This is part of a series I am writing on the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and the other pentagram rituals taught to initiates of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This ritual draws a circle on which there is four points where a pentagram is drawn.
These directions have you draw a circle and by virtue of 4 corners there is also a square. So I hope to explore what this symbolism might mean.
This ritual four directional points are indicated twice, by drawing pentagrams in the four basic directions of the compass (East, South, West and North) and Angels are also summoned in the 4 directions (Before me, Behind me, On my right hand, On my left hand). In the process of doing the ritual the pentagrams are connected in a circle. The circle is also recognised a second time when the ritualist says “the column” since they are creating a cylinder around themself.
These shapes overlapping are very Masonic. In fact the icon for Masonry consists of the Square a tool for drawing shapes including squares and the Compass a tool for drawing the circle. Along with the book of sacred law (a sacred text, normally a bible) these are the three main lights of masonry.
Duncan’s Masonic Monitor of 1866 explains them as “The square, to square our actions; The compasses, to circumscribe and keep us within bounds with all mankind”. So these symbols are to make us righteous in deed and focused on our goals.
It is also worth noting the Mathematics problem known as squaring the circle. This is trying to find the formula for a square with the identical area to a circle without using pi because pi is considered a fake number. It is a task we strive towards the ideal and with each step we get closer to finding the answer, but it is likely a mathematical problem that we will not be able to solve until we are able to better understand pi. So it is possible that using these shape we are invoking the Masonic heritage of his ritual born out of member of Societas Rosicruciana In Anglia and an invocation of the path to that which transcends rational numbers, aspiring to the unattainable.