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40 Facts about the Church of Satan

Tim Flight August 29, 2019 27 min

9. The famous pentagram logo depicts Baphomet, who dates back to the Knights Templar

Baphomet, illustrated by Éliphas Lévi, France, 19th century. Ultra Culture

You’re no doubt familiar with the Church’s goat-pentagram logo, known as the Sigil of Baphomet, from high-school exercise books and films, but its history is surprisingly ancient. The word ‘Baphomet’ first appears in a letter from 1098 which (falsely) accuses the Knights Templar of invoking the demon to help them in battle, and worshipping Baphomet was one of the main crimes for which the order was decimated by Pope Clement V in the 14^th century. Baphomet took bipedal-goat form in the occultist Éliphas Lévi’s 19^th-century illustration, which draws on earlier associations of goats with Satan and the Greek god, Pan.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk