Witchcraft Symbols
Updated: February 12, 2023
Why are symbols important? All around us, we see symbols that have the power to conjure up intense feelings and emotions and help us stay grounded. Everything from love and peace, all the way down to outright hatred… Symbols are potent!
Magic symbols are an external sign of an energy that develops deep within. They are charged with complex beliefs and intentions, all of which are condensed into a simple combination of strokes.
These witchcraft symbols, by their very essence are a form of magick, and they’re vitally important to the modern day witch.
Magic Symbols
Triple Moon Symbol
The triple moon symbol is used in rituals as a powerful way to draw down the moon and to honor the divine feminine and womanhood. All-together, the triple moons represent the phases of the moon, as well as the mother, maiden and crone phases of the divine feminine.
Water Symbol
The water symbol represents the west, feminine energy and the opportunity for healing. In your craft, you can use it to call to the west and draw more power from the energies of the divine feminine, love, healing, nurturing and washing away negative energy.
Earth Symbol
The symbol for the Earth has deep ties to Mother Earth, sustenance, the divine feminine and fertility and wealth. Use it to draw deep energy and power from these ideas in your rituals and to promote growth and life and to enhance the work of nature.
Air Symbol
The Air symbol represents the direction of the East, wisdom and communication. It’s a powerful symbol that can be used to bring greater clarity and wisdom into your life while creating clearer paths of communication and insight. This symbol represents breath as well as the soul.
Fire Symbol
The fire symbol is one that represents the direction of the South and can be used in magick for purification, new life and new beginnings. This symbol also represents masculine energy and destruction that creates new life and new opportunities for those who choose to use it in their craft.
Aether Symbol
The Aether element (also called ether or Spirit) is the element that represents space, balance and is universal and immaterial. It deeply connects all things in spirit and represents joy and well-being. Its direction is universal as is its masculine and feminine energy and it’s used commonly to create the pentacle as the outermost circle element.
Crescent Moon Symbol
The crescent moon symbol is the sign of the moon, which is the obvious sign of the Goddess. The crescent itself specifically represents the waning and waxing phases of the moon and can be used in moon magick rituals specific to those moon phases. Creative power is intensely rooted within this symbol.
Goddess Symbol
The Goddess Symbol is a symbol of the Divine Feminine as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, and represents the moon in its waxing, waning and full cycles. The Goddess Symbol symbolizes the aspects of female power in a way that is united, powerful, and mysterious.
Horned God Symbol
The Horned God symbol represents masculine energy and the embodiment of the lord of the forest and the invocation of the God himself. This symbol is often used in fertility rituals and to bring about masculine energy and strength.
Triskelion Symbol
The Triskelion is an ancient Celtic symbol that is thought to represent the Goddess in her three forms of the maiden, mother and crone. It is also used to represent the land, sea and sky and is connected to the Goddess Brighid.
Solar Cross Symbol
The solar cross symbol is used in rituals where new beginnings and new transformations are taking place. It is heavily associated with the sun and also the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter and can be used to draw attention to these in rituals.
Hecate’s Wheel
Hecate’s wheel is directly associated with the Goddess Hecate, and it’s another reference to the three phases of the divine feminine–maiden, mother and crone. It’s a symbol of transformation and of Women and is typically used by those in the Dianic traditions of witchcraft.
Pentagram Symbol
The pentagram (or pentacle when it’s encircled) is probably the most famous symbol in witchcraft as well as the most controversial. It represents the four cardinal directions as well as the spirit and ultimately represents unity. It’s a powerful symbol to use in your craft because it is complete with the energy of the universe as it contains all elements essential for life.
Triquetra Symbol
The Triquetra (sometimes called the trinity knot) has a deep history in magick of tying things together. These days it is often used by witches to symbolize the Triple Goddess, or the interconnected parts of our existence witch are mind, body and soul, and the concept of unity in general. It represents the earth, wind, sky, mind, body, soul.
7 Pointed Star
The 7 Pointed Star (aka. septogram, faery star and elven star) is used as a scared reminder to represent different sets of seven, depending on the need. It is often used in rituals for protection and harmony.
Eye of Ra Symbol
The Eye of Ra is one of the most ancient magickal symbols and is sometimes invoked as a sigil of protection. Use this symbol as one of protection against someone who might harm you or your loved ones. Invoke it around your property, or wear it on a talisman or amulet as a protective device.
Spiral Symbol
The spiral symbol is commonly held as the sign of life and represents the cycle of life as a whole, from birth, life, death and ultimately rebirth. Use the spiral in your craft to revere and honor life, as spirals can be found in many places in nature (galaxies and seashells).
How to Use Magic Symbols
These symbols won’t be worth much to you if you don’t know how to use them in your witchcraft.
Don’t stress if you don’t know how. Relax. Ponder their significance to you personally. Let their meaning reveal itself deep within you.
And from there, use these symbols practically in these ways:
- Inscriptions
Inscribe these symbols onto your ritual items with a knife or sharp pointed object. Candles, bark, tools and the earth itself are all wonderful places to inscribe these symbols upon. - Writings
Writing these symbols in ink is another useful way to invoke their power and bring them into your conscious world. Write them in your grimoire or sketch them onto parchment to use them in your daily practice. - Layouts
Forming layouts of these symbols on your altar or within your circle is a really great way to use them in your craft. Crystals, candle layouts, salt, magical herbs, tea leaves and the formation of your alter itself can all bring these symbols to life for you in ways that are deeply meaningful.
