A magician draws a star on the floor with chalk. Is it five points or six? The choice is not aesthetic. It determines whether the spirit that appears will be commanded or invited. A pentagram is a five-pointed star traced in a single continuous line, classically used to represent the human microcosm and to banish or invoke elemental forces. A hexagram is a six-pointed star formed by two overlapping triangles, symbolizing the union of opposites and used in ceremonial magic to invoke planetary or divine powers. The difference is one of intent, not just shape.
Learn the distinct histories, symbolisms, and practical uses of these two foundational symbols — and why confusing them can break a working.
The Opening Scene: A Difference of Intention
We have stood before both symbols on different nights. The pentagram first, drawn with the wand at the east quarter, each line cut through the air as a boundary. The hexagram later, traced in two motions — one triangle descending, one ascending — inside a circle already sealed. The chalk on the floor fades fast. The memory of which symbol did what does not.
If you have ever hesitated before drawing one, you are not alone. Most beginners start with the pentagram, but the hexagram often appears earlier in the grimoires than its reputation suggests. The key is knowing when to use which.
What They Are: Definitions at a Glance
A pentagram is a five-pointed star whose five lines enclose it without lifting the tool. Each point corresponds to one of the four classical elements (earth, air, fire, water) plus the fifth point for spirit. The pentagram is the emblem of the human being as a microcosm, a miniature copy of the universe.
A hexagram is a six-pointed star made of two interlocking equilateral triangles. One triangle points upward (fire, male, active), the other downward (water, female, passive). Together they represent the macrocosm: the union of all opposites, the cosmos, and the divine balance.
Both belong to the family of sacred geometry shapes used in ritual magic. But their origins and applications diverge sharply.
Where Do They Come From? History and Origins
The pentagram appears first. Archaeologists have found pentagrams scratched on potsherds in Mesopotamia dating to around 3000 BCE, likely as a marking for the goddess Ishtar or the direction of the planet Venus. The Pythagoreans of the 6th century BCE adopted it as a symbol of mathematical perfection, the golden ratio runs through every pentagon. They called it hygieia, health, and used it as a secret greeting among initiates.
In medieval European magic, the pentagram enters through the Key of Solomon (c. 13th–15th century), where it is called the “pentacle of Solomon” and used to compel spirits. By the 19th century, Eliphas Lévi formalized its correspondence to the elements in his Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1854). Lévi’s illustration of the “Baphomet” places a pentagram on the forehead, not as a devil’s mark, but as a symbol of the conscious human will.
The hexagram has a different genealogy. Its earliest known appearance as a decorative symbol is on a seal from the 7th century BCE found in Sidon. But its magical identity is tied to the Seal of Solomon, a ring said to command jinn and demons. Jewish mystical texts of the 12th century, especially the Bahir, associate the hexagram with the six days of creation and the seventh center. By the 16th century, it appears on synagogues and in Kabbalistic diagrams as the Magen David (Shield of David). The hexagram entered Western ceremonial magic through the Greater Key of Solomon and later through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888), which formalized its use in planetary and zodiacal invocations.
Aleister Crowley adapted both symbols heavily. His system uses the pentagram for elemental work and the hexagram for planetary and solar invocations, a division that remains standard in many traditions today.
Symbolism and Meaning: Microcosm and Macrocosm
The pentagram speaks to the individual. Its five points map to the five senses, the five limbs of the human body (head, arms, legs), and the five stages of life. When drawn with the single point upward, it places spirit above matter. When drawn with two points upward (the inverted pentagram), it places matter above spirit, a symbol of material fixation, sometimes used in infernal traditions but also in the Hermetic Order’s second-degree initiation as a symbol of descent.
The hexagram speaks to the cosmos. The two triangles are the most common pairing: upward for fire and sulfur, downward for water and salt. Some alchemists read the hexagram as the union of the fixed and volatile, or of the king and queen. In Kabbalistic terms, the six points correspond to the six sefirot of the Zeir Anpin (the microcosmic face of God), with the center representing Tiferet (beauty or balance). It is not the symbol of a person. It is the symbol of the whole system.
This difference is why ceremonial magicians rarely swap them. You banish with the pentagram because you are reinforcing the boundary of your own person. You invoke with the hexagram because you are opening a channel to something larger.
