During the trials of the Knights Templar between 1307 and 1312 they were accused of worshipping a demon referred to as Baphomet. But what exactly was this demonic figure and was there any truth in this bizarre allegation?
The Knights Templar were accused of idolatry and worshipping a figure called Baphomet, but whether this was a genuine practice or a false accusation used to persecute the order is a matter of historical debate. The nature of Baphomet is unclear, with some descriptions portraying it as a human skull, embalmed and encrusted with jewels, while others described it as a wooden carving or a figure with three or four faces.
Some scholars suggest the accusation of venerating Baphomet may have been linked to medieval folklore about magical heads and the popular belief that Muslims worshipped idols. Some scholars speculate that the term “Baphomet” might have been a misinterpretation or a code word, possibly derived from the Atbash cipher to encrypt the Gnostic term Sophia (Greek for “wisdom”), or that the rituals involved the alleged relics of John the Baptist, Euphemia, or Hugues de Payens.
FIND OUT MORE: The Templars and Baphomet
How we view Baphomet
Baphomet often pops up in modern Satanist movements as well as the heavy metal scene. But this goat-headed figure only dates back to the 19th century. An ex-priest and author Eliphas Lévi – who was steeped in the occult – created the familiar image of Baphomet in 1856. It was a a winged, hermaphroditic figure with a goat’s head and feet, adorned with numerous esoteric symbols, including a torch between its horns and a pentagram on its forehead.
Lévi’s Baphomet has the right hand up, with two fingers extended together, and the thumb in, while the left hand is down, with two fingers extended together and the thumb out. The figure embodies the balance and equilibrium of opposites in magical and mystical traditions, representing both light and darkness, human and animal, male and female.
So did the Templars worship Baphomet?
Having been arrested, imprisoned, and tortured – many Templars confessed to charges of heresy and sodomy. This included lurid descriptions of magical rituals at their initiation ceremonies. The inquisitors knew what they had to prove – the charges contained in the arrest warrants. So, there are marked similarities in the confessions…but also some differences. Templars agreed that they worshipped a demon but couldn’t quite make up their minds on the details.
Some thought they venerated the head of their first grand master, Jacques de Molay. Others thought it was an animal head. Or a head with multiple faces. Or the head of a demon. It’s fair to suspect that the Templars didn’t engage in diabolic practices and were framed.
If you’d like to find out more about the Templars – get a copy of my book: The Knights Templar – History & Mystery – by Tony McMahon – published by Pen & Sword – available on Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmith, and Barnes & Noble.
The familiar and very misunderstood Baphomet image (that was adopted by Alastaire Crowley in the early 20th century as well as by the Satanic Church in the 1960’s) was actually a very positive (yet confusing) spiritual icon developed by Eliphas Levi in the mid-1800’s. Levi infused many positive esoteric and occult meanings into his strange image. However, also in the mid-1800’s, Frenchman, Leo Taxil, who hated the Catholic Church, played an elaborate prank to try to prove the gullibility of the Catholic clergy. This included printing pamphlets with Levi’s Baphomet in a very intentionally negative association with Freemasonry, as if Masons worshipped Satan. The Catholic clergy lapped it up, of course. Leo Taxil finally and publicly admitted to his haox, proving the gullibility of the clergy and others, but the damage was done and his pamphlets and the fancifully false information contained in them lives on to this very day.
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I didn’t make that connection – this is something that has been written about over the centuries. Of course it’s nonsense but it’s what ignorant people have believed.
There is no relation between the devil and Prophet Muhammad, it is utterly wrong to relate the sign of the enemy of God to the last prophet sent by the God.