Supernatural: Is Sam's pentagram tattoo upside down?

Krtrzu
[1]Mar 25, 2009
member since: 04/02/06
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My brother claims that Sam's pentagram tattoo is upside down when Dean and Sam show Henrickson their tattoos. Does anyone know? I tried looking for pictures online but they are difficult to make out. I don't have the episode handy to watch, so I can't check that way either.
It would be interesting if this is the case, considering the upside down pentagram is said to represent Satan. Considering Sam's recent activities, that would be a pretty good foreshadowing on the part of the writers.
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libra113
[2]Mar 25, 2009
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Well, actually there are pentagrams and there are penticals. Pentagrams are the symbol of Satan (the Ram's head) and have the point down. Pentacals are symbols of man and have the point up (the top point is the head, the two lower points are arms out and the bottom points are legs apart). The pic I have (which is of the offical rub on tattoo they sell) is a pentical, which makes sense. I doubt that Sam's tattoo is diffrent than Dean's since they apprently got them at the same time, in the place for the same reason.
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Krtrzu
[3]Mar 25, 2009
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Ok, your explanation about pentical vs pentagram makes sense, haha. Yeah, I thought that they would have the exact same one as well, but I honestly can't tell one bit from the pic I saw of them pulling their shirt down. It's fairly small resolution and quality.
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libra113
[4]Mar 25, 2009
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Yeah, it's like the cross and inverted cross. One (the cross) is a holy (good symbol) and the other (the inverted cross) is a Satanic inversion of that.

Like I said the Pentical is the symbol of man (head, arms out, legs spread) the Pentagram is the symbol of the Ram's Head, connected to Satin (the top two points are the horns and the bottom is the chin).

Tradinally, Penticals are used to ward off demons and as protection (as is the case with the tats) and Pentagrams CAN be used to trap and hold them (like a devil's trap) or for summoning rituals.
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basenji529
[5]Mar 26, 2009
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Pentacle, actually. Supposedly, the pentacle represents the head, arms, and legs, representing man's mastery over his animal nature, whereas the pentagram represents some much lower anatomy, representing the animal nature overcoming the rational self.
Speaking of which, interestingly, the hexagram (a.k.a. the Star of David) is a symbol for "male" in West Africa.
My personal favorite, though, is the swastika. Among the Hopi Indians, the swastika (turned the opposite direction) represents the sun.
All good symbolism is reminiscent of Chinese characters, in that it can mean more than one thing.
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libra113
[6]Mar 26, 2009
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Yeah, actually it's called a Manja I think and I recall some people got the wrong idea (thinking it was a Nazi thing) when it appeared in a video game several years ago.
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Kami-katze
[7]Mar 29, 2009
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The nazi's stole it, at least that's what I learned in school. They were after all kind of mythical things.
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ypomoni
[8]Mar 29, 2009
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Sam's tattoo

Dean's tattoo

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Kami-katze
[9]Mar 29, 2009
member since: 11/02/07
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ypomoni wrote:

Sam's tattoo

Dean's tattoo

Maybe the glued it a little weird, but i still think it points up, because something that would jump into your face like that? I doubt the would do it. Also if you look at the rays of the sun (or flames) surrounding it, they look the same on both tattoos but one is turned 45° or a bit more/less.
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ypomoni
[10]Mar 29, 2009
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Sam's is slightly tilted; it's also closer to his neck, so when he stretched his neck to show the tat, maybe it too stretched to that angle? Whatever the case, neither of the tats seem to be pointing the wrong way.
Edited on 03/29/2009 8:33am
Edited 4 total times.
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libra113
[11]Mar 29, 2009
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Yeah, it's just that they're not in exactly the same place and the exact same angle but yeah otherwise they are exactly the same and again a pentical would make more sense.
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