Adopted by modern occultists and Satanists. Theistic Satanists may worship it as a deity or demon, while atheistic Satanists see it as a metaphorical symbol. The goat-headed Baphomet image seen here is a 19 th-century drawing made by Eliphas Levi as a metaphorical symbol from Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. It was not originally created as a Satanic symbol or a deity. See also: Sigil of Baphomet and Statue of Baphomet. There have been many rumors and claims regarding this symbol, and here we recount the Church of Satan’s discovery and use of this powerful image. The alchemical symbol for the sun and various sun gods. Also the alchemical symbol for gold which is the metal represented by the Sun which is the astral counterpart. Raymond of Aguilers, a chronicler of the First Crusade, reports that the troubadours used the term Bafomet for Muhammad, and Bafumaria for a mosque. [10] The name Bafometz later appeared around 1195 in the Provençal poems Senhors, per los nostres peccatz by the troubadour Gavaudan. [11] Around 1250, a Provençal poem by Austorc d'Aorlhac bewailing the defeat of the Seventh Crusade again uses the name Bafomet for Muhammad. [12] De Bafomet is also the title of one of four surviving chapters of an Occitan translation of Ramon Llull's earliest known work, the Libre de la doctrina pueril. [13] In describing the graphic, de Guaita only slightly expands on Lévi and says nothing about Samael, Lilith, or Leviathan. After describing the point-up pentagram as a white-light symbol of man “voluntarily rejoined in the providential plan,” de Guaita notes:

Hugh J. Schonfield (1901–1988), [42] one of the scholars who worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls, argued in his book The Essene Odyssey that the word "Baphomet" was created with knowledge of the Atbash substitution cipher, which substitutes the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the last, the second for the second last, and so on. "Baphomet" rendered in Hebrew is בפומת‎ ( bpwmt); interpreted using Atbash, it becomes שופיא‎ ( šwpy‘, "Shofya'"), which can be interpreted as the Greek word " Sophia", meaning wisdom. This theory is an important part of the plot of the novel The Da Vinci Code. This theory was recently questioned by the French historian Thierry Murcia who challenges the method of calculation used by Schonfield. [43] Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall [ edit ] Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (1774–1856) associated a series of carved or engraved figures found on a number of supposed 13th-century Templar artifacts (such as cups, bowls and coffers) with the Baphometic idol Féraud, Raymond (1858). Sardou, A. L (ed.). La vida de Sant Honorat (La vie de Saint Honorat) (in French). Paris: P. Janet, Dezobry, E. Magdeleine & Co.Literally, "The 8 Directions," this early Chinese divination technique is described in the i ching, and is typically visualized as 8 trigrams around a Yin and Yang symbol. The bagua and trigrams are referenced throughout Chinese astronomy, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, martial arts, Chinese medicine and various other cultural aspects. Lévi's depiction of Baphomet is similar to that of The Devil in the early Tarot. [53] Lévi, working with correspondences different from those later used by S.L. MacGregor Mathers, "equated the Devil Tarot key with Mercury", giving "his figure Mercury's caduceus, rising like a phallus from his groin". [54] Bullonii (of Bouillon), Godfrey (30 March 2018). "Godefridi Bullonii epistolae et diplomata; accedunt appendices"– via Google Books. Hodapp, Christopher (2005). "A crash course in Templar history". Freemasons for Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing. A magical diagram, composed of two circles, a pentagram, and three heptagons, and is labeled with the name of God and his angels.

