A Roman lamp from the third century CE shows a hexagram etched into its clay. A synagogue in Prague flies a blue one on a white field. A Hermetic grimoire from the 1500s uses the same six-pointed star to diagram the metals. The shape is identical. The meaning is not. The hexagram is a geometric figure of two interlocking triangles. The Star of David is that figure given a specific Jewish identity, history, and legal status. The difference is not geometry. It is everything else around it.
What Is a Hexagram, and What Is the Star of David?
A hexagram is any six-pointed star formed by two equilateral triangles superimposed, one pointing up, one pointing down. It is a universal polygon with no inherent religious or political meaning by itself. The Star of David, Hebrew Magen David (Shield of David), is that polygon adopted as the emblem of Judaism and the modern state of Israel. The hexagram appears in Hindu yantra diagrams, Buddhist mandalas, alchemical charts, and occult seals. The Star of David appears on synagogue walls, Israeli passports, and the flag that flies over Jerusalem. The first is a tool. The second is a symbol whose legal and cultural weight is specific to one tradition.
Where Did Each Come From? A History of Two Symbols
The hexagram is older than any written tradition that uses it. The earliest archaeological example comes from a seal found in Sidon, dating to the seventh century BCE, inscribed with the name of a man named Joshua ben Asayahu. It is not a religious symbol there, simply a decorative motif. In India the hexagram appears in ancient yantras as the Shatkona, representing the union of Shiva (the upward triangle) and Shakti (the downward triangle). By the first centuries CE, the shape appears on Jewish tomb walls in the Roman diaspora, again mostly as ornament.
The turning point for the hexagram in Jewish mysticism comes in the medieval period. The text Sefer ha-Razim (Book of Mysteries), a Jewish magical manual compiled between the 4th and 10th centuries, includes hexagrams in protective diagrams. The shape called Solomon’s seal enters European grimoires through Arabic magic, where the seal was said to command demons. By the 13th century, the Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah, associates the six-pointed star with the six sefirot surrounding Tiferet (beauty) on the Tree of Life.
The Star of David as a specifically Jewish emblem crystallizes later. The earliest known use of the term Magen David is from the 11th century, in a commentary by the Karaite scholar Dunash ben Tamim. But the symbol itself did not denote Judaism. That changed in the 14th century when the Jewish community of Prague adopted the hexagram on its flag. By the 17th century, the star appeared on synagogues across Europe. The turning point occurs in 1897 when the First Zionist Congress chose the Star of David as the central emblem of the movement. In 1948 it became the centerpiece of the flag of the State of Israel.
Meanwhile, the hexagram developed its own parallel life in Western occultism. In the 16th century the alchemist Paracelsus described the hexagram as a symbol of the macrocosm (the universe) containing the microcosm (the human being). The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn incorporated the hexagram into its ritual systems as a device for planetary invocation. The lesser hexagram ritual, still practiced today, uses the six-pointed star to establish a balanced ritual space. The shape was universal. The meanings assigned to it were not.
How Their Meanings Diverge
The hexagram carries a symbolic logic that the Star of David does not. In occult and alchemical traditions, the upward triangle represents fire, spirit, the masculine, or the will ascending. The downward triangle represents water, matter, the feminine, or the physical descending. Their intersection implies union: the marriage of opposites, the reconciliation of the above and below, the creation of the philosopher’s stone. This reading is almost never applied to the Star of David in mainstream Jewish context.
The Star of David instead carries historical and national meaning. The six points are sometimes said to represent the six days of creation, with the center representing the Sabbath. They may also represent the six directions (north, south, east, west, up, down) with the center as the human being or God. But these interpretations are later additions, not the original logic behind the symbol. The star became a badge of identity: one medieval Jewish tradition claims it was the shield-shaped design on King David’s armor. The historical evidence for that claim is thin, but the belief gave the star its name and its protective symbolism.
The hexagram in occult practice is a ritual tool. It is drawn in the air with a ritual dagger or wand to invoke or banish planetary forces. The practitioner focuses on the geometry itself, the precise angles and intersections. In Jewish practice the Star of David is not typically drawn or traced in ritual. It is displayed: on the Torah ark, on the tallit, on the ketubah (marriage contract). It does not need to be constructed; it simply exists as a marker of belonging.
