Meditations and Movements:
An Exploration of the Iron Pentacle
by Rhea Shemazi from Nightwing

There is no such thing as exact knowledge.

It would be easy to consider the Iron (and Pearl) Pentacles as mere philosophical exercises, meditations on the qualities of each point of the pentacle, or each one in combination with the next. However, much can be gained by treating them as active principles, like a martial arts Form. Doing the Form yields more understanding than any number of conversations about it. Yet, even so, we can listen carefully to the experiences of others, and in so doing, compare those experiences with our own.

The Iron Pentacle is one of the fundamental disciplines of the Feri. At first glance, it can seem like a meditation exercise - memorize this sequence of words and associate them with these parts of the body and spirit. Visualize this particular color and imagine the pulse of color starting from the head, moving to the right foot, up to the left hand, across to the right hand, down to the right foot and back to the head. Work with it until the flow of color is steady and "pulses" as it moves. Meditate on each point and combination of points to discover your own meanings, and to unblock those energies in your subtle body. Okay so far. We are making the shape of a pentacle within our bodies and visualizing color, and energy, pulsing along the lines. Another way of working with the Iron Pentacle is to run the energy around the outside, from point to point, making a great wheel with the pentacle/body at the center. Both ways have some interesting applications, as we'll see later.

When starting to work with the Iron Pentacle, of the first things the new student will report is that they are filled with a lot of energy, often more than they know what to do with, or have the discipline for. And one of the paradigms of the pagan movement for some people is "excess energy/power is bad," and so the inclination of many students (and some teachers) is that if there is too much energy for comfort, then use grounding-and-centering (I deliberately connect it as one word) and ground the energy out into the earth. While that could be useful for other magickal traditions and circumstances, we'd like to offer that this rather defeats one of the purposes of the Iron Pentacle - to raise and channel the Feri Power, a power that is always present, and an energy that is abundant and electric. In Nightwing, we always remind students that the period of discomfort, from having too much energy, combined with lack of experience in it, will pass. I do not mean to make light of it, for it is a very difficult time, and is a period of testing for the novice. I always start Feri training with this exercise, as I've found it to be a good tool for both the teacher and student to learn if this is the right path for the new student. When there are enough side effects manifesting in a "corona effect", then it is time to introduce the complementary discipline, the Pearl Pentacle.

In Nightwing, we've assembled over the years a common thread of visions, experiences and side effects noticed during the first couple of months of the Iron Pentacle, and this acts as a good indicator to tell us if someone is doing it, or pretending. Regrettably, in the pagan world, there is a lot of focus on lineage, and not a lot on ability and talent, so many people have learned to be great at looking the part and saying the things to "please the teacher," while not necessarily doing the work.

Sadly, this can get in the way of developing very real talents. We like to find out quickly if someone has the ability to work with the Feri Power, and then work with them to develop it as strongly as possible.

Some will start the exercise and will do it once a day for a while, and then will stop, and if that is the case, then Feri may not be right for them, or not right for at this time. Others will find it so resonant that they will start finding more and more reasons to run the Iron Pentacle, until it becomes a constant, much akin to deliberate breathing or lucid dreaming. The playful will try it out in various different circumstances - walking down the street, performing on stage, projecting it large, pulling it close against the skin, amplifying charisma, warding off danger, acting as a shield, concentrating creativity, spinning it like a wheel, to share but a few - or will spend days concentrating on one or other of the aspects of the pentacle, meditating on pushing all the power into that aspect, or pulling it away. This latter practice, beyond the first meditations on the form, constantly informs us about our changing internal state.

One way of looking at the Iron Pentacle is to see it as a Path of Fire. As an active aspect, it emphasizes energy, vitality, creativity and the naked primal force of the Will. Working with it invigorates all the energy centers in the body, burning away the layers of self-deception and social programming, revealing the core personality of the individual. Our primal, instinctual motivators are bought to the fore, as the force of this much energy is more usually associated with sex, with fleeing, with fighting, with the need for food. Keeping that in mind, it is not surprising that you feel more assertive or aggressive, that you question authority, that your sex drive feels like it is in overdrive, that you are radiating pheromones, being more direct or blunt in speech, or feel frightened by the whole thing and feel like running away. The primal energy aroused by the Iron Pentacle is not only the energy associated with the most commonly recognized instinctual drives. It is also the ancient power to see other worlds, to be aware of subtle and powerful currents of energy as they arise, move from place to place, and transform from one kind into another. The power of the shaman, the shape shifter, the elemental sorcerer is all present in this primal force.

There is a tendency in modern culture to believe that we learn things once, and then progress beyond that point to other, more complicated learning, and this attitude is one that can be misleading. The Iron Pentacle, and its complement, the Pearl Pentacle, is a continuous practice, something that is always changing our internal balance point. In a sense, there is no progress, only change.

If we think of Feri grounding the energy in, rather than out, then we can begin to think of "running the pentacles" as a consistent practice. Many of the people in the Feri Tradition come to it from other pagan paths and traditions, all with their own energy practices and ways of doing things. The first steps on the Feri path can be challenging, as new skills are needed that might, in the beginning, seem counter to all that you already know.

