Greetings!
I know that it’s full moon and
that I said the next time I would post would be this month’s Werewolf Movie
Review, but I simply didn’t finish it in time, for which I am sorry. Instead,
while I continue working on the review, I thought I’d post something shorter. I
apologise in for posting something that’s already been posted, in a way, on
Werewolf Theory, but here’s why I’ve decided to do it: the paragraphs
pertaining to the symbolism of the pentagram and how it may be related to
werewolves were originally a part of the September 2015 review of 1941’s The Wolf Man. Because they were quite
far into the review, and because there is no mention of its inclusion in the
review’s title or description (since it came about as a side-effect of my
analysis of the movie), not everyone looking for this particular subject would
be able to find it. So I decided to make a separate post consisting of those
couple paragraphs, expanded by additional examples of the use of pentagrams in
relation with werewolves that would not fit into The Wolf Man review for obvious reasons. I guess this post could be
treated as a filler by those who’ve already read my analysis and review of the
mentioned movie. For those who haven’t, I encourage you to take a look at the
complete review to which a link you can find in the menu on the right in the
‘Cinema & TV’ section :) And to those who’ve stumbled onto my humble
doorstep looking for an article on pentagrams and werewolves I say: enjoy!
* * *
To many members of the older
generation (especially overly concerned parents of teenagers, it seems – and
I’m talking from personal experience here), the pentagram is a sign of the
devil. However, the whole business is trickier than that, which many people
don’t realise. The symbolism of the pentagram in Western culture depends on its
orientation. And so, there are two pentagrams: one whose meaning is good, and
the other, whose meaning is more sinister.
The one which represents positive
qualities is the one where a single point is projecting upwards, so the standard
type of a pentagram, which we most commonly see when we hear the word
‘pentagram’. This pentagram is sometimes called the Pythagorean pentagram and
in ancient times it was used as a Christian symbol of the five senses or the
five wounds of Christ. During the Renaissance period, Heinrich Cornelius
Agrippa – a 15th/16th century German magician, alchemist, occult writer,
theologian, and astrologer – in his 1531 work De occulta philosophia libri tres (Three Books of Occult Philosophy) spread the popularity of the
pentagram as an occult symbol. He attributed each of the points to the five
Neoplatonic elements and inscribed the human body in a pentagram. In the 19th
century, a further distinction appeared concerning the way the pentagram is
positioned. The already mentioned Pythagorean pentagram, one with a single
point projecting upwards, was a depiction of the spirit presiding over the four
elements of matter and was symbolically ‘good’.
Then there is the ‘evil’
pentagram. The 19th century French occult author and ceremonial magician
Eliphas Levi called the pentagram ‘evil’ whenever it appeared upside down. In
his 1854 work Transcendental Magic, its
Doctrine and Ritual (Dogme et ritual
de la haute magie), he wrote:
A
reversed pentagram, with two points projecting upwards, is a symbol of evil and
attracts sinister forces because it overturns the proper order of things and
demonstrates the triumph of matter over spirit. It is the goat of lust
attacking the heavens with its horns, a sign execrated by initiates.
An overturned pentagram thus
became the symbol of the goat of Black Magic, since its head could be inscribed
into the symbol. In a later work, Levi also calls this pentagram ‘a sign of
antagonism and fatality’. A drawing of a goat’s head inscribed in an overturned
pentagram was then included in 1897 in Stanislas de Guaita’s La Clef de la Magia Noire and is known
as the ‘Samael/Lilith’ version. Later on, in 1968, a slightly redesigned
version of this pentagram, known as the Sigil of Baphomet, became a copyrighted
symbol of Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan. But this last thing is just a
curiosity, because it doesn’t pertain in any way to our current predicament.
So that is that, as they say. Now
that we know a little more about the nature of the pentagram, we can understand
a little more about why it could be regarded as a sign of the werewolf. Of
particular interest here is Levi’s interpretation that the overturned pentagram
symbolises ‘the triumph of matter over spirit’ in contrast to the proper
pentagram, which symbolises the dominance of the spirit. The duality of human
nature is a constant struggle between the spirit and the body – between what we
regard proper and good for the soul (especially in religion) and the often
primitive temptations of the body. While the Pythagorean pentagram is a symbol
of a human’s will and spirit dominating those primal instincts, the
Samael/Lilith pentagram symbolises the opposite. With werewolves, the struggle
between humanity and bestiality is magnified tenfold, for obvious reasons. A
werewolf’s efforts to dominate the beast within are an omnipresent theme in
works concerning lycanthropy. A human physically transforming into a wolf,
succumbing to the curse, becomes a symbolic surrender of spirit to matter and
the overturning of the natural order of things, just as the pentagram itself is
overturned.
Let’s now take a look at the
appearances of the pentagram in werewolf cinema. Note that this list will be
updated in time, because even I still haven’t seen all werewolf movies (shame!)
:( So I apologise for its incompletion. For now, here are three productions
that came to my mind in the first place.
The Wolf Man (1941)
In this movie, the pentagram is
an important plot point and it is probably the first time it was used in this
context. The first time it’s mentioned is when the main character, Larry
Talbot, visits an antique shop where he eventually buys his famous silver cane.
The shop owner’s daughter tells Larry that the pentagram is considered the
symbol of a werewolf, but no further explanation as to why is given. The only
reason that the movie provides is that someone who’s a werewolf will see a
pentagram in the palm of his next victim’s hand, which is shown later
on-screen. The pentagram also features on the tip of Larry’s silver cane, where
it is paired with a leaping wolf. Additionally, scars of those bitten by
werewolves are said to be star-shaped, as is the case with Bela the Gypsy and,
later, Larry himself. A slightly different use of the pentagram is made when
Larry is given a pentagram-shaped charm that’s supposed to protect him from
evil. This pentagram, however, is the upright one, as if to bring balance to
where there is a lack of thereof.
An American Werewolf in London
(1981)
In An American Werewolf in London, the pentagram appears roughly at
the beginning of the movie when our two main characters visit a pub in a small
Welsh village where they end up during their tour of Europe. The pentagram is
painted on one of the pub’s walls in red paint, with two candles hanging on
each side, and one of the characters makes a reference to The Wolf Man when they say that it’s a sign of the werewolf.
However, what the characters fail to notice is that the pentagram here is drawn upright, which actually makes it a protective charm of sorts. Why else would the owners of the inn paint it on their wall when we know that they're terrified of the moors if not to ward off evil?
Cursed (2005)
Cursed
is another movie
that makes many references to the original Wolf
Man. The pentagram’s use here is similar to the one in the 1941 classic.
After a character in the movie contracts lycanthropy, dark spots appear on the
palm of their right hand, which, if traced, create a pentagram. This is a
similar approach, if with a little twist, to the one in The Wolf Man.
WolfCop (2014)
In last year’s WolfCop, the main character becomes a
victim of a demonic ritual of sacrifice, which ends up making him a werewolf. During
said ritual, an overturned pentagram is carved into his chest with a
sacrificial knife. He discovers the wound only the next morning when he tries
to shave. The pentagram here is referred to as ‘the mark of the beast’.
* * *
And that is all for now, I hope
you’ve enjoyed this short article nevertheless. In the meantime, I’m going back
to working on 2010’s The Wolfman and
I will hopefully see you again very soon. Until then!
