Baphomet
Demonic god of transformation, fruition, fertility, libertinism, and wisdom attained through indulging the senses
There are times when deities are able to create other gods by merging some of their energy with another deity’s energy. This is seldom done, and is used during times when it is deemed necessary, especially to help in certain causes. Baphomet is one such god who came into being under these circumstances. The information shared is what I’ve learnt from Baphomet through my experiences in working with them.
Baphomet was created as a joint-project between Satan (one of the three demonic High Kings) and Shub-Niggurath, the Outer Goddess known as the Black Goat with a Thousand Dark Young. These two deities merged small portions of their energy in order to construct a combined form that would act as a unique deity; one that holds both of their teachings combined. With Satan’s contribution, his energy of rebellion, virility, indulgence, and will-power helped fuel Baphomet’s more aggressive areas. Shub-Niggurath, being the great goddess of fertility, insight, and the wilderness helped in fueling the more serene and wisdom-seeking areas of Baphomet.
With all these things combined, Baphomet became a teaching deity who would draw people towards the left-hand path and show them some of the true teachings of the demons. Baphomet encourages humans to embrace sexuality rather than see it as a sin, since this notion is harmful for many reasons. While sex is an important way to bring new life into being, Baphomet also values the pleasure that sex brings. Pleasure should be enjoyed without guilt, especially since human lives are short and full of burden.
Baphomet is a god of Libertinism, which is indulgence in pleasure, but also your own will. This encourages the freedom to enjoy life, since your life is your own and not anyone else’s. You also indulge in your pride, since you are not acting as a sheep like most others do, but rather as your own individual self who does not bow down to the tyranny of the Church. This however does not give one the right to act however they please or act arrogantly, since this will go against the teachings of Baphomet. The teaching here is to rule yourself with wisdom, and to seek enjoyment within a world that constantly tries to steal it from you.
From this, we see that Baphomet is strongly linked to the material, but since they are a deity of balance, they are linked to the spiritual as well. Through indulging in your senses, you can gradually gain certain experiences that grant you wisdom. This is not something that can be done through overindulgence or doing things that would be harmful to you, as these would lead to harmful circumstances or materialism. The point here is that through freeing ourselves from the Christian fear of pleasure and by allowing ourselves to gain insight from new experiences, we can obtain certain understandings from this and progress towards wisdom. This can be expressed through the quote “The Path of Excess leads to the Tower of Wisdom” from Enigma and William Blake, as wisdom can only be gained through large amounts of experience, if done properly.
Baphomet can be spoken to at any time and asked for guidance. They are a deity who interacts through our minds in order to bring spiritual teachings, and then vanishes when no longer being spoken to. They seek to guide and uplift both body and spirit, which will bring balance into a person and awaken more of their potential. The original Baphomet was a combination of Cernunnos and Pan, which was worshipped by the Knights Templar before they were discovered. Hundreds of years later, Eliphas Levi created the iconic image of Baphomet, which was some time after Baphomet as a deity was constructed by Shub-Niggurath and Satan. Through analyzing the many symbolisms shown in the art of Baphomet, we can gain even more insight about this dualistic deity.
Symbolism of Baphomet:
The black goat is not only a Satanic animal, but also the form which Shub-Niggurath takes, since she is the humanoid black she-goat.
The hermaphroditic form shows the union of male and female as one, which is gained through the combined energies of Satan and Shub-Niggurath.
The torch upon their head represents Illumination, showing the light that emerges from one’s being when they have been spiritually awoken through great effort.
The pentacle is the left-hand path, the teachings of the demons.
The Caduceus represents the Staff of Hermes, which symbolizes the balance of opposites as well as the principle of correspondence. The Staff also acts as an allusion to the phallus, which is the masculine sign of fertility.
The wings represent connection of the celestial element with the bestial element (the goat), which together is the union between Heaven and Earth. This is not the false Christian Heaven, but the true celestial realm. In Sumerian mythology, this union was called the Duranki, and is the link which allows humans the possibility to transcend beyond the earthly plane and into a higher state of being.
Baphomet’s arms bare the Latin words Solve (separate) and Coagula (unite). This refers to alchemy, which is taught in The Alchemical V.I.T.R.I.O.L where it says “Visit the interior of the earth and by purifying yourself, you will find the hidden stone.” The meaning of this text is that one must delve into themselves and separate from their ego, thus becoming purified. Through this, the hidden stone, which is the core (higher self), will be discovered. And through bonding with the higher self, one can gain great wisdom, freedom, inner-strength, and life beyond death (without reincarnation). So the Solve and Coagula refer to this very teaching, of separating from what limits us and uniting with our truth. This brings self-transformation and is the first step towards Illumination.
The hand gestures used by Baphomet is the ancient sign of binding and teaching, which is also used as a blessing. It is used in the Hermetic tradition, and has been used by other deities as well. Baphomet’s hands also point both towards the sky and towards the earth, representing the Hermetic law of “as above, so below”. This law means that everything has a correspondence to another, which allows the use of magick in many areas. One should not interpret this phrase as meaning opposites, but rather that everything connects to other points of reference on another plane. Thus, the material and the spiritual are interrelated, based on the principle of similarity (caution: similar refers to analogy; it does not mean they are the same). There are points of correspondence for everything, which forms the basis on most areas of magick, and may also explain portals, teleportation, and other advanced magick techniques. Therefore, many things in existence are reflections of each other; above and below are not opposites since they do not oppose each other, instead, they are two different points of perspective. This is telling us that like “above” and “below”, many other things correspond with one another as analogies and can thus be used in magick to help us make connections. For example, the metal of silver is connected to the Moon because they are “reflections” of each other, thus causing silver to have an energy link to the Moon, which allows it to be used in planetary magick.
The fingers of Baphomet point towards two different Moons. The crescent that is waning is Solve (dissolution/separation) and the black crescent that is representing the Dark Moon is symbolizing new beginnings through transformation.
Overall, Baphomet is a deity who teaches the way of self-transformation through gaining insight and freedom. There is also a mixture of indulgence, but as a way of obtaining lessons and self-understanding. We first must seek to be free from the oppressive chains of society and the Church by empowering ourselves and seeing that there is no harm in pleasure, then we must free ourselves from our bodies and realize that the material is not everything. This is also freedom from the ego, which restrains us and limits us, making us filled with illusions. To separate from this is to begin the path towards transcendence and true empowerment.
Related posts: Shub-Niggurath | Satan
