Wyrd Designs: Q & A – Is the pentagram an Asatru symbol?

Rinan asks, “Does the Pentagram have anything to do w/symbolism in Asatru, or is that only Wicca?”

The Pentagram and/or the pentacle is not a symbol native to the indigenous cultures that worshiped the Northern Gods, and as such is a symbol that those who are reconstructionists in the Northern Tradition would not use today. Asatru is defined as a reconstructionist religion, so the answer to your question is no.

However, the Northern Tradition is not only comprised of reconstructionists, but also by those who are Norse/Germanic centric types of paganism more heavily influenced by neo-paganism and forms of Wicca. These other groups may still use the symbol, but they do so by worshipping the Norse Gods within a value and symbol system that has little to do with the original source culture. For instance some Norse Wiccans while they may work with the Goddesses like Frigga, Freya, Sif, Sigyn, Idunna, etc. they may ultimately see them all as but aspects of a vast amalgam “Great Lady”. A reconstructionist would never think this, and would treat these deities as distinct individual Goddesses.