Wiccan elements (Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Spirit) and/or channel energy into their magik (the manipulation of natural energy). It is commonly used on altars and is a sacred symbol like the star of David to Jewish people and the cross to Christians.
Pentagrams have ancient positive symbolism, and yet almost any Tv show or movie that has Satanism will have candles flickering in the low light as the camera angle slowly pans to a wide-angle to show A STAR WITHIN A CIRCLE!!! The horror! Not the positive energies of nature from a religion I do not understand!
I’m joking, but the pentagram is a positive symbol for spiritual growth for many people. It has never been used for evil. Well… maybe some curious teenagers have tried using it to talk to demons, but the only thing a pentagram is going to bring you is a feeling that you should go hug a tree.
The upside-down pentagram is similar, but instead of bringing in positive energy/magik, it is used to rid the magik user of negative/bad energy/magik. This is kind of ironic when this symbol is used to represent the worst negative energy of all, Lucifer himself. The confusion of the upside-down pentagram is more understandable since in the 1960’s The Church of Satan (who are atheist? Im confused too)adopted the sigil of Baphomet (a goat-shaped demon), which is an upside-down pentagram, but the star part of the pentagram is a goats head. It is different from the upside-down pentagram, but similar enough for people to be able to assume they hold the same meaning. The Church of Satan really did not help the confusion, but I don't know what I expected from a bunch of Athiest Satanists
The upside-down cross is perhaps the weirdest symbol to be seen as satanic because it represents the humility of a saint. The upside-down cross is also called Saint Peters cross. Saint Peter is a man who did not feel pure enough to die in the same way Jesus has and begged his killers to place him upside down. If anything is representing the humility that is important for Christian belief, but because of its adoption into gothic and punk rock subcultures, has picked up a negative vibe for many people.
How Symbols went from Pagan to Satanic
Before Dante’s Inferno was published in the 14th century, hell was not thought of as a physical place, but as an existence without God. The bible does not speak of hell as a physical/metaphysical plane, the fiery pits of hell are all fanfiction cannon. The logic that leads to pagan symbols being considered satanic goes as follows:
- Existence/eternity without God = Hell
- Hell has Satan
- any religion that does not follow God is Hell since they are without God
- then all non-Christian religions are Hell/Satanic.
This is a hard concept to discuss with the 15th century, illiterate, uneducated, people just looking for solace in a church, so Pagans=Satanic is a much easier explanation.
To further complicate the symbols, in the 1960s when counterculture (punk rock, beatnik, goth) was establishing itself, these trendsetters began using Pagan symbols to show their rebellion against the Western Christian societal norms. The use of these symbols to show rebellion is still in practice today, with many alternative clothing sellers using the four symbols previously mentioned to sell products (yay capitalism).
Since many of these goths/punks/alternative people enjoy the self-expression of rebellion through pentagrams and similar symbols, it perpetuates the stereotypes of the symbols as something “other” and evil. When your teenager starts talking back to you and wearing pentagram patches on their jacket, you’re not going to do in-depth research on how the pentagram is actually a symbol of positivity and nature. Everything previously stated still being true, many people enjoy the look of such clothing without any religious connotation.
Pentagrams and upside-down crosses may give your grandparents the willies, but rest assured no evil is going to come from a star in a circle. Hollywood and horror movies, as western Christian-centered inventions, has convinced many people that pentagrams and upside-down cross invite in evil. Actual history brings these symbols into context as simple relics of old religions forgotten by the general public.