The pentagram symbol has prehistoric origins. And Solomon used it in the bible. It equally stands for the victory of spirit over matter. Different individuals used it with each of them giving it different meanings. In July 2015, YouTube star and singer Poppy depicted the deity in the music video for her single "Lowlife". Poppy can be seen imitating the famous pose of Baphomet. Crowley, Aleister (1929). The Spirit of Solitude: an autohagiography: subsequently re-Antichristened The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. London: Mandrake Press.This does not appear on the Thoth Tarot version but it is described in The Vision & the Voice, 6 th Aethyr,“…Above me appears the starry heaven of night, and one star greater than all the other stars. It is a star of eight rays. I recognize it as the star in the seventeenth key of the Tarot, as the Star of Mercury.” Therefore, Baphomet is seen as the Redeemer, Christ, Logos, or Word of the New Aeon. Of course, we do not believe that Baphomet died for our sins but, rather, Baphomet is an image of our own Perfected Self, the glyph of arcane perfection, the complete Magician who has united male and female, Earth and Heaven, into a single, flawless Pyramid. It might be added that, in addition, the rubric of Liber XV has exactly 8 sections as does the Creed of the Mass.

In Wicca and various forms of “ white magic,” the encircled, upright pentagram is considered a symbol that provides protection of some kind. Pagan and neo-pagan groups use the pentagram in all manner of rituals and ornamentation because it symbolizes infinity, the binding of the five elements, and protection of the self. Prior to the worldwide press given the Church of Satan—and later the publication of The Satanic Bible — the now familiar goat / pentagram / “Leviathan” graphic had not been used as the prime symbol for Satanism. Our younger readers may find this hard to believe, but it is a fact. In 1818, the name Baphomet appeared in the essay by the Viennese Orientalist Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall, Mysterium Baphometis revelatum, seu Fratres Militiæ Templi, qua Gnostici et quidem Ophiani, Apostasiæ, Idoloduliæ et Impuritatis convicti, per ipsa eorum Monumenta [44] ("Discovery of the Mystery of Baphomet, by which the Knights Templars, like the Gnostics and Ophites, are convicted of Apostasy, of Idolatry and of moral Impurity, by their own Monuments"), which presented an elaborate pseudohistory constructed to discredit Templarist Masonry and, by extension, Freemasonry. [45] Following Nicolai, he argued, using as archaeological evidence "Baphomets" faked by earlier scholars and literary evidence such as the Grail romances, that the Templars were Gnostics and the "Templars' head" was a Gnostic idol called Baphomet:Though there are still many questions that surround the mystery of Baphomet, it is largely agreed that the figure was invented as a way of accusing Christians of converting to Islam. The infamy that the figure gained through the accusations leveled at the Knights of the Templar would only serve to bring more curiosity towards the deity and speculation as to the possible powers the creature holds. In 1897 Stanislas de Gauaita adapted the head of Levi’s Sabbatic Goat to fit inside a pentagram. De Gauaita’s version of Baphomet included an upside-down, five-pointed star surrounded by two circles. Between the circles are five Hebrew letters, one on each point of the star, spelling the Hebrew word for “Leviathan.” Around the arms of the star on the top is the name Samael, the angel of death in Talmudic lore; and on the bottom, Lilith, a female demon who was Adam’s first wife according to pagan beliefs. In 1969 Anton LaVey adopted the pentagram goat for his Church of Satan and definitively identified it with Baphomet. Partner, Peter (1987). The Knights Templar and Their Myth. ISBN 978-0-89281-273-8. (Previously titled The Murdered Magicians.) Another name for it is Ramar Chakra, Rama Chakra or Sri Rama Chakra. It is a yantra or mystic diagram given in Tamil Almanacs as an instrument of astrology. And it can help in predicting the future. Also, it consist of a square divided into small equal squares. Finally, we have Communion. The notion that it is truly Baphomet that is invoked may give weight to the interpretation of the rubric where the Priest simply stays at the High Altar during Communion. If the Priest simply remains where he is, perhaps sitting on a stool in front of the Priestess, they essentially meld together into a Priest-Priestess, a very apt image of Baphomet as Two-in-One. In fact, if the Priest holds their Lance erect, both the erect phallus and breasts of Baphomet would be represented in this Priest-Priestess arrangement. Then, each Congregant would be communing with Baphomet, rather than Nuit or Babalon.