22 Witchcraft Symbols and Their Meanings in Magic

Witchcraft symbols are one of the most recognizable parts of modern magical practice. The symbols used in Wicca, witchcraft, and ceremonial magic are far more than just designs. They are the visual language of the Craft and help bridge the gap between the physical and the metaphysical.

Witchcraft symbols are visual representations used in ritual magic, Wicca, and folk magic to represent spiritual forces, elemental energies, protection, and transformation.

They are also used as shorthand in Books of Shadows used to represent tools, timing, or movement when casting spells or doing ritual work.

Some of these symbols are ancient and date back at least as far as Ancient Greece and Rome. Others came from alchemy. And, others developed within modern Wicca in the 20th century, though were likely inspired by older symbology.

Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or a curious observer seeking to understand these magical symbols, here you’ll learn how modern practitioners use them and what they mean. And, to get a full foundation on the practice itself, be sure to check out our comprehensive Guide to Witchcraft.

Air Element

The symbol for the element of Air is an upright triangle divided by a horizontal line. This symbol can be found in medieval and Renaissance alchemical manuscripts, where the four classical elements were represented by triangles.

Air is the element that stood between the Heavens (Fire) and the Earth (Water/Earth). These elemental triangles were later incorporated into ceremonial magic systems such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and then adopted into modern Wiccan ritual structure. In magic, Air is the element of communication and ideas and is associated with the East and Spring.

Meaning: Air, intellect, communication, breath, truth
Correspondences: East, Spring, Masculine, Yellow, White, Sylphs, The Suit of Swords, To Know
Ritual Uses: Calling the east quarter when casting a circle, marking the incense, wand, or athame placement on an altar map, drawing elemental correspondences in a Book of Shadows, representing air on spell jars or petitions, spells for truth or communication, chanting or invocation

Fire Element

The symbol for the element of Fire is an upright triangle. It is the most active of the four elements, so its upward-pointing shape mimics the natural behavior of a flame moving upwards. Like the other elemental triangle symbols, it was a symbol used in Renaissance alchemy and later in Western occult traditions and ceremonial magic. In magic, Fire is the element of transformation and willpower and is associated with the South and Summer.

Meaning: Fire, will, action, transformation, energetic spark, heat, vitality, courage, strength
Correspondences: South, Summer, Masculine, Red, Salamanders, The suit of Wands, To Will
Ritual Uses: Calling the south quarter when casting a circle, marking the athame or wand placement on an altar map, drawing elemental correspondences in a Book of Shadows, representing south on spell jars or petitions, spells for confidence, courage, passion, or action

Water Element

The symbol for the element of Water is an inverted triangle. Like the other four elemental symbols, it was a symbol used by the Renaissance alchemists long before it was adopted by Wicca. This downward facing triangle represents its tendency to flow downward, filling the lowest point of any vessel. In witchcraft, Water is the element of the subconscious and emotions and is associated with West and the season of Fall.

Meaning: Water, emotion, intuition, healing, flow, reflection
Correspondences: West, Autumn, Feminine, Blue, The suit of Cups, Undines, To Dare
Ritual Uses: Calling the west quarter when casting a circle, marking the chalice placement on an altar map, noting elemental correspondences in a Book of Shadows, representing west on spell jars or petitions, in spells tied to dreams or intuition, drawn during ritual work to aid with emotional release

Earth Element

The symbol for the element of Earth is an inverted triangle with a horizontal line through it. This symbol appears alongside the other elemental triangles in the manuscripts of Renaissance alchemists and was later used by ceremonial magicians and modern Wiccans. In magic, the element of Earth represents stability, the physical world, and manifestation and is associated with North and the season of Winter.

Meaning: Earth, physical world, manifestation, grounding, structure
Correspondences: North, Winter, Feminine, Green, The suit of Pentacles or Coins, Gnomes, To Keep Silent
Ritual Uses: Calling the north quarter when casting a circle, marking the pentacle placement on an altar map, drawing elemental correspondences in a Book of Shadows, representing north on spell jars or petitions, spells for grounding, physical manifestation, or abundance

Spirit Symbol

Unlike the four classical elements, there is no single historical symbol for Spirit shared across Western magical traditions. The idea of Spirit as a fifth element comes from classical philosophy where is was known as aether by Aristotle. In modern witchcraft and Wicca, Spirit is often represented by a circle, a circle divided into four parts, or sometimes an eight-spoked wheel.

In all cases, the circle is a universal symbol of infinity and unity and the symbol is a reminder of the interconnectedness of all things and the presence of the divine in ritual work.

Meaning: Spirit, the Divine
Ritual Uses: Representing the center of a ritual circle, marking the fifth point on an altar or pentacle, or invoking the divine presence during meditation.

The Circle

The circle is one of the most fundamental symbols in witchcraft and Western magical practice. In ritual contexts, it most commonly represents the circle of protection. Its edge is a boundary line created with salt, chalk, or energy before you perform magic and it protects everything within it.

In some elemental diagrams, a simple circle may also represent Spirit as the unifying center of the elements. Because of this, its meaning depends on context: in ritual instructions it usually marks sacred space, while in symbolic diagrams it may represent unity or the fifth element.

Meaning: Sacred boundary, circle of protection, ritual space, cycles, containment
Ritual Uses: Casting a protective ritual circle, symbolizing energetic boundaries in ritual notes, Books of Shadow, or grimoires

Sun Cross

The solar cross is one of the oldest known symbols in human history, and can be dated as least as far back as Neolithic and Bronze Age rock carvings. It looks like a circle divided into four equal parts or an equilateral cross within a circle.

For many, it represents the Sun’s path through the sky and the four seasons, or the four cardinal directions (north, east, south, west). However, it is important to note that this agricultural symbol has been co-opted by some extremist groups in modern times.

Meaning: Solar cycle, four directions, Spirit (in some instances), balance, order
Ritual Uses: Inscribed on gold or yellow candles when doing solar magic or working with solar deities, placed on an altar during the Summer Solstice to honor the peak of the Sun’s power.

The Wheel of the Year

The eight-spoked Wheel of the Year symbol represents the modern Pagan and Wiccan ritual calendar. It visualizes how everything moves in cycles and that the cycle (the wheel) is always turning. While ancient cultures celebrated seasonal shifts, the Wheel of the Year was created in the mid-20th century by Wicca’s Gerald Gardner and OBOD’s Ross Nichols.

The Wheel of the Year includes the four solar festivals (two solstices and two equinoxes) and the four Greater Sabbats or cross-quarter festivals (Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh) that come from the Gaelic calendar

Pentagram

The Pentagram, or five-pointed star, is perhaps the most iconic symbol in witchcraft. It is invoked for protection in rituals using the athame or through the LBRP (Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram).

Its history dates back to ancient Mesopotamia and Greece, where the Pythagoreans viewed it as a sign of health and the Golden Ratio. In the 19th century, occultist Éliphas Lévi popularized the interpretation of the upright pentagram representing the Spirit presiding over the four material elements (Air, Fire, Water, and Earth).

In modern practice, the upright pentagram is a symbol of protection and represents the seeker’s mastery over their own physical and emotional world through spiritual alignment. When enclosed in a circle, the pentagram becomes a pentacle, an object that has been inscribed with a magical symbol or sigil.

Meaning: Protection, balance, spirit over matter, harmony, elemental unity
Ritual use: Traced in the air with an athame or during the LBRP to invoke protection, worn as a pendant for personal protection and to signal one’s path to other practitioners, drawn on the cover of a Book of Shadows to guard its contents.

Triple Goddess Symbol

The Triple Goddess symbol features three phases of the Moon: the Full Moon, and its waxing and waning crescent phases. Triple goddesses have appeared throughout ancient cultures (including Artemis, Selene, Hecate, as well as the Roman Diana Trivia), but this image first appeared in the mid-20th century Wicca and symbolizes in the Maiden, Mother, and Crone as well as the Divine Feminine. One of its first appearances in print was in Eight Sabbats for Witches by Janet and Stewart Farrar.

The connection between the waxing, full, and waning lunar phases and the Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes comes from Robert Graves’ interpretation of the Cogul Dancers rock painting in his book the White Goddess. Though it’s worth noting that his interpretation takes a lot of poetic license.

In modern witchcraft, this is the primary symbol of the Goddess’s power. It is an important symbol in almost all Wiccan traditions, signifying the feminine experience and the power of the Moon.

Meaning: Life cycles, Maiden / Mother / Crone, triple goddess, moon cycles, divine feminine, feminine power
Ritual use: Moon phase workings, invoking goddess archetypes during seasonal rituals, working with feminine energy

Horned God Symbol

The Horned God symbol is a circle topped by a crescent or horns. It represents the wild masculine, the cycle of death and rebirth in nature, and the solar seasonal journey in modern Wicca and contemporary witchcraft traditions. It draws inspiration from several historical horned deities including Cernunnos, Pan, Herne the Hunter, and other European nature gods associated with fertility, wilderness, and seasonal cycles.

The stylized horned glyph used today is a modern ritual symbol developed within Gardnerian Wicca to represent the God as a counterpart to the Triple Goddess.

Meaning: Horned god, Divine masculine, wilderness, fertility, cycles of nature

Spiral Goddess Symbol

The spiral goddess symbol is a female figure with raised arms and a spiral at the abdomen designed by Abby Willowroot in 1990. The uplifted arms mimic the “Drawing Down the Moon” posture and the belly spiral is one of the oldest symbols in human history found as far back as Neolithic sites like Newgrange, Ireland.

The spiral at the center of the body represents the womb, creation, and cyclical return, reflecting modern Goddess theology emphasizing birth, transformation, and renewal. Today it functions primarily as a symbol of the divine feminine within contemporary witchcraft and feminist spirituality.

Meaning: Spiral goddess, Divine Feminine, womb, creation, rebirth, feminine power
Ritual Uses: Representation of the goddess on the altar

Hexagram

The hexagram or Seal of Solomon is a six-pointed star formed by two interlocking equilateral triangles. One points up and the other points down. In Western ceremonial magic and Renaissance occult philosophy, it represents the union of opposites: fire and water, above and below, spirit and matter. It also represents the relationship between the macrocosm (the universe) and the microcosm (the individual practitioner).

Because it expresses balance between complementary forces, it became one of the central geometric symbols in Hermetic magic and later in the ritual symbolism of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

(Although widely recognized today as the Star of David in Jewish tradition, the hexagram appears independently in ancient Near Eastern decorative contexts and later in 17th-century grimoires like the Key of Solomon.)

Meaning: Union or balance of opposites, As Above So Below, harmony, macrocosm, male / female, fire / water, spirit / matter, cosmic order
Ritual Uses: Invoke or banish specific planetary energies, representing union of fire and water in Hermetic symbolism, etched onto a Pentacle to act as a grounded representation of universal law.

Unicursal Hexagram

A related but distinct symbol used in ceremonial magic is the unicursal hexagram. While the standard hexagram is composed of two separate, overlapping shapes, the unicursal version is drawn in one continuous, fluid line. This variation was popularized by Aleister Crowley within the magical system of Thelema and represents the integration of planetary and solar forces within a magical working.

Meaning: Divine unity, the union of the sun and moon, magical continuity, planetary harmony.
Ritual Uses: Invoking planetary forces in Golden Dawn-style ceremonial magic, in Thelemic version of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Philosopher’s Stone Symbol (Squared Circle)

The squared circle is a symbol with a circle inside a square inside a triangle, often within an outer circle. It is a well-known symbol from Renaissance alchemy, where it represents the the Philosopher’s Stone and the completion of the Great Work (Magnum Opus) where base matter was transformed into spiritual perfection.

We can date the symbol as far back as Michael Maier’s 1617 book, Atalanta Fugiens. It expresses the reconciliation of opposites: spirit and matter, heaven and earth, and the unity of the four classical elements within the quintessence.

The inner circle represents the microcosm or the individual. The outer square represents the four classical elements of the physical world (Fire, Water, Earth and Air). The triangle represents the trinity, which for the alchemists may have been the mind, body, and spirit. And the circle represents the All or Spirit or the Macrocosm that incorporates all of these things into one.

Meaning: Philosopher’s Stone, The Great Work, unity of opposites, transformation, enlightenment

Hecate’s Wheel (Strophalos)

The symbol widely known today as Hekate’s Wheel features a central whirl or labyrinthine design inside a circle. While many believe this is an ancient sigil, it is actually a modern icon that gained popularity in the 1980s, likely inspired by decorative Mycenaean gold disks dating back to 1600 BCE.

Historically, the wheels actually associated with Hecate were simpler four- or eight-spoked solar crosses, examples of which are still visible today carved into the steps of Hecate’s temple at Lagina.

In ancient texts like the Chaldean Oracles, the word Strophalos refers to a physical ritual tool rather than a flat symbol. According to the 11th-century scholar Psellus, the Strophalos was a golden sphere with a sapphire at its center, which was whirled on a leather thong to facilitate communication with the goddess.

Today, the labyrinthine symbol is commonly used by witches who work with Hecate or who incorporate Greek magical symbolism into their practice.

Meaning: Hecate, crossroads, liminal space, thresholds
Ritual Uses: Placed on an altar during Dark Moon rituals to honor Hecate, as a focal point for meditation, crossroads rituals

Witch’s Knot

The Witch’s Knot also known as an Infinity Knot is a modern protective knotwork symbol made from four interwoven loops with no clear beginning or end. Knot magic is one of the oldest forms of folk magic, used for binding or releasing intentions. The four loops are often said to represent the four corners of the earth or the four elements, bound together by the protective circle of the infinite.

Because the line is continuous, it is believed to “trap” malevolent energy within its loops, preventing it from reaching the practitioner, so it is used for binding, warding, or protection.

Meaning: Protection, warding, binding, continuity
Ritual Uses: protective charm or sigil, warding symbol, binding spells

Ankh

The ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph meaning eternal life. It may also mean breath of life or life depending on the context. It can be found on temple walls and in sculptures and reliefs of the Egyptian gods such as Osiris and Isis, especially when they granted the breath of life to pharaohs.

