Pentacles
I've taken to wearing a pentacle recently. I've never done that before. When I was first coming into witchcraft/Paganism (and I, like most people on the path, I'd guess, started with solitary 'eclectic' Wicca), pentacles/pentagrams were a big thing among the "Wanna Blessed Be's," like Willow Rosenberg might say. I saw way to many kids piling on dinged-up pewter pentacle jewelry with as much cheap-looking dragon and various occult jewelry as possible. It absolutely looked tacky, and did nothing but serve their desire to seem "spooky." It didn't honor the symbol. But it was the 90's, and Buffy and Charmed were huge, and Harry Potter was just hitting. The witchcraft thing was huge in pop culture, and, as a bonus, it was a way to thumb your nose at your parents.
I did want a way to ID myself visually to other Pagans, though, so I took to wearing runes. At first it was Neid, then Perthro after about a year. I never quite got around to wearing Dagaz, the third of my three personal runes, but that was okay. The runes have history and meaning and were not a target for the Hot Topic crowd because, frankly, they mostly weren't interested into the actual tools of witchcraft to the point where they'd realize the significance of my necklace.
But recently, as I've been rejuvenating my entire Pagan life, I've been feeling a strong pull to wear a pentacle. I selected a simple sterling silver one-- no decoration added to it. It's simple, elegant, and sort of discreet, I guess. At about an inch in diameter, it's a little bit larger than I'd like, but I could find nothing else I liked that was smaller. I found cute little 10mm ones that I might use as charms in jewelry, though. I made a simple silver chain so it falls right at my collar bone, and that was that.
It's been about a week. Kitty keeps pawing at it, so I had to take it off a few times. I expected one or two funny reactions to it when I'm out and about-- I live in Pikesville, which is known for its religious (and often orthodox) Jewish population. But so far, the only reaction has been two women telling me that my necklace is pretty (and one, who had to be in her eighties, asking me for lipstick advice in the Rite Aid).
So, cool. That's that.
I did want a way to ID myself visually to other Pagans, though, so I took to wearing runes. At first it was Neid, then Perthro after about a year. I never quite got around to wearing Dagaz, the third of my three personal runes, but that was okay. The runes have history and meaning and were not a target for the Hot Topic crowd because, frankly, they mostly weren't interested into the actual tools of witchcraft to the point where they'd realize the significance of my necklace.
But recently, as I've been rejuvenating my entire Pagan life, I've been feeling a strong pull to wear a pentacle. I selected a simple sterling silver one-- no decoration added to it. It's simple, elegant, and sort of discreet, I guess. At about an inch in diameter, it's a little bit larger than I'd like, but I could find nothing else I liked that was smaller. I found cute little 10mm ones that I might use as charms in jewelry, though. I made a simple silver chain so it falls right at my collar bone, and that was that.
It's been about a week. Kitty keeps pawing at it, so I had to take it off a few times. I expected one or two funny reactions to it when I'm out and about-- I live in Pikesville, which is known for its religious (and often orthodox) Jewish population. But so far, the only reaction has been two women telling me that my necklace is pretty (and one, who had to be in her eighties, asking me for lipstick advice in the Rite Aid).
So, cool. That's that.