Making a pentacle

Still being in the process of accumulating the tools for a proper altar, one of the things I decided to make myself was a clay pentacle. I made a dish for the purpose in my ceramics class, but as I was decorating it, I became self conscious of people seeing it.

Would they think it was a pentagram (satanic) and just assume instead of asking? Would they see it and just assume that I was a long practicing Wiccan? What sort of judgments would people make just looking at it - if any at all?

One guy in my class, noticing that I was using a compass to draw a pentacle, perked up and mentioned that he used to draw them for some friends all the time - and then asked if I was "Into wiccanism or that Odin stuff." I said no, that I was just looking into earth religions, and he nodded, returning to his work - a beer stein with a skull and vines on it.
"That's cool," he replied. "I have a lot of friends into wicca or whatever."
He was oddly immature - being in his early 30's, he dressed and talked a lot like a teenager. It made me question what associations I might attach to myself allowing my interests to be more visible. It also made me question myself.



Does the fact that I worried about these sorts of things mean that I was just being conscious of possible biases, or were my fears a projection of how I feel deep down about the pentacle as a symbol?

According to wikipedia:

"Pentacles, despite the sound of the word, often had no connotation of "five" in the old magical texts, but were, rather, magical talismans inscribed with any symbol or character. When they incorporated star-shaped figures, these were more often hexagrams than pentagrams."

pictured: A hexagram. L'chaim!

My use of pentacles recently has been limited to tarot, where they denote earthly issues - money, career, family, etc.

In wicca, they hold a number of meanings - one of the most common being that the five points represent elements: Earth, air, wind, fire... and spirit. They can also represent the upright human form. A pentagram is a whole other creature - being reversed, it represents matter over mind rather than vice versa.

Most representations of the symbol as evil are the result of widespread and effective propaganda by the Christian church for many years - changing it from a symbol of protection, enlightenment and unity into a symbol of devil worship, human sacrifice and evil.

The top image is a screen capture of a google search for "Pentacle." The bottom is for "Pentagram." At first, it looks like just a bunch of stars - but looking closer, the tone is obviously different. The top shows the symbol overlying images of nature, goddesses, and the elements - the bottom shows blood, horned demons, and a man with a bleeding pentagram on his forehead. Suggested related searched for 'pentagram' included 'wiccan pentagram' - but clicking it took me to a page showing images like my search for pentacle.

Obviously, the meanings are confused by many people and misuse - like the inverted cross actually being the symbol of St. Peter, or the swastika actually being an ancient positive symbol of luck and victory.

I suppose the lesson I take from this experience is that if I'm afraid of the symbol being misunderstood, and hide it, then I allow the perversion of it's meaning to win out. I hope that knowing this, I have the confidence to defend both the pentacle and myself in the future.