The story of Baphomet and its legends
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In this article, you'll learn about Baphomet , as well as how and in what context he appeared. Indeed, all of this stems from the medieval era, its religious wars, and the interpretation of contemporary texts.
You may also be wondering why a beer blog is covering a topic like Baphomet, right? This question is legitimate, we assure you.
In fact, the answer is relatively simple: in our team, Antoine is a big fan of the medieval era and Gothic mysticism . That's why, if you visit our website out of curiosity, you'll find Gothic ⚔️, Medieval ⚔️, Viking ⚔ and… Baphomet beer mugs and cups! 👹 Here are our 80 original beer mugs to discover urgently!
On the other hand, Antoine is really not good at writing and that's why I, Julien, am writing this article based on what Antoine was able to teach me on the subject. I hope that you will appreciate this article at its true value! ☺️
The representation of Baphomet
As with almost all figures of this order, the origin of this representation is to be found in the Bible. If you read the New Testament, you will be able to find the distinction between good and evil in a recurring way.
At the time, it was common to use references to animals so that those to whom the stories were told could understand them more easily.
Remember that for millennia, writing was reserved for only a tiny fraction of the population. The overwhelming majority of people were illiterate because their only goal was to survive by farming their land and raising livestock.
The transmission of knowledge was therefore done solely orally, in the form of stories, poems, tales or allegories. Using simple figures in writing such as representation in the form of animals thus made it easier to have an understanding of one's audience.
If we cross that with a more modern era, you won't make us believe that you must have never learned at least one of La Fontaine's fables when you were at school, will you? What good memories, right? 😵
La Fontaine used this stratagem of personalizing animals for two purposes. Anyone could understand his fables on the first level, and those who were cultured enough to understand the second level knew that he was using it to satyr his time, particularly the powerful and the king.
With that aside, let's get back to our sheep. Or rather, to our sheep, because according to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, it describes the separation between good and evil by specifying that the goat is evil and the sheep are good. More precisely, it attributes the left side as evil and the right side as good.
Baphomet the goat-headed man
Have you ever heard the terms " lost sheep ," " shepherd of the flock ," or " black sheep "? Of course you have. These expressions are still in use today because the Catholic religion has been omnipresent in our society for centuries.
Regarding the sides that represent good and evil, know that you find this pattern in many Catholic representations. The next time you pass by a church, take the time to look carefully at the bas-reliefs, if there are any.
You'll notice that the figures to the left of the characters are always evil, while those to the right are rather weak and need saving. The same will be true for paintings, frescoes, or mosaics indoors.
The one we're interested in in this story is the goat. The goat symbolizes evil, so it's no coincidence that Baphomet is depicted with a head that's half human and half goat.
The ancestral image of the devil with a forked tail and horns stems from exactly the same origin. Rest assured, however, that the goats you might encounter in real life are usually pretty friendly!
The proof in pictures! 😂😂😂
Baphomet had breasts!
So we have our evil representative who has a goat's head . But it turns out this goat-man also has breasts! Yeah, why keep it simple when you can make it complicated! 😄
Since antiquity and even prehistory, breasts have been a reference to women, of course, but also to fertility and, more generally, to the nourishing earth. Just as a baby is nourished by its mother's breast, the earth nourishes the people who inhabit it.
In fact, the fact that Baphomet has breasts has a dual meaning according to some theorists. On the one hand, there is the fact that this "divinity" is ready to feed his "children," therefore his followers. Here again, you will observe a reference to the Bible. But on the other hand, the woman also appears (not rightly in my opinion, but in short) as "evil."
Here we are in the Old Testament and more specifically in the book of Genesis . It is the time of the Garden of Eden where everything was going well for Adam and Eve who were living happily in this paradise on earth.
And who shows up? The famous snake who convinces Eve to bite the apple. Eve then convinces Adam to bite too. Some interpret this as meaning that the woman makes the man succumb to temptation and that she is therefore...unhealthy! Yes indeed! Poor Adam would never have cracked if Madame Eve hadn't convinced him! 😏 But of course!
