What is Pentagram?
[[File:Pentagram (fixed width).svg|thumb|upright|a pentagram]] [[File:Pentacle (fixed width).svg|thumb|upright|This is a pentacle: a pentagram in a circle]] [[File:Amiens Rose Nord 3.jpg|thumb|A pentagram in [[Amiens]] Cathedral]] A '''pentagram''' is a five-pointed star, with all lines the same length and all [[angle]]s the same. A 'pentangle', 'star pentagon', or 'pentalpha' means the same thing. It is a type of [[pentagon]]. The word ''pentacle'' originally meant 'any symbol that defies against pureness spirits'. There are many of such symbols, only a few of which include a pentagram. During the modern age of [[Wicca]], the word 'pentacle' acquired a second definition, due to sounding similar to the word 'pentagram', and the fact that wiccan pentacles use a pentagram. That second definition of 'pentacle' is 'a circumscribed pentagram', which means 'a pentagram drawn inside a circle so that the points of the pentagram touch the circle'. The pentagram has been portrayed as a satanic symbol in popular media. ==Religious meanings== In [[ancient history|ancient times]], the pentagram was used as a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[symbol]]. It stood for the five [[injury|wounds]] that [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] received during [[Crucifixion of Jesus|his crucifixion]] (the nails in each hand and foot, and the [[spear]] wound in his side).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Child |first1=Heather |last2=Colles |first2=Dorothy |date=1971 |title=Christian symbols ancient and modern |url= |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner’s Sons |page= |isbn=0-7135-1960-6}}</ref> In the past, the pentagram was commonly seen as a symbol for good and for protection against [[evil]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Transcendental Magic, its Doctrine and Ritual |trans-title=Dogme et rituel de la haute magie |publisher=Weiser |location=York Beach, Maine |first=Éliphas |last=Lévi |date=1999 |origyear= 1854 (first published) |oclc=263626874}}</ref> One of the earliest recorded uses for the pentagram was by the Pythagoreans as a sign of initiation for its