08-24-2004, 01:54 PM
Quote:thats kool, very nicely done... but whats Baphomet? :ph34r:Baphomet
There have been many strange idols throughout the ages but the idol of Baphomet seems to be among the most mysterious. All which seems to be known about this unknown figure it that it is sometimes called the goat idol of the Knights Templar and the deity of the sorcerers\' Sabbat. Even the name Baphomet seems to be a composition of abbreviations: \'Temp. ohp. Ab.\' which originates from Latin \'Templi omnium hominum pacis abhas,\' meaning "the father of universal peace among men."
The many accounts concerning Baphomet describe the idol as a monstrous head, a demon in the form of a goat, a figure with a goat\'s head and a body combining the characteristics of a dog, bull, and ass. The body was thought to symbolize the burden of matter from which arose the repentance for sin. The human hands formed a sign of esotericism to impress mystery upon the initiates. First they represented the sanctity of labor; and by pointing two lunar crescents, the upper being white and the lower black, they also represented good and evil, mercy and justice. The lower part of the goat\'s body was veiled but expressed the mysteries the universial generation symbolized by the caduceus or the phallus. The goat\'s female breasts were the only symbols of maternity, toil, and redemption...........
The belief in Baphomet still exists among some occultists. They hold the idol of the Templars was really the god of the witches deriving from the nature god Pan. In the 19th. century the Austrian Orientalist Baron Joseph von Hammer-Purgstal discovered an inscription on a coffer in Burgandy which he claimed indicated the Baphomet came from the Greek words meaning "Baptism of Metis (Wisdom)." This seemed to exalt Metis or Baphomet as the true divinity.
In the 20th. century German occultists formed the secret order of the O.T.O. (Ordo Templi Orientis or Order of Templars in the East). They installed the English occultist Aleister Crowley to head their British section. Crowley took Baphomet as his magical name. A.G.H."
[url=\"http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/b/baphomet.html\"]http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/b/baphomet.html[/url]