Providing Baphomet with breasts could therefore mean that he has the double attribute of evil:
- the goatee
- the sinful woman who leads man into her sin
This Baphomet is definitely not getting good press at the moment, but it's not all that simple. You'll see for yourself shortly. We'll return to his description when we discuss the trial of the Templars.
Where does the name Baphomet come from?
So here we enter one of the greatest mysteries concerning this character because his name raises at least as many theories as theorists! Rather than list the multiple explanations that come from all sides, we will therefore only talk to you about the theory that unites the greatest number.
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What is the meaning of Baphomet and what does Baphomet mean?
In fact, Baphomet is a corruption of Muhammad . Let us recall the time when this name first appeared in writing: the first Crusades. As a reminder, the Crusades were sponsored by the Christian kings of France to officially deliver the Holy Land from the hands of the Muslims.
Well, in practice, the Crusades were also a raid on all the food and treasure that lay along the Crusaders' path. But in any war, logistics and stewardship are important, and the Crusades were no exception.
Our dear crusaders were usually accompanied by the Knights Templar, also known as the Templars. During the First Crusade, at the end of the 12th century, the first written records mention the name Baphomet . It appears that this name is a distortion of the name of the Prophet Muhammad.
Imagine our crusaders traveling for months through different lands. These lands speak different languages, but they all have the distinction of being Latin. Indeed, the period of the Roman Empire passed through there.
This empire encompassed the entire Mediterranean, and the influence of its language persisted for centuries. Word roots among the ancient Roman provinces were therefore similar, although over time, the words differed. Crusaders were therefore able to understand local dialects without too much difficulty .
And there they arrived in the Holy Land. This territory at that time is mostly in present-day Israel and Palestine. I think it's unnecessary to point out that the linguistic roots of Latin and Ottoman are completely different.
The Crusaders therefore had great difficulty understanding this language, and vice versa. Similarly, they considered the Ottomans to be pagan savages who worshipped many gods.
When they heard them speak of Muhammad, they believed they were referring to one of their gods and not to their Prophet. During the First Crusade led by Godfrey of Bouillon, in one of his letters a crusader referred to the Muslims who invoked “Baphomet” at sunrise, during the siege of Antioch.
This is probably where the mistake came from. He had only heard the call to prayer and the confusion persisted afterward. 😣
What is the connection between Baphomet and the Knights Templar?
More than 100 years later, at the dawn of the 14th century, the name Baphomet comes up a lot in the transcription of the trial of the Templars. We cannot not talk about the Templars because it is thanks to them that the name Baphomet, despite an initial linguistic error, has come down to us. Baphomet and the Templars are inseparable .
The appearance of the Templars
The Order of the Temple was founded in 1139 by Innocent II. The primary purpose of this order was to accompany and defend pilgrims who wished to travel to the Holy Land.
The journey there was long and tedious, fraught with pitfalls and obstacles. Pilgrims had to leave with a certain amount of money to be able to feed themselves and eat during the months of the journey. The first Templars were therefore the guardians of these defenseless pilgrims.
The role of the Templars
To defend these pilgrims, this close guard needed to be skilled in the use of weapons. Weapons and armor were expensive at the time, and only the nobility could afford them.
This is why all members of the Order of the Temple were knights . They were devout Christians, hence the cross on their coat of arms. They also had a relatively comfortable initial personal dowry to cover their needs.
The Templars accompanied pilgrims to Jerusalem for two centuries. However, it would have been a shame for the Crusaders not to make use of these seasoned knights during their many battles.
Indeed, the Crusades were always about retaking the Holy Land conquered by the Muslims. The Templars therefore very actively contributed to the various Crusader victories . These valiant knights had unshakeable faith and were ready to die for their cause on the battlefield.
