Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15176/vol62no15
Cultural Transmission of the Pentagram (Solomon’s Seal) in the Context of Traditional Architecture of the Makarska Littoral
Antonia Vodanović
orcid.org/0000-0002-4494-0550
; Udruga za istraživanje, promicanje i zaštitu kulturne baštine Makarskog primorja i Zabiokovlja “Kačić”, Podgora
Abstract
This study deals with conceptualizing cultural transmission on the continuum between belief and sociospatial phenomena, as manifested in the practice of marking space using the pentagram symbol (Solomon’s seal). More specifically, the article deals with the transmission of beliefs about the magical and apotropaic power of the pentagram from writing (grimoires, herbals, etc.) into the oral tradition, and then into material culture (architecture). Surveying the location, localized examples of the pentagram (Salamon’s seal), engraved and carved into residential and commercial buildings of the Makarska littoral during the 19th century were found and analyzed from an interdisciplinary perspective, contextualizing them within the appropriate spatial and temporal frame. Given that various apotropaic properties were ascribed to the pentagram throughout history, an attempt is made to interpret its meaning within its specific cultural, historical, and geographical context, taking into account changes in knowledge, ideas and beliefs.
Keywords
pentagram, apotropaic graffiti, cultural transmission, grimoires, pseudo-Solomonic works
Hrčak ID:
332579
URI
Publication date:
24.6.2025.
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