How They Are Used in Practice
The Pentagram in Ritual
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, first published by the Golden Dawn in the 1890s, is the most widely practiced single ritual in Western occultism. The practitioner traces a pentagram at each cardinal quarter, vibrating divine names, then draws a pentagram over the self. The gesture is meant to purify the space and ground the magician’s own energies. Each pentagram is drawn with a specific start point and direction depending on whether the working is banishing or invoking.
In Wicca, the pentagram is worn as a pentacle, a disc inscribed with the star, on the altar or over the heart. It is a tool of consecration, not coercion.
The Hexagram in Ritual
The hexagram appears most often in planetary magics. The Lesser Hexagram Ritual (also from the Golden Dawn) uses six-pointed stars to call upon specific planetary forces: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, and Moon. Each hexagram is drawn with the color of the planet and with the appropriate astrological signs at the points. Unlike the pentagram, which is drawn in a single continuous line, the hexagram is made of two separate triangles, the solar triangle (upward) and the lunar triangle (downward). They are often traced in different directions depending on whether the working is invocatory or banishing.
The Seal of Solomon, a hexagram with its points containing the names of archangels or divine attributes, is used in evocation talismans. Some grimoires specify that the pentagram is for the sub-lunar world and the hexagram for the celestial.
Comparisons and Notable Figures
The two symbols are not rivals; they are the lower and higher rungs of the same ladder. The pentagram governs the world of the four elements and the human soul. The hexagram governs the seven planets and the divine realm. In the magical taxonomy of the Golden Dawn, the pentagram belongs to the First Order (the Outer), the hexagram to the Second Order (the Inner).
Other geometric symbols fill the gaps: the septagram (seven-pointed star) maps to the seven planets and the initiatic path upwards; the octagram appears in the rites of the eight seasonal festivals. But the pentagram and hexagram remain the two foundational forms.
Eliphas Lévi linked the pentagram to the magic word IHSUS (Jesus) and the hexagram to the divine name Jehova. More practically, MacGregor Mathers’ The Greater Key of Solomon includes a plate showing the pentacles of Solomon; among them are both five- and six-pointed stars, each serving a distinct purpose in evoking or binding spirits.
Common Misconceptions
The pentagram is the devil’s symbol. This misinterpretation dates to the 19th-century panic around Lévi’s Baphomet drawing and later to the Satanic Church of Anton LaVey (1966), which adopted the inverted pentagram as its official emblem. Before that, the pentagram was a Christian symbol of the five wounds of Christ. In medieval cathedrals, it appears as a protective emblem. Inversion does not make it evil, it merely reverses the hierarchy of spirit and matter.
The hexagram is exclusively Jewish or Israeli. The Magen David is a Jewish symbol, but the hexagram appears in Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist contexts, particularly as the shatkona in Tantra, where it represents the union of Shiva and Shakti. In occultism, it is used across traditions.
Both symbols are interchangeable. They are not. Using a hexagram where a pentagram is called (or vice versa) creates a mismatch in energetic density. The pentagram is tight, personal, bounded. The hexagram is expansive, planetary, permeable.
The hexagram is always the same as the Star of David. The Star of David is one specific rendering of the hexagram, usually with interlocking triangles and no central dot. In occult hexagrams, the center often contains a symbol (a rose, a cross, a planetary glyph), and the triangles may be traced with specific colors and directions.
FAQ
Is the pentagram always associated with Satanism?
No. For most of history, it was a symbol of protection, health, and the elements. The association with Satanism is a 20th-century development, limited largely to the inverted form.
What is the Seal of Solomon exactly?
A hexagram often inscribed with divine names or angelic seals, attributed to King Solomon in medieval grimoires. It is used to command spirits, not to banish them.
Can I use a hexagram for protection?
Yes, but in a different way. The pentagram protects through boundary setting. The hexagram protects through invoking higher forces, you are not warding off, you are calling in a presence that prevents intrusion.
Why are both used in banishing rituals?
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram purifies the person and the space. The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram balances planetary influences. They serve different levels of purification.
The difference between a five-pointed star and a six-pointed star is not a matter of counting. It is a choice between saying “I am here” and saying “Let the universe be here.” Draw the wrong one, and the ritual will not work. Draw the right one, and you will know why the magician stopped to think before picking up the chalk.
For a deeper study of the geometric language of magic, see our vertical hub on sacred geometry. The pentagram and hexagram entries in the glossary cover their attributions in detail. For practical step-by-step instruction on drawing both symbols in ritual, the guide Star Signs: Pentagram and Hexagram Rituals walks through every gesture.