Two Uses, Two Worlds
In ceremonial magic, the hexagram is used for what the Golden Dawn called “the opening by the hexagram” and “the closing by the hexagram.” The operator visualizes a large hexagram before them, often in a specific color corresponding to the planetary energy desired. For Saturn the hexagram is black; for Jupiter blue; for Mars red. The hexagram is not an emblem of identity. It is an energetic tool one activates and dismisses.
In Jewish tradition the Star of David is never activated or dismissed. It is displayed as a statement. It appears on the flag of Israel because the designers of the flag, in 1948, wanted a symbol that was immediately recognizable as Jewish and had no other national claim. The hexagram of the occult tradition would not serve that purpose because it carries meanings outside Judaism. The Star of David is a hexagram that has been claimed.
A concrete example: in the grimoire called the Lemegeton (circa 1640), a hexagram appears on the seals of the seventy-two spirits of the Goetia. In the synagogue of the Altneu Shul in Prague, a hexagram appears on the banner that hangs above the Ark. The geometry is identical. The context makes one a tool of invocation and the other a declaration of faith.
The Problem of Solomon’s Seal
One of the most persistent confusions is between the hexagram and the Seal of Solomon. Islamic and Jewish legends say King Solomon possessed a signet ring that gave him power over demons and animals. That ring is usually described as bearing a six-pointed star, but many older sources depict it as a pentagram, and some early Islamic texts show a five-pointed star. The ambiguity has caused endless cross-contamination between the hexagram, the pentagram, and the Star of David.
When a practitioner today buys a “Seal of Solomon” talisman, it may be a hexagram or a pentagram. The distinction matters: the hexagram symbolizes the union of opposites, the pentagram symbolizes the human being in microcosm. The Star of David is itself sometimes called the Shield of Solomon, but Jewish tradition separates the two. The shield is David’s; the seal is Solomon’s. Neither is exactly the same as the generic hexagram, though the same shape is used.
What People Get Wrong
“The hexagram is the Star of David.” No. The hexagram is the geometrical form. The Star of David is one cultural use of that form. Saying they are the same is like saying a circle is the same as the yin-yang symbol.
“The Star of David is an ancient Jewish symbol.” Its use as a distinct emblem of Judaism is medieval, not Mosaic. It became common only in the 17th century. The menorah is the older Jewish symbol by millennia.
“The hexagram is a Satanic symbol.” This association comes from its use in ceremonial magic, which some Christian groups mistakenly equate with devil worship. The hexagram has no inherent evil meaning. In alchemy it represents the perfection of matter.
“The hexagram and the pentagram are the same.” They are not. The pentagram has five points, the hexagram six. Their symbolic systems are different. The pentagram focuses on the elements and the human; the hexagram on the cosmos and the union of opposites.
“Solomon’s seal is always a hexagram.” The historical record is mixed. Some medieval manuscripts show a pentagram as Solomon’s seal, others a hexagram. The ambiguity reflects the evolution of the legend.
FAQ
Is the hexagram the same as the Star of David?
No. The hexagram is the geometric shape of two overlapping triangles. The Star of David is that shape used as the symbol of Judaism and Israel.
What does the hexagram symbolize in occultism?
It symbolizes the union of opposites: fire and water, spirit and matter, the macrocosm and the microcosm. It is used in ritual for planetary invocation and balance.
Why is the Star of David on the Israeli flag?
The Zionist movement adopted it in 1897 as a neutral Jewish symbol, distinct from the religious menorah and with no allegiance to any diaspora community. It became the flag’s centerpiece in 1948.
Did King David use a hexagram shield?
There is no historical evidence that King David used a hexagram or any star-shaped shield. The name “Shield of David” is a medieval attribution, not a biblical fact.
Further Reading
The shape is a line traced in many traditions, each with its own meaning. If the hexagram interests you, explore its cousin the pentagram and the broader field of sacred geometry. The same hands that draw one often draw the other, but the intentions differ. We keep both in the library.
For more on the geometry behind these symbols, see our guide to sacred geometry. For the history and occult use of the six-pointed star alone, read the hexagram glossary entry. For the Jewish context specifically, begin with the Star of David in Kabbalah.