Difference between revisions of "Baphomet"

'''Baphomet''' is a deity allegedly worshipped by the [[Knights Templar]] that subsequently became incorporated into various [[occult]] and Western esoteric traditions. The name Baphomet appeared in trial transcripts for the [[Inquisition]] of the Knights Templar starting in 1307. It first came into popular English usage in the 19th century during debate and speculation on the reasons for the suppression of the Templar order.

Baphomet is a symbol of balance in various occult and mystical traditions, the origin of which some occultists have attempted to link with the [[Gnosticism|Gnostics]] and Templars, although occasionally purported to be a deity or a [[demon]]. Since 1856 the name Baphomet has been associated with the "Sabbatic Goat" image drawn by [[Éliphas Lévi]], composed of binary elements representing the "symbolization of the equilibrium of opposites:" half-human and half-animal, male and female, good and evil, etc. Lévi's intention was to symbolize his concept of balance, with Baphomet representing the goal of perfect social order.

Raymond of Aguilers, a chronicler of the First Crusade, reports that the troubadours used the term ''Bafomet'' for the Prophet Muhammad, and ''Bafumaria'' for a mosque. The first written record of the name ''Baphometh'' came in 1098. During the siege of Antioch, the Muslim defenders from the Seljuk Empire gave a war cry to ''Baphometh'' while the Crusaders silently prayed to [[Yahweh|God]].

The name ''Bafometz'' later appeared around 1195 in the Provençal poems ''Senhors, per los nostres peccatz'' by the troubadour Gavaudan. Around 1250, a Provençal poem by Austorc d'Aorlhac bewailing the defeat of the Seventh Crusade again uses the name ''Bafomet'' for Muhammad. ''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''.

Baphomet was allegedly worshipped as a deity by the medieval order of the [[Knights Templar]]; because of this, King Philip IV of France had many French Templars simultaneously arrested, and then tortured into confessions in October 1307. Over 100 different charges were leveled against the Templars, including [[heresy]], idolatry, spitting and urinating on the cross, and homosexual relations. Most of them were dubious, as they were the same charges that were leveled against the [[Cathar]]s and many of King Philip's enemies.

The indictment from Rome against the Templars stated: "they worshipped the idol as a god, as their saviour, saying that this head could save them, that it bestowed on the order all its wealth, made the trees flower, and the plants of the earth to sprout forth."

A document called the ''Chinon Parchment'' suggests the Templars did not actually practice these activities, but engaged in a ritualized version of them during their initiation ceremony. This was designed to prepare the initiated knight for the kind of psychological and spiritual torture he might be subjected to if he were captured by the Muslim army. The intent was that the knight would not forsake [[Christianity]] if compelled to demean the cross and worship Muhammad by his captors because he had already performed theatrical versions of those offenses during the initiation.

The confessions included statements such as: