PENTACLE FROM THE LIBER UMBRARUM BY DOREEN VALIENTE
The five-pointed star or pentagram is one of the oldest signs in the world. It represents, among other meaning, magic itself, the dominion of the spirit over the four elements of the material creation.
The Circle which encloses it, being without beginning or ending, represents infinity and eternity. Another meaning of the pentagram is that it bears a rough resemblance to a human figure, as if standing upright with the arms and legs outstretched. Hence the pentagram in a circle is a symbol of the human being in relationship to the Infinite.
The eight armed figure in the center of the pentagram represents the Eight Ritual Occasions of the Witch’s year, four Greater Sabbats and four Lesser Sabbats. The Greater Sabbats are Candlemas, May Eve, Lammas, and Hallowe’en. The Lesser Sabbats are the equinoxes and solstices. The eight of this symbol plus the five of the pentagram makes 13, the traditional number of the Witches coven.
The three X-shaped crosses around the pentagram represent the three annointing of the initiation ceremony, ‘two above and one below’; that is, two above the waist and one below it. The two spirals or S-shapes represent the ancient symbol of the twin serpents, the dual forces of positive and negative, yang and yin, masculine and feminine, that underlie all manifestation.
The symbols on the three upper points of the pentagram are the two crescents of the waxing and waning moons, and the circle of the full moon. Together they represent the primordial Goddess of Nature, often depicted in triple form as Nymph, Mother and Crone, the three phases of the moon.
The symbols on the two lower points of the pentagram represent the two aspects of the ancient God of witches. They are conventionalized drawings of a horned head and a skull and crossed bones. The former sign represents the Horned God of Life and Fertility, and the latter is the God of Death and what lies beyond.
The Witchcraft Chronicles 
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