Baphomet, the symbol of the
satanic goat, usually portrayed as a half human, half goat
figure, or a goat head. It is often misinterpreted as a symbol of
witch-craft in general. It is used by Satanists, but is not used
by neo-pagan witches who do not worship the devil.
The origin of the Baphomet
is unclear. It may be a corruption of Muhomet (Mohammed).
The english witchcraft historian Montague Summers suggested that
it was a combination of two greek words, baphe and metis,
meaning "absorption of knowledge." Baphomet has also
been called the Goat of Mendes, The Black Goat and the Judas
Goat.
In the middle ages the
Baphomet was believed to be an idol, represented by a human
skull, a stuffed humans head or a metal or wooden human head with
curly black hair. The idol was said to be worshipped by the Order
of Knights Templar as the source of fertility and wealth. In 1307
King Phillip IV of France accused the Order of the Knights
Templar of heresy, homosexuality and among other things,
worshipping this idol and anointing it with the fat of murdered
children. However, only 12 of the 231 knights interrogated by the
church admitted worshipping or having knowledge of the Baphomet.
Novices said they had been instructed to worship the idol as
their god and savior, and their descriptions of it varied: it had
up to three heards and up to four feet; it was made of either
wood or metal, or was a painting, sometimes it was a gift.
In 1818 a number of idols
called heads of Baphomet were discovered among forgotten
antiquities of the imperial museum of Vienna. They were said to
be replicas of the Gnostic divinity, Mete, or "Wisdom."
Perhaps the best-known
representation of Baphomet is the drawing by the 19th century
French magician, Eliphas Levi, called "The Baphomet of
Mendes." Levi combined elements of the tarot devil card and
the he-goat worshipped in antiquity in Mendes, Egypt, which was
said to fornicate with its women followers ( as the church
claimed the devil did with witches). Levi's Baphomet has a human
trunk with rounded, female breasts, a caduceus in the midriff,
human arms and hands, cloven feet, wings and a goat's head with a
pentagram in the forehead and a torch on top of the skull between
the horns. The attributes, Levi said, represented the sum total
of the universe - intelligence, the four elements, divine
revelation, sex and motherhood and sin and redemption. Hite and
black crescent moons at the figure's side represent good and
evil.