As Feri works with primal, generative, creative energy, the Iron/Pearl pentacles are among our ways of attuning ourselves to that energy. The combined Iron/Pearl Pentacle changes our energy signatures, resonates and attunes us in a way that awakens the Black Heart of Innocence. The Feri are always filled with energy, glowing with it, charismatic, passionate and intoxicated with the Feri Power. And the Iron/Pearl Pentacle is the way to move in that power freely, surely, gracefully.

The Iron/Pearl Pentacle is two sides to the same holographic coin, a spinning coin that never stops its motion - perhaps the very coin that creates the spin of universes, worlds without end.

Everyone who is an initiate of the tradition works with the Iron and Pearl Pentacle. We all have a slightly different perspective on it, but then Feri is a place of many doors, of many paths to walk, so we can expect to have different ways of perception and practice. However, we all do it, and it is one of the core fundamental practices that bind us together.

NIGHTWING - IRON PENTACLE EXERCISES

These are some additional exercises that we have developed to expand our use of the Iron Pentacle as a Form (a discipline similar to a martial arts or dance Form).

1. Work with the Iron Pentacle until it is a steady pulse of energy and subvocalize the points as you do so. Speed up the flow of energy and slow it down - notice what that does in different circumstances - on the bus, walking down the street, lying down before getting up in the morning, before dreaming, while dancing (tricky at first, but persevere).

2. Next, feel the pentacle getting bigger, as though the lines are getting thicker and more solid - now push this energy out from yourself in front while still feeling yourself running the pentacle within your body. See the pentacle within you and feel the extension of it in front. Make the Iron Pentacle in front of you brighter - remember to keep the steady pulse of energy flowing in it and don't let it get static.

3. Do exercise 2 but push the pentacle out to your right and then back to center; then to the left and back to center; then back behind yourself. Notice how the energy feels when it is behind you - pushed out to a side or at an angle to the body. Does your perspective on the world shift?

4. Once you are comfortable with 1-3, then the next time someone is angry with you and pushing anger at you, run the Iron Pentacle. Fast. Push it out in the direction of that person as a barrier, or to turn the energy away from you. You can also take the energy directed at you, feed it into the pentacle in front of you and transform it by running it through the points. By the time you feel the energy, it will be just that - energy - with no emotion attached.

5. Run the Iron Pentacle, and vary the speed with the intension of glowing more brightly, for increasing your shine or charisma. Try constantly running the Iron Pentacle while doing other activities, especially public speaking, during a job interview, or while performing on stage if you are a musician or performer, or while doing a martial arts discipline or kindred discipline. Notice what that does to the energies and the response you get from others around you. Some will be positive and some responses otherwise, but try it and pay attention to what happens.

6. While driving, run the Iron Pentacle. Notice how it changes your perception (no hints, but there will be a difference). What do you see? How does your vision / response to other drivers / time perception / ability to stay focused shift?

7. Iron Pentacle during sex - this one should be obvious, but start doing the Pentacle during autoerotic activity, and with a partner. If your partner is also Feri, try both doing it together and notice what happens when the energy fields overlap - when the point of power meets the point of self and vice versa - in endless combinations. Switch to the Pearl Pentacle, or do them both at the same time, which is a playful variation.

8. Getting back to the points around the outside of the pentacle, moving in a wheel (either direction), feel the pulse of energy moving around the body as it also moves within the body. Now spin it as though you were a cartwheel. Faster. Slower. And then still again.

9. Another wheel variation is to start the Iron Pentacle and when you are aware the energy is a steady pulse spin it in place around a single point (the one-point or tan tien) vertically. Try also spinning it horizontally. What can you do with that? I will note that it makes a great shield, but there are a few other things that will happen, and affects you will notice.

10. Mark the Iron Pentacle out on the floor with tape or chalk or string, and walk the points while chanting the pentacle and running the Iron Pentacle within your body. Doing it in more than one dimension at once will shift some things in your perceptions about energy and the pentacle itself.

We play with the Iron Pentacle to create within ourselves flexibility in our daily practice. Actively using the Pentacle as a Form, as well as a meditation and path leads to interesting applications and stronger magickal practice in all our Feri work, but especially in walking between worlds. I have only briefly touched on the Pearl Pentacle here, the essential complement to the Iron Pentacle. I wanted to concentrate on the Iron Pentacle for this article as the Pearl Pentacle deserves its own exploration. Please feel free to contact me with any comments or feedback on your experiences with the exercises above, or any other playful variations. As Raven is wont to say, "The True Work of the Adept is to Have Fun."

When we think about Faerie/Feri and Iron, we meditate on the meaning of the Iron Pentacle and its relationship with our bodies, with the iron in our blood, with star metal and meteorites, with the fire in the blood and the messages written deep in our ancestry. We all come from the same place - we are all "of the blood." We are of the earth, yet are made from the dust of stars and the immortal dreams of the gods. We are black. We burn within the red and white flames of the pentacles, the blue and gold of their wakening fire transforming us in the black mirror of creation. Our hearts are black, and in the heart of innocence we embrace immanence.

©2002 Rhea Shemazi