traditions, just as the cross is considered a protective symbol by Christians.
The upright Pentagram, as used in Wicca, is often confused with the inverted Pentagram and the Baphomet Pentagram. The latter is an inverted pentagram containing the head of a goat. Anton La Vey, who was the founder of the Church of Satan (mid 20th Century), used the Baphomet Pentagram as the main symbol of his church. The Christian Church condemned the pentagram as a symbol of evil soon there after. No distinction was made between the Wiccan pentagram and the Baphomet Pentagram.
The Moon
The Moon is a sacred symbol of the Goddess and representative of cycles of rebirth, maturity, old age and death, followed by rebirth. The waxing crescent moon represents a young woman (maiden) and symbolizes new beginnings and growth. When the moon moves towards full, the woman enters the “mother” phase of her life. When the moon wanes, and the woman enters her “crone” years. For Wiccans, this stage is associated with wisdom and knowledge. In Wicca all stages of a woman’s life are valued and respected.
Witches celebrate the phases of the moon as a representation of life and make use of the different phases to lend power to specific spells. In example, the waxing moon could be used to lend power to a spell to aid the recovery of someone after illness, whereas the full moon could be used to lend power to a spell seeking to maintain good health and the waning moon to reinforce a spell seeking to destroy a disease.
The misconceptions around the Wiccan moon symbol stems from the fact that Satanists describe their symbolism of the moon as death and blood. This is illustrated from the following excerpt by