Different witchcraft symbols are rich in meaning. Even the most simplistic symbols used by practitioners of the Craft can have complex, highly suggestive meanings. Simple and intricate witchcraft symbols can be used to decorate personal items, magickal objects, or they are used in spell workings; the symbols ultimately contain intense meanings that come to represent ideas, conventions, ideologies, operations, emotions, thoughts, or they serve as an emblem that simplifies abstract ideas or concepts.
Goddess Sym bol: The triple moons symbol is associated with the Goddess; the symbol consists of one crescent moon facing left, a full moon, and a crescent moon facing right. The moons are connected indicating that all three phases of the moon, representative of the Goddess in her guises as maiden, mother, and crone, are all connected and embodied in one Goddess. The first moon facing left is the waxing moon: the moon phase associated with new beginnings. The full moon is representative of the mother aspect of the Goddess; sometimes the phase is identified as the “pregnant moon,” thereby likening the full moon with the full belly of a pregnant female. The third moon facing right is the waning moon: the moon phase associated with all endings. Thus, the symbol becomes a representation of the triple Goddess, and a symbol of the phases of womanhood. Since the three moons represent the beginning, middle, and end phases of the lunar cycle, this symbol also connotes that all things come from the feminine Divine and return onto Her.
God Symbol: The God symbol is created out of a circle, representing the full moon, and a crescent moon on its side on top of the circle. The two points of the crescent point upward, indicative of the Horn God or the “Stag King:” other references by which the God or masculine aspect of the Divine is identified. The suggestion of a horned deity is in reference to the nature God of fertility and has nothing to do with Satan or Satanic worship. This symbol is sometimes substituted with drawn antlers in order to represent the Stag King or the God of all wild creatures.
Pentacle and Pentagram: The pentacle is a five-pointed pentagram or star enclosed in a circle. The pentacle has a single point in the ascendant, while an inverted pentagram has two points in the ascendant. The pentacle, having five points, is representative of air, fire, water, earth, and Akasha: the combination of the latter four elements. The points of the pentacle also come to represent the human body, the cardinal directions or the four airts: East, South, West, and North. The circle enclosing the pentacle signifies life, death, and rebirth, as well as life’s never-ending cycle. The entire symbol comes to represent the realm of Magick, and the pentacle is a symbol of protection. The inverted pentagram, despite being known as a symbol of higher Magick and the “mastery” over the elements, has a wide range of negative connotations associated with it as well. The inverted pentagram was adopted by the Church of Satan as its official symbol, and Eliphas Levi described the inverted pentagram as a symbol connoting chaos or an inversion of order. Thus, the meaning of the inverted pentagram is changed depending greatly upon the context in which it is used.
Dayna Winters is a Witch, Priestess in the Dragon Warriors of Isis Coven, and an author. Her publications have appeared in Threads Magazine, Crescent Magazine, Blood Moon Rising Magazine, and The Journal for the Academic Study of Magic. She coauthored Wicca: What’s the Real Deal? Breaking Through the Misconceptions (Schiffer Publishing, 2011) with Patricia Gardner and Angela Kaufman. Find out more at: