The Fairy Star: Symbolism, History, and Meaning
The Fairy Star, also known as the Septagram, Elven Star, or Faerie Star, is a seven-pointed star (heptagram) formed by a single, continuous line that intersects itself in a distinctive pattern. Unlike the more familiar five-pointed pentagram, the seven points of the Fairy Star create a more intricate and flowing design, often drawn as {7/3} in geometric notation (meaning the line connects every third point in a heptagon). Its graceful, almost luminous appearance has made it a beloved symbol in modern Pagan, Wiccan, and faerie-focused spiritual communities.
Origins and Historical Context
The heptagram itself is ancient. Seven-pointed stars appear in Babylonian astrology (representing the seven classical planets), in Islamic art and architecture (where they symbolize perfection and the seven heavens), and in medieval Christian iconography (the seven days of Creation, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit). However, the specific form known today as the “Fairy Star” is a modern creation that emerged in the late 20th century within Neopagan and New Age circles.
It was popularized in the 1980s and 1990s by authors and practitioners in the Reclaiming tradition, Wicca, and the growing Faerie spirituality movement (particularly the Radical Faeries and other queer Pagan groups). The symbol gained wider recognition through Silver RavenWolf’s books and the broader explosion of faerie-related art, jewelry, and literature during that period. While it has no direct, unbroken lineage to pre-Christian Celtic or European faerie lore, its adoption by modern practitioners has given it a strong contemporary association with the realm of Faerie.
What the Seven Points Represent
The meaning of the seven points varies depending on the tradition or individual practitioner, but several interpretations are widely shared:
1. The Seven Directions
North, East, South, West, Above (sky), Below (earth), and Center (the self or the divine spark within). This is one of the most common interpretations in Faerie tradition and Reclaiming witchcraft.
2. The Seven Classical Planets
Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn—an older esoteric correspondence that links the star to celestial and magical influences.
3. The Seven Chakras
Some practitioners align the points with the seven main energy centers of the body, even though traditional chakra systems are more commonly associated with Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
4. The Seven Elements
A modern expansion beyond the classical four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) to include three additional ones often used in Faerie craft:
• Earth, Air, Fire, Water
• Sunlight (or Light)
• Moonlight (or Magic)
• Spirit (or Love, Connection, Self)
5. The Seven Sisters / Pleiades
In some traditions, the star represents the Pleiades star cluster, which has long been associated with faeries, enchantment, and otherworldly wisdom in European folklore.
6. The Seven Realms or Worlds
Certain practitioners map the points to different planes of existence (e.g., the human world, the faerie realm, the underworld, the celestial realm, etc.).
The Fairy Star as a Symbol of Faerie Magic
At its core, the Fairy Star has come to represent the liminal, the wild, and the “other.” It is a doorway between the everyday world and the realm of Faerie—those shimmering, unpredictable spaces where logic bends and magic feels close enough to touch.
Unlike the pentagram, which is often seen as a symbol of human will and structured magic, the Fairy Star is viewed as more fluid, playful, and anarchic. It embodies:
• Connection to nature spirits, elementals, and the Fae themselves
• Queer and non-binary energies (especially in Radical Faerie circles)
• Creativity, enchantment, and the refusal to conform to rigid systems
• The idea that there are more than five (or four) elements or directions—reality is richer and stranger than most traditions acknowledge
Because it is a relatively new symbol without centuries of dogmatic baggage, practitioners feel free to imbue it with highly personal meanings. One person’s Fairy Star might honour the seven colors of the rainbow and LGBTQ+ pride; another’s might represent the seven stages of alchemical transformation adapted to faerie alchemy.
The Fairy Star is not an ancient Celtic relic, but a vibrant, living symbol born from the modern revival of earth-based and faerie-centered spirituality. Its seven points reach outward in all directions, reminding the beholder that the world is wider, wilder, and more enchanted than everyday perception allows. Whether worn as jewelry, drawn in rituals, or tattooed on skin, it serves as both a ward and an invitation: a declaration that the wearer walks with one foot in the human world and one in the shimmering, twilight realm of the Fae. In an age of disenchantment, the Fairy Star is a quiet, radiant rebellion—an assertion that magic is real, that the Otherworld is near, and that seven is the number of wonder.
