Pentagram vo sredniot vek – preliminarni istražuvanja vrz osnova na balkanskite primeri<br>The Pentagram in the Middle Ages – Preliminary Researches into Its Meanings</br>

Abstract

The idea of researching the pentagram or the five – pointed star as a decorative and symbolical motif, and its possible meanings, emerged from the use of this sign/symbol as a decorative or symbolical matrix depicted on various kinds of objects dating from the Middle Ages. Accent is given to the Balkan examples from the early to the late Middle Ages. Thus the interweaves of christian and pagan layers of the pentagram are detected. Different objects of the material culture having the pentagram as a distinguishing feature, are used as examples – rings, pottery, mosaics, plastic art, fresco – paintings, graffiti, funeral monuments and ethnological examples. The results given by this research are just a preliminary attempt at demystification of the pentagram and its decorative or symbolical meanings.