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The Templars were builders
The Templars , in the course of their various missions, also had to be able to finance themselves. It was out of the question that they be paid by the Church, even though they belonged to a religious order.
Over the years and the lands where their missions took them, the Templars built commanderies. These commanderies were monasteries that allowed them to welcome pilgrims but also to store the various riches they could "find" on their missions. You could compare this to our current deposit boxes.
Their land network became impressive over the decades . The Templar buildings were a masterpiece of architecture and ingenuity.
Some were built to the rhythm of the sun so that at the equinoxes, its light would pass through certain openings to specifically illuminate specific areas. You may note in passing that the emergence of Freemasonry stems from this period.
The Templars were the bankers of the time
Have you watched Game of Thrones? Do you remember the Iron Bank? If so, then the Templars were a bit like that bank back then, with their accumulation of wealth over two centuries.
The Templars were thus a kind of World Bank of the time . 🏦 Christian kings asked them for loans, to be guarantors in certain transactions between the Powerful. Some kings even had such confidence in them that they left their own treasures to them to guard.
It's the same principle as today. We put our money in the bank so it's safe. Today's banks haven't invented anything; they've only been inspired by the past. 😉
The relationship of trust between the Order and the sovereigns was total . Who better than Christian knights with numerous well-defended monasteries could guard the treasures of the kings?
The end of the Templars
The Templars were first driven out of the Holy Land during the Last Crusade in 1291. The Crusaders had just lost their last battle and this defeat sounded the death knell for the Crusades .
The Templars were therefore forced to return to their commanderies. It should be noted that the few who decided to remain in certain strongholds were massacred by their assailants, overwhelmed by their numbers.
Faced with the Crusader "debacle," the Templars devoted themselves fully to their work as "bankers" and intermediaries between the powerful. Unfortunately for them, this period did not last long.
Over the course of two centuries, the Templars grew in number and wealth. Most of them returned to settle in France at the end of the last Crusade.
They were then a wealthy and powerful Order. Wars and Crusades were costing the Kings dearly, and the omnipresence of the Templars was beginning to become a serious nuisance.
You should know that until then, the Popes lived in Rome but the King of France had offered land to the Pope in Avignon. The first Pope who came to settle there was Clement V. Despite this, a rivalry quickly developed between the two men .
The collateral victims of this friction were the Templars because the King was very close to their Order. Likewise, the Pope took a very dim view of the fact that a Christian order other than his own could get along with the powerful and have so much wealth. “Do as I say, not as I do,” in other words… 😔
In order to achieve his ends, the Pope ordered a trial in 1307. Unsurprisingly, this trial resulted in the dissolution of the Order in 1312 because its members were accused of being heretics. It was during this trial that Baphomet came to the forefront. We thus arrive at the explanation of the link between him and the Templars, but without what we have just told previously, it would have seemed abstract! 😃
Baphomet idolized by the Templars
This trial lasted 5 years, which is a very long time for the time and even today. You must also understand that trials at the time were more of a charade of justice than anything else. Confessions extracted under torture were considered true! A confession was still a confession...
The Middle Ages are well known for the various tortures that were invented there and we are not going to go into detail about them here. So you must agree that after having your nails ripped off one by one or having your fingers cut into pieces, you would be ready to confess to anything! 😱
Well, that's how it was back then... Interrogations were conducted by the Inquisition. The Inquisitors were appointed by the Church. They were feared and respected by all.
The trial initially focused on apostasy. According to the Church, the Templars had denied Christ while in the Holy Land. Instead of Christ, they had begun to worship a devilish and chimerical figure, Baphomet.
The Templars accused of apostasy
The Knights Templar were easy prey for religious prosecution. Indeed, they had many obscure rites , starting with the initiation ceremony upon joining the Order. There was much fantasy surrounding this Order at the time, and the Templars still arouse enthusiasm today.
It appears in several reports of the trial that the Knights present in the Holy Land had deviated from their Christian faith. Remember that it was Pope Innocent II who initially created their Order.
