Editing Pentacle (section)

{{Short description|Magical talisman}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
[[File:Pentacle_(fixed_width).svg|thumb|Pentacle]]
A '''pentacle''' (also spelled and pronounced as ''pantacle'' in [[Thelema]], following [[Aleister Crowley]], though that spelling ultimately derived from [[Éliphas Lévi]])<ref name="CrowleyCLXV">{{cite book |chapter=Liber CLXV: A Master of the Temple |first=Aleister |last=Crowley |author-link=Aleister Crowley |year=1991 |title=[[The Equinox of the Gods (Crowley)|The Equinox of the Gods]] |publisher=New Falcon Publication |isbn=978-1561840281}} "The Pantacle of Frater V. I. O."</ref> is a [[talisman]] that is used in [[magic (supernatural)|magical]] [[evocation]], and is usually made of [[parchment]], paper, cloth, or metal (although it can be of other materials), upon which a magical design is drawn. Symbols may also be included (sometimes on the reverse), a common one being the six-point form of the [[Seal of Solomon]].

Pentacles may be sewn to the chest of one's garment, or may be flat objects that hang from one's neck or are placed flat upon the ground or altar. Pentacles are almost always shaped as disks or flat circles. In the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], though, a pentacle is placed within the triangle of evocation.

Many varieties of pentacle can be found in the [[grimoire]] called the ''[[Key of Solomon]]''. Pentacles are also used in the [[Modern Paganism|neopagan]] magical religion called [[Wicca]], alongside other [[Magical tools in Wicca|magical tools]]. In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Wicca, pentacles symbolize the [[classical element]] earth.<ref name="A Witches' Bible">{{cite book |chapter=The Witches' Way |title=A Witches' Bible |publisher=Phoenix |location=Custer, Washington |first1=Janet |last1=Farrar |author1-link=Janet Farrar |first2=Stewart |last2=Farrar |author2-link=Stewart Farrar |year=1996 |orig-year=1981 |isbn=0-919345-92-1}}</ref><ref name="Guiley1989">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York |first=Rosemary |last=Guiley |author-link=Rosemary Ellen Guiley |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofw00guil/page/122 122–124] |year=1989 |isbn=0-8160-2268-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofw00guil/page/122 }}</ref> In the 1909 [[Rider–Waite–Smith tarot deck]] (the pentacles of which were designed by [[Arthur Edward Waite]]), and subsequent [[tarot]] decks that are based upon it, and in Wicca, pentacles prominently incorporate a [[pentagram]] in their design. This form of pentacle is formed upon a disk which may be used either upon an altar or as a sacred space of its own.