After ancient Egyptian religion faded, the symbol survived in modified form as the crux ansata in early Egyptian Christianity, but it largely disappeared from European magical imagery until the late 1800s when Victorian ceremonial magic groups like the Golden Dawn, who treated ancient Egypt as a source of primordial spiritual wisdom, incorporated Egyptian temple imagery into their initiatory systems.

For the occultists, the ankh remained a largely private symbol within high-degree initiation rituals until the mid-twentieth century. In the late 1960s and 1970s, it was embraced within African heritage movements and Kemetic religious revival traditions as an expression of ancestral continuity and connection to ancient Egypt.

The symbol’s transition into modern witchcraft was filtered through the dark lens of the 1980s and 90s pop culture, beginning with the sleek, bladed pendants in the 1983 vampire film The Hunger. This linked the ankh to the Goth subculture, a connection cemented when it became Death’s sigil in The Sandman.

Today, many practitioners use the ankh to represent life force or as a way to feel connected to ancient magical traditions.

Meaning: Life, eternal life, immortality, divine breath

Eye of Horus (Wedjat)

The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian protection symbol. It is depicted as a stylized left human eye with the markings of the falcon god Horus. In mythology, Horus’s right eye was the Sun and his left eye the Moon. In some myths, the left eye was torn out by Set and healed by the god Thoth. After it was restored, it became a powerful symbol of protection and magical healing and wedjat means “the one that is sound again.”

The symbol appears in Egyptian temple carvings, protective amulets, and boats. It was also found on coffins and in tombs as it was associated with guiding the dead safely into the afterlife. Because of its association with protection and recovery, it remains one of the most widely used Egyptian symbols in modern magical practice.

Meaning: Protection, healing, restoration, the Moon, cosmic order

All-Seeing Eye (Eye of Providence)

The All-Seeing Eye is a symbol featuring an eye, often enclosed within a triangle and / or surrounded by rays of light. It emerged within Christian art during the Renaissance as a representation of the omniscience of God, or Divine Providence, watching over humanity. It later became a central icon in Freemasonry and various 19th-century fraternal orders, such as the Ancient Order of the Pyramids and is also now on the American dollar.

The symbol expresses the idea that a higher spiritual intelligence or “Great Architect” observes the actions of the material world. The eye represents spiritual perception and insight, allowing the seeker to see beyond the veil. The radiating rays signify the light of truth and the expansion of knowledge. It serves as a reminder to the practitioner to live with integrity, as the spirit is always witness to one’s path.

While frequently associated with secret societies, its primary historical use was to signify spiritual sight and the pursuit of higher consciousness.

Meaning: Divine awareness, omniscience

Triple Spiral / Triskele

The triple spiral is made of three interconnected spirals radiating from a single center. The triskele (sometimes called a triskelion) is a similar, related symbol that may have evolved from it). The symbol dates back at least 5,000 years, most famously found carved into the stone entrance of the Newgrange passage tomb in Ireland. This makes it one of the oldest symbols of continuous motion in history, predating Celtic culture by millennia.

For modern practitioners, it typically represents the eternal cycles of nature, the flow of time, or the process of birth, death, and rebirth. However, its original Neolithic meaning has not been proven.

The triskele, or triskelion, is an evolution of this motif, often appearing as three symmetrical interlocking spirals or three bent legs that suggest a state of rapid rotation. It was a hallmark of Iron Age Celtic and Greek art. Its rotational symmetry implies a forward-marching, active energy.

In modern practice, these symbols harmonize to represent the balance of three interacting forces, such as the past, present, and future, or the harmony of mind, body, and spirit. They serve as a reminder of perpetual motion, cycles, and the inevitability of change.

Triquetra (The Trinity Knot)

The triquetra is a three-pointed knot symbol made of three interlaced arcs, sometimes with a circle passing through its center. For modern pagans and witches, it may represent the Triple Goddess, the three realms (earth, sea, and sky), or the mind, body, and spirit or the Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

The symbol is a knot of protection, as the continuous interlacing line was believed to trap malevolent spirits who could not find the end of the pattern. It expresses the idea of three distinct forces that are indissolubly united. The addition of the circle represents eternity and the unbreakable nature of the bond between the three points.

The triquetra appears extensively in Insular art, such as the Book of Kells as well as in medieval manuscripts where it represented the Christian Trinity. During the 20th century Celtic revival and rise of modern paganism, the symbol was reinterpreted.

Meaning: Unity, balance, Triple Goddess, interconnectedness, Maiden / Mother / Crone, Earth / Sea / Sky, the Trinity

Sources and Further Reading

Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Agrippa
Timaeus by Plato
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham
Key of Solomon
Transcendental Magic by Éliphas Lévi
The White Goddess by Robert Graves
Eight Sabbats for Witches by Janet and Stewart Farrar
The Witch-Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray
Hekate’s Wheel: Iynx, Strophalos & Labyrinth? by Sorita d’Este
Chaldean Oracles