I know it's a recognizable symbol, and therefore easy, but I am sick and tired of seeing the pentagram as the instant symbol of evil. There are TONS of shapes used in magic, from Triangles, to Squares, to Hexagrams, to septagrams, nonagrams, circles, diamonds, rhomboids, crosses, and anything else known to geometry, but when you need something evil, it's always the pentagram that gets chosen. No one ever uses it for any of the thousand other things it represents, such as the 5 senses, the human body, the stars, the element of earth singly, or more often the 4 elements everyone knows about added to the fifth element Spirit. Because it is unicursal (and thus never ends), it represents infinity and cycles. It is a symbol of protection, of growth, of emanation, and of power. As a star it represents the heavens, and the Sun. Not to mention the symbol of a religion whose primary tenet is "harm none." The pentagram is all of this and a hundred other things, but all anyone sees when they look at it is "SATAN!" No one ever bothers to do research, or question why they are using this particular symbol, they just know that a pentagram is the symbol you use for demons, devils, or anything evil and ooky spooky. [/paganrant]
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