A pentagram is a five-pointed star with a long history of symbolism throughout various cultures, dating back to the earliest writing of Mesopotamia.

In ancient Greece, it could be found in the Pythagorean Pentacle as a “sign of recognition” among Pythagoreans. Across the globe, in Chinese tradition, the pentagram instead represents the Five Elements, or Wu Xing.

Of course, for the purposes of a paranormal blog, the pentagram stands as a symbol of the occult, usually associated with magic. Aleister Crowley himself apparently used the pentagram during his magick practices and ceremonies. It can also be found in the official logo of the Church of Satan, enclosing the head of a goat.

Many Wiccans, on the other hand, view the pentagram as a symbol of their faith, preferring to disregard the biases formed by popular culture and its often “dark” associations.

Suffice it to say, the pentagram has many different meanings to many different people, far more than I’ve listed here, and its use is not uncommon.

Perhaps it’s not so strange, then, that a giant encircled pentagram happens to be in a field in Kazakhstan, about 12 miles west of Lisakovsk.

You can check it out right on Google Maps by visiting the coordinates 52°28’47.1″N 62°11’08.4″E. For reference, the pentagram has a diameter of about 1,200 feet (366 meters). But why is it there? Was it the scene of some grand ritual or magical ceremony? Did a group of witches get really bored?

In 2013, Live Science was on the case, speaking with archaeologist Emma Usmanova about Kazakhstan’s mysterious pentagram. Turns out (if we go with this particular story and not the intense magical ceremony theory), the star is actually the outline of a park created not too long ago, back in the days of the Soviet Union.

According to Usmanova, they commonly used the shape as decoration, and in the case of this particular pentagram, what we see are in fact old roadways that have become “lined with trees.” The park has long since been abandoned.

So, end of story? Case closed? The Soviet Union just kind of liked the design? A cursory glance tells me that some aren’t convinced by the “official story” here, that the giant pentagram holds more secrets than we currently know. They point out that the pentagram, when viewed on Google Maps, appears to be inverted, which some believe points to a dark or Satanic symbolism.

What do you believe?