The Templars remained in the Middle East for two centuries and were clearly influenced by the customs and traditions of the local populations. Far from their Christian culture, they adapted to their surroundings.
The term apostasy means the denial of Christ . According to the Church, the Knights simply denied Christ in order to establish the worship of pagan idols such as Baphomet .
The Templars, on the other hand, denied having denied Christ in order to better serve him. They may have considered their faith as they practiced it to be erroneous. The denial was apparently a kind of rite of passage to revive their faith in a purer way, like a new baptism, so to speak.
Also, remember that the Templars lived in the cradle of what became the Catholic religion . The Jordan is the river in which Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. This river runs right through the Holy Land. The reinterpretation of religion could therefore be propitious given the surrounding landscape.
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The Church accuses the Knights of being heretics
This is where the myth of Baphomet begins. Once the Church “proved” that the Order had officially denied Christ, the door was wide open for the second charge: the Templars had become heretics . Indeed, the Inquisitors obtained several confessions during the trial, using whatever “soft” methods we can attribute to them. These confessions corroborated “the facts” that the Knights had personified a new god: Baphomet .
Baphomet comes to the forefront
The Inquisitors asked the Templars to describe this idol, but they received many different answers. Some told them that Baphomet was far too ugly for them to give an accurate description.
Others mentioned a chimerical creature halfway between a man and a goat : the bust was that of a human but it had goat's legs, like a faun or a centaur, half man, half animal. Its head, with a beard, was a mixture of that of a man and a goat.
Indeed, Baphomet was adorned with horns . To perfect this mix, this goatee man also had breasts!
Some depictions of Baphomet also feature wings. It's a small step from there to the most famous of all fallen angels. Indeed, the famous Lucifer or Satan is also called the Fallen Angel .
He was God's favorite but was punished by the latter when he realized Lucifer's betrayal. Some will see this as a dubious reference, while others will see this "obviousness" as no coincidence. When we tell you that everything is a matter of interpretation!
Baphomet and Lucifer or Baphomet and Satan 😈
With all these attributes, I'm not surprised that the Inquisitors accused them of being heretics! 😉 This Baphomet appeared to be the devil himself. The Inquisition considered that the Templars worshipped Satan and that Baphomet was only a representation of Lucifer himself. Baphomet is therefore a demon according to the Church.
They also sought to find physical evidence of this creature. It went without saying that the Templars could not worship their deity without having representations of it in the form of statues, pendants, paintings, engravings, or bas-reliefs.
It seems that at the time they were unable to find any. The Templars must have been cautious and careful in trying to destroy or hide as much evidence as possible.
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What was the worship of Baphomet by the Templars?
To try to illustrate the cult of the Knights of the Order dedicated to Baphomet , we can compare the behavior of certain Christian believers with the Virgin Mary in a certain context. Be careful, this is not about criticizing this or that religion, but simply trying to illustrate things through a behavioral approach.
You might say that the comparison may seem strange, but wait until you read on to understand what we're referring to. Have you ever seen processions of the Virgin Mary on television, especially in South America? The faithful follow the statue of the Virgin Mary or greet her as she passes by. Some touch her or even kiss her.
According to the records from the trial, the Templars' worship of Baphomet was quite similar. During ceremonies, a statue of Baphomet was brought out, and the Templars would kneel before it, touch it, and kiss it.
Representations of Baphomet could be diverse and sometimes represented by statuettes, statues, drawings, or engravings. This is where the connection with the cult of the Virgin can be made. It is a matter of showing one's devotion, respect, and dedication, but the comparison ends there.
As for the rest of the Templar cult around Baphomet , versions diverge and fantasies take over. You must have come across films where a mysterious Order organized a sort of black masses in underground places, lit only by the light of candles or torches.
They had strange practices and rituals. In some of these rites, the protagonists performed bizarre cults such as drinking blood, indulging in animal and even human sacrifices.
