“Baphomet iz teh sex.”
You are probably most familiar with the image found in Eliphas Levi‟s 1854 book “Dogme et Ritual de la Haute Magie” – Levi‟s drawing entitled „the sabbatic goat‟ also referred to as „the goat of mendes‟ shows an androgynous satyr figure with wings, a blazing torch rising from the top of its head just above a pentagram on its forehead. With the words SOLVE on the left arm and COAGULA on the right. More about this in a bit... and now here is the sexy devil hirself.
Though others have warped Levi‟s Sabbatic goat into some kind of devil/demon monstrosity he was
rather clear in his description Lévi considered the Baphomet to be a depiction of the absolute in symbolic form. The Hemetic Ideal in a nutshell – the alchemical androgyne:
"The goat on the frontispiece carries the sign of the pentagram on the forehead, with one point at the top, a symbol of light, his two hands forming the sign of hermetism, the one pointing up to the white moon of Chesed, the other pointing down to the black one of Geburah. This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. His one arm is female, the other male like the ones of the androgyn of Khunrath, the attributes of which we had to unite with those of our goat because he is one and the same symbol. The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light of the universal balance, the image of the soul elevated above matter, as the flame, whilst being tied to matter, shines above it. The beast's head expresses the horror of the sinner, whose materially acting, solely responsible part has to bear the punishment exclusively; because the soul is insensitive according to its nature and can only suffer when it materializes. The rod standing instead of genitals symbolizes eternal life, the body covered with scales the water, the semi-circle above it the atmosphere, the feathers following above the volatile. Humanity is represented by the two breasts and the androgyn arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences."
Before I go on – the long and the short of it is, Baphomet=Mohammed=Sophia=Diablo=Typhon- Set=Behemoth=Satan=Azoth=Hermes-Pan=Mercurius=Androgyne=God of the Templars=God of the Masons=God of the Magi=Wisdom=The four elements=The seven planets=the Lord of the Material Plane=Your Mom=Your Dad= It depends on who you ask...
First I think we need to talk a bit about goats...and pagans, and the jews. Goats were a terribly important part of most tribal cultures back into prehistory. They were an indigenous resource, which was plentiful across Europe. Goats could survive on rough pasture; they provided all that the tribe needed in the way of food, clothing, thread, wool, milk, horn etc. Goat milk could even be used to succour human babies. This is still true today in many rustic parts of the Mediterranean countries where goat herders continue husbandry, which is thousands of years old.