It's a safe bet that Hollywood has drawn heavily on everything that has been told, distorted, mystified and, above all, imagined about the Templars and their occult practices.
According to the authors, they could, for example, have been accustomed to worshipping Baphomet in the form of a statue , that's fine. But they also had the habit of kissing his head, which was reputed to be hideous, and then wrapping it in cords. These cords were then collected to be worn around the neck.
Were they talismans that allowed the Templars to be accompanied by their god wherever they went? Were these cords somehow blessed when placed around the statue's neck? Did they resemble the blessing a priest gives in preparing for communion when he blesses the bread and wine? No one knows.
The Templars were influenced by the Middle East
On the other hand, this ritual with the cords can be linked to a similar practice that existed at the time in Palestine. It was then a question of blessing cords to confer on them a sort of magical powers . These could thus heal the sick, for example.
It is interesting to realize the influence that their place of residence and their acquaintances had on the Knights. Having left France as proud Christians and having received the Pope's blessing, they adopted over the decades a movement of their own creation.
Between two waters, let's say. Neither completely like this nor completely like that. In fact, they adapted to their environment and shaped their own vision of things and life.
Also, don't forget that during this period, the northern countries were suffering from Viking invasions, hence our idea of creating this fantastic Viking beer mug :
Baphomet and the Freemasons
A few Templars survived despite the dissolution of their Order and the persecution they suffered following their trials. The terms Templars and Knights Templar were abandoned.
Many believe that Freemasonry began when the Order officially ceased to exist , and that this new order is the worthy heir to chivalry. Some repentant Freemasons would describe rituals still practiced today, where the cult and presence of Baphomet are still present.
Baphomet is said to be represented in the form of statues, figurines, and other objects, similar to those the Templars were also said to have possessed. If true, this would further demonstrate the unbreakable bond some describe between these two orders.
Baphomet and his followers today
I'm not going to lie to you, Baphomet has never been forgotten since the days of the Templars. The first proof you can find is simply the fact that you're reading these lines right now.
Without going too far into history, you will see if you do some research on the internet that there are many references to him:
- in Black Metal or Death Metal. These will either be bands that bear his name or songs that refer to him. It is the association of Baphomet with Satan or Lucifer that popularized him in this milieu. Indeed, connections to death, the devil, and the antichrist are legion. The Baphomet pentagram is a perfect example.
- in video games: final boss or particularly tough enemy to kill. He systematically appears as a diabolical being who perfectly symbolizes the “bad guy” in the game’s scenario while you, despite your 393 million killed creatures or characters, you are the good guy! It seems more original in the eyes of game creators to personify Baphomet rather than a “classic” devil or demon . 😉
- In literature: Many authors have attempted to write about Baphomet or mention him in their works. It is from them, in particular, that the different interpretations of the origin of his name or his appearance can come.
Even closer to us in time, a so-called Satanist movement appeared about twenty years ago in the USA. This movement called itself The Satanic Temple .
There, it officially has the status of a real religion. It is based in the “Big Apple,” in other words, New York. This religion worships Baphomet , and this was confirmed 5 years ago when its followers erected a statue of Baphomet in the city of Detroit! Baphomet still lives in the hearts of some men, to say the least!
Their statues of Baphomet shock puritan America but this Temple defends its freedom of worship:
So we come to the end of this article. Please know that I am not an expert and that I based my writing on a number of articles and authors. If you are a Baphomet fanatic , I apologize for any mistakes I may have made or inaccuracies I may have mentioned.
The mystery and attraction aroused by Baphomet , and more or less indirectly by the Knights Templar, remains intact. Much has been said and written over the centuries, but what is most fascinating is that despite this wealth of information, very little is actually known about the subject. There are far more theories than proven facts.
That's precisely the charm of this subject. No matter how much you research, you'll never be 100% certain. Knowledge is a constant renewal , and that's what makes it so appealing!
Here is a short video of just over 5 minutes that summarizes the existence of the Templars:
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